R.I.P. FHM U.S.

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28515628.post-1169408100276645922007-01-21T14:31:00.000-05:002007-03-09T11:15:34.510-05:00R.I.P. FHM U.S.I just received my comp copy of the final issue of FHM US; it's full of sentimental reminiscences by the staffers, who seem like a fun-loving, hard-partying group of folks. While these fuckers never saw fit to invite me to their Christmas parties, they certainly helped pay my rent for a few years, for which I am most grateful. I got my first FHM illo assigment in November of 2002; then-art director Matt Warner (one of the friendliest designers I've worked for in recent memory) asked me to provide a drawing for their "True Stories" column, where readers were invited to send in embarassing real-life anecdotes. This one was about some reader's shaggy, overly-familiar dog who slobbered mud all over his master's girlfriend, who was dressed for a nice evening out. The "True Stories" column quickly turned into a regular gig for me; soon added onto my plate was FHM's "World Of" page, for which I provided a column header illo each issue, which almost always showed some monster or miscreant menacing the globe. Some look down their noses at FHM and the other "lad" mags; for me, FHM was the realization of every illustrator's dream: a steady monthly gig, and one which never failed to supply fun material to work with. Matt Warner left FHM at some point in 2005 or thereabouts, after which I worked with Mac Lewis and Ian Knowles, (both of whom can be seen in the final issue's debauched staff photos). A redesign in early 2006 killed both the "True Stories" and "World Of" pages, and generally shrunk the number of illo assignments per issue. I turned in my final illo for FHM in April of 2006; this one showed comedian Dave Chappelle lounging in his opulent living room, watching his Comedy Central co-stars struggle to salvage the wreckage of his show. Here's a small sampling of the huge heap of illos I did for FHM between 2002 and 2006, including the very first and very last ones. Best wishes and happy landings to Mac, Ian, and everyone else at FHM US! <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-dog-love-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-dog-love-lg.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-man-show-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-man-show-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-train-yard-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-train-yard-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-death-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-death-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-robots-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-robots-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-espionage-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-espionage-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-march-madness-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-march-madness-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-prisons-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-world-of-prisons-lg.sm"border="0"alt=""/></a> <a href="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-dave-chappelle-lg.jpg"target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;"src="http://www.dannyhellman.com/imgs/FHM-dave-chappelle-sm.jpg"border="0"alt=""/></a>Danny Hellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01174442447110809261noreply@blogger.com