Emily the Strange is an illustrated fictional character featured in several comic books, graphic novels and in various merchandise and clothing lines. She was created by Rob Reger for his company Cosmic Debris Etc. Inc. located in San Francisco, California. [1]
She first appeared on Santa Cruz Skateboards professional skater Ross Goodman's skateboard graphics. Nathan Carrico, graphic artist and creative director, [2] designed Emily in 1991 for Santa Cruz Skateboards in Santa Cruz, California.
Emily the Strange is published in several formats by publishers including Chronicle Books, Dark Horse Comics, and later HarperCollins.
The Chronicle Books hardback graphic novellas include:
In 2005, the first two issues of the comic book series were released by Dark Horse Comics—"The Boring Issue" (#1) and "The Lost Issue" (#2). "The Dark Issue" (#3) was published in 2006. The collected edition of the first three comic books (Emily the Strange: Lost, Dark, and Bored) was published in November 2006. The fourth offering, "The Rock Issue" (#4), was published in 2007. An ongoing, monthly, standard-length series has been published since March 2008.
Dark Horse Comics announced the publication of The Art of Emily Volume One, [3] the first collection of images showing the wide and inspired range of artistic styles and mediums that have been used to create the world of Emily the Strange: silk-screened vinyl skateboard stickers to custom rock-and-roll album art, large-scale psychedelic paintings, and intricate Mongolian paper cutting, the fantastic and artful imaginings of Rob Reger, Buzz Parker, and a large number of collaborators.
Since 2008 Emily the Strange has been published in France by Soleil Productions.
In October 2007, it was first announced that four young adult novels based on the Emily the Strange character will be published by HarperCollins. They will be co-written by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner. [4]
The first HarperCollins novel, Emily the Strange: The Lost Days, was released in June 2009. Written in a diary format, it opens with Emily attempting to recover her memory and regain her sense of style. Co-author Rob Reger says the book maps new territory inside the mind of his popular character. "In the past, it’s been us describing her," he says. "This is the first time anybody gets to hear how she talks to herself and her cats.". [5]
The next book in HarperCollins' four-book series, Emily the Strange: Stranger and Stranger, was released in March 2010. In this book Emily is back in Blandindulle and preparing to move to a new town. While experimenting with her supply of Blackrock and duplicating device she accidentally clones herself. Enjoying the benefit of a second Emily at first, the real Emily comes across problems such as identity crisis and loss of some of her unique talents. Not to mention the fact that her clone thinks she is the real Emily and evidently plans to end Emily Strange for good.
The third HarperCollins book, Emily the Strange: Dark Times was released on December 27, 2011. Emily is in Duntztown when she needs a student ID to obtain a discount at the local hardware store. After going to school and borrowing an ID, she decides to homeschool herself literally, as opposed to lying about it in the past two books. During a seminar "History of the Strange Family 101", Emily finds out that her Great-Aunt Lily died by white fever at age 13, though she had healing powers and could probably heal herself. A rumor that a Dark Aunt caused her death is spreading too. Emily goes to Blackrock to find black rock for her Time Out Machine, only to find that Blackrock is not there and that the caravan is with her. She learns about Boris, Attikol's ancestor, and decides to time travel into 1790 to save Lily and take Boris off her tail using a moving, severed cat's tail.
The fourth and final HarperCollins book, Emily the Strange: Piece of Mind was also released on December 27, 2011. It includes:
1. The Thought Thief
2. Ancestral enemies (and a few ancestral friends)
3. Modern-day Seasidetown
4. FelinoMobileTranscriptoSpy devices
5. Abandoned souvenir kiosk
6. Jakey's memories
7. Super secret book vault
8. Stolen blueprints
9. Regret Maneuvers A through Z
10. Final exams in Particle Physics and How-to With Glue
11. Hero-worshipping engineers
12. The 13th Dark Girl
13. Black rock
On January 30, 2013, Dark Horse Comics and Rob Reger brought Emily and The Strangers #1. And then in March came Emily and The Strangers #2. In July came Emily and The Strangers #3.
