Jerry Craft (born January 22, 1963)
''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Accessed January 22, 2014. is an American

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 children's book illustrator best known for his syndicated newspaper comic strip ''Mama's Boyz'' and his graphic novels '' New Kid'', ''Class Act'', and ''School Trip''. Craft is one of only a handful of syndicated African American cartoonists in the US.

Early life and education

Craft grew up in Washington Heights and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He graduated from the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

in 1984 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in Media Arts.

Career

Craft worked for twelve years as a copywriter for various advertising agencies, during which time he also got his first comics work on projects for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

and

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

. Moving on to

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

, Craft spent eight years writing sales brochures. This connection with King Features led to the syndication of Craft's ''Mama's Boyz'' beginning in 1995. Craft later worked as editorial director of the '' Sports Illustrated for Kids'' website where he was nominated for a New Media Award by the National Cartoonists Society for his series of popular Flash cartoons. He left that job in October 2006 to become a full-time cartoonist. Craft performs regular cartooning workshops at schools, camps, and libraries. On January 27, 2020, '' New Kid'' was awarded the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

, becoming the first graphic novel to receive this honor. ''New Kid'' also won the 2020 Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Kirkus Prize.

''Mama's Boyz''

''Mama's Boyz'' follows the lives of African American single mother Pauline Porter and her two teenage sons Tyrell and Yusuf. Other characters include Pauline's brother Greg and their parents. ''Mama's Boyz'' is the outgrowth of a prior strip called ''The Outside View,'' which Craft first self-syndicated in 1987. In 1990, he adapted some elements of ''The Outside View'' to create ''Mama's Boyz'', which he self-syndicated to New York's '' The City Sun'' and eventually a number of other weekly papers across the country. In 1995, ''Mama's Boyz'' was picked up for weekly syndication by King Features. ''Mama's Boyz'' has been praised in ''Great Books for African American Children'', and featured in '' Chicken Soup for the African American Soul'', ''Chicken Soup for the African American Woman's Soul'', and '' The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing''. The Mama's Boyz characters also act as official "spokescharacters" of the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...

's African-American Program.

''New Kid''

Published in 2019, '' New Kid'' tells the story of Jordan Banks, an African-American seventh grader who begins attending a predominantly white, affluent, private school. The book is a partially autobiographical coming of age novel. As one of the few African-American students at his school, Jordan has to face daily microagressions.

Personal life

Craft had two sons, Jaylen and Aren. Aren died on February 8, 2024; he was 24 years old. Before his death, he and his brother co-wrote the book ''The Offenders: Saving the World While Serving Detention!'' with their father.Edwards, Gwen
"Our Lives 9/28,"
''News 12 Connecticut'' website (September 27, 2013). Craft lives in

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

Awards

* 2020

for '' New Kid'' * 2013 Glyph Awards — Best Comic Strip or Webcomic for ''Mama's Boyz''MacDonald, Heidi
"2013 Glyph Comics Awards Winners announced,"
''The Beat'' (May 22, 2013). * 2009 African American Literary Awards Show Open Book Awards * 2007 Conversation Starter award — DC Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy * 2004 African American Literary Awards Show Open Book Awards *

Outstanding Supporter Award (2x) *

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

— nominated

Bibliography

* (written with Jaylen Craft & Aren Craft) ''The Offenders: Saving the World While Serving Detention!'' (Mama's Boyz, Inc., 2014) * '' New Kid'' (Quill Tree Books, 2019) * '' Class Act'' (Quill Tree Books, 2020) * ''School Trip'' (Quill Tree Books, 2023)

''Mama's Boyz'' collections

* ''As American as Sweet Potato Pie!'' (American Publishing Company, 1997) * ''Home Schoolin' – Because Learning Shouldn't Stop at 3 O'Clock'' (Mama's Boyz, Inc., 2007) — endorsed by both Teachers Against Prejudice and Comics in the Classroom * ''The Big Picture: What you Need to Succeed!'' (Mama's Boyz, Inc., 2010)"Cartoonist Jerry Craft Publishes New Book,"
King Features website (February 24, 2010).

As illustrator

* (with writer Lori Nelson) ''Hillary's Big Business Adventure'' (Nelson Publishing, 2008) * (with writer Margo Candelario) ''Looking to the Clouds for Daddy'' (Karen Hunter Media, 2009) * (with writer David Miller) ''Khalil's Way'' (Urban Leadership Institute, 2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Jerry African-American comics artists African-American comics writers American comic strip cartoonists American children's book illustrators American comics artists American comics writers American graphic novelists American magazine editors Newbery Medal winners Living people Artists from New York City School of Visual Arts alumni 1963 births Kirkus Prize winners 21st-century African-American artists 20th-century African-American artists Coretta Scott King Award winners