Jerry Leibowitz

Born and raised in Los Angeles (as a second generation native), Jerry's career in the arts has thus far been an intriguing journey. It has, in a sense come full circle. His first inspiration to put a pencil to paper came as a tot, watching Saturday morning cartoons. And though he has been involved in varied artistic endeavors both intrinsic and professional, cartooning has always been his first love. His foray into television was as creator and executive producer of the animated series, "The Mouse and The Monster" which debuted on UPN in the Fall of 1996. The years sandwiched between crawling in front of the T.V. to watch cartoons and readying to create them have afforded unique experiences. In 1968, while at Santa Monica College he discovered there was a place after all for his twisted drawings and began selling cartoons to Berkeley's infamous underground "Yellow Dog Comics" which launched him into his first commercial assignment - an album painting for Jefferson Airplane spin-offs, Hot Tuna. Writing kept pace with visual development as he became head writer for the weekly tongue-in-cheek futuristic radio show "The Oidar Wavelength" which was syndicated to over 100 rock stations nationally. Incensed by the rampant politics and rhetoric of the comic strip syndication industry, in 1983 Jerry began his own publication - a 50,000 copies per week, free newspaper distributed throughout Los Angeles called the "L.A. Funnies." The paper's purpose was to create a showcase for thousan…