Eddie Campbell

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the blues musician, see Eddie C. Campbell.
For other people named Edward Campbell, see Edward Campbell (disambiguation).

Eddie Campbell
Eagle Award, 2000
Spouse(s)Audrey Niffenegger
Children3
https://www.eddiecampbelldammit.com

Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and

Greek gods
who have survived to the present day.

His scratchy pen-and-ink style is influenced by the

impressionists, illustrators of the age of "liberated penmanship" such as Phil May, Charles Dana Gibson, John Leech and George du Maurier, and cartoonists Milton Caniff and Frank Frazetta (particularly his Johnny Comet strip). Campbell's writing has been compared to that of Jack Kerouac and Henry Miller.[2]

Campbell has won almost every award the comics industry bestows, including the

Eagle Award, and the UK Comic Art Award
.

Biography

Alec and other autobiographical work

Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell

Campbell made his earliest attempts at

Escape Magazine
, Campbell was one of the artists featured.

In 1984 Escape published Alec, a slim collection of his semi-autobiographical stories. This was followed by two further collections, Love and Beerglasses (1985) and Doggie in the Window (1986).

While in

Bacchus comics (see below). With Glenn Dakin and Phil Elliott, he helped found Harrier's alternative-flavored New Wave imprint.[4]

In 1990 all three Alec volumes were collected, together with some unpublished material, as The Complete Alec by Acme Press/Eclipse Comics.[4] The collection won the 1991 UK Comic Art Award for Best Graphic Novel Collection.[5] In 2000 this material was republished as The King Canute Crowd.

Two further slim volumes, The Dead Muse (1990) and Little Italy (1991) appeared through Fantagraphics Books.

Graffiti Kitchen, which Campbell considers the highpoint of the series,[

Tundra in 1993, and The Dance of Lifey Death followed in 1994 from Dark Horse Comics
.

Campbell then followed up these works by self-publishing two larger works. Alec: How To Be An Artist (2000), a study of the art form and of Campbell's own artistic journey, and After The Snooter (2002), in which Campbell appears to have laid Alec McGarry to rest. Both works were originally serialised within his

Harvey Award
for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work in 2000.

In 2007 Campbell spent some time serving as a court illustrator in Australia.[6]

All the Alec stories, with the exception of The Fate of the Artist, were published in one volume, Alec: The Years Have Pants by Top Shelf Productions in 2009 (

ISBN 978-1-60309-025-4
). this was followed in 2012 by the publication of The Lovely Horrible Stuff (Top Shelf), a continuation of the autobiographical theme which playfully investigates our relationship with money.

Bacchus

Main article:
Bacchus (comics)

The success of

ISBN 978-1-60309-027-8).[7]

From Hell

Main article: From Hell

Beginning in 1989, Campbell illustrated

Steve Bissette's horror anthology Taboo. Moore and Bissette chose Campbell as illustrator for his down-to-earth approach which gave the story a convincing realism and did not sensationalise the violence of the murders. After Taboo folded From Hell was published in instalments by Tundra and then Kitchen Sink Press
, until the epilogue Dance of the Gull-catchers saw print in 1998.

Self-publishing

Under the influence of Dave Sim, Campbell founded Eddie Campbell Comics and began self-publishing in 1995, after the film rights to From Hell were optioned.[citation needed] The monthly series Bacchus reprinted and completed the story begun in Deadface, as well as carrying new and reprinted Alec stories. He went on to collect both Alec and Bacchus as a series of graphic novels. He also published the collected edition of From Hell, and comics adaptations of two of Alan Moore's performance art pieces, The Birth Caul and Snakes and Ladders.

After the cancellation of Bacchus, Campbell published two issues of Eddie Campbell's Egomania magazine, in which he began to serialise another work, The History of Humour. Facing an increasingly indifferent market for his work, and the collapse of his US distributor, Campbell ended his publishing imprint in 2003 after releasing the second issue of Egomania.

