'Ham Helsing: Vampire Hunter' (2021).
Rich Moyer is a Colorado-based American animator, cartoonist and character designer, who specializes in "the offbeat and irreverent". After creating the gag-a-day cartoon panel 'Ick' (1994-1999), he became a Telly award-winning animator, before returning to comics with the 'Ham Helsing' graphic novel series through Penguin Random House (2021- ).
Early life
Rich Moyer was born in 1970 in Littleton, Colorado, where he grew up as a big fan of Mad Magazine. In his teens, he was inspired by works of Frank Miller, Bill Watterson, Gary Larson and Berkeley Breathed. Educated at Colorado State University, he eventually settled in Denver, Colorado.
'Ick' (Detroit Free Press, 19 December 1995).
Ick
Between 1994 and 1999, Moyer began his career as a syndicated cartoonist with 'Ick', which ran as a gag-a-day cartoon panel and Sunday comic through the Rocky Mountain News (1994-1995) and then Tribune Media Services (1996-1999). The comic had no recurring characters, but instead presented absurd and at times edgy humor through both human and funny animal characters. In an announcement in the Boston Globe on 30 December 1995, Moyer described his cartoon as "the equivalent of a big brother with a sense of humor verging on the dark side that works best when parents aren't looking."
The 'Ick' strip that offended psychiatrists (The Boston Globe, 8 November 1997).
Indeed, 'Ick' at times caused angry readers' letters. In a 1997 gag, a receptionist tells a psychiatrist from a speaker phone: "Your next wacko is here for his two o'clock". A real-life psychiatrist from Brighton was opposed to the generalization that people in his profession's clientele are all "wacko's". Another episode that caused complaints featured vultures eating a dead man in the desert, with one bird saying to the others: "Save room, there are lots of starving kids in Africa." Otherwise, the 'Ick' strip was an inoffensive gag cartoon with an ever-changing cast of characters, running in about 47 newspapers.
'I'm With Stupid' (Mad Magazine #470, October 2006).
Animator
After five years, Moyer grew tired of his gag-a-day feature and left cartooning in favor of animation. Since then, he has been working as an animation director and character designer, using comic and cartoon storytelling for advertising spots, corporate communications and "explainer videos". Eventually, he began working with Steve Klinetobe (creative director) and Augi Garred (lead writer) under the "Birdhat" banner. Among his TV credits as an animator and designer have been the series 'The Lord of Catan' (2014) and 'Like, Share, Die' (2015).
'Ham Helsing: Raising the Stakes' (2023).
I'm With Stupid
Between 2005 and 2007, Moyer appeared occasionally in Mad Magazine, drawing the 'I'm With Stupid' cartoon for the 'Strip Club' pages. All five episodes were presented in a one-panel format, featuring silly humorous situations.
Ham Helsing
Moyer's more prominent return to print media was inspired by his two daughters, who showed him "how graphic novels can land as sweet as much as they are silly". The result of his new insight was the 'Ham Helsing' graphic novel series, a mix between cartoon fun and a relatable story of self-discovery. An anthropomorphic pig, Ham Helsing is a descendant of a long line of adventurers and monster hunters who has always been the odd pig out. During his hunts for monsters and vampires, he learns the facts of life and discovers that people aren’t always what they seem. Since 2021, Penguin Random House has released the stories in a series of books, including 'Vampire Hunter' (2021), 'Monster Hunter' (2022) and 'Raising the Stakes' (2023).
Rich Moyer in 2021.