Craig Yoe (; born February 23, 1951) is an American author, editor, art director, graphic designer, cartoonist and comics historian, best known for his Yoe! Studio creations and his line of

Yoe Books IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

Early life

Craig Yoe was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. He attended Firestone High School in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

and the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

before dropping out to concentrate on counter-cultural activities and the

anti-war movement An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during con ...

Career

In the early 1970s Yoe was a leader in the Akron Jesus People movement, creating a newspaper/Christian comic first called ''The Acorn'' and, later, ''Jesus Loves You''. In 1970, Yoe commissioned legendary surf artist and friend Rick Griffin to do the painting ''Rock of Ages'' which became the cover for ''Jesus Loves You'' (published by Zondervan). Early in his career, Yoe was senior designer at Marvin Glass and Associates, where he worked on Cabbage Patch Kids and '' My Little Pony'' toys. Recruited by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

, Yoe became the creative director and general manager of the Muppets, working on everything from theme parks to television shows. After Henson's death, Yoe opened his own company, Yoe! Studio, working in the entertainment and licensing fields and creating publications, style guides, packaging, press kits, logos, and toys. Yoe! Studio client list includes Kellogg’s, Disney,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, Marvel,

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, and even

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

. Clizia Gussoni is Yoe's wife, business partner and the co-creative director of Yoe! Studio. Yoe also handled

Big Boy Restaurants Big Boy is an American casual dining restaurant chain store, chain headquartered in Southfield, Michigan; it is currently operated in most of the United States by Big Boy Restaurant Group, LLC. The Big Boy name, design aesthetic, and menu were ...

' promotional comic book ''Big Boy Magazine'' – the successor to the '' Adventures of the Big Boy'' comic book – as he discussed with Steven Heller:

We produce everything from start to finish. We interview celebrities from
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
(when she was more wholesome, remember?) to
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
. We produce the comic stories that are still the heart of the publication. Luke McDonnell, another Marvel graduate, is our staff artist at Yoe! Studio. Luke is an incredible visual storyteller who gives Big Boy and friends a delightful modern flair. We get freelance writers Craig Boldman and Bob Supina to do the scripts. When she has time, my business partner, Clizia Gussoni, pens some of the stories with her own magic. It goes from our printer right to the warehouse that houses all the food and napkins, then is trucked to the individual restaurants across the country. The kids love ’em. We get many enthusiastic letters and incredible drawings of Big Boy that we include in each issue.

As of 2010 Yoe is an adjunct professor of art at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Personal life

Yoe is married to Clizia Gussoni, who is also his creative partner, with whom he has had 3 children.. Yoe currently resides in

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

Awards

*Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators *Addy Award (for his MTV station ID) * Eisner Award *4th Annual Jerry Bails Award For Excellence in Fandom, at 2013 Detroit Fanfare * Inkpot Award

Books

Yoe followed ''The Art of Mickey Mouse'' (co-author Janet Yoe-Morra, Rizzoli, 1991) with books for several different publishers: ''The Mighty Big Book of Optical Illusions'' (Price Stern Sloan, 2002), ''Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings'' (Last Gasp, 2007), ''Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-creator Joe Shuster'' (Abrams, 2009), ''The Great Anti-War Cartoons'' (Fantagraphics, 2009), ''Boody'' (Fantagraphics, 2009) and ''Krazy Kat & the Art of George Herriman: A Celebration'' (Abrams, 2011). In 2012, Yoe co-edited IDW's ''Popeye'' comic book miniseries, illustrated by

Bruce Ozella Bruce Ozella (born November 10, 1958) is an American cartoonist, best known for his revival of ''Popeye'' in 2012. After study at Boston's New England School of Art & Design, Ozella worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in Boston for more ...

Yoe Books / IDW

In 2010, Yoe launched his own imprint, Yoe Books, with IDW. *'' The Art of Ditko'' (January 2010) *'' The Complete Milt Gross Comic Books and Life Story'' (February 2010) *'' Dan DeCarlo's Jetta'' (March 2010) *''The Golden Collection of Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics'' (April 2010) *'' Felix the Cat’s Greatest Comic Book Tails'' (August 2010) *'' Dick Briefer's Frankenstein'' (October 2010) *'' Barney Google: Gambling, Horse Races & High-Toned Women'' (October 2010) *''The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories'' (November 2010) *'' Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales by Bud Sagendorf'' (February 2011) *'' Krazy & Ignatz in Tiger Tea'' (April 2011) *'' Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers'' (May 2011) *'' Archie's Madhouse'' (August 2011) *'' Amazing 3-D Comics!'' (August 2011) *'' Barks' Bear Book'' (September 2011) *'' Bob Powell's Terror: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (November 2011) *'' Frazetta Funny Stuff'' (May 2012) *''Zombies: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (with Steve Banes) (June 2012) *'' The Creativity of Ditko'' (August 2012) *''Little Penis: A Finger Puppet Parody Book'' (2012) *''Comics About Cartoonists: Stories About The World's Oddest Profession'' (January 2013) *'' Ditko Monsters: GORGO!'' (March 2013) *'' Jack Cole's Deadly Horror: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (October 2013) *''Haunted Horror: Banned Comics from the 1950s: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (with Steve Banes and Clizia Gussoni) (November 2013) *'' Felix the Cat Paintings'' (April 2014) *''Alice in Comicland'' (with Mark Burstein) (May 2014) *'' The Worst of Eerie Publications: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (Mike Howlett) (November 2014) *''Haunted Horror: Comics Your Mother Warned You About: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (with Steve Banes and Clizia Gussoni) (November 2014) *'' Ditko's Shorts'' (with Fester Faceplant) (December 2014) *'' Howard Nostrand's Nightmares: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (December 2014) *'' Tom Sutton's Creepy Things: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics'' (Michael Ambrose and Donnie Pitchford) (January 2015)

Children's Books for Mango Publishing

In 2020, Craig Yoe and Mango Publishing launched a series of four children's books titled "Squeaky Clean, Super Funny." *''Squeaky Clean Super Funny: Jokes! For Kidz'' (June 2020) *''Squeaky Clean Super Funny: Knock Knock Jokes! For Kidz'' (June 2020) *''Squeaky Clean Super Funny: Riddles! For Kidz'' (July 2020) *''Squeaky Clean Super Funny: School Jokes! For Kidz'' (August 2020)

References

External links

*
Yoe Books
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoe, Craig American editors 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American publishers (people) 1951 births Living people Comics historians Comics scholars American male non-fiction writers Inkpot Award winners