I sat here last night thinking I hope enough people know about the BICS this October.
You didn’t just believe that,did you?
Thanks to those who got in touch re. CBOs coverage -I’m desperately hoping someone can write a day-by-day account of what they thought of BICS 2007 -interested? Mail me!
And now….
Black Cats Don’t Moan!Hunt Emerson Band Kicks BICS 2007 Launch Party into Gear!As everyone knows The UK’s Birmingham International Comics Show takes place over the weekend of October 13-14th at The Thinktank, Millennium Point. For those who have booked their BICS 2007 tickets in advance there is the added attraction of a free invite to the show’s launch party that will take place the night before at Bennetts. Among the night’s various attractions will be The Black Country Cats, featuring internationally famous cartoonist Hunt Emerson on guitar and vocals, entertaining guests, press and those wise souls who have pre-registered. Background on Hunt Emerson A young student came down from Newcastle to study and the people of
Birmingham, knowing a good thing when they saw it, refused to let him go back!
Hunt Emerson has been an ever-present face on the Midlands arts scene for several decades – old rockers can remember posters he produced for local bands and Midlands mods reminisce about his late seventies ska album covers. From his initial cartoons for now rare and obscure hip underground publications to posters for legendary local rock and blues bands his talent took him along way (without leaving Brum!) Since those heady days of his youth he has garnered deserved international fame as a cartoonist of great worth. His works are collected, translated and available as books in countless languages. These include venerably funny adaptations and histories such as Casanova’s Last Stand, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Lady’s Chatterley’s Lover, many of these having been published in the
UK by Knockabout. Phenomenomix in The Fortean Times and Firkin the Cat in Fiesta have been firm fixtures in those long running magazines, and that bastion of British anarchy The Beano has seen him become a firm kids’ favourite with his incomparable visual stylisations. He also works in the more established literary field of real books, from illustrating The Jeremy Brown children’s book series written by Simon Cheshire to working for Graphic Classics in
America. To state Leo Baxendale’s countless D.C. Thomson published creations and George Herriman’s Krazy Kat all filtered through The Goons radio show as a starting point to describe Emerson’s work may be redundant these days. From the more scratchy whirling dervish anthropomorphics of his early work, that can only be likened to a be-bopping busy bumble bee, through to the sturdier renderings of today where his black are sold and deep enough to swim in, his work is affirmed in its clarity. His panel sequences dance with the reassured understanding of a man who feels rhythm like a musician, and beyond it all, as everyone can see, he is a master at creating irresistibility funny work. Aside from writing and drawing so many cartoon strips to entertain the unwashed public, he helped sew the fruits of the
UK independent comics scene via his involvement with Ar-Zak, and later Knockabout, and has found time to teach his craft (including classes at The Custard Factory). He has hosted art exhibitions (such as The Art of Folly & Vice at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery) and was the recipient of his own exhibition at last year’s BICS 2006 debut event. Hunt Emerson is a national icon within the British comics industry, and
Birmingham is honoured to share him with the rest of the world who will be coming to see him again in his adopted hometown for BICS 2007… And for those pre-registering for the convention there will also be the chance to watch him prowl the stage guitar in hand with The Black Country Cats strap at the launch party! Additional Information:
For BICS 2007 news & updates email:
paulhbirch@yahoo. com
To order advance BICS 2007 tickets & visit:
www.thecomicsshow. co.uk
For further information about Hunt Emerson visit:
www.largecow. demon.co.
uk
Comic Bits Online is the web version of the Comic Bits magazine Edited and run by Terry Hooper. Currently Interviews Editor at Manga Life,Terry has over thirty years experience in the comic industry as script writer,artist,freelance Editor,publisher and much more. But if you want the facts:
Curriculum vitae Name:Terry HooperDob:6th June 1957 [50 yrs]Currently living Ashton Vale,Bristol,United Kingdom ...
1 Response
[…] Comic Bits has a nice profile of Hunt Emerson, one of the most criminally underrated cartoonists in the country (and I say that no matter how rated he was) who lives and works in Birmingham and is performing with his band The Black Country Cats at the opening party of the Birmingham International Comics Show on October 12th. From the more scratchy whirling dervish anthropomorphics of his early work, that can only be likened to a be-bopping busy bumble bee, through to the sturdier renderings of today where his black are sold and deep enough to swim in, his work is affirmed in its clarity. His panel sequences dance with the reassured understanding of a man who feels rhythm like a musician, and beyond it all, as everyone can see, he is a master at creating irresistibility funny work. […]
Posted on October 2nd, 2007 at 10:34 am
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