Hunt Emerson (born 1952) is an English

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British

underground comics Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His many

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

s and

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

s have been translated into numerous languages.

Biography

His earliest strips in the 1970s appeared in such

British small press comics British small press comics, once known as stripzines, are comic books self-published by amateur cartoonists and comic book creators, usually in short print runs, in the UK. They're comparable to similar movements internationally, such as American ...

as '' Graphixus'', '' Brainstorm Comix'', ''Moon Comix'', ''Yikes'', ''Animal Bite Comix'', ''No Ducks'', ''Phobos'', ''Streetcomix'', ''Free Comix'', ''Warrior'' and ''Fish''. A trip to the US put Emerson in touch with the

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

publisher

Rip Off Press Rip Off Press Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and '' Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from ...

, which published his ''Thunderdogs'' title; while Don and

Maggie Thompson Maggie Thompson (born Margaret Curtis; November 29, 1942) is an American longtime editor of the now-defunct comic book industry news magazine ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', science fiction fan, and collector of comics. Early life Margaret (nickname ...

included him in their mini-comic series, for which he created ''Calculus Cat''. Emerson's art also appeared in the US underground/alternative anthologies ''Commies from Mars'' and '' Eclipse Monthly''. ''Dogman'', and ''Large Cow Comix'' (a five issue series with separate subtitles) were all Emerson work cover to cover, but it was '' Knockabout 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 called ''Citymouth'', and later a collected volume.

Works

Square-bound books written by others, such as ''You Are Maggie Thatcher'' and ''Hard To Swallow'', showcase Emerson strips and illustrations throughout. In ''Outrageous Tales From the Old Testament'' he tackled a version of the

Book of Leviticus The Book of Leviticus (, from , ; , , 'And He called'; ) is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Many hypotheses presented by scholars as to its origins agree that it de ...

written by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

, and in ''The Seven Deadly Sins'', depicted "

Envy Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Envy can also refer to the wish for another person to lack something one already ...

". For the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

imprint Factoid Books, in the 1990s, he did biographical comics on everything from

Erich von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

. These appeared in ''

The Big Book Of ''The Big Book Of'' is a series of graphic novel comics anthology, anthologies published by American company DC Comics imprint (trade name), imprint Paradox Press. Publication history The ''Big Books'' were published between 1994 and 2000. Just o ...

'' series. For dozens of issues of the British underground ''

Brain Damage Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common ...

'', he created "Arsover Tit". The Emerson graphic novels ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

'', ''

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' (originally ''The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere''), written by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of '' Lyrical Ballads'', is a poem that recounts th ...

'', '' Casanova's Last Stand'' and 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 of ''

Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (from 2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (from ...

'', a magazine of occult and unexplained phenomena, while his pornographically humorous Firkin the Cat (written by Tym Manley) has appeared in hundreds of '' Fiesta'' magazines. He drew the cover design for Terry McCann's 1975 album ''Stand Back It's Rent-a-Crowd''. He designed the 'Beat Girl' icon for Birmingham band The Beat. and painted a mural of the band, which was used as cover art for the band's second album '' Wha'ppen?''. In 2016, he designed the Walsall Silver Thread Tapestries. Emerson drew and created " Ratz" for ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...

'', a strip about mean rats in a sewer. In 2002–2007, he drew

Little Plum Little Plum (full name revealed to be Little Plum Stealing Varmint) is a British comedy western comics series about a little Native American, originally created by Leo Baxendale and published in the magazine '' The Beano''. Concept The epony ...

for that comic. In March 2009, he revived the " Fred's Bed" strip.

Politics

In a 2019 interview, the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

cartoonist Donald Rooum described himself as an admirer of Emerson, having taken out a subscription to the ''Fortean Times'' purely to read his work. More explicitly, a '' New Politics'' article identified Emerson as a fellow anarchist cartoonist alongside Rooum, among others. Emerson had previously exhibited work at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

show ''Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK'', and would later contribute work to an exhibition about the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

radical

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

. Emerson himself has described ignoring high politics, instead choosing to focus on community-based work. He has also said that explicitly political work of his, such as a

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...

publication with

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfath ...

about

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, have become dated too quickly as politics moves on.

References

External links

*
Hunt Emerson
a
Lambiek.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Hunt 1952 births Living people Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne English comics artists English comics writers The Beano people English muralists Underground cartoonists British graphic novelists British satirical comics artists British humorists British album-cover and concert-poster artists