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[ENGLISH][SPANISH][FRENCH][GERMAN]
john denver
"he was flying for me..." FAREWELL ANDROMEDA
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This is a family portrait of some of the Toons we've had the joy of working with over the years.
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HOW ABOUT THESE APPLES?
The Nation:- Eric Blumrich/BUSHFLASH.COM
- Stuart Rapeport/AAEC
- JP Trostle/AAEC
2004 Pulitzer Prize Nominee, Joe King designs both the product & packaging for a wide variety of specialty items. In the early '80s Joe parlayed his position as one of the original Blue Sky Rangers, [Mattel Electronics videogame designers] into a Department of Defense [D.O.D.] software engineer, enjoying a TOP SECRET security clearance at Lockheed's fabled Rye Canyon facility [Skunk Works], original nest for the SR-71 Blackbird fleet. Today he suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous mis-fortune - frequently at the hands of other cartoonists!
He is currently in production of several self-syndicated comic strips distributed world-wide under the banner of his publishing forge: FUNNY PAPERZ.
In April, 2003 -- Joe King was accepted into AAEC; the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. This October of he will be feted for the 3rd time at Cartoons & Cocktails; an international benefit and auction in Washington DC hosted by the National Press Club!
Important additions to his portfolio include all pre-production design on Paramount Pictures live-action movie of his original graphic novel:
He is the recipient of several national & international design awards. And they all started with an "Elephant Key" from the San Francisco Zoo in 1965. Too young to enter the coloring contest sponsored by The Chronicle, he lied about his age on the entry form - & won. Among others not so larcenous; the 1982 Mattel Electronics award for experimental work in computer graphics design, showcased at CES, (it got him a job at Lockheed's top secret Skunk Works!) the 1989 Film Advisory Board's (FAB) award for Excellence In Children's Programming, Microtek's 1992 Design Contest in which a special category was created in honor of MEN FROM EARTH & toured with the MacWorld exhibition, & CorelDraw's 1992 Million Dollar Design Contest; winning five awards prior to the final Award Of Excellence. All work displayed at the National Museum Of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario under the banner "Painters Of The New Century".
Inducted into the National Cartoonist Society in 1991, he cherishes the friendship & mentoring of fellow professionals. His first comic strip series, ANOMALIES was published in 1985 by The Easy Reader, winning their annual contest. His graphic novel, MEN FROM EARTH earned worldwide distribution on its first day of publication July 4, 1991 at the San Diego ComiCon and eventually went into pre-production at Paramount Pictures as a live-action feature in the fall of 1996. His third, RUST & WRINKLES ran internationally before being collected & published as his first anthology in 1992. The launch of this on-line gallery was christened with a daily political cartoon in the summer of 1996. The Easy Reader again played host to Joe's next daily feature, WEBSTER, running from 1997-98.
During 1999 the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce published HERE & THERE: Seal Beach.
That April saw his first Limited Edition Fine Art Print released at the 12th Annual Charity Car Show in Seal Beach!
In May, Joe was honored with a banquet by SCCS; the Southern California Cartoonist Society in San Diego, CA.
In August, having a "great deal to say on a great many things" he again taunted a captive audience in the guise of "keynote speaker" in Las Vegas at the Classic Games Expo, where along with his fellow Blue Sky Rangers they were immortalized in a giant silicon chip as "Pioneers of the Video Game Industry". Attendees were treated to ground-breaking game software and unpublished treasures from the dawn of the joystick era.
An honorary graduate of Platt College, he has been a guest speaker there & at the Pasadena Art Center School Of Design. Joe King, a native Californian, was born in the shadow of The Lone Ranger Rock.
Joe capped off the millennium by being chosen as a finalist in Haystack Toys first Great American Toy Hunt; an exhaustive nation-wide search for new talent and ideas. Winners were announced in October and Joe's own project can be seen at his online gallery.
Joe King's newest parody, I'M JUST LIKE CAPT. KIRK BECAUSE... was recently syndicated by CafePress.com over the Internet and a15th ANNIVERSARY-RUST & WRINKLES has just been released by Trafford Publishing. With over 2,000,000 visitors to his website to date, Joe is being laughed at in more than 22 different countries.
In the wake of the 9-11 terror attacks, Joe struck back in a daily editorial panel that ran uninterrupted for 4 years in the pages of the Santa Monica Daily Press.
During the summer of 2006 Joe relocated to the Central Coast quickly becoming a familiar fixture in local coffee shops and city boardwalks. Laying aside the more cruel and cynical tools of his trade in favor of the upbeat and affectionate, he has "buried the hatchet" of political journalism in the peak of Morro Rock as he devotes himself to local issues and concerns.
You can follow Joe's scribbling:
(a) Every week as the Cartoonist for The Bay News.
(b) Every month in Information Press.
(c) Once in a blue moon in The Los Angeles Times.
A whimsical fusion of fine art, popular culture and humorous illustrations; Joe teaches classes in cartooning for both children & adults thru the Recreation Depts. of Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande & Atascadero!
His work is on display at Farmer’s Kites & Surreys, Giovanni’s Fish Market, Kitty’s Kitchen, Sabetta’s, Seven Sisters Gallery, Summer Cottage, The Blue Bean Espresso Bar, The Hofbrau House, The Hot Dog Factory, The Rock Espresso Bar & Vintage Vinyl in Morro Bay, SLO ARTS @ The Creamery in SLO, Vintage Automobilia in Cambria and Old Sebastian's in San Simeon.
In August of 2008, Joe will serve as Artist-In-Residence for the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA.
