Jonathan Dee Lemon is an English-born American cartoonist and former musician. He is best known for drawing the

Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...

comic strip. Lemon was born in

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

, Hertfordshire, England in 1965, and earned an art degree at the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

. In 1984 he formed the pop band Jesus Couldn't Drum with guitarist Peter Pengwyn, and occasionally featuring Lester Square from The Monochrome Set. The band went on to record three albums and had modest indie chart success with their third single "I'm a Train". In 2018, the band's back catalog was acquired by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as we ...

. Two years later, Lemon joined

The Chrysanthemums "The Chrysanthemums" is a short story by American writer John Steinbeck. It was first published in 1937 before being included as part of his collection ''The Long Valley'' the following year. Plot Summary The story opens with a panoramic view ...

along with Alan Jenkins, leader of

The Deep Freeze Mice The Deep Freeze Mice were an English new wave band active between 1979 and 1989. They were based in Leicester, England, and consisted of the core members Alan Jenkins ( guitars and singing), Sherree Lawrence ( combo organ and other keyboard ...

, and

Terry Burrows Terence Ashley Burrows is an English author, multi-instrumental musician and producer based in London. Best known as a cult performer under the alias Yukio Yung, Burrows is also a prolific author of books relating to music history, theory, and tu ...

. A psychedelic art pop band with a large cult following almost entirely outside of the UK, they released four albums and four EPs.Stewart Mason, 'Yukio Yung', ''Allmusic'' (2006)
Retrieved 25 September 2006. In 2010, German music magazine MusikExpress placed them at number 23 in their list of the most under-rated bands of all time. Lemon began working as a cartoonist, first for

Poot! ''Poot!'' was an adult British comics magazine which ran between 1985 and 1990. It had the tagline "silly cartoons and smart-arse satire for grown ups". The first edition was published in 1985 with a run of 500 copies. The comic grew to around ...

Comic, and later relocated to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

in 1992 where, as a political cartoonist, his work appeared in the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

, the San Jose Mercury and the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

amongst others. He is a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and the

National Cartoonist Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

. Between 2003-2005 he served as a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

Volunteer in Honduras. His long running comic strip

Rabbits Against Magic Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family (biology), family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order (biology), order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' i ...

was nominated for a Silver Reuben Award by the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

in 2012, 2014, and 2021. In 2019, along with writer

Joey Alison Sayers Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

, he took over the drawing duties on the classic comic strip

. His work has been exhibited at the

Cartoon Art Museum The Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) is a California art museum that specializes in the art of comics and cartoons. It is the only museum in the Western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art. The permanen ...

and the Huntington Beach Arts Center. He has done album artwork for numerous musicians, including Flipper's Guitar and the Thurston Lava Tube. His comic strips are also featured in the 2022 award winning documentary feature film "Jack Has a Plan"

Selected discography

*Jesus Couldn't Drum: **''Er...Something About Cows'' (LP, 1984) **''Good Morning Mr. Square'' (LP, 1984) **''Ruttling Orange Peel and Blind Lemon Pie'' (LP, 1985) *The Chrysanthemums: **''Mouth Pain/Another Sacred Day'' (7" 1987) **''Is That A Fish On Your Shoulder or are you just pleased to see me?'' (LP/CD 1987) **''The **** Sessions'' (12" 1988) **''Little Flecks Of Foam Around Barking'' (CD/2x LP 1988) **''Picasso's Problem/Live at London Palladium'' (12" 1990) **''Porcupine Quills'' (LP/CD 1991) **''Odessey and Oracle'' (LP/CD 1992) **''Chrysanthemums Go Germany/Insekt Insekt'' (LP/CD/Box 1995)

References

External links

The Official Jonathan Lemon websiteRabbits Against Magic websiteAlley Oop website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemon, Jonathan Living people American comic strip cartoonists American cartoonists Peace Corps volunteers Alumni of the University of Brighton People from Watford British expatriates in the United States 1965 births Musicians from Watford