Magazine feature article layout for a fictitious animation magazine. Text from a November 1, 2013 Washington Post article by Michael Cavna, photo from a November 4, 2013 Newsarama article by Zack Smith (photo credited to Rebecca Sugar/Cartoon Network).

1. R
ebecca Sugar is about to
make a little TV history. And
right now, she is not entirely
enjoying it.
“I’m having a hard time feeling
good about all this,” she says, with a
half-laugh, “until the first episode
is on.”
Sugar sounds so calm and
confident, though, that she belies
this case of show-biz nerves. Yet the
moment must be noted.
By following her artistic passion
from Silver Spring to Hollywood,
Sugar has become something of a
trailblazer. On Monday evening,
Cartoon Network will debut its
newest program, “Steven Universe,”
officially making Sugar, at just 26, the
first woman to be a solo show creator
in the channel’s 21 years on the air.
She is thrilled to achieve the
breakthrough, but with just days
until the debut, she’s not focused on
being the first female creator — she’s
too busy simply being a creator, with
plenty to still decide and coordinate.
“It’s definitely a whirlwind,” Sugar,
a veteran of Cartoon Network’s
popular Adventure Time, says of
steering her own show to launch.
“But I feel more ready than if I hadn’t
made so many independent comics
and done so many films.” Everything,
in other words, feels as if it’s been
naturally leading to this opportunity.
From that, the animator draws
confidence.
Sugar’s creative vision,
after all, wasn’t just born
at Cartoon Network’s
studios in Burbank, Calif.
Her dream to do precisely
what she’s now doing was
launched many years ago, a coast
and an ocean away, back home in
Montgomery County.
“You can’t wait for someone to
give you a show,” says Sugar. She’s
long been an ambitious artist who
regularly attended Baltimore Comic-
Con and Maryland’s Small Press Expo
to listen and learn from luminaries
while also getting professional
feedback on her portfolio. “That can’t
be the first time you’re writing and
drawing a character.”
Sugar summons inspiration from
characters she has created since
childhood. “Steven Universe” may
appear to be an action-fantasy
cartoon about gem-powered
superheroes, but beneath the
bright tints and battle scenes, the
show plays like an ode to Sugar’s
artistically supportive upbringing
in Sligo Park Hills. The program is
even named for her younger brother,
Steven, who is a background artist on
the show.
“I realized, while working on the
show, that it’s not what I thought
it was going to be about. It’s about
how much I needed emotional
support in high school — just with
little things, going through tough
times, high school teen angst,” says
Sugar, who simultaneously attended
Montgomery
Blair High and the Visual Arts Center
at Einstein High.
“My brother would just be hanging
out with me, not having to say
anything. If I ever felt weird around
friends, Steven would always be
there. I felt that would never change.”
Sugar stops herself, joking that
she should move on to another topic
before she gets verklempt.
“Aw, that’s nice of her to say!”
Steven Sugar, 23, replies to his
sister’s sentiment. “We spent a lot
of time together as kids watching
cartoons, playing
video games
and drawing.
We’d brainstorm
ideas for comics
together, run ideas
past each other and
get critiques — all
of which sort of set
the groundwork for
what [we’re] doing now.”
In the new show, three female
superheroes named for their gem-
related powers — Amethyst, Garnet
and Pearl — are shepherding
irrepressible Steven, an ever-smiling
boy who hasn’t yet discovered his
gem power. Rebecca says that to write
each character, she thinks about
how she interacts with her brother —
from the laid-back Amethyst to the
authoritative Garnet. (As for having
his name in the title, Steven says:
Adventure Time alum
Rebecca Sugar is
poised to become
a Cartoon Network
trailblazer: she’ll
be the first female
show creator in the
network’s history.
STORY BY MICHAEL CAVNA
Steven Universe
premieres Nov. 4
at 8 p.m. on
Cartoon Network.
I REALIZED, WHILE WORKING ON THE
SHOW, THAT IT’S NOT WHAT I THOUGHT
IT WAS GOING TO BE ABOUT.
Continued on next page ➤
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