James Mark Borgman (born February 24, 1954) 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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

. He is known for his political cartoons and his nationally syndicated comic strip '' Zits''. He was the editorial cartoonist at ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' from 1976 to 2008.

Biography

Borgman was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

to James and Marian Borgman, where he began his career in journalism as a student at

Elder High School , motto_translation = Strive for the higher things , streetaddress = 3900 Vincent Avenue , region = Price Hill , city = Cincinnati , county = , state ...

. He then attended Ohio's

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...

where he started as an English major, then switched to being an art major. He graduated in 1976 with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

honors. Borgman met his first wife Lynn Goodwin during his senior year of college at a class called Jesus and the Gospels. They had two children named Dylan and Chelsea. Lynn died in 1999 from a blood clot following surgery to ease chronic neck and shoulder pain. In 2003 he married Suzanne Soled, an educational psychologist and professor at Northern Kentucky University.

Career

At Kenyon College, Borgman drew editorial cartoons for the '' Kenyon Collegian''. He became ''

''s editorial cartoonist in 1976. Since 1980, his editorial cartoons have been nationally syndicated, at first by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

. In 2007,

Universal Press Syndicate Universal Press Syndicate (UPS), a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, was an independent press syndicate. It distributed lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roge ...

took over the distribution of his editorial cartoons. In 2008, he took a voluntary

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyo ...

offered by ''Enquirer'' parent

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Comic strip series

Wonk City

His body of work has included the weekly comic strip ''Wonk City'', which ran from 1994 to 1996 on the editorial pages of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. A surreal send-up of inside-the-beltway mores during the administration of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

, many of the cartoons featured a cat involved in behind-the-scenes political skullduggery.

Zits

While on vacation in

Sedona, Arizona Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. It is within the Coconino Nation ...

, Borgman met up with fellow cartoonist,

Jerry Scott Jerry Scott (born May 2, 1955) is an American cartoonist and writer. He is known for co-creating the comic strips ''Baby Blues'' and ''Zits (comics), Zits''. He is one of only four cartoonists to have multiple strips appearing in over 1,000 ne ...

. Scott pitched the idea of a cartoon about a teenager and thus the comic strip ''Zits'' was born, debuting in July, 1997, with Borgman cartooning and Scott writing. ''Zits'' is syndicated in over 1500 newspapers around the world and is translated into nine languages, including

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Chinese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Awards

In 1991, when Borgman was 37 years old, he won the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 ...

. He has also won the

National Cartoonist 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 ...

Editorial Cartoon Award for 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, and 2006, their Newspaper Comic Strip for 1997, their Newspaper Comic Strip (with

) in 1998 and 1999 for ''Zits'', and their

Reuben Award 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 ...

in 1993. Borgman also won the Reuben Award for editorial cartooning in 2006, and has achieved a great deal of recognition for his work.

References

External links

* *
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgman, Jim 1954 births Living people American comic strip cartoonists American editorial cartoonists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners Artists from Cincinnati Reuben Award winners Kenyon College alumni The Cincinnati Enquirer people Elder High School alumni