Greg Irons
Encyclopedia
Greg Irons was a poster
artist, underground
cartoonist
, animator
and tattoo artist
. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, he moved to San Francisco, California
, in 1967, where he soon found work doing posters for Bill Graham
at the Fillmore
Auditorium.
After working on the film Yellow Submarine, he returned to work for Graham Productions and soon branched out into album covers and work for the Print Mint
, Last Gasp
Eco-Funnies, and other local underground publishers. Irons' collaborations with writer Tom Veitch
in the early 1970s (the creative team known as "GI/TV") included such titles as Legion of Charlies and contributions to many other underground comix, including Skull Comix and Slow Death Funnies.
In the mid-1970s he started doing book illustrations mainly for Bellerophon Books. One of his books was a coloring-book format illustration of Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
" which was issued with "The Miller's Tale" illustrated by Gilbert Shelton
. It was also around this time he began doing tattooing.
On November 14, 1984, while on a working vacation in Bangkok, Thailand, Irons was struck and killed by a bus.
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
artist, underground
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
and tattoo artist
Tattoo artist
A tattoo artist is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a tattoo shop, tattoo studio or tattoo parlour...
. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, he moved to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, in 1967, where he soon found work doing posters for Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
at the Fillmore
The Fillmore
The Fillmore Auditorium is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights neighborhoods.In 1968,...
Auditorium.
After working on the film Yellow Submarine, he returned to work for Graham Productions and soon branched out into album covers and work for the Print Mint
Print Mint
The Print Mint was a major publisher of underground comics during the genre's heydey. Starting as retailer of psychedelic posters, it soon evolved into a publisher, printer, and distributor. It was "ground zero" for the psychedelic poster...
, Last Gasp
Last Gasp
Last Gasp is a book and underground comix publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, California.- History :Founded in 1970 by Ron Turner to publish the ecologically-themed comics magazine Slow Death Funnies, followed by the all-female anthology It Ain't Me Babe, Last Gasp soon became a major...
Eco-Funnies, and other local underground publishers. Irons' collaborations with writer Tom Veitch
Tom Veitch
Tom Veitch is an American writer, best known for his contributions to the Dark Horse Comics line of Star Wars comic books, primarily Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi. For DC Comics Veitch wrote Animal Man, along with two Elseworlds series featuring Kamandi and an elder Superman...
in the early 1970s (the creative team known as "GI/TV") included such titles as Legion of Charlies and contributions to many other underground comix, including Skull Comix and Slow Death Funnies.
In the mid-1970s he started doing book illustrations mainly for Bellerophon Books. One of his books was a coloring-book format illustration of Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" and prologue are among the best-known of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. They give insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and are probably of interest to Chaucer himself, for the character is one of his most developed ones, with her prologue twice as...
" which was issued with "The Miller's Tale" illustrated by Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton is an American cartoonist and underground comix artist. He is the creator of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy's Cat, Wonder Wart-Hog, Philbert Desanex, Not Quite Dead, and the cover art to The Grateful Dead's 1978 album Shakedown Street.He graduated from Lamar High...
. It was also around this time he began doing tattooing.
On November 14, 1984, while on a working vacation in Bangkok, Thailand, Irons was struck and killed by a bus.