Ivan Brunetti Biography
Ivan Brunetti (born October 3, 1967) is an Italian and American cartoonist and comics scholar based in Chicago.
Career
Noted for combining blackly humorous taboo-laden subject matter with simplified and exaggerated cartoon drawing styles, Brunetti was strongly influenced by Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts. His best known comic work is his largely autobiographical series Schizo, of which four issues appeared between 1994 and 2006, the first 3 of which have been collected as Misery Loves Comedy. Schizo #4 received the 2006 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic of the Year.
He has also produced two collections of gag cartoons, Haw! (2001) and Hee! (2005). He has worked as an illustrator, including cover designs for The New Yorker since 2007. His early work includes also the strip Misery Loves Comedy which he created for the University of Chicago newspaper The Maroon while a student there. The strip bears no relation to the 2007 Fantagraphics Books collection of the same name, which collects the first three issues of Schizo in their entirety, along with additional material contributed to various other publications during the same time period.
In 2005, Brunetti curated The Cartoonist's Eye, an exhibit of 75 artists' work, for the A+D Gallery of Columbia College Chicago. He then edited An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories (2006, Yale University Press), which was declared a bestseller by Publishers Weekly in January 2007. The second and final volume of the anthology was released in October 2008. Brunetti also illustrated the cover of comedian Patton Oswalt's album, My Weakness Is Strong.
Brunetti's nonfiction book Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice (2011, Yale University Press) won a 2012 Eisner Award. Also in 2012, Brunetti contributed to The Guardian's "Cartoonists on the world we live in" series.
His second nonfiction book, Aesthetics: A Memoir, appeared in 2013 to positive reviews.
He is currently on the faculty of Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches cl*es on comics, drawing and design.
Bibliography
Comics
- Schizo #1–4 (Antarctic Press, 1994–2006)
- Haw! Horrible, Horrible Cartoons by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics, 2001)
- 32 Drunks (Self-published mini-comic, 2001)
- Hee! Yet More Horrible Cartoons (Fantagraphics, 2005)
Collected editions
- Misery Loves Comedy (Fantagraphics, 2007)
- Ho! (Fantagraphics, 2007)
Nonfiction
- Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice (Yale University Press, 2011)
- Aesthetics: A Memoir (Yale University Press, 2013)
Children's books
- Wordplay (TOON Books, 2017)
- 3x4 (TOON Books, 2018)
- Comics: Easy As ABC (TOON Books, 2019)
Anthologies (as editor)
- An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories (Yale University Press, 2006)
- An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories, Volume 2 (Yale University Press, 2008)
New Yorker covers
- January 8, 2007
- May 7, 2007
- March 2, 2009
- September 7, 2009
- January 4, 2010
- February 15 & 22, 2010
- November 1, 2010
- May 31, 2010
- March 19, 2012
- July 1, 2013
- September 23, 2013
- November 4, 2013
- April 21, 2014
- December 15, 2014
- November 2, 2015
- September 12, 2016
Illustrator
- David Wilton (2008). Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. Oxford University Press. ISBN:9780195375572.
- Cover art for Tomahawk's album Oddfellows.
- Cover art for Patton Oswalt's album My Weakness Is Strong.
References
External links
- The Ivan Brunetti Interview at Comic Book Galaxy
- Ivan Brunetti Interview on the Yale Press Log
- Jenna Marotta (March 2011). "Ivan Brunetti Explains His Art in 'Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice'". Chicago magazine.
- Ken Parille (18 April 2011). ""Nothing Good Can Come Out of Dishonesty": An Interview about Teaching with Ivan Brunetti". The Comics Journal.
- Christopher Borrelli (27 May 2011). "There's no comforting cartoonist Ivan Brunetti". Chicago Tribune.
