Tech teacher Mrs. Chelsea Carr was the editorial and political cartoonist at North Harford for Cry of the Hawk during her junior year in 1999 to 2000. She has created cartoons for all kinds of newspapers, magazines and online websites, and has been published in The New Yorker, Mad Magazine, a website that was run by Disney, the Aegis, and Go Comics.
Carr started cartooning in sixth grade after she moved to Harford County after previously living in Baltimore County. This is where she meant her best friend, who introduced her to her love of cartooning.
Carr stated, “I made my best friend by cartooning. One day, this girl drew a person’s body and sat down next to me at lunch and said,, ‘Draw a head.’ So, I drew an animal head and she thought it was really funny, so we decided to make a comic strip together.”
She continues, “We started doing comic strips at North Harford Middle, and then when I went to North Harford High, I kept doing them.
After graduating from NHHS and attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, she started her career as a graphic designer and cartoonist. Carr started doing cartoons for the Aegis and the newspaper once called the Record.
For the most part, Carr mostly works on graphic novels and cartoons for kids. She has a comic on a website called Go Comics, which is a syndicate that’s published three times a week. The comic is called Curses, which was released last year around Halloween.
Carr explains, “It’s about a little witch who has a bad temper, who cursed her younger brother permanently into a frog. Her family moved out into the middle of nowhere to keep her away from others. She now is encountering fairytale creatures that test her patience while she’s trying to be on her best behavior.”
As for her other publishing outlets, she draws animals for the New Yorker that deal with problems people can relate to, and she also responds to different articles in the Aegis that have already been published.
Carr states, “For example, a reporter for Aegis just published a book, so I did a cartoon for her book encouraging people to buy it.”
For her next project, she is thinking about creating a graphic novel inspired by her daughter who loves chickens. It’s only in the early stages of creation.
Carr shares, ”As for the graphic comic about chickens, I was thinking about calling it Born Yesterday. It’s the end of the world and an alien invasion has begun. These chicks have just hatched and imprinted on the aliens. Now, what will happen next? You will just have to wait and see.”
For those who read lots of graphic comics, Carr says that she would love to hear suggestions on student favorites. Carr adds that she is always open to suggestions and would love to talk to students. To find her, visit D103 in the basement or send her an email.
