Comics creator John Derf Backderf was born and raised in a small Ohio town outside of Akron, the son of a chemist and a homemaker. At age 8, he discovered comic books at the town’s corner drug store and fell in love with the art form.
Backderf has also been nominated for multiple Eisner and Ignatz Awards, as well as Harvey and Reuben Awards. The Derf Collection, comprised of 34 years of original art and papers, was established in The Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at Ohio State University in 2009.
His latest book is the Eisner Award winning KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO (Abrams Comicarts, 2020). The Library Journal calls it “Incendiary. Required reading for all Americans.” It was named book-of-the-year by Publisher’s Weekly, Forbes magazine, and The Herald of Scotland. KENT STATE was also awarded the French Critic’s Prize and Derf’s second Alex Award from the ALA,.
Derf lives in Cleveland, for reasons he can no longer remember.