| Issue/Title | Date | Writer | Art | Cover | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Boring | August 2005 | Rob Reger, Brian Brooks, Jessica Gruner | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker |
|
| #2 Lost | December 2005 | Rob Reger, Brian Brooks, Jessica Gruner, Buffy Visick | Buzz Parker | Rob Reger |
|
| #3 Dark | September 2006 | Rob Reger, Brian Brooks, Jessica Gruner, Kitty Remmington | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker |
|
| #4 Rock | April 2007 | Rob Reger, Brian Brooks, Jessica Gruner | Buzz Parker, Ryan Hill | Buzz Parker |
|
| #1† Death | August 2007 | Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner, Kitty Remington, Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker, Ryan Hill | Buzz Parker |
|
| #2† Fake | October 2007 | Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner, Kitty Remington | Buzz Parker, Ryan Hill, Nix Turner | Buzz Parker |
|
| #3† Revenge | May 2008 | Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner, Kitty Remington | Buzz Parker, Ryan Hill, Nix Turner | Buzz Parker |
|
| #4† Alone | August 2008 | Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner, Kitty Remington, Buzz Parker, Nix Turner, Matthew Weiss | Buzz Parker, Ryan Hill, Nix Turner | Buzz Parker |
|
| The 13th Hour #1 | July 2009 | Rob Reger | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker |
|
| The 13th Hour #2 | November 2009 | Rob Reger | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker |
|
| The 13th Hour #3 | May 2010 | Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker |
|
| The 13th Hour #4 | October 2010 | Rob Reger | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker |
|
| Issue/Title | Date | Writer | Art | Cover | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily and the Strangers #1 | January 2013 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Emily Ivie | Emily Ivie, Buzz Parker |
|
| Emily and the Strangers #2 | March 2013 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Emily Ivie | Emily Ivie, Buzz Parker |
|
| Emily and the Strangers #3 | July 2013 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Emily Ivie | Emily Ivie, Buzz Parker |
|
| Emily and the Strangers: Breaking the Record #1 | June 2014 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Cat Farris | Cat Farris, Buzz Parker |
|
| Emily and the Strangers: Breaking the Record #2 | July 2014 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Cat Farris | Cat Farris, Buzz Parker |
|
| Emily and the Strangers: Breaking the Record #3 | August 2014 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Cat Farris | Cat Farris, Buzz Parker |
|
| Emily and the Strangers: Road to Nowhere Tour | March 2017 | Mariah Huehner, Rob Reger | Cat Farris | Cat Farris, Buzz Parker |
|
| Issue/Title | Date | Writer | Art | Cover | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Comic Book Day 2009 | May 2009 | Rob Reger, Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker | Buzz Parker & others |
|
Emily the Strange is collected in trade paperbacks and limited-edition hardcovers, each including extra material from the original publications.
| Title | Release Date | Material collected | Extras | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily the Strange ― Volume 1: Lost, Dark, and Bored | November 22, 2006(TPB) |
|
| 9781593075736 (TPB) |
| Emily the Strange ― Volume 2: Rock, Death, Fake, Revenge, and Alone | September 9, 2009 (TPB) |
|
| 9781595822215 (TPB) |
| Emily the Strange ― Volume 3: The 13th Hour | May 18, 2011 (TPB) |
|
| 9781595827005 (TPB) |
| The Complete Emily the Strange: All Things Strange | June 29, 2016 (HB) - February 10, 2021 (TPB) |
|
| 9781506700618 (HB) & 9781506722016 (TPB) |
| Title | Release Date | Material collected | Extras | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily and the Strangers: Battle of the Bands | May 7, 2014 |
|
| 9781616553234 (HB) |
| Emily and the Strangers Volume 2: Breaking the Record | March 4, 2015 |
|
| 9781616555986 (HB) |
| Emily and the Strangers Volume 3: Road to Nowhere Tour | March 29, 2017 |
|
| 9781506700588 (HB) |
In June 2009, Emily the Strange: The Lost Days was first published through HarperCollins’ children imprint branch. Subsequently, three more young adult novels followed, all written by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner, and illustrated by Rob Reger and Buzz Parker. [6]
| Title | Release Date | Author | Illustrator | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily the Strange: The Lost Days | June 2009 | Jessica Gruner, Rob Reger | Buzz Parker, Rob Reger | 264 | 9780061912382 |
| Emily the Strange: Stranger and Stranger | November 2010 | Jessica Gruner, Rob Reger | Buzz Parker, Rob Reger | 272 | 9780061452345 |
| Emily the Strange: Dark Times | December 2011 | Jessica Gruner, Rob Reger | Buzz Parker, Rob Reger | 248 | 9780061452376 |
| Emily the Strange: Piece of Mind | March 2013 | Jessica Gruner, Rob Reger | Buzz Parker, Rob Reger | 288 | 9780061452406 |
The Emily the Strange franchise has a considerable merchandising catalog, including clothing, stationery, stickers and fashion accessories. All of the products feature Emily's distinctive appearance and frequently feature one of her cynical sayings such as "Get Lost," "Be All You Can't Be," or "Wish You Weren't Here".
