Stephen Paul Breen (born April 26, 1970) is a nationally syndicated cartoonist. He won the
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning
The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 t ...
twice, in 1998 and 2009.
Biography
He graduated from
Huntington Beach High School
Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) is a public high school in Huntington Beach, California. Built in 1906, it is part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. HBHS is a California Distinguished School. Huntington Beach High School is ...
in 1988 and attended the
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. It was at UCR that he started drawing editorial cartoons for his school paper, ''The Highlander''.
In 1991, Breen won the
Scripps Howard Charles M. Schulz Award as the top college cartoonist and the
John Locher Memorial Award for Outstanding College Editorial Cartoonist. He was influenced by cartoonists such as
Jeff MacNelly
Jeffrey Kenneth "Jeff" MacNelly (September 17, 1947 – June 8, 2000) was an American editorial cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Shoe''. After ''Shoe'' had been established in papers, MacNelly created the single-panel strip '' Plu ...
,
Paul Conrad
Paul Francis Conrad (June 27, 1924 – September 4, 2010) was an American political cartoonist and winner of three Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning. In the span of a career lasting five decades, Conrad provided a critical perspectiv ...
,
Pat Oliphant
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Oliphant (born 24 July 1935) is an Australian-born American artist whose career spanned more than sixty years. His body of work as a whole focuses mostly on American and global politics, culture, and corruption; he is particu ...
and
Don Wright.
Breen was about to become a high school history teacher when the ''
Asbury Park Press
The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997.
Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...
'' offered him a job in the art department in July 1994. He became the full-time editorial cartoonist there in 1996.
Breen's comic strip ''
Grand Avenue'', which is syndicated by
United Feature Syndicate
United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...
and appears in more than 150 newspapers across the country, was launched in 1999. In 2005, Breen's colleague Mike Thompson came on board to help write the strip, and in 2009 became official co-creator. In 2014 Thompson took over most writing & art duties; as of 2016 the strip is entirely by Thompson.
In July 2001, Breen returned to his home state to join the staff of ''
The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868.
Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
''. His editorial cartoons are nationally syndicated by
Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...
(which acquired former syndicate
Copley News Service in 2008). They regularly appear in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' and ''
U.S. News & World Report''.
Breen is the author and illustrator of several children's books: ''Stick'', ''Violet the Pilot'', ''The Secret of Santa's Island'', and ''Woodpecker Wants a Waffle'', for which he won the 2017 New Hampshire State Library Ladybug Picture Book Award.
Breen also created the cartoon
Powerbirds
''Powerbirds'' is an American animated children's television series created by Stephen P. Breen and co-created by Jennifer Monier-Williams. The series premiered on January 19, 2020, on Universal Kids. This series is produced by Brown Bag Films.
...
for
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
-owned children's network,
Universal Kids
Universal Kids is an American children's television Specialty channel, channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal.
The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented ...
, based on his series of children's books.
References
External links
Creators.comSan Diego Union-TribuneBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breen, Steve
1970 births
Living people
University of California, Riverside alumni
American editorial cartoonists
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners
Asbury Park Press people
The San Diego Union-Tribune people
American illustrators