| Gary Hallgren | |
|---|---|
 Gary Hallgren at Allentown, PA | |
| Born | October 28, 1945 Washington state, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Illustrator |
Notable works | Air Pirates Funnies |
Gary Hallgren (born October 28, 1945) is an American illustrator and underground cartoonist. Illustrations by Hallgren have been "commissioned by publications such as The New York Times , Men's Health , The Wall Street Journal , Mad , and Entertainment Weekly , among others." [1]
Growing up outside of Bellingham, Washington, Hallgren studied painting and design at Western Washington State College. He joined the underground comix scene sometime around 1970, publishing his first narrative story in Northwest Passage , a local underground newspaper.
In early 1971 cartoonist Dan O'Neill invited Hallgren — then based in Seattle — and some other artists to San Francisco to form the Air Pirates collective. [2] The Air Pirates lived together in a warehouse on Harrison Street in San Francisco. [3] They teamed up to produce two issues of Air Pirates Funnies . Hallgren's work in Air Pirates Funnies, Pollyanna Pals, imitated Cliff Sterrett's old-time comic strip Polly and Her Pals . [2] Air Pirates Funnies contained parody versions of (among other figures) Mickey Mouse, which led to a highly publicized lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company. [4] Hallgren also did the cover artwork and stories for a follow-up comic, The Tortoise and the Hare (Last Gasp, 1971) (of which nearly 10,000 issues were soon confiscated under a court order). [5] The initial court decision, delivered on July 7, 1972, went against the Air Pirates, and O'Neill's lawyers appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. O'Neill suggested the other Pirates settle, and leave him to defend the case alone. Hallgren and the publisher, Ron Turner, settled with Disney.
Other underground comix to which Hallgren contributed included Comix Book , San Francisco Comic Book , and Manhunt #2 (Cartoonists Co-Op Press, Dec. 1974).
From about 1986 to 1988, Hallgren was part of Upstart Associates, a shared studio space on West 29th Street in New York City. Founded by Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Val Mayerik, and Jim Starlin; [6] the membership of the studio changed over time, [7] and at the point Hallgren joined, Upstart consisted of Simonson and James Sherman. [8] Hallgren left the studio when he bought a house in Long Island. [8]
He illustrated the four-issue limited series Mort the Dead Teenager , written by Larry Hama and published by Marvel Comics in 1993–1994.
In 1994, Hallgren was one of a number of cartoonists (including Ivan Brunetti) [9] who applied to take over the long-time syndicated newspaper strip Nancy . [10] (In 1995, Guy and Brad Gilchrist were given control of the strip.)
Hallgren illustrated Mehmet Oz's book, YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body That Will Make You Healthier and Younger, published in May 2005 by William Morrow Paperbacks.
As of May 2006 Hallgren lived in Granby, Massachusetts and had his studio in Holyoke. [1] Since 2015, Hallgren has been providing art for Hägar the Horrible, a popular newspaper comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate.
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, including explicit drug use, sexuality, and violence. They were most popular in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s, and in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.
Dan O'Neill is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip Odd Bodkins and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates.
Gilbert Shelton is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy's Cat, and Wonder Wart-Hog.
Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types.
Shary Flenniken is an American editor-writer-illustrator and underground cartoonist. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to National Lampoon and was one of the editors of the magazine for two years.
Robert London is an American underground comix and mainstream comics artist. His style evokes the work of early American cartoonists like George Herriman and Elzie Crisler Segar.
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 the underground comix era. Founded in 1969 in San Francisco by four friends from Austin, Texas — cartoonists Gilbert Shelton and Jack Jackson, and Fred Todd and Dave Moriaty — Rip Off Press is now run in Auburn, California, by Todd.
Jay Patrick Lynch was an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. He is best known for his comic strip Nard n' Pat and the running gag Um tut sut. His work is sometimes signed Jayzey Lynch. Lynch was the main writer for Bazooka Joe comics from 1967 to 1990; he contributed to Mad, and in the 2000s expanded into the children's book field.
Dirty Duck is a fictional character created by underground comix artist Bobby London. The style of the strip is an homage to George Herriman's Krazy Kat.
James Sherman is an artist known for his work in American comic books, movies, and logos.
The Air Pirates were a group of cartoonists who created two issues of an underground comic called Air Pirates Funnies in 1971, leading to a famous lawsuit by Walt Disney Productions. Founded by Dan O'Neill, the group also included Bobby London, Shary Flenniken, Gary Hallgren, and Ted Richards.
Donald Richard Donahue was a comic book publisher, operating under the name Apex Novelties, one of the instigators of the underground comix movement in the 1960s.
Gary Edson Arlington was an American retailer, artist, editor, and publisher, who became a key figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s. As owner of one of America's first comic book stores, the San Francisco Comic Book Company, located in San Francisco's Mission District, Arlington's establishment became a focal point for the Bay Area's underground artists. He published comics under the name San Francisco Comic Book Company, as well as publishing and distributing comics under the name Eric Fromm. Cartoonist Robert Crumb has noted, "Gary made a cultural contribution in San Francisco in the late 1960s, through the '70s, '80s & '90s that was more significant than he realizes."
Theodore Richards was an American web designer and cartoonist, best known for his underground comix.
Company & Sons was an early underground comix publisher based in San Francisco, ran by John Bagley. The company operated from 1970 to 1973, publishing a total of 15 titles, all but one of them consisting of a single issue.
San Francisco Comic Book was an underground comix anthology published between 1970 and 1983. Conceived of and edited by Gary Arlington, the anthology highlighted the work of many of San Francisco's top underground talents, including Bill Griffith, Robert Crumb, Kim Deitch, Justin Green, Rory Hayes, Willy Murphy, Jim Osborne, Trina Robbins, and Spain Rodriguez.
Willy Murphy was an American underground cartoonist. Murphy's humor focused on hippies and the counterculture. His signature character was Arnold Peck the Human Wreck, "a mid-30s beanpole with wry observations about his own life and the community around him." Murphy's solo title was called Flamed-Out Funnies; in addition, he contributed to such seminal underground anthologies as Arcade, Bijou Funnies, and San Francisco Comic Book, as well as the National Lampoon.
Michele Wrightson, also known as Michele Brand, was an American artist who worked in the comic book industry. She started out as an underground comix cartoonist. Later, she made her name as a colorist. She was a key contributor to the first all-female underground comic, It Ain't Me, Babe, as well as its follow-up series, Wimmen's Comix.
Upstart Associates, sometimes known as Upstart Studios, was the name of an artists' studio at 231 West 29th Street in New York City formed in late 1978 by four comic book creators. Those artists were Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Val Mayerik, and Jim Starlin. The membership of the studio changed over time, eventually adding James Sherman, Frank Miller, and Gary Hallgren as previous members left. In addition, future comics professionals Peter Kuper and Dean Haspiel worked as assistants at Upstart before they began doing professional work.
Walt Disney Productions v. Air Pirates, 581 F.2d 751 (1978), was a copyright law case of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and an important precedent on the use of copyrighted characters for purposes of parody or satire.
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