BIOGRAPHY:

"Hempel's sense of humor is antic and irreverent... His drawings are designs, hilariously and ingeniously concocted abstractions..."
R.C. Harvey, Rants & Raves

Marc Hempel (1957- ) was born in Chicago and graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. After graduation he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, USA to become a partner with Mark Wheatley at Insight studios. Their collaborations have resulted in acclaimed comic projects such as Blood Of The Innocent, Mars and Breathtaker.

Marc's expressionistic art style shocked Neil Gaiman fans when he was invited to be the artist on The Kindly Ones, Book 9 of the award winning Sandman series. His interpretation of Neil's characters turned out to be the highlight of that long running series. However, Marc Hempel's artwork and sense of humour is at its distinctive best when working on his acclaimed solo projects, such as Gregory, Tug & Buster and Naked Brain.

Interviews:
Westfield Comics (2002)
Yank The Chain (1999)

Resources:
Marc Hempel at Insight Studios
Naked Brain Archive

Gregory
DC, 1989-1993
"Conceptually, Gregory was a repository for all my pent-up fears and insecurities, though tempered with a good deal of childlike joy and abandon; it was a manic explosion of crudely expressive art, character humor and god-awful puns. The book, if not exactly a parabolic telling of the story of my life, was a least a darkly humorous expression of some of the emotions that had been building up inside me. If the pint-sized protagonist represented my 'inner child' - eager to openly love and express joy - his straightjacket was a metaphor for fear, for feelings of powerlessness. The characters were all honest expressions of various aspects of my personality, and the stories and humor flowed very easily from my manic mind."
Marc Hempel, from the introduction to A Gregory Treasury 2

Tug & Buster
Art & Soul/Image, 1995-1998
"Tug & Buster is a tragic cry for help from the anguished soul of Marc Hempel - a sad, deranged meditation on what it means to be a male in today's society: our plight and our nightmare. Luckily, it's also piss-yourself funny, so that's all right."
Neil Gaiman

"Marc Hempel's Tug & Buster has joined Bacchus , Rare Bit Fiends , and From Hell as a comic book Ger and I will come to blows over - as in, who gets to read it first? Hempel's company, Art & Soul Comics, is aptly named. There's more of both in any given issue of Tug & Buster than in all the slick, computer-coloured funny books produced in the last five years. In a day and age when any old retread is described as unique and one of a kind, Tug & Buster is the genuine article."
Dave Sim

Breathtaker
with Mark Wheatley
DC, 1990
Chase Darrow - her love kills. A woman whose love is so satisfying and pure... people are willing to die for it. She's being hunted by the world's first real superhuman: The Man. He's loud, brash and egocentric and all he cares about is repairing his damaged public image. He'll do it by bringing her in... dead or alive.

"Breathtaker... proves itself something utterly odd and new. Powerful art, vibrant colouring, a new, quirky story told in a different way. Strong and surprising stuff."
Neil Gaiman

Books:
My Faith In Frankie (2004) with Mike Carey & Sonny Liew
A Gregory Treasury 1 & 2 (2004)
IS Art: The Art of Insight Studios (2001)
The 4-Fisted Misadventures Of Tug & Buster (1998)
Sandman Book 9: The Kindly Ones (1996)
Breathtaker (1990)

Comics:
MAD Magazine (2004 onwards)
Lucifer #55 (2004) written by Mike Carey
Naked Brain #1-3 (2002)
Tug & Buster #1 (1998) Image Comics
Tug & Buster #1-7 (1995-1998) Art & Soul Comics
Sandman #57-69 (1994-1995) with Neil Gaiman
Gregory #1-4 (1989-1993)
Clive Barker's Hellraiser #20 (1989)
Marvel Fanfare #27 (1986)
Mars #1-12 (1984-1985) with Mark Wheatley