Born in New York to parents Leonard Neufeld and artistMartha 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 theFiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 1985 andOberlin 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 theAtlantic 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 theSchool of Visual Arts,[8] as well as the faculty ofMichigan State University.[9] He is the lead faculty mentor for the Comics & Graphic Narratives concentration at the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program ofLasell University.[10] He was a visiting professor atCUNY Queens College in the spring of 2017, and returned in the same role in spring 2020.[11]
In 2005, shortly afterHurricane Katrina struck theGulf Coast, Neufeld spent three weeks as anAmerican Red Cross volunteer inBiloxi, Mississippi. Theblog 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 calledSigns 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 andHands On Network.
In 2007–2008, Neufeld wrote and drewA.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, an online graphic novel serialized onSMITH 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 theLos Angeles Times,[13] theNew Orleans Times-Picayune,[14] theAtlanta Journal-Constitution,[15]Rolling Stone, Wired.com,[16]BoingBoing,[17] theToronto 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 ofA.D. would be published byPantheon 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 aNew York Times bestseller.[22]
Neufeld was one of the founding members of the online comics collectiveACT-I-VATE. In 2014 he joined the comics collective Hang Dai Editions (of whose founding members was his long-time friendDean Haspiel).[23]
Neufeld co-wrote the "motion comics" element of theABC News documentaryEarth 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 ofclimate change and societal upheaval during the course of the 21st century.[24]
Neufeld was a long-time artist for Pekar’sAmerican 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 wifeJoyce Brabner (inAmerican Splendor),[25] and Greenberger inDuplex Planet Illustrated (published byFantagraphics),[26][27]R. Walker (inTitans of Finance),[28] and Peter Ross (in a self-published mini-comic calledMortgage 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 poetNick 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 collectiveThe Civilians,[34] and has adapted portions of a number of their plays into comic book form. He has also collaborated with writerEileen Myles,[35] and Neufeld's mother, artistMartha Rosler.[36][37] A special issue (subtitled "Of Two Minds") of Neufeld's comics seriesThe Vagabonds was dedicated to his many collaborations.[38]
Neufeld collaborated with journalistBrooke Gladstone onThe Influencing Machine, published byW.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 intopodcasting, producingScene by Scene with Josh & Dean, a deep dive into the movieAmerican Splendor and the two artists' relationships withHarvey Pekar.[41]
A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories From Southeast Asia & Central Europe) (self-published through a grant from theXeric 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 theChicago 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 theChicago 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)
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)
2024 GMIC Award for Excellence inGraphic Medicine, Short Form (Graphic Medicine International Collective). For "Empathy 101" (The Journalist's Resource/Chicago Sun-Times)[48]
2022Peter 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]
2016One World Media Press Award (One World Media, London, England, UK). For “The Road to Germany: $2400” (Foreign Policy)
2012Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic. For "Bahrain: Lines in Ink, Lines in the Sand".[50]
2010:
Harvey Award for Best Previously Published Graphic Album . ForA.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.[51]
Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album-Reprint. ForA.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.[52]
Harry Chapin Media Award in the Book category. ForA.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge[53]
1997Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic. ForKeyhole #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.