Cosmic Debris has opened four Emily the Strange flagship stores to date (Taiwan, Taipei, Hong Kong and Greece), with plans to open Emily the Strange retail stores in the Americas in the following years.
In 2005, the company partnered with British punk rock band The Damned, in the release and artwork for their single Little Miss Disaster. Other co-branding alliances and partnerships have included Jones Soda, Gibson Guitars, Zippo, and Manic Panic (hair coloring, nail polishes and colorful extensions).
In July/August 2003 V magazine ran a double page spread of clothing inspired by the character, created by Chanel, Gautier, Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, and others. [7] Emily has been shown in Vanilla Sky and on MADtv . Celebrities including Julia Roberts, Britney Spears, and Björk have all worn the brand. Epiphone has created an Emily the Strange-themed SG guitar, based on an Epiphone G-310, with a bolt-on neck, customized Emily the Strange graphics, and a special strap. [8]
Since 2010 Emily the Strange apparel is manufactured and distributed by Italian company Pier Spa.
Rob Reger designed and included the Emily the Strange cartoon in a 12-page foldout booklet for the album BatBox by Miss Kittin in 2008. [9]
Since 2000, Rob Reger has been trying to make a feature film adaptation of Emily. In 2005, Fox Animation went to make a live action/animated feature film, [10] with Chris Meledandri and John Cohen producing it. [11] Mike Richardson, of Dark Horse Entertainment, came on board as a producer in 2008. [12] The same year it was unofficially reported that the film moved to Universal Studios' owned Illumination Entertainment, along with the studio's founders, Meledandri and Cohen. [13] In September 2010, Universal Studios acquired the rights to the comic, and the actress Chloë Grace Moretz was cast in the role of Emily. [14] Melisa Wallack, who wrote the script for Mirror Mirror , was hired to write the adaptation in the following year in August. [15] Two months later it was confirmed that the film was indeed in the works at Illumination Entertainment. [16] Kealan O'Rourke was brought to rewrite the film's script. [17] By December 2016, Universal abandoned the project, and Dark Horse Entertainment and Amazon Studios were in negotiations to make an animated film. [18] In October 2024, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Bad Robot announced their collaboration on a full-length animated feature based on Emily the Strange. The film’s screenplay is being developed by Pamela Ribon, as Bad Robot will produce the film, with Reger serving as executive producer alongside Trevor Duke-Moretz. [19]
Emily is usually shown accompanied by four black cats. Sabbath, the newest cat to join the Strange family, is usually identified by a tear on one of his ears and one bent whisker. Miles, the most artistic cat of the group and also the fastest, is identified by his pointy ears, X-mark over his right eye and two pointy whiskers. Nee Chee, the thinker of the group (also known as the schemer), is identified by the black and white stripes on his tail caused by a chemical spill, as well as three whiskers. Mystery, the leader of the group and the only female of the four cats, seems to be the closest to Emily, and therefore thought to be the cat that has been with Emily the longest. Mystery is identified by the star on her collar, one curly whisker and occasionally a star on her left eye.
The very first Emily the Strange illustration dates from 1991, but the 1978 children's book Nate the Great Goes Undercover features a very similar illustration of a young girl named Rosamond. She also has long black hair and is frequently accompanied by her black cats. When Rosamond is introduced she wears a short dress and white Mary Jane shoes, similar to Emily, and in a similar pose. [20]
This illustration is accompanied by the text, "Rosamond did not look hungry or sleepy. She looked like she always looks. Strange." The first Emily the Strange design by Cosmic Debris says: "Emily did not look tired or happy. She looked like she always looks. Strange."
When Rosamond's creators, Marjorie Sharmat and Marc Simont, allegedly began contacting companies who had contracts related to Emily the Strange and urged them to drop their relationships with Cosmic Debris, Cosmic Debris sued Sharmat and Simont. Sharmat and Simont counter-sued. [21] "Emily the Strange, like Rosamond, is a young girl in a short dress, black tights, and Mary Jane shoes. Emily, like Rosamond, has long dark hair with square-cut bangs. Emily, like Rosamond, is typically attended by four black cats. Emily, like Rosamond, is described as being strange and has a fascination with dark themes," alleged the complaint.
