'Ripley's Believe It Or Not!' (8 March 2015).
John Graziano was an American cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator, painter and comic artist. He was most notable for being the fifth main artist to draw the long-running educational cartoon feature 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not', which he did for the United Features Syndicate and Ripley Publishing between 2004 and 2021. John Graziano the cartoonist should not be confused with the music professor John Graziano, who authored and edited several music-related books, or the John Graziano who was a victim of the widely publicized 2008 car accident caused by reality TV personality Nick Hogan.
Early life and career
John Anthony Graziano was born in 1962 and in Newark, New Jersey. When he was 15 years old, he visited the 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' odditorium in St. Augustine, Florida. Series creator Robert L. Ripley was a collector of all kinds of strange objects, who not only exhibited them during fairs or at museums in so-called "Odditoriums", but also through a long-running comic strip panel, titled 'Ripley's Believe It or Not', which has remained in constant production since 1918. The museum made a strong impression on Graziano and he applied for a job as an artist on the series, including samples of personal research. While he wasn't hired, he was encouraged to hone his graphic skills and make another attempt in the near future. Between 1980 and 1983, Graziano studied Pictorial Illustration at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts. Since 1983, he has been working as a freelance caricaturist, both through agencies and solo. After additional studies in Industrial Design Technology at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (1991-1992), he was recruited by Imagine, Inc. to design trading card sets and magazine cartoons. Starting September 1996, he was active as a freelance illustrator.
Illustration for Graziano's 'Dark Shadows' portrait series.
At the start of his illustration career, Graziano was active as an illustrator for a T-shirt company. For Dan Curtis Productions, he additionally designed trading card sets and a portrait series based on the 1960s cult TV show 'Dark Shadows'. Graziano also created comic strips for the 1990s horror magazine Scream Queens (Market Square Productions) and created storyboards and concept drawings for Hollywood films. Between January 1988 and February 1998, he was illustrator and production manager for Garden State Screenprinters.
Ripley's Believe It Or Not
In 2004, Graziano approached the editors of 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' with the intention of pitching a licensing idea. In an unintentional but perfect timing, the then-current artist of the series, Don Wimmer, was about to retire and Graziano was asked whether he wanted to be his successor. To him, it was a dream come true and he accepted the proposal. To be closer to the Ripley's Florida headquarters, Graziano and his wife moved from Roselle, New Jersey to Wesley Chapel, Florida. John Graziano's first daily 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not' episode appeared on 31 May 2004. His first Sunday page saw print on 27 June of that year.
John Graziano's first 'Believe It Or Not' daily (31 May 2004).
In a week's time, Graziano produced 22 fun facts a week, three for a daily episode, and four for the Sunday feature. Ideas for the facts were provided by an editorial team led by researcher Lucas Stram at Ripley's Orlando headquarters, but sometimes people around the world submitted their own suggestions. In a profile of John Graziano in The Tampa Bay Times of 27 July 2007, the artist said that the feature's aim was to bring the unusual to people. Much of his own inspiration came from his studio, which, according to the article, was "stocked with monster models, old toys, games, exotic books and drawings."
In 2021, Graziano retired. His final daily episode ran on 7 August 2021 and his final Sunday page on 31 October of that same year. 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!' was continued by Kieran Castaño. Several sources have claimed that Graziano was the seventh artist to draw 'Ripley's Believe It or Not', although he was actually the fifth official creator, coming after Robert L. Ripley himself, Paul Frehm, Walter Frehm and Don Wimmer. However, in interviews, the artists Clemens Gretter and Clarence Thorpe have mentioned they had (anonymously) served as head illustrators, respectively during the 1930s and 1940s, making Graziano indeed the seventh in line.
From: 'Burp!: Crazy Human Body Stories' (Ripley's Shout Outs #04, 2012).
Ripley books
Graziano also contributed graphics to several Ripley publications written by Tim O'Brien: 'Baseball Oddities' (2008), 'Frog Oddities & Trivia' (2008), 'Amusement Park Trivia: A Journey Through the Weird, Wacky and Absolutely True World of Parks, Rides and Attractions' (2020). In 2012, he also livened up the pages of 'Ripley's Believe it or Not!' titles for young readers by Scholastic with cartoons, comics and illustrations, namely 'Roar! Crazy Animal Stories', 'Zoom! Amazing Space Stories', 'Woof! Funny Pet Stories' and 'Burp! Crazy Human Body Stories', all part of the 2012 'Ripley's Shout Outs' line. With Camilla de la Bedoyere as writer, he illustrated the 'Ripley' book 'Pirates' (2015).
Graziano also illustrated more fantastical books by the company, such as 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not. True Weird Tales, Volume 1' and 'Volume 2'. With the Ripley mascots Bremner the pufferfish, Sharkee the shark, Gabby the turtle, Norman the penguin, Marina the octopus and Rosie the spotted eagle ray as main characters, he also made the children's picture books 'Bremner and the Party' (2018), 'Sharkee and the Teddy Bear' (2018), 'Gabby and the Dark' (2019), 'Norman and the Flight' (2019), 'Marina and the Treasure Chest' (2020) and 'Rosie and the Night Sky' (2020). The books were written by Carrie Bolin and Jessica Firpi. Graziano additionally also illustrated "how to draw", game and puzzle books for young readers under the Ripley imprint.
Recognition and legacy
In 2020, the National Cartoonists Society awarded John Graziano the NCS Divisional Award in the category of Variety Entertainment for his work in newspapers, magazines, and online comic features.
Final years and death
In addition to his graphic career, Graziano was active as a bass player and singer for the band Feelin' Groovy. He also played guitar and ukelele. He was active as a sponsor of the ASPCA Adoption Center for pets. John Graziano passed away in 2024 in his hometown of Davenport, Florida, at age 62.
John Graziano was introduced to the readers in 'Zoom!: Amazing Space Stories' (2012).