Thompson followed Chunky Rice with the mini-comics Bible Doodles (2000) and Doot Doot Garden (2001). As a result of Chunky Rice, Thompson won a 2000 Harvey Award for Best New Talent and received a 2000 Ignatz Award nomination for Outstanding Artist. His debut graphic novel was the semi-autobiographical Good-bye, Chunky Rice (1999), which was inspired by his move to Portland and 'cute cartoony stuff' from his childhood such as the work of Jim Henson, Dr. After developing tendinitis, Thompson left Dark Horse and devoted his time to his own work. Thompson worked briefly at Dark Horse Comics, drawing ads, logos, and toy packaging for the company while working on personal projects at night.

Career Ĭraig Thompson sketches Raina in a copy of Blankets at a September 20, 2011, book signing at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

It filled all my needs - I was able to draw cartoons, to tell a story but I also had total control, and I wasn't just a cog in some machine somewhere.' After spending a semester at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Thompson left his hometown in 1997 and settled in Portland, Oregon. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Marathon County for three semesters, during which he began writing a comic strip for the college newspaper and 'just kind of fell in love with, suddenly. In high school Thompson entertained dreams of becoming either a small-town artist or a film animator. Thompson and his brother were particularly enamored of black and white independent comics in the 1980s, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the do-it-yourself ethic that they embodied. Thompson's only access to the arts were the Sunday funnies and comics, since they were assumed to be for children, to which Thompson attributes his early affinity for the medium. Media such as films and televisions shows were screened or altogether censored by their parents, and the only music allowed was Christian music. His father was a plumber, and his mother alternated between working as a stay-at-home mom and a visiting-nurse assistant for the disabled. He, his younger brother Phil and his sister grew up in rural Marathon, Wisconsin, in a fundamentalist Christian family. In 2007, his cover design for the Menomena album Friend and Foe received a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package.Ĭraig Thompson was born in Traverse City, Michigan in 1975. Thompson has received four Harvey Awards, three Eisner Awards, and two Ignatz Awards. Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books Good-bye, Chunky Rice (1999), Blankets (2003), Carnet de Voyage (2004), Habibi (2011), and Space Dumplins (2015).

Blankets craig