Cosmic Debris contended that Emily and Rosamond both drew from a tradition of similar characters including Vampira and Wednesday Addams, and argued that while the text of the initial Emily illustration was nearly identical with Sharmat's text, that illustration had been withdrawn in 1998 and the statute of limitations had therefore run out. [22]
On August 12, 2009, the creator of Emily the Strange and the creators of Nate the Great jointly announced an agreement resolving all disputes between them. Each side agreed to give up all claims against the other as part of their settlement. "We recognize that Emily and Rosamond are both unique and original characters, and we are pleased that we were able to resolve this dispute," said Marjorie Sharmat and Marc Simont. "We wish Rob, Cosmic Debris, Emily and her fans all the very best." [23]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon, comic book shops known as Pegasus Books and founded in 1980.
Gamora is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #180. Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, and the last of her species. Her powers include superhuman strength and agility and an accelerated healing factor. She also is an elite combatant, being able to beat most of the opponents in the galaxy. She is a member of the superhero group known as the Infinity Watch. The character played a role in the 2007 crossover storyline "Annihilation: Conquest", becoming a member of the titular team in its spin-off comic, Guardians of the Galaxy, before becoming the supervillain Requiem in the 2018 crossover storylines "Infinity Countdown" and "Infinity Wars".
Marie Severin was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
Gail Simone is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC's Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. Other notable works include Clean Room, Secret Six, Welcome to Tranquility, The All-New Atom, and Deadpool.
Jill Thompson is an American illustrator and writer who has worked for stage, film, and television. Well known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman as well.
Umar is a supervillain appearing in publications by the American publisher Marvel Comics. The character usually appears in stories featuring Doctor Strange, for whom she serves as an adversary. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Bill Everett, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #150.
Jo Chen is an American comic book artist and writer best known for her highly detailed painted comic book covers. In the Japanese comic industry she is also known by the pen name TogaQ and is known as Jun Togai.
"Supersymmetry" is the 5th episode of the fourth season of the American television series Angel. Written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain and directed by Bill L. Norton, it was originally broadcast on November 3, 2002, on the WB network.
Dan Jolley is an American novelist and comic book writer. His comics work includes DC Comics' Firestorm and Graphic Universe's Twisted Journeys, a series of interactive fiction or gamebooks in graphic novel form, and his novel work includes the young-adult science fiction espionage series Alex Unlimited along with his international best selling novel, The Gray Widow's Walk, which is his first book in the Gray Widow trilogy that he publishes through Seventh Star Press. He created the character Jason Rusch with ChrisCross.
Marjorie Weinman Sharmat was an American children's writer. She wrote more than 130 books for children and teens and her books have been translated into several languages. They have won awards including Book of the Year by the Library of Congress or have become selections by the Literary Guild.
Janice May Udry is an American author of children's literature, primarily of picture books.
Gene Luen Yang is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. In 2012, Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
Katherine Shannon Collins is a Canadian-born cartoonist, writer, media personality, stage performer, and composer. She created the newspaper comic strip Neil the Horse, which ran from 1975 to 1991.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. It serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote or co-wrote three of the series arcs and several one-shot stories. The series was followed by Season Nine in 2011.
Nate the Great is a series of 31 children's detective stories written by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and featuring the boy detective Nate the Great. Sharmat and the illustrator Marc Simont inaugurated the series in 1972 with Nate the Great, a 60-page book published by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. Simont illustrated the first twenty books, to 1998; the last ten were illustrated by Martha Weston, Jody Wheeler, or Olga and Aleksey Ivanov "in the style of Marc Simont". Some of the titles were jointly written with Sharmat's sister Rosalind Weinman, husband Mitchell Sharmat or sons Craig Sharmat and Andrew Sharmat. Regarding the series, Marjorie Sharmat has called her husband Mitchell "always my first editor, and it's been a very happy collaboration".
Karla Kuskin was a prolific American author, poet, illustrator, and reviewer of children's literature. Kuskin was known for her poetic, alliterative style.
Krystine Kryttre is an American alternative comics artist, painter, animator, writer, and performer from San Francisco. currently based in Los Angeles. Her work is dark, often explicit, and visually distinctive." Her work has been exhibited in galleries since the late 1980s, including a number of solo shows in Los Angeles.
Donny Cates is an American comic book writer, artist, and podcaster, known for his work on titles like Venom, Thanos, Doctor Strange, Thor, and Hulk.