Westfield Comics is proud to be hosting an appearance of two members of The Cartoonists Across America Tour on Saturday, August 28 from 1 – 4pm. Straight from their stint of drawing a C.A.A. Mural at the Vilas Zoo earlier in the day, Misters Phil Yeh and Phil Ortiz (we’re calling it Philapaooza ’cause we like it better than “Philith Fair”) will be stopping by to sign some of their books and in Mr. Ortiz’ case will be “Simpsonizing” attendees at their request. (See below) Hint: Please make sure that your Simpsons Comics are drawn by Mr. Ortiz before you ask him to sign them.

Check out “The Two Phils” Bios below:

Phil Yeh began publishing in 1970 at the age of 16 and as of 2010 he has written and illustrated more than 90 books, comics and graphic novels. He published one of the first American graphic novels in 1977 and is known as the ‘Godfather of the Modern American Graphic Novel’.

In addition, Yeh founded “Cartoonists Across America & The World” in 1985 to promote literacy, creativity, and the arts through mural painting events, school and library workshops on comics and his series of non-violent and humorous books. Yeh and his band of fellow artists have painted more than 1,800 colorful murals promoting literacy in more than 14 countries.

Phil has been a guest at book and art festivals worldwide including the 1995 Bologna International Children’s Book Fair, the 1995 Beijing Children’s Book Fair, the 2002 and 2009 Frankfurt Book Fairs, the 2007 3rd China Cartoon & Animation Festival in Hangzhou, and many others.

Phil’s work has had solo shows in galleries in San Francisco, Carmel, and New York City and has been a part of group shows in Hawaii, Arizona, and California. His reading dinosaurs were featured in a five-month art exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 2006 and in many campaigns promoting reading and recycling all over the world including a national postage stamp in Hungary in 1990.

Yeh’s work has been honored in the White House by former First Lady Barbara Bush, who also painted a mural with him in The Library of Congress. He has received numerous awards around the country, including an Alphie Award from the Los Angeles County Library Foundation at Sony Pictures Studios along with actor Edward James Olmos and Imperial Toy Company CEO Dr. Fred Kort.

For photos of the Cartoonists Across America tour go to www.wingedtiger.com

Phil Ortiz was born in Los Angeles in 1953. He currently lives in Lake Arrowhead. Over his more than 30 years as a professional artist, Phil has worked on everything from daily newspaper comic strips (Bugs Bunny) to layouts and character design for animated cartoons including The Simpsons where Phil had a hand in the look of about 200 characters. Some of the notable characters Phil designed for the Simpsons include: Flanders, Otto, Herman, Lou and Eddie, Ralph, and Apu. Phil has won five Emmy Awards for his work in TV animation and has been drawing The Simpsons comic books for many years. He won three of these Emmy Awards for work on Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies animated series. He also worked on Disney’s illustrated books and for Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. Animation, Ruby Spears, and many other animation studios in his long career. Phil’s talents also include designing merchandise items.

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