Cartoonist Sam Henderson on SpongeBob Squarepants

From: Jeff Mason
Date: 6/17/01
Time: 1:51:13 AM
Remote Name: 209.251.154.54

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Nominated for the third consecutive year for the Harvey Awards Special Award For Humor for his ongoing Magic Whistle comic book series from Alternative Comics and winner of this year’s Firecracker Alternative Book Award for his comic illustrations for The Little Book of Ass, Sam Henderson is the funniest man in comics, hands down. Now the cartoonist, writer and illustrator is vying to be the funniest man in television as Storyboard Director for Nickelodeon’s incredibly successful SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon show. Nickelodeon’s hit SpongeBob SquarePants is now the second highest rated children’s television program. SpongeBob SquarePants premieres new episodes on Nickelodeon at 8 PM EST every Saturday and also airs on Saturday and Sunday mornings. More than 28 million people watch SpongeBob SquarePants each month, including 16.8 million kids, 3.2 million teens and 10.1 million adults

Henderson has been creating a monthly comic strip, "Scene But Not Heard," for the award winning Nickelodeon Magazine since 1993 and was tapped by SpongeBob SquarePants Creative Director Derek Drymon in 2000 to come on board to work on the show. "Derek Drymon tracked me down through Nickelodeon Magazine," said Henderson, "We knew each other in passing back in art school and he had been following my work since then. Most of the crew on the show are comics fans, which I think is evident when you see the cartoons."

"I have been working on SpongeBob SquarePants since November 2000 as Storyboard Director," said Henderson, "which means I'm on one of three teams that co-writes and storyboards an episode each month." The episodes Henderson has worked on with his partner Jay Lender so far are ‘Summer of Sponge,’ ‘Just One Bite,’ ‘Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy 4,’ ‘Down and Out in Bikini Bottom,’ and ‘Squilliam Returns,’ with more to come. Henderson’s episodes will start airing over the Summer and Fall and will coincide with the print release of issues number five and six of Henderson’s hilarious, ongoing Magic Whistle comic book series from comic book publisher Alternative Comics.

Asked about his transition to California to work on SpongeBob SquarePants after being a lifelong New York City resident, Sam Henderson admitted, "I prefer New York, but Los Angeles isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I’ve seen many of the showbiz stereotypes but haven’t actually had to deal with them myself. I’m making more money out here but I don’t drive." One of Henderson’s New York City friends and contemporary cartoonist Kaz has also started working on the SpongeBob SquarePants and his episodes will also start late this Summer.

Comedian Tom Kenny provides the voice for the SpongeBob character. Tom Kenny’s stand-up comedy persona has always had a cartoon-like sensibility and a frantic fast-paced style. As a lifelong frustrated cartoonist, Kenny is thrilled to be a part of today’s animation renaissance. In addition to voicing the lead role of "SpongeBob" in Nickelodeon’s first original Saturday morning animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants, Kenny is also familiar to Nick viewers as the voices of "Dog" on CatDog and Heffer on Rocko’s Modern Life. In addition to his voice work, Kenny also appears at comedy clubs across the country and has appeared on such television shows as The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brian, Premiere Blend and Comic Strip Live. Kenny is a regular cast member of HBO’s critically acclaimed sketch program Mr. Show with Bob and David and occasionally appears as the office loser "Persky" on Just Shoot Me. Kenny can regularly be found at Comic-Con International: San Diego checking out the new independent and cutting edge comic books on display. "He's a longtime comics fan himself," said Sam Henderson on Kenny. Comic-Con International: San Diego is July 18-22 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Despite rumors of selling his soul to Hollywood, Sam Henderson continues to produce the comics that helped him sell out in the first place. Sam Henderson’s Magic Whistle continues to explore new ways of approaching conventions of humor and commenting on the issues we can all relate to, including the loss of one's hindquarters. With issue five of volume two of Magic Whistle scheduled for publication from Alternative Comics in September 2001, The Brube and Gunther Bumpus appear, plus "He Aims To Please" stars in his own poignant story. This plus more reader participation pages. Magic Whistle v2 #5 will debut at The Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC, September 14-16, 2001.

Dwelling a few fathoms beneath the tropical isle of Bikini Atoll in the sub-surface city of Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob lives in a two-story pineapple. Instead of taking the logical approach to everyday challenges, SpongeBob looks at life in an unconventional way. Whether searching for the ultimate spatula to perfect his burger flipping technique at the Krusty Krab, or just hanging out with his best friend Patrick (an amiable starfish), SpongeBob’s good intentions and overzealous nature usually create chaos in his underwater world.

SpongeBob SquarePants is a Nicktoons Production and is produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California. Stephen Hillenburg is Creator and Executive Producer. Nickelodeon, now in its 22nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the U.S. and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, publishing and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 78 million households and has been the number-one rated cable network for more than five consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Alternative Comics, publishers of cool comic books, releases some of the most original and intelligent titles being created today, including work from Graham Annable, Nick Bertozzi, Ed Brubaker, Tom Hart, Dean Haspiel, Sam Henderson, James Kochalka, Dave Lasky, Jon Lewis, Josh Neufeld, Jen Sorensen, Greg Stump, Robert Ullman, and Steve Weissman. Alternative Comics' flagship title indy Magazine started its critically acclaimed publication in 1993, went exclusively to the web starting in 1999 and has been the guide to alternative comics ever since. indy Magazine covers independent, alternative, and self-published comic books, featuring news, interviews, reviews, convention reports, and articles about the incredibly diverse world of independent comics.

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For more information about SpongeBob SquarePants please contact Nicole Mazer, Nickelodoen Communications, Phone: (818) 736-3613 or E-Mail: Nicole.Mazer@nick.com

For more information about Magic Whistle, graphics, galleys, interviews, etc, please contact: Alternative Comics publisher Jeff Mason at 503 NW 37th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32609-2204. Phone: (352) 373-6336. E-mail Jeff Mason at jmason@indyworld.com or Sam Henderson at mwhistle@aol.com

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