John Hambrock’s award-nominated comic strip The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee offers a contemporary view of family life from the perspective of a precocious young boy, his middle-class parents, innocent cousin and absent-minded grandfather.
Edison Lee is an inquisitive 10-year-old boy genius, who is obsessed with science and curious about our world. Edison has well-informed opinions on everything from bureaucratic waste and health care reform to the high cost of gas, even though he isn’t old enough to drive. He doesn’t hesitant to express those opinions to anyone within earshot. He often illustrates his thoughts with elaborate inventions that he creates with the assistance of his lab rat pal, Joules.
In an age when we are bombarded with information and a 24-hour news cycle, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee offers a disarming view of our world through the eyes of a child who is both a brilliant genius and an eternal optimist.
Awards and Distinctions:
Nominated “Best Comic Strip” of 2009 by the National Cartoonist Society.
The first book collection of The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee comic strips was published in 2010.
Guest of honor and speaker at the 2010 Toonfest in Walt Disney’s hometown, Marceline, Mo.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
John Hambrock
John Hambrock was born and raised in Ft. Wayne, Ind. As a boy, he displayed a unique talent for art, receiving numerous awards for his artistic achievements. John continued his education at Indiana University, and later, Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., graduating with a degree in graphic design. He won his first major marketing award while still in college, taking first place in the Philip Morris National Marketing Competition for college students.
In 1985, within months of completing college, John was recruited by James Courtenay James Inc., a small design agency in Chattanooga, Tenn. Loving the South but longing for the big city, he moved to Chicago in 1986 and landed a position with the Hirsch Design Group, a well-established Loop advertising and design agency. That same year, John married Anne, a woman he had known since high school. Years later, Anne would become a driving force in helping him achieve success in his newly emerging cartooning career. After almost 10 years as an art director with Hirsch, John decided the time was right to start his own agency, In-House Communications. Specializing in industrial advertising, packaging and print design, his client list includes major industrial and retail manufacturers, as well as one of the country’s leading law firms.
In 1999, John began developing the idea of a boy-genius character named Edison. He spent five years honing his drawing and writing skills, occasionally submitting samples to King Features Syndicate for development consideration. King Features saw potential in the precocious 10-year-old and in November 2006 launched The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee in newspapers. Three short years later, the feature was nominated “Best Newspaper Comic Strip” by the National Cartoonists Society in 2009. In 2010, “The Edison Files,” the first collection of The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee comic strips, was published.
When not cartooning, John loves sailing Lake Michigan and spending time with his wife, daughter and two sons.