John Hambrock is nearing 15 years of creating The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee.
Edison Lee — a 10-year-old with a talent for science and an urge to push boundaries — takes an optimistic view of the world.
And, after 15 years of writing a daily comic strip, so does Edison’s creator, John Hambrock.
“I love it, and I love doing it,” Hambrock says of a task many people would find daunting: Creating seven new comic strips every week. Day after day, week after week, year after year.
Speaking of years, “The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee” will hit its 15th anniversary on Nov. 12, a number that still amazes Edison’s creator.
“I thought 10 years would be it for me,” Hambrock said, but he recently signed a new five-year contract with King Features Syndicate — with a five-year option.
John Hambrock talks to The Kenosha News about 15 years with Edison Lee.
As part of King Features, “Edison Lee” runs in about 120 newspapers, Hambrock said. When he started the daily strip, it ran in 40 papers.
“The business goes up and down,” he said, and being in 100 or more newspapers every day is a mark of success in such a fractured media environment.
Even in a challenging business environment — with print media like newspapers battling a digital world — Hambrock almost can’t imagine life without “Edison Lee.”
© John Hambrock
Bodacious congratulations on 15 years, John! I am happy to read that Edison will be around for many more years to come!
GREAT FIND ON “THE DAILY CARTOONIST” – 10/31/21
I remember when the strip began, in the Kenosha News (as we were living there); didn’t like it at first, but I came around. Nice to see 15 years and still going strong.