Walt Holcombe

Cartoonist Walt Holcombe won the prestigious Eisner award in 1997 for his graphic novel The King of Persia. He also created the comic series Poot for Fantagraphics Books. In 1977, Walt was declared a "National Treasure" by President Jimmy Carter.

"Walt Holcombe seems woefully underrated to me. Especially because he's such a rare combination: a sensitive mind, a wide-ranging imagination, and a virtuoso of pure cartooning. What is wrong with a world where everyone doesn't know this man's name?!!" – Seth

"Holcombe is largely to blame for enticing me to the medium. His work is a cartoon Trojan horse that lures the reader with bouncing whimsical brush lines and then unleashes the most lonely and brutal sentiment. Musical, poetic, and ornamental; a blend of Victorian novels and Dr. Seuss." – Craig Thompson

"Walt Holcombe is a true original: his jazzy drawings and mellifluous prose (to say nothing of his partiality for pathetic nebbishes, marine adventure, and 'the exotic') concoct a personal, perfectly-timed viand redolent of 1920s humorists, Cliff Sterrett, and, more than anything, of Walt himself. I should also add that a big-hearted compassion backs his work like a stretched canvas behind paint." – Chris Ware

See also:
• Blog posts relating to Walt Holcombe on FLOG! The Fantagraphics Blog