Fearless: A Cartoonist's Guide to Life

Robb Armstrong has been described by People Magazine as “one of the hottest young cartoonists in America.” His award-winning comic strip, JumpStart, is syndicated in more than 300 newspapers in eight countries. Fearless is both a compelling read and an inspirational lesson on life.

Robb Armstrong is one of the lucky ones. One of a handful of African-American artists to have a comic strip nationally syndicated in more than 300 publications, he gets to draw for a living. He works at home, so he can spend more time with his wife and two kids. He travels around the country, teaching drawing and sharing stories about his life with young people. He’s even met his share of famous people, including his idol, Charles Schulz.

But his life wasn’t always so charmed. Born and raised in a rough neighborhood in West Philadelphia, Robb was one of five fatherless kids living in a cramped apartment where the electric bill didn’t always get paid. When he was six, his older brother was killed in a gruesome subway accident. Soon after, his remaining brother was severely beaten by the police for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then, his mother died of cancer.

How did he get through all of these tragedies to the happy life? By drawing funnies. Life is not so different from the comics—the challenges, tragedies, and triumphs. Comics poke fun at our everyday routines and our universal motivations. They show us a lot about ourselves and the people around us. So as a cartoonist, Robb Armstrong has drawn a few lessons from life that he shares in this moving memoir. Weaving together his personal stories with simple drawing tutorials and original illustrations, Fearless is both a compelling read and an inspirational lesson on how to live well, through the good times and the bad.

Robb Armstrong has been described by People Magazine as “one of the hottest young cartoonists in America.” His
award winning comic strip, JumpStart, reaches 80 million readers, and is syndicated in more than 300 newspapers
in eight countries, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta
Constitution, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Chicago Sun Times. JumpStart can be found on the Internet at
www.gocomics.com. Robb’s cartoons have also been published in The New Yorker. In addition, Robb speaks frequently at schools and corporations around the country and has been featured on Good Morning America, MSNBC, CNN, BET, and Good Day Philadelphia and in Time, People, Ebony, Black Enterprise, and The New York Times. Robb and his wife live in Burbank, California.