Gonzo

A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson

I’ve always felt that I missed out on a defining point in American history because I was too young. I have two older brothers who grew up in the heart of the sixties… went to Woodstock, hung out at Haight/Ashbury, dealt with draft numbers and the very real possibility of going to war overseas… the whole shebang. My experience was entirely different. The best analogy is music… the year before I entered high school, the album of the year was Neil Young’s Harvest… a true marker of the sixties, but I was too young to appreciate it. By the time I graduated from high school, the album of the year was Elton John’s greatest hits, then midway through college it was Saturday Night Fever, and the year I started working it was REO Speedwagon, which is about as far from the sixties as you can possibly get.

Anyway, I’ve always held a fascination with the culture, values and aspirations of the sixties. So, I picked up the graphic novel, Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson, to learn about Hunter S. Thompson’s life during those times. The book was fascinating, and gave me an appreciation for his experiences as part of that pivotal generation, and of course after that I wanted to dig deeper. I’ve now read his biography, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved, and Strange Rumblings in Azatlan, with more to follow.

Our Graphic Novel club selects their favorite reads

From Abrams ComicArts to other incredible graphic novels, our crew knows what you should be reading now

Marketing and Publicity Assistant Maya Bradford introduces us to the must-reads, according to the core members of the Abrams ComicArts Graphic Novel club.

In the fall of 2009, Abrams started its very own graphic novel reading group. Two years later the group still has monthly meetings and has read and discussed almost 20 graphic novels. One of the very first books picked for the graphic novel club was Abrams ComicArts’ own Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow! Below are accounts from a few graphic novel club members about their favorite reads from club, including founding member and Abrams ComicArts designer, Neil Egan…

A very happy birthday to the one and only George Herriman

'Krazy Kat and the Art of George Herriman' author Craig Yoe on this heppy, heppy day

Craig Yoe, author of ‘Krazy Kat and the Art of George Herriman,’ out this month, wishes the famed cartoonist a very happy (ahem… HEPPY!) birthday.

Happy Birthday George Herriman! Or “Heppy” as George used to spell it in his playful strip Krazy Kat. Or “Garge” as seminal newspaper cartoonist and close friend of Herriman Tad Dorgan used to spell it. Heppy Birthday Garge! George Joesph Heriman, merely The Greatest Cartoonist of All, was born on this date in 1880…

Welcome to the new ABRAMS Blog!

Reflections on our new endeavor

Welcome to the new ABRAMS Blog! We’re thrilled to embark on this terrifically exciting endeavor. We hope that this can serve as a forum for the diverse range of ideas and expertise that make ABRAMS such a unique place to work. You’ll see a week and a half of posts before this, so we encourage you to read through all of last week’s content as well.