August J. Pollak
A self-trained cartoonist and illustrator, August J. Pollak, 26, graduated in 2003 from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied animation for his BFA in Film & Television.
His weekly comic strip Some Guy With a Website started and ran for four years in the NYU student-run newspaper, the Washington Square News, and continues to this day. With an ever-growing audience over the last eight years, the offbeat strip, focusing on pop culture, politics, and web trends with a left-leaning cynical slant, now attracts thousands of readers on Pollak's political news weblog xoverboard.com, and has appeared in several print and online publications including The Los Angeles Times, In These Times, Campus Progress, The Dartmouth Free Press, and The Madison Observer.
In addition to three self-published collections of cartoons, Pollak's work appears in Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists, published by NBM and edited by Ted Rall.
Through his interests in animation, cartooning, politics, and media culture, Pollak has travelled the widest ranges of fields, from background coloring for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to working as a Legislative Aide for the New Jersey State Assembly. As part of his senior year project work at NYU, Pollak finished his first animated short film, Hanuman Dance, in Spring of 2003. His unique character designs and cartoonish graphics can be seen in the logos of several major websites.
Born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, Pollak currently lives in Washington, DC.
"Sarcastic, cynical, negative, dismissive... what's not to like?"
-Joel Pett
"I noticed August's work when he was still a student at NYU. He's smart and insightful and often laugh-out-loud funny; definitely a young cartoonist to watch."
-Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World
"Smart, poignant and often politically charged ... but don't let that stop you, it's pretty funny too!"
-Andrew Bell, The Creatures In My Head
"FYI ... may just be the answer to the FAQ in this modern world full of SNAFU and WWF... or maybe it's the BLT."
-Matt Wuerker
"Pollak has a cartoony style, but is no less harsh in his approach to politics and news... If anything, the simple, slightly goofy art style lulls you a bit before you read the punchline."
-Xaviar Xerexes, Comixpedia.com
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