Lives of the Great Occultists

by Kevin Jackson, Hunt Emerson (Illustrator), Gary Lachman (Foreword)

Since the dawn of humanity, there have been individuals who want to mess around with Hidden Powers—with the Occult. Some were Mystics, some were Scientists, some were Charlatans. Some were Powerful, some were Wretched. All were pretty bonkers. From Dr. Dee to Kenneth Anger, from Mother Shipton to Madam Blavatsky, from Isaac Newton to David Bowie—centuries of eccentric, bizarre lives. Kevin Jackson and Hunt Emerson have made over 100 pages of comics dealing with the Lives of the Great Occultists. Over 40 Occultists in all, including Faust, Giordano Bruno, Strindberg, Isobel Gowdie, Kircher, William Blake, PL Travers, WB Yeats, Jack Parsons, and—repeatedly—Aleister Crowley. The comics are factual, and very funny.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Occult, History, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2021

About the author

There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

Kevin Jackson's childhood ambition was to be a vampire but instead he became the last living polymath. His colossal expertise ranged from Seneca to Sugababes, with a special interest in the occult, Ruskin, take-away food, Dante's Inferno and the moose. He was the author of numerous books on numerous subjects, including Fast: Feasting on the Streets of London (Portobello 2006), and reviewed regularly for the Sunday Times.
From: http://portobellobooks.com/3014/Kevin...

Kevin Jackson was an English writer, broadcaster and filmmaker.

He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After teaching in the English Department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, he joined the BBC, first as a producer in radio and then as a director of short documentaries for television. In 1987 he was recruited to the Arts pages of The Independent. He was a freelance writer from the early 1990s and was a regular contributor to BBC radio discussion programmes.

Jackson often collaborated on projects in various media: with, among others, the film-maker Kevin Macdonald, with the cartoonist Hunt Emerson, with the musician and composer Colin Minchin (with whom he wrote lyrics for the rock opera Bite); and with the songwriter Peter Blegvad.

Jackson appears, under his own name, as a semi-fictional character in Iain Sinclair's account of a pedestrian journey around the M25, London Orbital.

Adapted from Wikipedia

Reviews

[john callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of comics published occasionally over the years in the magazine Fortean Times in Hunt Emerson's section "Phenomenonix." Kenneth Jackson provided much of the information and Emerson drew the comics. Together they provide short biographies of 40 notable occultists who lived between the Elizabethan era (John Dee) and the very recent past (David Bowie). The intent is to poke fun at them.

They state that the information about these people is true, but the narration and the comic art take them down a peg or 8. Jackson uses the expression "make fun of them" in his introduction.

They quote Gershom Scholem to characterize their attitude in the work: "Nonsense is nonsense, but a history of nonsense is science."

Throughout the book, a caricature of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) recurs and comments on every occultist influenced by Crowley, who called himself "the most evil man in the world." The section recounting his life and activities runs 11 pages and is the longest entry in the book. Crowley is presented as a giant of occultism, an inspiration to many, an arrogant snob, and a somewhat silly man.

Great occultists (or what the authors occasionally refer to as "GOs") discussed in the book include Paracelsus, Giordano Bruno, Sir Isaac Newton, Madame Blavatsky, W. B. Yeats, Jack Parsons, Maya Deren, Harry Smith, and Austin Osman Spare.

The book is very informative, but even if the reader is not interested in occultism, he or she will be greatly entertained by this very funny book.

It is recommended for a broad circle of readers.

[Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't want to read this book until 1) I met Hunt Emerson and he treated me like a human being and 2) I read a review that made me laugh! I ordered it from Knockabout and received a delightful drawing on the title page. Emerson's witty cartooning is just getting better and better. These biographies are very short - even for the Beast Crowley - but pack in so many puns and mickey-taking that I actually laughed out loud! The humour written by Kevin Jackson is easy-going and never lets up. The strips originally appeared in the Fortean Times, a magazine I have never read, but this explains why they are short. BUT they lose nothing by being gathered together here.
The repetition that occurs in the stories is because the themes of these 'eccentrics' being the same. Experiment with magic/alchemy; blow selves up; recover by leaving home town and borrowing / fleecing money and dying...but not before Crowley appears in your story somewhere - he's a larger than life character whose influence is throughout the book!
Great fun and I used words for the subjects of this book the authors do not allow themselves to do. But the cartoons show me what they think!!

[A.L. Sirois · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fan of Hunt Emerson's nutty artwork, and a lot of it is on display here. This is a funny and informative book, packed with his clever cartons and Kevin Jackson's witty writing. Just a ton of fun for all.

[Grump · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly funny. Somewhat informative.