Born in New York to parents Leonard Neufeld and artist Martha Rosler,[1] Neufeld spent most of his youth in California (San Diego and San Francisco), and then moved back to New York City during his teenage years. He graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 1985 and Oberlin College with a B.A. in Art History in 1989.[2] Shortly after graduating from college, he spent over a year backpacking with his then-girlfriend (now his wife) through Southeast Asia and Central Europe, and living for a period in the Czech Republic.[2]
In October 2014, Neufeld was a Master Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, where he led a three-week residency for mid-career cartoonists.[7]
Neufeld is also a comics educator. He is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts,[8] as well as the faculty of Michigan State University.[9] He is the lead faculty mentor for the Comics & Graphic Narratives concentration at the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program of Lasell University.[10] He was a visiting professor at CUNY Queens College in the spring of 2017, and returned in the same role in spring 2020.[11]
In 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Neufeld spent three weeks as an American Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi, Mississippi. The blog he kept about that experience turned into a self-published book, Katrina Came Calling (2006).[2] Later, Neufeld was asked to write the introduction to a book called Signs of Life: Surviving Katrina, a collection of photos of the hand-made signs that appeared in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Profits from sales of the book went two organizations still working in the area: Common Ground Relief and Hands On Network.
In 2007–2008, Neufeld wrote and drew A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, an online graphic novel serialized on SMITH Magazine. A.D. tells the real stories of seven New Orleans residents and their experiences during and after Hurricane Katrina. A.D. received extensive press coverage, including in such venues as the Los Angeles Times,[13] the New Orleans Times-Picayune,[14] the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,[15]Rolling Stone, Wired.com,[16]BoingBoing,[17] the Toronto Star,[18] and National Public Radio's "News & Notes". Through this work, and his later collaboration, The Influencing Machine, Neufeld leads an intense reflection about the way the media treats information.[19]
In May 2008, it was announced that a four-color hardcover edition of A.D. would be published by Pantheon Graphic Novels.[20] The book included 25% more story and art, as well as extensive revisions to the material from the webcomic.[21] Debuting on August 18, 2009, shortly before Hurricane Katrina's fourth anniversary, A.D. went on to become a New York Times bestseller.[22]
Neufeld was one of the founding members of the online comics collective ACT-I-VATE. In 2014 he joined the comics collective Hang Dai Editions (of whose founding members was his long-time friend Dean Haspiel).[23]
Neufeld co-wrote the "motion comics" element of the ABC News documentary Earth 2100, which premiered on ABC on June 2, 2009. Neufeld worked on the sections of the documentary dealing with the fictional character "Lucy," who witnesses the apocalyptic effects of climate change and societal upheaval during the course of the 21st century.[24]
Neufeld was a long-time artist for Pekar’s American Splendor, and has collaborated with many writers from outside the comics world, including poets, memoirists, and theatre groups. Other comics writers Neufeld has illustrated stories for include Pekar's wife Joyce Brabner (in American Splendor),[25] and Greenberger in Duplex Planet Illustrated (published by Fantagraphics),[26][27]R. Walker (in Titans of Finance),[28] and Peter Ross (in a self-published mini-comic called Mortgage Your Soul).[29][30]
Neufeld's collaborations with writers from outside the traditional comics world tend to be formalist and experimental in spirit. He has adapted a number of poet Nick Flynn's pieces into comics, which have appeared in various literary journals and websites.[31][32][33] Neufeld is an Associate Artist with the New York-based theatre collective The Civilians,[34] and has adapted portions of a number of their plays into comic book form. He has also collaborated with writer Eileen Myles,[35] and Neufeld's mother, artist Martha Rosler.[36][37] A special issue (subtitled "Of Two Minds") of Neufeld's comics series The Vagabonds was dedicated to his many collaborations.[38]
Neufeld collaborated with journalist Brooke Gladstone on The Influencing Machine, published by W.W. Norton. Gladstone describes the book as "a treatise on the relationship between us and the news media, ... a manifesto on the role of the press in American history as told through a cartoon version of [me] that would preside over each page."[39]The Influencing Machine was released in hardcover in May 2011. A paperback edition with a new cover was released in May 2012. A tenth anniversary edition, with a new cover, interior revisions, new material, and a new afterword, was released in January 2021.[40]
In 2019–2020, Neufeld and his longtime friend/collaborator Dean Haspiel delved into podcasting, producing Scene by Scene with Josh & Dean, a deep dive into the movie American Splendor and the two artists' relationships with Harvey Pekar.[41]
