Monday, June 10, 2024

PHIL ELLIOTT MONTH: Phil Elliott in Honk Magazine 1986-87

 I remember first seeing Phil Elliott's work in back issues of HONK #1 and #2, probably in the early 90s. Specifically, it's Phil Elliott and Eddie Campbell's hilariously dire "Rodney: The Premonition II" strip reprinted in 5 page chunks that caught my attention (see my separate entry on the collected Rodney: The Premonition). 

I'm not sure about FAST FICTION, but the other major UK magazine Elliott contributed to early in his career, ESCAPE, had some good US distribution by the likes of Bud Plant and Last Gasp (where I recently purchased two issues from!). However, I would count HONK as an early instance of Elliott's genius colliding (almost simultaneously with SECOND CITY) with the US comics market.

Looking back on the contents of these first issues on Grand Comics Database, editor Tom Mason included other contemporary UK creators such as Glenn Dakin, John Bagnall, and Woodrow Phoenix. The last two issues, edited by early days Joe Sacco, continued reprinting Phil Elliott and Eddie Campbell's strip collaborations.

Just for history's sake here is a listing of Phil Elliott's work for all five issues of this mostly forgotten series (information from GCD):

HONK #1 November 1986
 "Gimbley" 1 page
 "Rodney: The Premonition II" 5 pages
Cover illustration

HONK #2 January 1987
 "Rodney: The Premonition II" 5 pages
 "Gimbley" 3 pages

HONK #3 March 1987
 "The Wonders of Science" 4 pages

HONK #4 May 1987
 "Gimbley" 1 page
 "The Wonders of Science" 6 pages

HONK #5 July 1987
 "The Wonders of Science" 5 pages
 "The Mammy" 10 pages

All strips (except Gimbley) in collaboration with Eddie Campbell


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