50-ODD YEARS OF BIG NOSES: a retrospective with HUNT EMERSON

Hunt Emerson, vaunted veteran comix creator of the UK's underground scene, sits down with Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, over the 50-Odd Years of Big Noses Zoop campaign.

COMIC BOOK YETI: We are pleased to have you visiting the Yeti Cave, Hunt! It’s an honor to catch you in the midst of the 50-Odd Years of Big Noses retrospective collection campaign. How are things going over in the UK?

HUNT EMERSON: Things in the UK are busy and chaotic, and not much of that is comics-related. At the age of 74, Life, Health and Housework play a more significant part than Comics. For me, one of the major events of the last six weeks has been growing and then shaving off a jazz beard. (Some liked it; my wife didn’t!)

CBY: Ah, yes. My wife dictates how often I shave, as well (otherwise I'd trend a bit grizzlier). Hunt, there’s lots of ground to cover, so let’s start with the present and work our way backwards. There are plenty of options for publication, and various crowdfunding platforms. How did 50-Odd years of Big Noses end up with Zoop, and what did they offer that made for a compelling partnership?

HE: I didn’t know there were plenty of options! Those great people at Zoop (Hi Eric!) got in touch and asked if I possibly had something they might get involved in, and I said “As it happens I’ve got this book I’d been working on.”

CBY: So this book arose as a consequence of conversations with Rory Milne, so having an interview about a publication built upon another interview is amusing on a metatextual level. How did you initially get to know Rory, and when did you both come to realize you had a whole book on your hands?

HE: Rory is a writer in the comics and gaming journalism world. He’s been in touch with Knockabout from time to time. He emailed me in 2023 to ask if I was aware that my first ever comic strip had appeared in print, in a local Birmingham underground magazine, 50 years ago, and he suggested an interview on that basis. I hadn’t been aware of the anniversary. We had a 90 minute phone call and had barely got started, but we had fun and a lot of laughter, so we arranged more. After six long chats we realised we had a book of some sort here, and I started designing and laying it out. Time passed, as it has a habit of doing, and 50 years became 50-odd years, until now – here we are!

CBY: While I've done a lot of interviews at this point, none of them have been arranged in multiple installments, so I applaud Rory's thorough approach and dedication to understanding your body of work. I am sure the list of individuals who have played a role in fifty (odd) years of cartooning runs long and wide, but are there any specific people in your life who played a role in bringing this book to the market that you’d like to acknowledge here?

HE: Without my friend and collaborator Tony Bennett (Knockabout Comics) I wouldn’t have gotten here. My editor at Galaxy Publications, Ross Gilfillan, was always a supporter. Gilbert Shelton has been a friend and inspiration for 35 years. There are, of course, many others who have been encouraging – not least all the people who have valued and been amused by my work over the years.

CBY: From what I gather, you unpack a number of these relationships more thoroughly in the book. I understand how much of the text was derived from the interviews with Rory, but how did you curate the collection of visual work from your career for inclusion and alignment with the topics covered in the dialogue?

HE: I wanted to put as much illustration into the book as I could, and I wanted to concentrate where possible on older, or more obscure items. So I’ve had great fun dredging up ancient folders of forgotten sketches. I hope no-one is dissatisfied with my choices – too late to change them now.

CBY: I'm sure pulling material from the vault will be a delight for fans, particularly those illustrations that haven't seen the light of day in wider circulation yet. In my recent interview with Ben Wickey, we spoke a bit about Alan Moore’s firm stance on the centrality of Northampton to his ontology. As a fellow collaborator of Moore’s, and a native of Newcastle upon Tyne, do you have a contrapuntal position on localities of England, given your focus on community-level subject matter and initiatives? 

HE: I’ve worked with Alan a little, but not hugely. Although I’m from Newcastle, I’ve lived in Birmingham since 1971, and that is where my base is now. I’ve done a lot of community-type work here in Handsworth over the years, and in fact I have a plan for a comic book based on Handsworth history. I’ve done some work – research and drawing – around it, but it’s unlikely to ever be fulfilled without funding, and without a rise in energy levels in myself. I should say that my history of Handsworth would be nothing like the immense work that Alan Moore has done about Northampton; mine is more amusing bits of local gossip and folk tales – William Booth the Handsworth Forger, Mrs. Bratt’s Geese, Lieutenant Lempriere the early balloon pioneer. But don’t hold your breath – it‘s not going to happen.

CBY: Well, with the crowdfunding model at work, hopefully the opportunity presents itself for a Handsworth history (and it sounds like a municipal council arts grant would be well-spent on the project). It’s a delight to get a glimpse of the evolution in your work over the years. Given you started your career in the pre-digital era, can you share a bit about how your techniques and tools have changed over the decades, and what sort of evolution in your style and process you’ve incorporated as you learned shortcuts and innovations in the industry became available?

