Jeffrey Brown
JEFFREY BROWN is best known for his bittersweet autobiographical graphic novels, and in just a few short years his impressive body of work has already garnered high praise from the likes McSweeney's, NPR, and Time. Heartfelt and sincere, these memoirs of failed relationships have set a new standard in autobiographical comics and established Jeffrey Brown as one of the leading cartoonists of his generation. A versatile talent, his first graphic novel, Clumsy, appeared seemingly out of nowhere to grab the attention of cartoonists, critics, and comics fans alike. Since then, his works have included fiction, gags, and parodies, as well as further examinations of the human condition. His eleven -- count 'em, eleven! -- Top Shelf publications are featured below, and his comics have also appeared in a host of antholgies from McSweeney's to the Drawn & Quarterly Showcase, as well as local newspapers like the Chicago Reader and NewCity. Brown has been featured on NPR's This American Life and created a short animated music video for the band Death Cab For Cutie. Future work includes a continuing mix of autobiography, gags, satire and parodies, inlcuding The Incredible Change-Bots. You can write to him at: PO Box 120, Deerfield IL 60015-0120, USA.
Reviews & Interviews
Top Shelf 2.0 Comics
May 22 Incredible Change-Bots gallery 
Undeleted Scenes
Undeleted Scenes presents a decade’s worth of shorter works from indie comics legend Jeffrey Brown. This huge compendium contains stories from the previous collections Minisulk, Every Girl Is the End of the World for Me, and Feeble Attempts, as well as Jeffrey's work from anthologies such as …
Drawing Between the Lines (DVD)
Directed by Bruce Parsons
DRAWING BETWEEN THE LINES is a short documentary examining the autobiographical world of Chicago cartoonist Jeffrey Brown. Whether sitting in his apartment, riding the L-train, or traveling the country promoting his work, Brown spends his time filling the pages of his …
Incredible Change-Bots
Far away in space, there is a planet full of robots able to change from robot form to vehicle form --- the Incredible Change-Bots! Leaving their war torn planet, the Change-Bots arrive on Earth, where their battle continues -- BUT AT WHAT COST?!
Part parody, part nostalgic tribute, part moral …
Incredible Change-Bots Two
Three years ago, an alien race of shape-changing robots came to Earth, fired ray guns at each other for a while, then gave up and flew away. But they left behind one thing: Shootertron, the cunning leader of the evil Fantasticons! Fortunately for Earth, Shootertron's memory is a little fuzzy. …
Clumsy
"You can open to any page and find something unusually bare and honest about these stories. They're surprising, even though half the moments in the book are ones you've probably experienced yourself. Hard trick to pull off." -- Ira Glass, host and producer of public radio's This American …
Unlikely
"Mr. Brown seems to understand perfectly the day-to-day rhythms of the modern 'young adult' relationship. Unlikely, like his first book Clumsy, is pretty much impossible to put down." -- Daniel Clowes, creator of Ghost World, Art School Confidential, and Eightball
"A million little brilliant and …
AEIOU or Any Easy Intimacy
"Jeffrey Brown's work is not precious, broken-heart type stuff, but instead renders the terrific blanches and indelible happiness one can inflict upon another." -- Jennifer Przybylski, Rain Taxi
"Brown is a consummate storyteller, with a mixture of believable dialogue that carries both wistful …
Every Girl is the End of the World for Me
"An unsparing portrait of male anxiety and twenty-something lassitude, all rendered in drawings that are too crude to be anything but expressive." -- Jeff Salamon, Austin American-Statesman
"It seems Jeffrey Brown has been anointed Our Next Great Cartoonist." -- Mark David Nevins …
Sulk (Vol 1): Bighead and Friends
Top Shelf presents a new one-man anthology series showcasing the tireless creative energy of Jeffrey Brown! SULK is a series of pocket-sized standalone mini-graphic novels, providing the world its regular dose of 100% pure Jeffrey. What will he come up with next!?
SULK (VOL 1): BIGHEAD & FRIENDS …
Sulk (Vol 2): Deadly Awesome
Top Shelf presents a new one-man anthology series showcasing the tireless creative energy of Jeffrey Brown! SULK is a series of pocket-sized standalone mini-graphic novels, providing the world its regular dose of 100% pure Jeffrey. What will he come up with next!?
In SULK (VOL 2): DEADLY …
Sulk (Vol 3): The Kind of Strength...
Sulk (Vol 3): The Kind of Strength That Comes From Madness explores the world of fantasy and science fiction, and turns it on its head. Or rather, just kind of tilts it slightly to the side. Stories include "Being Awesome Is Its Own Reward," where two brothers deal with a giant monster rampaging …
Funny Misshapen Body
Funny Misshapen Body is the story of Jeffrey Brown's evolution as a cartoonist, from his youthful obsession with superhero comics to his disillusionment with fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Drawn with Brown's scratchy, spare, trademark style, Funny Misshapen Body resonates …
Little Things
A collection of funny, poignant, and autobiographical short stories, LITTLE THINGS looks at the aspects of daily life -- friendship, illness, death, work, crushes, love, jealousy, and fatherhood -- we take for granted. As each story looks into others, Jeffrey Brown shows how the smallest and …
Cat Getting Out of A Bag
Celebrated comic artist and graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown's collection of all-new drawings sweetly illustrates the joys of living with a cat. Featured in McSweeney's and on NPR's This American Life, and praised by comic luminaries Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes, Brown's work has always paid tribute …
I Am Going To Be Small
"Jeffrey Brown is one of the best humorists in modern American comic book." -- Comic Book Bin
Everyone needs something funny to stick in their pocket to read on the train, or on a lunch break, or in line at the DMV. This is that something. Jeffrey Brown sets aside the sappy sentimentality of his …
Minisulk
"'Not everything in here is true,' it says in the indicia, but enough of it feels true that Brown's well-earned reputation as one of today's better autobiographical cartoonists is secure." -- Alan David Doane, Comic Book Galaxy
Jeffrey Brown takes a break from books about girls for this humorous …
Feeble Attempts
Collecting some of Jeffrey Brown’s favorite anthology and mini-comic stories, Feeble Attempts is at turns comedic and meaningful. It's densely packed with autobiographical musings, political jabs, Jesus, superheroes, funny job stories, childhood goofiness, and...okay, yes, even a little …
Conversation #2
by Jeffrey Brown and James Kochalka
In this issue, James Kochalka goes up against rising indy-comics star, Jeffrey Brown. The two cartoonists draw together, exchanging pages back and forth, and trade metaphorical jabs in a discussion that quickly devolves into an argument, which quickly devolves into a brawl about art and comics and …
Be A Man
"Be A Man skews and distorts the portrait of Jeffrey Brown to fulfill the modern, unhealthy, masculine paradigm." -- Read Yourself Raw
Jeffrey Brown's own self-parody of his "ultra-sensitive" graphic novel, Clumsy. A heaping of in-your-face male chauvinism, over-the-top machismo, and …
Bighead
"... Besides being a superior parody, Bighead slyly reveals the author's personal issues and in some ways, everyone's." -- Andrew Arnold, Time
"Bighead is great, great fun to read; it crackles with energy and a love for the genre of the super hero. Brown takes the silly conventions that weigh …
Top Shelf Tales (2004 FCBD)
by Jeffrey Brown and James Kochalka and Scott Morse and Aaron Renier
Top Shelf Productions joins the industry-wide Free Comic Book Day celebration with our very own TOP SHELF TALES. Featuring four of Top Shelf's rising stars, TOP SHELF TALES gives retailers AND readers a golden opportunity to see for themselves why Top Shelf Productions has come to be THE publisher …
