Alumni

The Center for Cartoon Studies alumni have created comics for publishers big and small and self-publish their work. They’ve won prestigious grants, awards and fellowships. And they work across comic and non-comic industries.

Are you listening? (FirstSecond) by Tillie Walden ′16.

Nubia: Real One (DC Comics by L.L. McKinney Robyn Smith ’17.

OUR ALUMNI ARE PUBLISHED EVERYWHERE

Many CCS alumni are published by large and small comics publishers such as Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Random House, Harper Alley, First Second, AdHouse Books, Avery Hill, Conundrum, Koyama Press, Secret Acres, Nobrow, as well as mainstream publishers like Hyperion, McSweeneys, Roaring Brook/Macmillan, Scholastic, DC Comics and Simon & Schuster.

ALUMNI AWARDS AND MORE

Others work in comics and non-comics publishing in design, production, editorial, distribution and marketing, at companies such as Barefoot Books, BOOM!, DC, Fantagraphics, Hachette, Kensington, Macmillan, and Penguin.

Accolades include Ignatz Awards, Eisner Awards, Harvey Awards, Ringo Awards, Lambda Literary Awards, Stonewall Honor Book, LA Times Book Prize, Golden Kite Award, and starred reviews in Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly among numerous best-of lists.

Making More: How Life Begins (Norton Young Readers, March 7, 2023. Ages 6-11) by Katherine Roy ′10.

Killbuck (One Percent Press) by Sean Knickerbocker ′12.

TRAINED IN DESIGN AND PUBLISHING

Our alumni are trained in graphic design and publishing industry standards, and many have pursued graphic design and production work, including at Charles M Schulz Creative Associates and Comixology. They are doing design and illustration for companies as varied as Target, Fantasy Flight Games, and b2 Interactive, and many have established successful freelance careers for prestigious publications, companies and organizations. Alumni have pursued teaching, offering classes and workshops for K-12, and several are faculty at the college level at schools like School of the Art Institute of Chicago,  Lesley University, Champlain College, California College of Art, Missouri State University, Stanford and more.

A DEDICATED COMICS COMMUNITY

CCS alumni work at libraries and bookstores. They work day jobs. They self publish and attend conventions or sell work online or through mini comics distributors. They start their own small presses, printing companies, publications and anthologies. Overall a very high percentage of alumni remain in comics in one way or another, and the quality of CCS artists is recognized by industry leaders, the comics press and reviewers, and their fellow comics creators.

ON A SUNBEAM (FirstSecond) by Tillie Walden ′16.

TEOTFW (Fantagraphics) by Charles Forsman ′08.

House of Women (Fantagraphics) by alumni Sophie Goldstein.

Book: The Big Reveal by Sasha Velour

The Big Reveal by alumni Sasha Velour.

Book: I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden by Mannie Murphy ′18.

Book: Hooray for Craft Beer!

Hooray for Craft Beer! (One Peace Books) By alumni Em Sauter ’11.

BOOK: Frankie Comics by Rachel Dukes

Frankie Comics by alumni Rachel Dukes ’13.

Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley

Stepping Stones (First Second) by Lucy Knisley ′08.

As The Crow Flies by (Iron Circus) Melanie Gillman ′12.

How To Survive In The North (Nobrow) by Luke Healy ′14.

Maker Comics: Draw a Comic! First Second by JP Coover ′08.

Ruth Asawa’s first interaction with wire was on her family’s farm in Norwalk, outside of Los Angeles. Drawings by Sam Nakahira

Interwoven, a forthcoming graphic biography of Asawa, author and illustrator Sam Nakahira ’21