Darrin Bell
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Darrin Lawrence Bell (born January 27, 1975) is a
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning American editorial
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
and comic strip creator known for the syndicated satirical
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
s '' Candorville'' and '' Rudy Park''. He is a syndicated editorial cartoonist with King Features. (His editorial cartoons were formerly syndicated by ''The Washington Post'' Writers Group.) Bell is the first
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
to have two comic strips syndicated nationally and to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He is also a storyboard artist. Bell engages in issues such as
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
,
pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
,
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
,
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
, scriptural wisdom, and nihilist philosophy, while often casting his characters in roles that are traditionally denied to them. Bell was arrested in 2025 under suspicion of having uploaded and possessed
child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
, including of real children and AI-generated children. He is the first person to be charged under a California law criminalizing AI-generated child sexual abuse material.


Biography

Bell, who is black and Jewish, was born in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. He started drawing when he was three. He is the son of a black father and a Jewish mother, both of whom are public school teachers. Bell grew up in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s, and experienced bullying in his youth due to his
interracial Interracial topics include: * Interracial marriage, marriage between two people of different races ** Interracial marriage in the United States *** 2009 Louisiana interracial marriage incident * Interracial adoption, placing a child of one raci ...
identity. He attended the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, graduating with a BA in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
in 1999. While at Cal, Bell became the editorial cartoonist for ''
The Daily Californian ''The Daily Californian'' (''Daily Cal'') is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. History 20th century ''The Daily Californian'' became independent fro ...
''. Bell's freelance editorial cartooning career began in 1995 at age 20. His first sale was to the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', which subsequently assigned him a cartoon every other week. Bell also sold his cartoons to the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' and the former BANG ( Bay Area News Group) papers, which included the ''
Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California, and a predecessor of the '' East Bay Times''. It was published by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' ...
''. Bell's strip '' Candorville'', launched in September 2003 by ''The Washington Post'' Writers Group (WPWG), features young black and Latino characters living in the
inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...
. Using the vehicle of humor, ''Candorville'' presents social and political commentary as well as the stories of its protagonists. ''Candorville'' grew out of a comic strip called ''Lemont Brown'', which appeared in the student newspaper of
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
, ''
The Daily Californian ''The Daily Californian'' (''Daily Cal'') is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. History 20th century ''The Daily Californian'' became independent fro ...
'', from 1993 to 2003. It was that newspaper's longest-running comic strip. ''Candorville'' appears in more than 100 of
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
's newspapers. Bell also drew '' Rudy Park'', a syndicated comic strip created by Theron Heir and Bell that was distributed by
United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media ( ...
and then the WPWG. Heir, a.k.a. Matt Richtel, wrote the strip from 2001 to 2012, when he announced he would be taking a year-long sabbatical to focus on other projects. Bell at that point took over the writing duties as well as illustrating the strip, which ended print syndication in June 2018,Degg, D. D
"Candorville/Rudy Park Amalgamation Explained"
''The Daily Cartoonist'' (October 21, 2018).
although it continues to appear sporadically (now distributed by Counterpoint Media).In 2023, Bell's autobiographical hardback graphic novel ''The Talk'' was published. It combined his life story with some common tropes of the American civil rights narrative.


Personal life

Bell currently resides in
Sacramento County, California Sacramento County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, California, Sacramento, which has been the List ...
with his wife, Makeda Rashidi. They have four children.


Child pornography investigation and arrest

On January 15, 2025, Bell was arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office under suspicion of having possessed
child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
, according to Internet Crimes Against Children detectives tipped off by the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pre ...
. In a search of Bell's home, investigators stated that they found 134 videos of child pornography linked to an account owned and controlled by Bell, some of which was computer generated. Bell was being held pending a $1,000,000 bail. He was booked into a Sacramento County jail. After his arrest, Bell's ''Candorville'' strip was suspended by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' and other outlets. Bell was also suspended from Counterpoint Media's daily newsletter. On January 23, 2025, Bell was released from custody, pending appearance at a court hearing on February 4.


Awards

Bell was given the 2019
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...
. In addition to the awards listed below, Bell's work won several California Intercollegiate Press Association awards and an SPJ Mark of Excellence Award, and he was a two-time runner-up for the Charles M. Schulz Award, as well as a runner-up for the Locher Award. * 2015: Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Editorial Cartooning * 2016: Clifford K. & James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons * 2019:
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...
* 2024: Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence, finalist for ''The Talk''


Publications

* * * * * * *


Interviews


Interview
with Tony Dokoupil, ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' (January 19, 2008)
Interview
with Comics Coast to Coast (April 28, 2008)
Interview
with Michael A. Ventrella (August 2011)
Interview
with Michael Cavna, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' (August 20, 2014)
Interview
with Michael Cavna, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' (December 4, 2014)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Darrin 1975 births Living people American comics writers American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American editorial cartoonists American satirists American satirical comics artists American satirical comics writers American storyboard artists American graphic novelists UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni African-American comics writers African-American comics artists African-American editorial cartoonists African-American Jews Artists from Los Angeles Jewish American comics artists Jewish American comics writers Jewish American editorial cartoonists The New Yorker people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American Jews 20th-century African-American artists