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 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 dist ...

, 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 ...

. 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, Paul Conrad, Pat Oliphant 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 ho ...

'' 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 ...

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 Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois, but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was ''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. History Founder Ira Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventu ...

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 ...

-owned children's network,

Universal Kids Universal Kids is an American children's television 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 channel joint ...

, 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