Stephen Paul Breen (born April 26, 1970) is a nationally syndicated cartoonist. He won the

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 ...

twice, in 1998 and 2009.

Biography

He graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1988 and attended the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree 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 ...

. It was at UCR that he started drawing editorial cartoons for his school paper, ''The Highlander''. In 1991, Breen won the Scripps Howard Charles M. Schulz Award as the top college cartoonist and the John Locher Memorial Award for Outstanding College Editorial Cartoonist. He was influenced by cartoonists such as

Jeff MacNelly Jeffrey Kenneth MacNelly (September 17, 1947 – June 8, 2000) was an American editorial cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Shoe (comic strip), Shoe''. After ''Shoe'' had been established in papers, MacNelly created the single-panel ...

, Paul Conrad, Pat Oliphant and Don Wright. Breen was about to become a high school history teacher when the ''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'', formerly known as the ''Shore Press'', ''Daily Press'', ''Asbury Park Daily Press'', and ''Asbury Park Evening Press'', is the third largest daily newspaper in the state of New Jersey. Established in 1879, it has been o ...

'' offered him a job in the art department in July 1994. He became the full-time editorial cartoonist there in 1996. Breen's comic strip '' Grand Avenue'', which is syndicated 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 appears in more than 150 newspapers across the country, was launched in 1999. In 2005, Breen's colleague Mike Thompson came on board to help write the strip, and in 2009 became official co-creator. In 2014 Thompson took over most writing & art duties; as of 2016 the strip is entirely by Thompson. In July 2001, Breen returned to his home state to join the staff of ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''. Breen left the ''Union-Tribune'' in 2023 and joined the San Diego nonprofit news website inewsource later in the year. His editorial cartoons are nationally syndicated by

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

(which acquired former syndicate

Copley News Service Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was ''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. History Founder Ira Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventu ...

in 2008). They regularly appear in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and '' U.S. News & World Report''. Breen is the author and illustrator of several children's books: ''Stick'', ''Violet the Pilot'', ''The Secret of Santa's Island'', and ''Woodpecker Wants a Waffle'', for which he won the 2017 New Hampshire State Library Ladybug Picture Book Award. Breen also created the cartoon Powerbirds for

NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...

-owned children's network, Universal Kids, based on his series of children's books.

References

External links

Creators.comSan Diego Union-TribuneBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breen, Steve 1970 births Living people University of California, Riverside alumni American editorial cartoonists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners The San Diego Union-Tribune people American illustrators Huntington Beach High School alumni