Robb Armstrong

American cartoonist (born 1962)

Robb Armstrong is an African American cartoonist, best known for creating the comic strip Jump Start. His comic strip Jump Start is the most widely syndicated daily strip by an African American in the world.

Armstrong was born on March 4, 1962, in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Armstrong's mother, Dorothy was a seamstress. He was the youngest of the five children. Armstrong attended the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr. During the senior year of high school he completed a three week internship with cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. He studied advertising design at the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

During college, he began submitting his comic Hector to The Daily Orange his freshman year and later became art director at the newspaper. Hector is a cynical, lazy black college kid who is accompanied by Meatball and Julias; a dog with human ears. The family is named after the Cobbs Creek neighborhood located in West Philadelphia.

In October 2010, Armstrong's work was featured in The Original Art of the Funny Papers exhibition at Syracuse university's XL Projects gallery in Armory Square. On May 19, 2012, Armstrong received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris causa degree from Holy Family University in Pennsylvania. In 2016, Armstrong published a part self help book, part memoir titled Fearless: A Cartoonist's Guide to Life. Armstrong was later chosen to co write the 2024 Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, the first special to star the character.

Armstrong has two children and is married to Crystal D. Armstrong, an events planner. They reside in Los Angeles, California.