Sam Henderson (born October 18, 1969) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, writer, and expert on American comedy history. He is best known for his ongoing comic book series ''Magic Whistle''. He was a contributor to the animated television series '' SpongeBob SquarePants'' and ''

Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey that goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout-like summer camp in Pimpleback M ...

''. Henderson has contributed work to ''

Duplex Planet Illustrated ''The Duplex Planet'' is a zine edited and published by David Greenberger since 1979. It contains transcriptions of his interviews with elderly residents of senior centers and "meal sites" in the Massachusetts area. For many years, the zine focus ...

'', '' Zero Zero'', '' 9-11: Artists Respond, Volume One'', ''Mega- Pyton'', '' Maakies'', '' Nib-Lit'', ''

Legal Action Comics ''Legal Action Comics'' is a series of comics anthologies edited by illustrator Danny Hellman which features work from many alternative comics artists. The first volume in the series was published in 2001,Hellman, Danny, editor. (2001). ''Legal Ac ...

'', and the animated shorts compilation ''

God Hates Cartoons ''God Hates Cartoons'' is a DVD compilation of animated shorts by a variety of artists produced by Bright Red Rocket. The cartoons include works by Ivan Brunetti, Sam Henderson, Walt Holcombe, Kaz, Tim Maloney, Lance Myers, Tony Millionaire, Ma ...

''. He has also been a past participant in

Robert Sikoryak Robert Sikoryak (born 1964) is an American artist whose work is usually signed R. Sikoryak. He specializes in making comic adaptations of literature classics. Under the series title ''Masterpiece Comics'', these include ''Crime and Punishment'' re ...

's ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' multimedia slideshow series.

Biography

Henderson was born in Woodstock, New York. He attended

Boiceville, New York Boiceville is a hamlet in the town of Olive, Ulster County, New York, United States. Located at the intersection of New York State Route 28 and New York State Route 28A, Boiceville is within Catskill State Park. Boiceville was named for Lemuel Boi ...

's Onteora High School, graduating in 1987, and the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he graduated in 1991. Henderson has been self-publishing xeroxed minicomics since 1980. In the mid-to-late 1980s he drew and published a comic called ''Captain Spaz'' with his friend Bobby Weiss. The series ended in 1988 as he was busy in college. In college, he drew a series of minicomics featuring a character known as Monroe Simmons. In 1993 he began self-publishing his best-known title, ''The Magic Whistle'', now published by Alternative Comics. Also in 1993 he began the wordless comic strip ''Scene but Not Heard'', starring a pink man and a red bear, in '' Nickelodeon Magazine''. It was the magazine's longest-running comic strip. A collection was released in 2013. In its review of ''Magic Whistle: Bigger, Larger and Bigger!'' the ''San Antonio Express-News'' wrote that Henderson's "crude, blobby little scratchings are some of the funniest junk being turned out." Henderson was nominated for the Harvey Award's Special Award for Humor every year from 1999 to 2004. Henderson also served on the Ignatz Award jury in 2001. Henderson also worked on the third season of '' SpongeBob SquarePants'' as a writer and storyboard director. He teamed up with

Jay Lender Jay Lender (born June 14, 1969 in New Haven, Connecticut, United States) is an American television writer, storyboard artist and director. He is a former writer and storyboard director for ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Previous to his work on ''Spon ...

on all episodes except " The Camping Episode," on which Lender and Dan Povenmire served as storyboard directors. In 2003, Henderson's writing and storyboard directing work on '' SpongeBob SquarePants'' earned him a nomination for Best Animated Program (for programming less than one hour) in the 55th

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. Henderson compiled '' Behind Closed Doors''. In 2005, Henderson worked as writer and storyboard director of "Parents Day," a season-two episode of ''

''. Henderson currently lives in his hometown of Woodstock, New York.

Awards

* 1997 (nomination) Ignatz Award for Outstanding Minicomic for ''Magic Whistle'' #9 * 1999 (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor * 2000 (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor * 2001: **

Firecracker Alternative Book Award A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental t ...

for Poetry for ''Little Book of Ass'' (with writer Shappy) ** (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor ** (nomination) Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series for ''Magic Whistle'' * 2002: ** (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor ** (nomination) Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series for ''Magic Whistle'' * 2003: ** (nomination) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for '' SpongeBob SquarePants'' ** (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor * 2004 (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor

Bibliography

* ''Magic Whistle'' minicomic (self-published, 10 issues, 1993–1997) * ''Oh That Monroe: The Complete Adventures of Monroe Simmons'' (Wow Cool, 1995) — some material previously appeared in Kar-Tunz, ''Hyena'', ''Cruel and Unusual Punishment'', and ''Destroy All Comics'', as well as several self-published works from 1989 to 1993 * ''The Magic Whistle'' ( Alternative Comics, 15 issues, 1998–2016) ** ''Magic Whistle: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger!'' (''Magic Whistle'' #9) (Alternative Comics, 2004) "MAGIC WHISTLE: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger!"
''Publishers Weekly'' (April 26, 2004). *'' Behind Closed Doors: Horrible, Filthy, Vile, Disgusting, Inappropriate, Off-Model Drawings by the Crew of a Popular Cartoon Show'' (early 2000s) * ''Humor Can Be Funny'' ( Alternative Comics, 2005) * (illustrator) ''Well Defined: Vocabulary in Rhyme'', by Michael Salinger (Boyd's Mills Press, 2009) * ''Scene But Not Heard'' (Alternative Comics, 2013) * ''Magic Whistle 3.0'' (Alternative Comics, 3 issues, 2015–2016)

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* Barrett, Michael (August 15, 2004). "'Peanuts' among winners for comic industry's top award". ''San Antonio Express-News'', p. 2J.

External links

*
Sam Henderson & Magic Whistle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Sam People from Woodstock, New York School of Visual Arts alumni Alternative cartoonists Living people 1969 births American comics artists American comics writers American storyboard artists