| Gary Hallgren | |
|---|---|
 Hallgren in Allentown, Pennsylvania | |
| Born | (1945-10-28)October 28, 1945 (age 80) Washington state, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Illustrator |
Notable works | Air Pirates Funnies |
Gary Hallgren (born October 28, 1945) is an Americanillustrator andundergroundcartoonist. Illustrations by Hallgren have been "commissioned by publications such asThe New York Times,Men's Health,The Wall Street Journal,Mad, andEntertainment Weekly, among others."[1]
Growing up outside ofBellingham, Washington, Hallgren studied painting and design atWestern Washington State College. He joined the underground comix scene sometime around 1970, publishing his first narrative story inNorthwest Passage, a local underground newspaper.
In early 1971 cartoonistDan O'Neill invited Hallgren — then based in Seattle — and some other artists to San Francisco to form theAir 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 ofAir Pirates Funnies. Hallgren's work inAir Pirates Funnies,Pollyanna Pals, imitatedCliff Sterrett's old-timecomic stripPolly and Her Pals.[2]Air Pirates Funnies contained parody versions of (among other figures)Mickey Mouse, which led to a highly publicized lawsuit fromThe 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 includedComix Book,San Francisco Comic Book, andManhunt #2 (Cartoonists Co-Op Press, Dec. 1974).
From about 1986 to 1988, Hallgren was part ofUpstart Associates, a shared studio space on West 29th Street inNew York City. Founded byHoward Chaykin,Walt Simonson,Val Mayerik, andJim 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 inLong Island.[8]
He illustrated the four-issuelimited seriesMort the Dead Teenager, written byLarry Hama and published byMarvel Comics in 1993–1994.
In 1994, Hallgren was one of a number of cartoonists (includingIvan Brunetti)[9] who applied to take over the long-timesyndicated newspaper stripNancy.[10] (In 1995,Guy and Brad Gilchrist were given control of the strip.)
Hallgren illustratedMehmet 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 byWilliam Morrow Paperbacks.
As of May 2006 Hallgren lived inGranby, Massachusetts and had his studio inHolyoke.[1]Since 2015, Hallgren has been providing art forHägar the Horrible, a popular newspaper comic strip distributed byKing Features Syndicate.
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