TC Raymond
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British cartoonist, born 30th March 1974 and creator of numerous fanzines, adult humour titles and material for publications as diverse as Spit, Smut, C'mon Ref!, Poot!, Deadpan, Acne and the Beano. His self-published titles include Klam (five issues plus a dummy pilot issue), Breakdown (seven issues between 2002 and 2005), Swindle! and Up! (both one-offs). Raymond (birth name Lee James Turnock) started drawing at an early age, listing his inspirations as Charles M Schulz and Leo Baxendale in particular, during one of several debilitating childhood illnesses. In 2006, he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, having previously diagnosed himself as "mildly autistic". Raymond's style is indebted to the underground cartoonists of the 1960s, in particular Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton and Jay Lynch, though his more intricate, heavily inked and cross-hatched drawings bring to mind the 1980s work of political cartoonist Steve Bell. Among the themes prevalent in Raymond's work are a love of all things retro (in particular the television comedies and popular music of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s), existential angst, buxom women (preferably brunettes, with 'cute noses' and 'big jugs', as he puts it) and a loathing of the chav sub-culture. Many of Raymond's recurring characters are social misfits following ambitions or careers that are totally unsuited to them - Jerry Winston, for example, is a wannabe rock star whose constant embittered grumbling and apparent misanthropy trip him up at every turn; Whadduc Hunt (his name, if said aloud quickly, is a rather crude pun) is a holiday resort entertainer in the customer-hating mould of Basil Fawlty (to whom the character bears some resemblance); The Arseholes, a dysfunctional family unit whose son Jason is permanently embarrassed by his loud and obnoxious parents, and Pugh Bescent, a scowling teenager who constantly hops from one social grouping to another - the character has gone from being a chav to a goth and back again, numerous times - in a desperate search for peer group acceptance. Raymond also features himself in his adventures, and his portrayal of himself is as unflattering as any of the critical brickbats that have been flung his way - "You can't hate me any more than I hate myself", he has said in his defence, and he's very probably right, though he is proud to list Alan Moore among his readers. He is currently working on a new series of comic strips written by Welsh television presenter and musician Nigel Buckland.
[edit] External Links
TC Raymond's MySpace (includes gallery)