HE: My pre-digital drawing is better quality than post-digital. I was never very good at colouring, so when I was eventually dragged into the computer age I took to digital colouring with gratitude. I still do all my drawing on paper, with pens (the earlier work was with brush and ink), and it is all scanned and corrected on the computer. In the old days I had to be much more careful not to make mistakes. All-in-all, I don’t like computers and I hate the internet, but it’s all a necessary evil now.

CBY: Yeah, there is almost no avoiding it at this point. I noted in some additional reading on your career, you’ve had experience in Nairobi, Kenya, in the establishment of Shujaaz, a free comic publication for youth. I’m coordinating youth volunteers in Nairobi for the forthcoming Innovate4Cities Conference in June, so can you share a bit about your experience in Kenya, how it constitutes a unique creative community, and how the publisher, Well Told Story, initially enlisted you in the work? 

HE: In 2009, I was contacted by Rob Burnet, in Nairobi, who wanted me to come over there and do some workshops on how to make comics with a bunch of young artists and writers. At the time, Kenyan comics as such didn’t exist. I was pretty busy at home, so I managed three whole days in Nairobi – an extraordinary experience! The story of how Shujaaz came into being is too long and complicated to go into here, but it has been very successful as a learning tool and communications medium for Kenyan young people, and Robbie’s company, Well Told Story, has been awarded two International Emmys and nominated for a third, and has grown into an important cultural agency in Kenya. When issue number one was published, they took me over there for another week in 2010; again, a rare adventure! My drawings have never appeared in Shujaaz, but I’m proud to have been associated with the birth of a comic that actually makes a real difference to young people’s lives.

CBY: It was a pleasant and timely surprise to learn about Shujaaz in the month before visiting, so I'll be sure to reach out to Rob before I arrive in Nairobi. Hunt, having found your feet in print through underground press, and embracing the “comix” label, with the moniker of “outsider art” being bandied about for professionals presenting their work outside the corporate publishing pipeline, what does your relationship to “the mainstream” look like in reflecting upon your career? What role does Anarchism, working antithetically to existing systems and structures have in your decision-making? What forces do you feel have most shaped your trajectory?

HE: Blimey! You don’t half know how to ask questions! I’ve never been particularly interested in mainstream comics, nor they in me. I don’t work or write in that fashion. I can’t draw hands with 4 fingers! My story-telling is not very well developed, and I can’t sustain a narrative. And in particular, apart from occasional commissions, I hate drawing other people’s characters. I have worked with writers over long periods – Tym Manley on Firkin the Cat, and Kevin Jackson on many subjects – but they have always been loose arrangements where I get to dictate the shape and structure of the comics. As for a Trajectory – believe me, the main motivation for my working has always been to pay the rent, pay the bills, and to do whatever I can to keep that going. Fear is the motivator!

CBY: We try to avoid half-baked questions in the Yeti Cave! Hunt, you’ve had a long, storied career in an industry that has seen enormous changes over the past fifty years, facing personal and professional curveballs along the way. For more recent arrivals to the comics community amongst our readership, what advice would you dispense to guide them toward decades-long careers of their own? 

HE: Oh god, I hate being asked this! Although I’ve had to do it at times, I don’t like teaching. I never feel I have any right to criticise other people’s drawings, and I tend to gaze in awe at their work and say “Wow!” My advice to aspirant young cartoonists is, “don’t do what I did!” Stay in school, learn to network, get some financial education, put some money aside for later. But always be as original as you can be.

CBY: Cautionary advice is still valid, so we appreciate having your words of wisdom to share with our readers. To close, we always offer our guests an opportunity to make mention of other creative work, unrelated to their own, that has been catching their attention lately. What would you recommend our readers give a look once they’ve given 50-Odd Years of Big Noses their support?

HE: I’m afraid I’m not a great comics reader. I read a lot of history. The comics artists I admire are all names from the past – EC Segar’s Popeye, Herriman, Asterix, (Gilbert) Shelton, old MAD comics, Sergio Aragones – there are more, but, hey! Who’s got the time?

CBY: Hunt, it’s an honor to have you here to reflect upon a career of countless cartoons, and the time you have offered us is gratefully appreciated. We’ve covered the Zoop campaign underway, but if you have other portfolio, publication, or social media links, now is the time and place to share them. I hope the rest of the campaign goes swimmingly!

HE: Not much else to add. I have a website shop where people can buy my books and artwork. That’s largecow.com. 

Thanks for the interview – I’m honoured! And I hope the rest of the campaign goes more than swimmingly too! Cheers!

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