McDonnell was born on March 17, 1956, and raised in New Jersey with his two brothers and a sister. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1978 and sold illustrations to The Village Voice while still in school. His first job upon graduation was illustrating Russell Baker's column for The New York Times Magazine, from 1978-1993, and Bad Baby for Parents Magazine.During that time he also was a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated, Reader's Digest, Forbes, Time and other national magazines. His work has been animated for television commercials, most notably a PSA for the NY Philharmonic in 1993.
In 1994 McDonnell created Mutts, and has since received numerous awards for his strip. Mutts is currently distributed to more than 500 newspapers by King Features Syndicate. Unlike many other comic strips with animal characters, Mutts' Earl (the dog) and Mooch (the cat) get their charm from acting much more like pets than people.
McDonnell, who has a strong interest in the history of comics, has great appreciation for the work of comic strip artists who have preceded him and lists Charles Schulz ("Peanuts"), E.C. Segar ("Popeye") and George Herriman ("Krazy Kat") among his major influences. McDonnell is the co-author of the definitive history of Herriman's work, 'Krazy Kat: The Art of George Herriman', published by Abrams in 1986, and comics fans often favorably compare Mutts to this classic strip. Charles Schulz, who returns McDonnell's professional admiration, has called Mutts "one of the best [comic strips] of all time."
He has also contributed a story to Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (HarperCollins, 2003). Has published The Gift of Nothing
, Just Like Heaven and 'Art', children's books and done CD covers for the Greatest Hit classical music series.While Mutts is still relatively new to the comics pages, it has already received a high level of recognition. McDonnell received the comic book industry's esteemed Harvey Award for "Best Syndicated Strip" (named after Harvey Kurtzman, creator of Mad Magazine) for Mutts in 1998 and also received the National Cartoonists Society's "Best Comic Strip of the Year Award" and Germany's Max and Moritz "International Cartoonist of the Year" Award that year. In November 1997, McDonnell was honored with the prestigious Adamson Statuette from the Swedish Academy of Comic Art for "Best International Comic Strip Artist." He has also been nominated four out of five years since Mutts' debut for the National Cartoonists Society's highest honor, the Reuben Award, taking home the prestigious prize in 1999 for exemplary work the previous year.
In addition, McDonnell has twice received the Ark Trust's Genesis Award for outstanding contribution to animal protection by a cartoonist, first in 1997 and again in 1999. A dedicated advocate for animal protection, McDonnell has worked with the The Humane Society of the United States and the North Shore Animal League to create a special series of Mutts "Shelter Stories" strips to help raise awareness of the plight of animals in shelters and promote pet adoption. He also often partners with animal shelters and their mobile units to help local pets find homes during his book signing appearances across the country. In recognition of his many contributions to animal protection, the members of The Humane Society of the United States appointed McDonnell to serve on the Board of Directors in 2000.McDonnell lives in New Jersey with his wife, Karen, his dog, Earl, and their cat, MeeMow. When not working on his many projects, he enjoys painting and playing the drums.
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