First Second and Top Shelf

After his self-publishing ceased, Campbell signed with First Second Books. As well as The Fate of the Artist, a continuation of the Alec series, First:Second published two other works by Campbell. June 2007 saw the publication of The Black Diamond Detective Agency, Campbell's adaptation of an as-yet unmade screenplay by C. Gaby Mitchell. Set in the closing months of 1899, it features the eponymous private detective agency investigating a conspiracy to blow up a train, and their prime suspect's efforts to find the truth.

In January 2008, First Second Books published Campbell's collaboration with Dan Best, The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard. The work follows the life of circus performers and historical figures as they wander in and out of history. It was enthusiastically received by critics with Ain't It Cool News saying "Something truly amazing and fun does indeed occur in this book."[8]

Campbell's next works were for Top Shelf. 2009 saw the publication of the life sized omnibus Alec: The Years Have Pants. The book collected Campbell's Alec work to date with the exception of Fate of the Artist. the omnibus edition also included new material. In 2010 The Playwright, a collaboration with Daren White, was published. This reworked strips the pair had previously published in the Australian anthology Dee Vee, expanding the scope of the story-line and bringing it to conclusion.

In 2012 Top Shelf published The Lovely Horrible Stuff in collaboration with Knockabout Press, a continuation of Campbell's autobiographical works. Campbell has evolved his art style, using colour, collage and photo-shop to create art which The Guardian describe as having " a surreal, scruffy elegance".[9][10]

iPad

A collection of the "Dapper John" stories originally created in the late 1970s, along with an original cover, a new interview and other features, was published as an iPad app in December 2011 by digital publisher Panel Nine. In 2012 Top Shelf released two collections of Campbell's Bacchus series.

Personal life

Campbell moved to Brisbane, Australia in 1986 with his then-wife Annie where he lived for thirty years.[11][12]

Campbell is married to author and artist Audrey Niffenegger[13] and currently lives in Chicago.[14] Campbell's adult daughter Hayley Campbell (from his previous marriage)[11] is a writer and radio journalist.[15]

Awards

Bibliography

Alec

  • Alec (Escape Publishing, 1984)
  • Love and Beerglasses (Escape Publishing, 1985)
  • Doggie in the Window (Escape Publishing, 1986)
  • By The Time I Get To Wagga Wagga (Harrier Comics, 1987)
  • Ace (Harrier/New Wave, 1988)
  • The Complete Alec (Acme Press/Eclipse Comics, 1990)
    • republished in 2000 by Eddie Campbell Comics as The King Canute Crowd
  • The Dead Muse (Fantagraphics Books, 1990)
  • Eddie Campbell in Little Italy (Fantagraphics, 1991)
  • In The Days of the Ace Rock 'n' Roll Club (Fantagraphics, 1993) – originally produced in 1978–1979
  • Graffiti Kitchen (Tundra Publishing, 1993)
  • The Dance of Lifey Death (Dark Horse Comics, 1994)
  • Three Piece Suit (Top Shelf Productions, 2001) – collecting Graffiti Kitchen, Little Italy, and The Dance of Lifey Death
  • How to be an Artist (Eddie Campbell Comics, 2001)
  • After the Snooter (Eddie Campbell Comics, 2002)
  • Alec: The Years Have Pants (Top Shelf Productions, 2009) – collecting all of the above, with extra shorts and a new Alec story, "The Years Have Pants"
  • The Fate of the Artist (First Second Books, 2006)
  • The Lovely Horrible Stuff (Top Shelf Productions / Knockabout Comics, 2012)
  • The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell (Top Shelf Productions, 2023)

