Hans Rickheit (born January 12, 1973) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

Biography

Rickheit was originally a resident of

Ashburnham, Massachusetts Ashburnham () is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 6,315. It is home to Cushing Academy, a private preparatory boarding school. Ashburnham contains the census-designated place ...

. He originally self-published

minicomic A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105& ...

s which presented dark vignettes and short stories, many of them directly inspired by

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

s. He also produced

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s, mostly through community television stations. Rickheit followed these up with a longer work, ''Kill, Kill, Kill''. In the late 1990s, Rickheit moved to the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area where he was deeply involved with the Zeitgeist Gallery located in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. With the support and assistance of the gallery's owner, Alan Nidle, he started a publication the short-lived publication ''Cambridge Inferno'' for more general audiences as a vehicle to showcase local cartoonists. He was also the gallery's projectionist, and programmed series' and comics festivals there and in the greater Boston area. He also dabbled in music and performance art, playing "Doctor Selenium" in a performance collaboration with musician

Katt Hernandez KATT-FM (100.5 MHz, "ROCK 100.5 The KATT") is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a mainstream rock radio format. The playlist leans toward hard-edged classic rock with some current and re ...

, and working on Empire S.N.A.F.U. Restoration Project events. In 2001, he

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

the first edition of his original

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

Chloe Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...

''. A

Xeric Foundation The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations. The Xeric Fou ...

grant enabled him to produce a second and revised

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

edition of ''Chloe'' which received wider distribution and favorable reviews by the comics press. In 2003, Rickheit produced a color wraparound cover for the

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

The Comics Interpreter ''The Comics Interpreter (TCI)'' was a zine of comics criticism, published and edited by Robert Young. Published from 1999 to 2004, it focused on alternative comics, and was characterized by interviews and reviews of greater length and detail than ...

'', which in that issue also published a long interview with him. More recently, Rickheit has had short stories published in a number of

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

small press comics anthologies and periodicals and in '' The Stranger'' weekly. Rickheit relocated in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

after the Zeitgeist Gallery shut down in 2006, where he still released the occasional issue of ''Chrome Fetus'', his showcase for his own shorter works. From 2001 to 2009 he made

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and designed album cover art for

, as well as designing cover art for Psychotic Quartet and most recently Archer Spade. ''The Squirrel Machine'' is his longest graphic novel to date. It was published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

in 2009 and subsequently translated into several languages. In early 2010, he returned to rural Massachusetts to live in a town so remote that it does not exist on most maps. He presently creates ''Ectopiary'' and ''Cochlea and Eustachia'', both webcomics released semi-irregularly. ''Folly'', a collection of his earlier short works, was released by Fantagraphics Books in April 2012.

References

Biography

External links

*
Ectopiary

webcomic

''Cochlea and Eustachia'' webcomic

a video at Fantagraphics.com

an album covered designed by Rickheit {{DEFAULTSORT:Rickheit, Hans American cartoonists American comics artists American performance artists American webcomic creators American comics writers 1973 births Living people People from Ashburnham, Massachusetts Alternative cartoonists