'Funny Paperz'.
Joe King is a U.S. political cartoonist, illustrator and newspaper comic artist. He is known for his daily gag comic 'Webster' (1997-2001), his political cartoon series 'Funny Paperz' (2002-2008) and the Christian-fundamentalist webcomic 'A.D.' (2010- ). He should not be confused with early 20th-century U.S. newspaper comic artist Joe King (1904-1980).
Early life career
Born in 1958 as Joe Ferreira in Chatsworth, California ("in the shadow of the Lone Ranger Rock", as he sometimes described it), Ferreira grew up reading and drawing comics. His main graphic influences are Johnny Hart and Charles M. Schulz. Decades later, in August 2008, Ferreira was artist-in-residence at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Between 1987 and 1990, Ferreira studied commercial and advertising art at Platt College-Irvine. During the 1980s, he was active as an art director and software engineer for Mattel Electronics, Disney, Matchbok, Ban Dai and Playmates. Today, Ferreira lives in Prescott, Arizona.
'Anomalies'.
Early cartooning career
Ferreira's cartooning career took off in 1980. He used the pseudonym "Joe King", as a pun on the verb "joking". Coincidentally, another U.S. cartoonist with the same name, Joe King, had passed away in 1980. It is unknown whether Ferreira was aware of this coincidence at the time. Ferreira sometimes uses the pseudonym "Alonzo Quixana" too. His earliest published comic strip was 'Anomalies' (1985), which ran in The Easy Reader, after winning their annual contest. 'Anomalies' featured literal visualisations of words and proverbs. King's one-panel cartoon series 'Rust and Wrinkles' (sometimes titled 'Route 66'), offered drawings of certain landmarks in the U.S. South-West, with additional trivia written around the image. In 1992, episodes were compiled into an anthology.
'Route 66'.
Since the 1990s, Ferreira has self-syndicated and published compilation books of his cartoons and comics. He is a member of the Southern California Cartoonists Society, the National Cartoonists Society and, until 2010, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and the National Press Club. Ferreira is also the founder of Imagine Nations, a global online community of amateur and professional cartoonists. His website, www.funnypaperz.com, has been online since 4 July 1996.
In 1991, King made the graphic novel 'Men From Earth', based on his childhood fascination for space travel. The work came with a foreword by comic veteran Stan Lynde, famous for the western series 'Rick O'Shay'. According to King, Paramount Pictures once considered adapting the book into a live-action film, but the idea seems to have never been further developed.
'Webster'.
Webster
In 1997, the first episode of King's comic strip 'Webster' appeared in The Easy Reader, and was then nationally syndicated. Webster is a moustached man, trying to make sense of the complicated world around him. On his website, King says that 'Webster' ran in The Easy Reader in 1997 and 1998. It is possible that 'Webster' was then picked up for national syndication. In some articles, King states the series was abruptly discontinued on 11 September 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York, where the offices of his client were located. King said that this was the moment when he became a "political journalist".
'Funny Paperz', 1994.
Funny Paperz
King's editorial comic 'Funny Paperz' (2002-2008) was launched in the Santa Monica Daily Press, providing a funny look at current events. Other U.S. papers picked up the comic too. Until 2006, episodes poked fun at the national news. In the final years, King focused on regional current events instead.
Various books, articles, websites, and also King himself, have erroneously claimed that a 2004 'Funny Paperz' cartoon about the U.S.-Iraq War either won, or was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. In reality, the prestigious award was won by Matt Davies that year. King's claim appears to stem from a misconception. One of his cartoons was on a very exhaustive list of cartoons considered for nomination, rather than directly being nominated. Though in one of his self-written biographic promos, King also admitted that he "lies about any number of things... except this; a native Californian, born in the shadow of The Lone Ranger Rock, Joe King is making the world a funnier place - one cartoon at the time!"
'A.D.', 2010, with a cameo from Johnny Hart's 'The Wizard From Id'.
A.D.
In May 2010, King launched the one-panel cartoon series 'Anno Domini' (2010), often shorted to 'A.D.'. The title is a shout-out to Johnny Hart's 'B.C.', a newspaper comic that often reflected Hart's Christian opinions during the final decades of the series. Like 'B.C.', 'A.D.', also expresses King's religious viewpoints, promoted with the tagline "The Cure For The Common Era". Each gag promotes the Gospel and Creationism, while mocking atheists, agnostics and religious people who don't believe every word in the Bible literally. In the margins of each drawing, a biblical quote is printed. King claimed that one particular episode caused controversy among the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC). The cartoon in question depicts a mad scientist, collecting brains, with the biggest being of a Christian, a smaller one an agnostic and the smallest from an atheist. According to King, he was banned from the A.A.E.C. and his membership revoked in June 2010. Episodes of 'A.D.' have been shared on various Christian and Creationist websites.
Recent years
In 2013 and 2014, King suffered two heart attacks and a series of cardiac stents. Friends, relatives and doctors advised him to take a calmer life and avoid tackling controversial topics, since he tended to get too worked up about them. He settled on more life-embracing projects, including the occasional new 'Funny Paperz' strip. Concerned with the plight of Native Americans, King made the children's book, 'Ten Dancing Indians' (2019), written by Grand Chief Nenookaasikwe Shairl Acquin.
'Funny Paperz', with a self-portrait of Joe King, playing Snoopy's alter ego 'Joe Cool' from Charles M. Schulz' 'Peanuts'.