Bacchus

  • Deadface (8 issues, Harrier Comics, April 1987–October 1988)
  • Deadface: Doing the Islands with Bacchus (3 issues, Dark Horse Comics, 1991) – mostly reprints of stories from Trident Comics' Trident and Atomeka Press' A1
  • The Eyeball Kid (3 issues, Dark Horse, April 1992–June 1992) – reprints of stories from the Dark Horse anthology Cheval Noir
  • Deadface: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire (4 issues, Dark Horse, July 1992–October 1992)
  • The 1,001 Nights of Bacchus (Dark Horse, May 1993)
  • Hermes vs. The Eyeball Kid (3 issues, Dark Horse, December 1994–February 1995) – reprints of stories from Dark Horse Presents
  • Eddie Campbell's Bacchus (60 issues, Eddie Campbell Comics, May 1995–May 2001)
  • Collected volumes:
    • Vol 1: Deadface: Immortality Isn't Forever (Dark Horse Comics, 1990) – reprints Deadface #1–8
    • Vol 2: The Gods of Business (Eddie Campbell Comics, 1995) – with
      Ed Hillyer
    • Vol 3: Doing the Islands with Bacchus (Dark Horse Comics, 1991)
    • Vol 4: The Eyeball Kid – One Man Show (Eddie Campbell Comics, 1998) – with Ed Hillyer; reprints from Cheval Noir
    • Vol 5: Earth, Water, Air, Fire (Eddie Campbell Comics, 1998) – with Wes Kublick; reprints from Deadface: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire
    • Vol 6: The 1,001 Nights of Bacchus (Eddie Campbell Comics, 2000) – reprints the 1993 Dark Horse TPB of the same name
    • Vol 7/8: The Eyeball Kid Double Bill Eddie Campbell Comics, 2002) – with Wes Kublick; reprints "The Eyeball Kid" stories from Dark Horse Presents #76-84, 94-99 (Aug. 1993–July 1995)
    • Vol 9: King Bacchus (Eddie Campbell Comics, 1996) – with Pete Mullins
    • Vol 10: Banged Up (Eddie Campbell Comics, 2001) – with Pete Mullins and Marcus Moore
  • Bacchus Omnibus Volume 1 (Top Shelf Productions, 2015)
  • Bacchus Omnibus Volume 2 (Top Shelf Productions, 2016)

Other work

Notes

  1. ^ "Inkpot Award". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 6 December 2012.
  2. ^ Yang, Sam (October 1991). "A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine and Eddie Campbell". The Comics Journal. 1 (145): 58–87.
  3. ^ Campbell, Eddie. "And here it is! This exists only as an app!", personal blog (11 December 2011): "In the Days of the Ace Rock'n'Roll Club was a book, or an ongoing series of 7-page stories which I drew between March 1978 and March 1979."
  4. ^ a b Yang, Sam. "A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine and Eddie Campbell," The Comics Journal #145 (Oct. 1991), p. 59, 78.
  5. ^ "British Awards Announced," The Comics Journal #142 (June 1991), p. 17.
  6. ^ Campbell, Eddie. "Bastards I have drawn: (The Villains in my Home Town- part 4)," personal blog (14 Apr. 2007).
  7. ^ Campbell, Eddie (15 July 2011). "A Big Spread-1". Eddie Campbell (blog). Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Ambush Bug." "AICN COMICS CELEBRATES ITS 7TH BIRTHDAY BY DOING WHAT THEY DO BEST...REVIEWING MANY, MANY COMICS!" Ain't It Cool News (7 May 2008) – review of The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard.
  9. ^ Mautner, Chris (29 May 2012). ""The Only Thing That Matters is the Work on the Page": An Interview with Eddie Campbell". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  10. ^ Smart, James (17 July 2012). "The Lovely Horrible Stuff by Eddie Campbell – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  11. ^ a b Gravatt, Paul. "Creator Profile: Eddie Campbell," PaulGravatt.com. Accessed 13 October 2018
  12. ^ O'Brien, John (1 December 2018). "Eddie Campbell swaps River City for Windy City". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  13. ^ Lehoczky, Etelka "ARTS & LIFE: 'Bizarre Romance' Finds Love, But Misses That Perfect Moment," NPR (20 March 2018)
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ McMillan, Graeme, "EDDIE CAMPBELL UNVEILS THE COMIC HIS DAUGHTER DREW WHILE HE WORKED ON ‘FROM HELL’" Comics Alliance (26 June 2012)
  16. ^ "Eagle Awards 2000: Sequential Tart Wins!", Sequential Tart. Accessed 15 Jan. 2020.
  17. ^ "The Spirit: The New Adventures #7 - Tricks or Treats in Central City (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved 18 December 2023.

References

External links

Preceded by Hellblazer writer
1994 		Succeeded by
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