| Hark! A Vagrant | |
|---|---|
 Cover for the 2011 print collection | |
| Author(s) | Kate Beaton |
| Website | Hark, a Vagrant |
| Current status/schedule | Completed [1] |
| Launch date | 2007 |
| End date | 2018 |
| Genre(s) | Comedy |
Hark! A Vagrant is a webcomic published by Canadian artist Kate Beaton between 2007 and 2018. It discussed historical and literary topics in a comedic tone and was drawn in black and white.
Hark! A Vagrant is best known for its humorous treatment of historical figures and events. Beaton began drawing history-themed comics for her student newspaper while studying History and Anthropology at Mount Allison University. [2] Historical personages that have made appearances in the comic include Napoléon Bonaparte, [3] Ada Lovelace, [4] Marie Antoinette, [5] and the Founding Fathers of the United States. [6] Literary figures feature prominently, such as the Brontë sisters, [7] and several strips parody classic literary works such as Robinson Crusoe and Sherlock Holmes. The humour in Beaton's historical and literary strips often derives from anachronisms, such as historical characters expressing modern colloquialisms and sensibilities. [8]
Other recurring subjects in the comic include superheroes, Nancy Drew stories, and autobiographical topics.
Hark! A Vagrant has been noted for its feminist themes, [9] and Beaton has described herself as "naturally drawn to women’s history". [2] She is particularly well-known for her series of "Strong Female Characters" strips, which satirise sexist depictions of female characters in comics and movies. [10]
Hark! A Vagrant is drawn in black and white with pens, watercolours, brush pens, and a Wacom tablet in later comics. [11] Beaton's distinctive drawing style is loose and light, and has been compared to the illustrations of Quentin Blake. [9] Reviews have remarked on her mastery of facial expressions in particular. [8]
Most strips are short, about three to eight panels long. Beaton often eschews punctuation in her dialogue, [10] and the tone of the comic has been described as "conversational". [8]
The 2011 print collection of Hark! A Vagrant was named one of the top ten fiction books of the year by Time magazine, [12] and Rolling Stone magazine placed the same collection on its list of 'The 50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels'. [13] Maria Popova, in The Atlantic , called the book "a witty and wonderful collection of comics about historical and literary figures and events", and praised Beaton's "truly special gift for simple, subtle, incredibly expressive caricature". [14] Alex Manley, writing for Maisonneuve, wrote that "the collection reveals Beaton's flair for marrying dry historical facts of varying arcanity with cheap, childish gags in a way that never seems to get old." [15]
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Doug Wright Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Best Emerging Talent | Won [16] |
| 2010 | Harvey Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Best online comics work | Nominated [17] |
| 2011 | Harvey Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Best online comics work | Won [18] |
| 2011 | Eagle Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Favourite Web-Based Comic | Nominated [19] |
| 2011 | Ignatz Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Outstanding Online Comic | Won [20] |
| 2012 | Harvey Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Best online comics work | Won [21] |
| 2012 | Doug Wright Award | Hark! A Vagrant | Best Book | Won [22] |
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing reviews of the products of the mainstream comics industry, the magazine promotes the view that comics are a fine art, meriting broader cultural respect, and thus should be evaluated with higher critical standards.
Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics Hate and Neat Stuff. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth. He won two Harvey Awards in 1991, one for best cartoonist and one for his work on Hate. In recent decades Bagge has done more fact-based comics, everything from biographies to history to comics journalism. Publishers of Bagge's articles, illustrations, and comics include suck.com, MAD Magazine, toonlet, Discover, and the Weekly World News, with the comic strip Adventures of Batboy. He has expressed his libertarian views in features for Reason.
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Kathryn Moira Beaton is a Canadian comics artist best known as the creator of the comic strip Hark! A Vagrant, which ran from 2007 to 2018. Her other major works include the children's books The Princess and the Pony and King Baby, published in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The former was made into an Apple TV+ series called Pinecone & Pony released in 2022 on which Beaton worked as an executive producer. Also in 2022, Beaton released a memoir in graphic novel form, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, about her experience working in the Alberta oil sands. Publishers Weekly named Ducks one of their top ten books of the year.
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Notable events of 2007 in webcomics.
Notable events of 2012 in webcomics.
Notable events of 2011 in webcomics.
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Hark! A Vagrant, such as it is, is an archive website now.