Jamie Hewlett
|
|
Jamie Hewlett is joint creator of the comic strip Tank Girl and a member of the band Gorillaz.
While studying at Northbrook College, Worthing, West Sussex, England Hewlett, Alan Martin and fellow student Philip Bond had created a fanzine called Atomtan.
Deadline, created by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins, featured strips like Wired World, Love and Rockets and Fireball XL5. The Tank Girl comic strip originally appeared in Issue One of the Magazine, before being published world-wide and made into a film.
Hewlett has also designed decor for a nightclub - The Factory, Worthing. The decor featured red and green stripes, a wall of blown-up panels from Tank Girl set against '70s wallpaper, a Ford Escort hung from the ceiling and toilets pasted with pages from old comic book annuals. The Factory has since been demolished.
Hewlett and girlfriend Jane Olliver (originally a member of Elastica) opened 49, a vintage clothes shop (in Worthing), before Hewlett moved to London. After splitting with girlfriend Olliver, he moved into a flat with Blur's Damon Albarn. He had also just split from his long-term girlfriend, Elastica's Justine Frischmann.
Hewlett worked on a number of advertising campaigns. His designs also appeared on the set of UK children's TV programme SM:TV, presented by ex-pop stars and Byker Grove actors Ant and Dec.
Hewlett has also worked on strips for the British Sci-Fi comic 2000 AD, most notably for the 8-part series Hewligan's Haircut, scripted by Peter Milligan (another regular Deadline contributor), which appeared in progs 700 to 707 (October - December 1990). The series has been republished in paperback format in 1991 and again in 2003.
Eventually Hewlett and Albarn created Gorillaz. The band are four comic characters. Using digital technology, Hewlett has animated his characters, giving a new twist to his distinctive visual style. Gorillaz have won MTV Music Awards including Best Dance Track and Best Song.