Harry Bliss is an American cartoonist and illustrator. Bliss has illustrated many books, and produced hundreds of cartoons and 21 covers for The New Yorker. Bliss has a syndicated single-panel comic titled Bliss. Bliss is syndicated through Tribune Content Agency and appears in over 80 newspapers in the United States, Canada and Japan.
Bliss has been a staff Cartoonist at The New Yorker magazine since 1997. His cartoon work has been published in The New York Times, Time magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer magazine, and other periodicals in the United States. Bliss was a regular cartoonist for Playboy magazine from 1999 to 2016. Bliss worked with cartoon editor Michelle Urry at Playboy. Urry, a strong advocate for cartoonists like Gahan Wilson, Jules Feiffer, and Arnold Roth, was responsible for getting Bliss's cartoons into the hands of Playboy editor Hugh Hefner. Bliss dedicated Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken to Urry after her untimely death in 2006. Bliss' first book for children, A Fine, Fine School, written by Sharon Creech, was a New York Times bestseller, as were Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider and Diary of a Fly. Beginning in 2019, Amazon Studios will be airing a children's series 'Bug Diaries' based on these best-selling titles. Bliss' self-titled cartoon collection Death by Laughter, with an introduction by Christopher Guest, was published in 2008. In 2008 Bliss published Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken, written by Kate DiCamillo. In 2008, Bliss, advised by editorial team Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly, contributed a popular and critically acclaimed Toon Book, Luke On The Loose, the first book written and illustrated in comic book form by the artist. Bailey, a picture book for children written and illustrated by Bliss, was published by Scholastic in the Fall of 2011 and followed by Bailey At the Museum in 2012. Bliss went on to illustrate Anna and Solomon published by FSG. In April 2015Grandma in Blue With Red Hat, illustrated by Bliss, was published by Abrams. Most recent illustrated children's books include My Favorite Pets: By Gus W. For Miss Smolinski's Class by Jeanne Birdsall, Grace for Gus, Good, Rosie by Kate DiCamillo and Comics Confidential by Leonard Marcus. In 2019 Bliss teamed up with entertainer Steve Martin, collaborating on cartoons and comic strips. Celadon Books will publish their cartoons collection 'A Weath of Pigeons' in the fall of 2020. Bliss has served on the board of directors for The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. In 2016, in conjunction with CCS, Bliss created a new one-month fellowship for cartoonists, the "," in a house in Cornish, New Hampshire, he bought that used to belong to J. D. Salinger. As an animal rights activist, Bliss has regularly contributed covers for PETA's Animal Times magazine and designed sculptures for PETA that have appeared in major American cities in an ongoing effort to stop animal suffering. McDonald's, Ringling Brothers Circus, and Kentucky Fried Chicken are among the prime targets of Bliss's and PETAs efforts. Since 2004 Bliss has visited many schools and interacted with thousands of children all over the world teaching comics/drawing/satire. Bliss has travelled to Peru, Bucharest, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Singapore, and Dubai, as well as within the United States. The goal with these school visits is to demonstrate the need for creating thinking through drawing. With accessible language for kids and educators and aided by a fun interactive "scribble" game, Bliss seeks to illuminate perception based on the act of drawing.
Controversy
The May 12, 2008 edition of The New Yorker magazine published in its weekly caption-writing contest a cartoon by that closely resembled Jack Kirby's cover of Tales to Astonish #34. Intended by Bliss as an homage and tribute to Kirby, critics complained that the magazine did not mention Kirby's name. After being notified by readers and the media, the magazine said it would update its website to read, "Drawing by Harry Bliss, after Jack Kirby". In 2010 a New Yorker cover by Bliss, Paint by Pixels, was compared to Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post cover, The Connoisseur. Author Virginia Mecklenburg writes in Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, "But for those who know The Connoisseur, Bliss's cover goes a step further. The painting they observe is not a Pollock at all, but a re-creation of Rockwell's Pollock..."
Personal life
As of 2016, Bliss lives in Cornish, New Hampshire.
Awards
Bliss, along with fellow artist Nora Krug, was a recipient of the 2014 Maurice Sendak Fellowship.
Publications
A Fine, Fine School, written by Sharon Creech
Countdown To Kindergarten, written by Alison McGhee
Which Would You Rather Be?, written by William Steig
