Hunt Emerson(born 1952) is an Englishcartoonist.He was closely involved with theBirmingham Arts Labof the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the Britishunderground comicsscene of the 1970s and 1980s. His manycomic stripsandgraphic novelshave been translated into numerous languages.
| Hunt Emerson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 (age 71–72) Newcastle upon Tyne,England |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist,Artist |
Notable works | Firkin the Cat |
| LargeCow.com | |
Biography
editHis earliest strips in the 1970s appeared in suchBritish small press comicsasGraphixus,Brainstorm Comix,Moon Comix,Yikes,Animal Bite Comix,No Ducks,Phobos,Streetcomix,Free Comix,WarriorandFish.
A trip to the US put Emerson in touch with theunderground comixpublisherRip Off Press,which published hisThunderdogstitle; while Don andMaggie Thompsonincluded him in theirmini-comicseries, for which he createdCalculus Cat.Emerson's art also appeared in the US underground/alternative anthologiesCommies from MarsandEclipse Monthly.Dogman,andLarge Cow Comix(a five issue series with separate subtitles) were all Emerson work cover to cover, but it wasKnockabout Comics,a British comic book-sized, and later album-sized, anthology that featured some of Emerson's most notable strips, including the characters Alan Rabbit, Calculus Cat, Max Zillion & Alto Ego, Pusspuss, Momo and Fuzi, Charlie Chirp, plus the one-shot stories "Cakes And Bricks," "The Dentist," and "Mouth City". The latter two stories spawned a series calledCitymouth,and later a collected volume.
Works
editSquare-bound books written by others, such asYou Are Maggie ThatcherandHard To Swallow,showcase Emerson strips and illustrations throughout. InOutrageous Tales From the Old Testamenthe tackled a version of theBook of Leviticuswritten byAlan Moore,and inThe Seven Deadly Sins,depicted "Envy".For theDC ComicsimprintFactoid Books,in the 1990s, he did biographical comics on everything fromErich von StroheimtoPrince CharlesandPrincess Diana.These appeared inThe Big Book Ofseries. For dozens of issues of the British undergroundBrain Damage,he created "Arsover Tit".
The Emerson graphic novelsLady Chatterley's Lover,The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,Casanova's Last Standand other adaptations of classic novels and tales have been sold in numerous countries, and translated into several different languages.
For over 30 years Hunt Emerson's strips and illustrations have graced the pages ofFortean Times,a magazine of occult and unexplained phenomena, while his pornographically humorous Firkin the Cat (written byTym Manley) has appeared in hundreds ofFiestamagazines.
He drew the cover design for Terry McCann's 1975 albumStand Back It's Rent-a-Crowd.[1]He designed the 'Beat Girl' icon for Birmingham bandThe Beat.[2]and painted a mural of the band, which was used as cover art for the band's second albumWha'ppen?.[2][3]
In 2016, he designed theWalsall Silver Thread Tapestries.[4]
Emerson drew and created "Ratz"forThe Beano,a strip about mean rats in a sewer. In 2002–2007, he drewLittle Plumfor that comic. In March 2009, he revived the "Fred's Bed"strip.
Politics
editIn a 2019 interview, theanarchistcartoonistDonald Rooumdescribed himself as an admirer of Emerson, having taken out a subscription to theFortean Timespurely to read his work.[5]More explicitly, aNew Politicsarticle identified Emerson as a fellow anarchist cartoonist alongside Rooum, among others.[6]Emerson had previously exhibited work at theBritish LibraryshowComics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK,[7]and would later contribute work to an exhibition about theVictorianradicalJohn Ruskin.[8]Emerson himself has described ignoringhigh politics,instead choosing to focus oncommunity-based work.[9]He has also said that explicitly political work of his, such as aTitan Bookspublication withPat MillsaboutMargaret Thatcher,have become dated too quickly as politics moves on.[10]
References
edit- ^"Terry McCann - Stand Back It's Rent-A-Crowd".Discogs.29 September 1975.Retrieved25 March2019.
- ^ab"The Beat Girl - Noted Cartoonist Hunt Emerson Designs a 2-Tone Era Icon".Marco On The Bass.16 December 2008.Retrieved27 March2019.
- ^Wha'ppen?(liner). The Beat.Go Beat.1981.
{{cite AV media notes}}:CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^"Walsall tapestries to tour the Midlands".Express & Star.2 February 2017.Retrieved11 February2017.
- ^Worcester, Kent (12 September 2019)."An Interview With Donald Rooum".tcj.com.The Comics Journal.Retrieved6 May2024.
- ^"Donald Rooum".newpol.org.New Politics. 21 July 2016.Retrieved6 May2024.
- ^Kowalska, Kasia (13 May 2014)."Curators unmasked at British Library's major new comics exhibition".Professional Cartoonists' Organisation.Retrieved6 May2024.
- ^Ryan, Larry (30 August 2018)."Ruskin the radical: why the Victorian thinker is back with a vengeance".The Guardian.Retrieved6 May2024.
- ^Lowe-Newsome, Tasha (23 March 2022).""The Main Motivation Has Been Paying the Rent": An Interview with Hunt Emerson ".tcj.com.The Comics Journal.Retrieved6 May2024.
- ^Hasted, Nick (11 April 2022)."The Hunt Emerson Interview".tcj.com.The Comics Journal.Retrieved6 May2024.