Loading AI tools
Joe Sharpnack (born 1962)[1] is an editorial cartoonist based out of Iowa City, Iowa in the United States.
Sharpnack was raised on a ranch in Colorado. His father was the editor-in-chief of the Fort Collins Coloradan. After he graduated high school Sharpnack traveled as a musician, and then attended the University of Iowa, where he received a degree in English[2] in 1987.[1]
While studying at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, he began his career as a political cartoonist. The Daily Iowan, the university's school paper, published Sharpnack's first cartoon, "Campus Zero," on November 3, 1986, about President Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra affair. While still at the University of Iowa his cartoons were syndicated by The Washington Post.[2]
After graduating Sharpnack went to work at his first job at Chicago's Daily Southtown.[2]
He returned to Iowa after working in Chicago, maintaining almost 40 freelance jobs with newspapers across the USA. During the 1990s he created flip books, and published an anthology- Attack of the Political Cartoonist. He held a staff position at the Cedar Rapids Gazette for ten years.[2]
Sharpnack left the US and taught English to South Korean children in the third to sixth grades for over a year.[2]
He joined the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a drummer with the band called Oink Henderson and the Squealers.[2]
In 2017 Sharpnack was diagnosed with a rare condition that reduced his eyesight by 26.2 percent of what it had been.[2]
His work has appeared in many local, national, and international newspapers and magazines. In addition, he has produced three books, namely Attack of the Political Cartoonists, Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists, and What America Wants, America Gets: Notes from the 'G.O.P. Revolution' and Other Scary Stuff.
He received the Lisagor Award while working in Chicago.[2]
Sharpnack was mentioned in the comic strip Frazz on January 15, 2007.[3]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
