Robyn Smith (cartoonist)

Last updated
Robyn Smith
NationalityJamaican
Notable work Nubia: Real One , Wash Day Diaries
Awards Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics

Robyn Brooke Smith is a Jamaican writer and cartoonist based in the United States. She is the author of The Saddest, Angriest, Black Girl in Town and the illustrator of Wash Day, Nubia: Real One , and Wash Day Diaries , for which she received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.

Contents

Early life and education

Smith was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She aspired to become a cartoonist from childhood, inspired in part by her father, a portrait artist and her mother, a makeup artist. [1] She also enjoyed reading Archie Digest , which she considers a key influence on her work. [2] [1] Smith's family immigrated to the Bronx when she was 16, after she graduated high school. [1]

Smith received her bachelor's degree from Hampshire College and received her master of fine arts degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies. [3] [4]

Career

During her graduate program at the Center for Cartoon Studies she developed her debut comic book The Saddest Angriest Black Girl In Town (2016) as a mini-thesis project, a memoir about "her experience being one of the only Black people in a rural Vermont town and how that time affected her mental health and her grasp of how Blackness is viewed in the world." [4] The book was named to the 2016 Best Short Form Comics list by The Comics Journal . After going out of print, it was reprinted in 2021 by Black Josei Press. [4] Smith also published comics on CollegeHumor. [1]

Jamila Rowser approached Smith to illustrate Wash Day, a comic about a hair care ritual for Black women, published in 2018 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. [5] [1] It won a 2019 DiNKy Award for Best Floppy Comic. [3] She also illustrated the follow-up graphic novel Wash Day Diaries , for which she and writer Jamila Rowser received the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics and the 2023 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story. [6] [7] [8]

Smith illustrated Nubia: Real One (2021), a DC comic written by L.L. McKinney.

Works

Illustration

Accolades

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Indie Comics Spotlight: With Wash Day, Nubia, and more, artist Robyn Smith is making Black Girl Magic real". SYFY. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  2. ↑ "WASH DAY DIARIES' Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith on Their Heartfelt Graphic Novel". Nerdist. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  3. 1 2 "Alum and Graphic Novel Artist Robyn Smith's "Nubia" Featured in New York Times Article on "When Blackness Is a Superpower"". Hampshire College. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  4. 1 2 3 McClain, Carrie (2021-08-05). "Navigating The World While Black: The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town". SOLRAD. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  5. ↑ "Wash Day - Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith's Comics "Tribute to the Beauty and Endurance of Black Women and Their Hair"". Broken Frontier. 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  6. ↑ "Black TV Shows, Films, Comics, and Novels to Support in 2022". Nerdist. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  7. 1 2 St. Martin, Emily. "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners Announced". MSN. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  8. ↑ Dark, Joan Zahra (2023-09-11). "2023 Ignatz Awards Winners: Comics That Rebel, That Fascists Hate". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 2023-09-12. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  9. ↑ Studies, The Center for Cartoon (2022-01-01). "Robyn Smith '17 Emerging Talent Award from CXC". The Center for Cartoon Studies. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  10. ↑ Dark, Joan Zahra (2023-09-11). "2023 Ignatz Awards Winners: Comics That Rebel, That Fascists Hate". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 2023-09-12. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
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