Robb Armstrong | |
---|---|
Born | Robbin Armstrong March 4, 1962 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Nationality | American |
Education | Syracuse University |
Occupation | Cartoonist |
Notable work | Jump Start |
Spouse | Crystal D. Armstrong |
Website | www |
Robb Armstrong (born March 4, 1962) is an African American cartoonist, best known for creating the comic strip Jump Start . Jump Start is the most widely syndicated daily strip written by an African American.
Armstrong was born on March 4, 1962, in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] Armstrong's mother, Dorothy was a seamstress. He was the youngest of the five children. [2] [3]
Armstrong attended the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr. [1] [4] During the senior year of high-school he completed a three-week internship with cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. [5] [6] He studied advertising design at the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. [7] [8]
During college, he began submitting his comic Hector to The Daily Orange his freshman year and later became art director at the newspaper. Hector is a cynical, lazy black college kid who is accompanied by Meatball and Julias; a dog with human ears. [3] When this character didn't work well outside the college boundaries, he worked over the next four years to reshape Hector into Jump Start. [6] [7] During his early years as a cartoonist, he held a day-job at Weightman advertising in Philadelphia. [5]
Jump Start , Armstrong's comic strip revolves around the trials and tribulations of a middle-class Black family in Philadelphia that is made up of Joseph "Joe" Cobb Sr., a city police officer, and Marcy Cobb, a nurse and their four children. [3] [9] [10] The family is named after the Cobbs Creek neighborhood located in West Philadelphia. [1]
After being picked for syndication by United Feature Syndicate in October 1989, the cartoon appeared in 69 papers within six months of launch. [5] [6] Since its launch in 1989 around 10,000 comics have been created. As of 2018, it is syndicated in over 300 newspapers throughout North America, including The Los Angeles Times , New York Daily News , and The Boston Globe . [2]
In 2020, Armstrong stated that he is working on a possible live-action comedy television show based on Jump Start. [7] [11] [12]
In October 2010, Armstrong's work was featured in The Original Art of the Funny Papers exhibition at Syracuse university's XL Projects gallery in Armory Square. [13] [14] On May 19, 2012, Armstrong received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris causa degree from Holy Family University in Pennsylvania. [15]
In 2016, Armstrong published a part self-help book, part memoir titled Fearless: A Cartoonist's Guide to Life. [1] [11]
Armstrong lists Charles M. Schulz as one of his influences and heroes, saying that he started drawing sketches of Charlie Brown at age five. [3] [16] [17] As part of the 1994 animated television special You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown , Schulz gave his Franklin, the Peanuts strip's Black character, the surname Armstrong, after Robb Armstrong. [9] [16] [17] [18] Armstrong was later chosen to co-write the 2024 Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin , the first special to star the character. [19] [20]
Armstrong has two children and is married to Crystal D. Armstrong, an events planner. [21] They reside in Los Angeles, California. [1]
A great uncle, Eugene Benson, played baseball in the Negro league and the majors. [22]