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'Anything Goes'
in the Comics Longtime illustrator, graphic designer, and storyteller Benjamin Hummel has recently made the transition into the cartooning arena with his comic strip titled "Anything Goes." Chronicling the lives of two young men caught in the transition between childhood and adulthood, Hummel takes readers through the joys and often humorous trials that await them. Jake is the protagonist of the story, a live-at-home college student who spends his days pursuing his dream to become a poet. Nick completes the storyline as his pop-culture adept younger brother. The contrast of the cultures recreates the tension that brothers often share. Together, with their individual circles of friends mingling and clashing, they represent the American family and what follows is the often rough, but amusing journey that the modern American is faced with on the path toward adulthood. Hummel graduated from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design with a degree in illustration, and for the last ten years has been involved in doing commercial art. During that time, he created illustrations for such companies as Frontier Airlines, Primedia, and Whistle Away Crime. He also co-illustrated a number of children's books with his wife, and continues to win awards for his fine art. His art style can best be described as reminiscent of the late Norman Rockwell: light-hearted and expressive. Hummel relates, "I have always been a storyteller and in my experience with the many different mediums of art, I have found that cartooning is what I truly enjoy doing." The [newspaper] welcomes "Anything Goes" as a new addition and it will be printed in the [section] seven days a week. top Cartoonist Draws Inspiration From His Past Benjamin Hummel, the creator of Anything Goes, was the oldest of four youngers brothers, giving him ample material from which to draw inspiration. Many summer days were spent with his brothers and a gang of inseperable friends, which included a jokester, a tomboy, an uncontrollable giggler and a teenage philospher. These days were far too short and so, after a career as a puppeteer, freelance illustrator, graphic designer, fashion illustrator and a print manager, Hummel decided to encapsulate his memories in the endearing characters of Jake, Nick, Bobby, Puck and Abby. Benjamin also battles with chronic illnesses which has considerably slowed him since childhood. But never one to give up on life, he lives it fully and to the best of his abilities. Where some in similar conditions have become immobilized by the diseases, Hummel fights through the pain in order to accomplish all that he feels he was placed on this earth to do. Hummel lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains with his artist wife. top Transplant Surviving Cartoonist Finds Laughter to be Good Medicine Illustrator Benjamin Hummel makes a living getting people to laugh through his art and cartoons. However, his own personal life has been one marked by great physical pain. He currently lives with two debilitating chronic diseases, and has been the recipient of two liver transplants, after the first transplant failed. When Hummel was six, he was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of Ulcerated Colitis. This led to many painful hospital stays throughout elementary and middle school. Then, in his 8th grade year, he was ALSO diagnosed with Primary Schlerosing Cholangitis, a debilitating disease of the liver. One year later, he was transplanted. Unfortunately, the liver never took, and after 3 months of hospitalization, and nearly reaching death, Hummel received a second transplant. For someone who has been through as much as Hummel has, it can be easy to just give up on life. But Hummel chose to find humor in even the darkest situations. "You can't live your life focused on the sorrowful moments of your life. Doing so will leave you bitter and cold." In high school, Hummel received numerous awards and scholarships for
his art, including second place in the state's PTSA Reflections contest.
He eventually attended Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, graduating
with a degree in illustration. From there, he created illustrations for
such companies as Frontier Airlines, Primedia, and Whistle Away Crime.
He also co-illustrated a number of children's books with his wife, and
continued to win awards for his fine art. After ten years of doing commercial art, Hummel decided to get serious about cartooning. "I have always been a storyteller," he tells us. "Heck, I even worked as a puppeteer for six years! In elementary school I created a running comic strip that featured the wild adventures of a parrot that lived in City Park. I entertained friends and family, but mostly I entertained myself." From that start Hummel cartooned for his high school newspaper, and during his sophomore year in college, he did strip comics for a small, local, independent paper. [Our Paper] now carries his strip "Anything Goes" seven days a week in the [section]. top
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