Jen Lee (cartoonist)

Lee grew up in Naples, Florida. She studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts. She was a resident of Twin Falls, Idaho in 2017,[1] but later that year moved to Los Angeles,[2] a move chronicled in her book At the Edge of the Stream at Dusk.

Lee created Thunderpaw: In the Ashes of Fire Mountain, an animated webcomic. The comic started in August 2012 and was released gradually online.[3][4] The story follows two dogs, Bruno and Ollie, who after some apocalyptic event try to make their way home.[5][6][7]

Lee's comic Vacancy was published in 2015. Published by Nobrow Press, the 24 page book follows a dog Simon who decides to become a wild animal after all humans have vanished.[8][9]

In 2017, Lee published a longer follow-up to Vacancy entitled Garbage Night, also through Nobrow. The comic follows the same characters and setting.[10][2]

In 2019, Lee published At the Edge of the Stream at Dusk, a memoir about her move to Los Angeles to a new job, after a breakup. The comic, in which the people are drawn as anthropomorphic animals, was published by ShortBox.[11]

Lee has also worked as a freelance illustrator.[12]

Several reviewers have praised Lee's work. A reviewer for Bleeding Cool described Thunderpaw as "A unique beast that could only work in it’s native online environment... Constantly glitching and twitching with a frantic energy... As well as perfectly portraying her two main characters as hyperactive, jittery puppies it also gives her world a restless and unnerving quality to it" and added "I’d give up all my [paper] trades in an instant for more quirky gems like this."[5] A review for Gizmodo's site Io9 said "Lee makes great use of her digital canvas to convey both the emotions of her canine protagonists and the devastation around them",[6] and a reviewer for Comic Book Resources said: "The color palette seems vintage and dusty, recalling communist propaganda posters from the '40s and '50s. The style, however, is more modern. Although far more polished, Thunderpaw recalls the graffiti-like art styles that made its mark on the black-and-white comics of the '80s and '90s."[7]