A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories From Southeast Asia & Central Europe) (self-published through a grant from the Xeric Foundation, 2004) ISBN978-1-891867-79-8
"Empathy 101: How Medical Schools are Using Improv Theater, Virtual Reality, and Comics to Help Physicians Understand Their Patients," The Journalist's Resource (Dec, 21, 2023); reprinted in the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday edition
"Kansas City and the Case for Restitutional Medicine," Harvard Public Health magazine (Fall 2022)
“Vaccinated at the Ball: A True Story About Trusted Messengers,” The Journalist's Resource (June 13, 2022); reprinted in the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday edition
“Clean Slate: A Student-Debt Forgiveness Story,” The Emancipator (Apr. 24, 2022)
“A Tale of Two Pandemics: A Nonfiction Comic About Persistent Racial Disparities,” The Journalist’s Resource (Nov. 16, 2020)
“Supply Chain Superhero,” PANDEMIX: Quarantine Comics in the Age of ‘Rona (July 2020)
"A Brief Introduction to Differential Privacy: A Data Protection Plan for the 2020 Census,” The Journalist's Resource (Mar. 23, 2020)
"A Graphic Guide to the 2020 US Census," The Journalist's Resource (Dec. 2, 2019)
"Still Life: Thinking Outside the Casket," The Nib (Nov. 8, 2018)
"The Trump-Russia memos: a graphic account of the so-called ‘dossier’ that had the media world buzzing," Columbia Journalism Review (Fall 2017)
"Bahrain: Lines in Ink, Lines in the Sand," Cartoon Movement (Dec. 8, 2011)
(with Martha Rosler) "Scenes From an Illicit War: From Planet Invisible," System Error: War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (Silvana Editoriale, 2007)
(with R. Walker) "Titans of Finance: Hoodoo," Drawn Bits (2002)
(with R. Walker) "Titans of Finance: The Comic Book Villain," EXPO 2000 (2000)
(with Harvey Pekar) "Stupid Capitalists," Green Magazine (Winter 2000)
(with R. Walker) "Titans of Finance: Look the Part," SPX’99: The Comic (1999)
(with R. Walker) "Titans of Finance: Ask Jay," Small Press Expo (1997)
(with Harvey Pekar) "Andy Statman," The Village Voice (1996)
Awards
2024:
Honorable Mention, Excellence-in-Features journalism awards (general feature, 1,000-2,499 words) (Society for Features Journalism). For "Empathy 101" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[42]
First Place, Informational Graphic (Illinois Press Association Awards). For "Empathy 101" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[43]
2023:
Salute to Excellence for Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 51 – 100: Specialty (National Association of Black Journalists). For "Vaccinated at the Ball: A True Story About Trusted Messengers" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[44]
GMIC Award for Excellence in Graphic Medicine, Short Form (Graphic Medicine International Collective). For "Vaccinated at the Ball: A True Story About Trusted Messengers" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[45][46]
Best of the Press for Informational Graphic: 1st Place, Division F (Illinois Press Association). For "Vaccinated at the Ball: A True Story About Trusted Messengers" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[47]
2018:
CASE Circle of Excellence Award — Bronze Medal: Writing for the Web (Council for Advancement and Support of Education). For “The Story of Why Humans Are So Careless with Their Phones” (Harvard Business School Working Knowledge)
National First Place Award (American Society of Business Publication Editors). For “The Story of Why Humans Are So Careless with Their Phones” (Harvard Business School Working Knowledge)
2004 Xeric Award for A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia & Central Europe)
1996 CAAP (Chicago Arts Assistance Program) Grant, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Nominations
2024 GMIC Award for Excellence in Graphic Medicine, Short Form (Graphic Medicine International Collective). For "Empathy 101" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[48]
2022 Peter Lisagor Awards for Best Illustration or Graphics (Chicago Headline Club). For "Vaccinated at the Ball: A True Story About Trusted Messengers" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[49]
2016 One World Media Press Award (One World Media, London, England, UK). For “The Road to Germany: $2400” (Foreign Policy)
2012 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic. For "Bahrain: Lines in Ink, Lines in the Sand".[50]
2010:
Harvey Award for Best Previously Published Graphic Album . For A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.[51]
Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album-Reprint. For A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.[52]
Harry Chapin Media Award in the Book category. For A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge[53]
1997 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic. For Keyhole #2.
^Comic Nurse (July 18, 2023). "GMIC 2023 Awards for Excellence in Graphic Medicine Announcement". GraphicMedicine.org. The judges loved this comic. Josh Neufeld's graphic journalism is performed with masterful skill. In this piece he manages to create a brilliantly engaging graphic essay that draws the reader into the action, while avoiding excessive narration or resorting to talking heads. The story sets modern-day anxieties about COVID vaccination against historical government malpractice in a way that sympathetically articulates the viewpoint of the vaccine skeptics, while reinforcing the importance of vaccination in combating the pandemic.
