Simon Hanselmann

## Professional Information

### Notable Creations

Megg, Mogg, Owl, Booger, Mike, Diesel, Jaxon, Ian, Dracula Junior and many others

### Websites

Tumblr
Instagram
Bigcartel

## Awards

### Awards

- 2013 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic for *St. Owl's Bay*
- 2014 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story for "*Jobs*" from *Life Zone*
- 2016 Ignatz Award for Best Series and Best Story for *Amsterdam*
- 2017 Eisner Award for Best Short Story for "The Comics Wedding of the Century"
- 2017 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album Reprint for "*Megg & Mogg In Amsterdam and Other Stories*"
- 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival Award for "Best Series"
- 2021 Harvey Award for *Crisis Zone*

### Nominations

- 2016 in selection at Angoulême festival BD for "Magical Ecstacy Trip"
- 2017 in selection at Angoulême festival BD for "*Megg & Mogg In Amsterdam and Other Stories*"
- 2022 in "Best International Artist" Boscarato Prize for *Crisis Zone* at the Treviso Comic Book Festival

**Simon K. James-Hanselmann** is a Tasmanian-born, New York Times Bestselling cartoonist best known for his *Megg, Mogg & Owl* series. His primary English language publisher is Fantagraphics. He is currently living in California with his wife and child.

His comics are loosely based on his own life.

## History

When he was learning to read, Simon adored the *Meg, Mog & Owl* children's books, which, eventually, led to his *Megg, Mogg & Owl'*s creation. He says he recalls drawing some comics in a mock Jan Pienkowski style in his teens. The original *Meg, Mog & Owl* are not very well known in America, it's British, from the 70s, and huge in Australia, he says.

"My Megg, Mogg & Owl were kind of an accident. I drew a one-off thing of a witch and cat for a gallery show in 2008 and just kind of liked them and wanted to draw more. I was in the middle of my stupid graphic novel and needed an outlet for fun, quick stuff. I added "Owl" in as a roommate and it just kind of exploded and became my main focus. I love these characters. Sometimes I forget that those old kid's books even exist", he says.

Simon started crossdressing when he was around 5. He says he's always felt genderfluid and that it has taken a long time for him to figure out his sexuality. He doesn't identify as female or transgender, but simply as a "Straight male", who likes to dress as a female. He also states that he isn't bothered by pronouns.

Simon started drawing comics in 1989, when he was 8 years old. He had a tough childhood, living with a homophobic drug-addicted mother and having an abscent "Satan's rider" biker father. He did not take to high school and dropped out.

He began having therapy for depression and anxiety, smoked a lot of pot and drank alone a lot. He drew a ton of comics, dreaming of "getting published" and "making it in the States". Simon moved out of home when he was 20 and met several people with whom he made comics with, he also played in a few noise bands.

## Awards and Nominations

### Awards

- 2013 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic for *St. Owl's Bay*
- 2014 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story for "*Jobs*" from *Life Zone*
- 2016 Ignatz Award for Best Series and Best Story for *Amsterdam*
- 2017 Eisner Award for Best Short Story for "The Comics Wedding of the Century"
- 2017 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album Reprint for "*Megg & Mogg In Amsterdam and Other Stories*"
- 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival Award for "Best Series"
- 2021 Harvey Award for *Crisis Zone*
### Nominations
- 2016 in selection at Angoulême festival BD for "Magical Ecstacy Trip"
- 2017 in selection at Angoulême festival BD for "*Megg & Mogg In Amsterdam and Other Stories*"
- 2022 in "Best International Artist" Boscarato Prize for *Crisis Zone* at the Treviso Comic Book Festival

## Links and References

	1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sean T. Collins: "DISGUSTING CREATURES": THE SIMON HANSELMANN INTERVIEW (June 6, 2013). The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013.
	2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Simon Hanselmann Performs "Drone" on the Abraham Riesman YouTube channel