Today, the sad news came of the death of Peter Pontiac, Holland's foremost underground comics artist. He was 63. Unfortunately, not much of Peter Pontiac's outstanding graphic work has been translated into English, so he may not be a household name, but he is to Holland what R. Crumb is to the US. (He was a kind and very modest man who would have objected to that comparison, for sure!)
Gaga & Gigi, iconic punk characters of the 1980s.
His work has always been rooted in rock 'n roll and punk.
In 2000, his graphic novel Kraut was published. It's a haunting tale about his father's shady war past and even shadier disappearance. Its flowery language combined with intricate hand-lettering proved quite difficult to translate, so it hasn't gotten the English edition it deserves, yet.
You can find some background information here. Peter Pontiac never made a secret of his drug use during the 70s and 80s. It eventually caught up with him and destroyed his liver. He regretted it as a big waste of time and was working hard to finish what he envisioned as his last book: STYX, about death. When i last met him, a few months back, he was fairly optimistic about its progress, but it was not to be. Alas!
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4 comments:
A great artist!
Hadn't been aware of his work- it's brilliant stuff. Thanks for sharing
I had never heard of him either but he's got some really nice work. Yes, thank you for sharing.
Pontiac's work appeared extensively in Spain's El Vibora Magazine,he was an amazing cartoonist, with a rich, thick ink cartooning style who was full of fleas realistic and fantastically full of fleas.
I'm sad.
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