Jonathan Lemon

{{short description|American cartoonist}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Jonathan Lemon

| image = Lemon SVCC April 8 2018.png

| caption = Lemon speaking at the Silicon Valley Comic Con 2018{{cite web | url=https://register.growtix.com/schedules/view/136102 | title=Silicon Valley Comic Con 2018 :: GrowTix }} |

| imagesize = 180px

| birth_name = Jonathan Dee Lemon

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|4|13|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Watford, England

| education = University of Brighton

| years_active = 1990–present

| notable_works = {{Plainlist|

• Rabbits Against Magic
• (2006–present)
• Alley Oop
• (2019–present)

}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Cartoonist|Musician}}

}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

Jonathan Lemon is a British and American cartoonist and former musician. He is best known for drawing the Alley Oop comic strip.

Lemon was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England in 1965, and earned an art degree at the University of Brighton,{{cite web | url=http://david-wasting-paper.blogspot.com/2010/03/jonathan-lemon-cartoonist-survey-93.html | title=DAVID WASTING PAPER: Jonathan Lemon - Cartoonist Survey #93 | date=10 March 2010 }} as well as attending the University of Havana to study Spanish language and Cuban cultural studies.{{Cite web |last= |date=2015-09-18 |title=Meet Your Creator: Jonathan Lemon (Rabbits Against Magic) |url=https://www.gocomics.com/blog/2030/meet-your-creator-jonathan-lemon-rabbits-against-magic |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=www.gocomics.com |language=en}}

In 1984 he formed the pop band Jesus Couldn't Drum with guitarist Peter Pengwyn, and occasionally featuring Lester Square from The Monochrome Set.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/533391-Jesus-Couldnt-Drum|title = Jesus Couldn't Drum|website = Discogs}} The band went on to record three albums and had modest indie chart success with their third single "I'm a Train".{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiespinzone.com/|title=www.indiespinzone.com|website=www.indiespinzone.com|access-date=2022-08-16|archive-date=2022-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808143019/http://www.indiespinzone.com/|url-status=dead}} In 2018, the band's back catalog was acquired by Cherry Red Records.{{cite web | url=https://www.cherryredlicensing.co.uk/cherry-red-represent-lost-moment-records-catalogue/ | title=Cherry Red represent Lost Moment Records catalogue – Cherry Red Licensing }}

Two years later, Lemon joined The Chrysanthemums along with Alan Jenkins, leader of The Deep Freeze Mice, and Terry Burrows. A psychedelic art pop band with a large cult following almost entirely outside of the UK, they released four albums and four EPs.[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll Stewart Mason, 'Yukio Yung', Allmusic (2006)]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. Retrieved 25 September 2006. In 2010, German music magazine MusikExpress placed them at number 23 in their list of the most under-rated bands of all time.{{cite web|url=http://www.musikexpress.de |title=Musikexpress.de |website=Musikexpress.de |date=17 March 2012 |accessdate=7 November 2012}}

Between 1984 and 1987 he performed in the surf cabaret band Little Green Hondas, {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vN9ubMi3iQ&t | title=Hondalogue II | website=YouTube | date=5 May 2016 }} {{cite web | url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/3986190-Little-Green-Hondas | title=Little Green Hondas | website=Discogs }} who won the British National Busking Championship in 1986.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vN9ubMi3iQ&t=297s | title=Hondalogue II | website=YouTube | date=5 May 2016 }}

Lemon began working as a cartoonist, first for Poot! Comic, and later relocated to California in 1992 where, as a political cartoonist, his work appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury and the Boston Globe amongst others. He is a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists{{Cite web|url=https://www.editorialcartoonists.com/cartoonists/lemonj/|title = AAEC}} and the National Cartoonist Society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalcartoonists.com/member/jonathan-lemon/|title = National Cartoonists Society}}

Between 2003-2005 he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras.{{Cite web|date=2008-04-24|title=Peace Corps needs a few good geeks|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/04/23/peace-corps-needs-a-few-good-geeks/|access-date=2022-01-10|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US}}

His long running comic strip Rabbits Against Magic was nominated for a Silver Reuben Award by the National Cartoonists Society in 2012, 2014, and 2021.{{Cite news|title=2015 NCS Awards: Pastis, Price lead divisional 'Silver Reuben' finalists|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/04/01/2015-ncs-awards-pastis-price-lead-divisional-silver-reuben-finalists/|access-date=2022-01-10|issn=0190-8286}}{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalcartoonists.com/2022/05/finalists-announced-for-2021-ncs-divisional-awards-for-the-76th-annual-reubens/ | title=Finalists announced for 2021 NCS Divisional Awards for the 76th Annual Reubens | access-date=2022-05-27 | archive-date=2022-06-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619232032/https://www.nationalcartoonists.com/2022/05/finalists-announced-for-2021-ncs-divisional-awards-for-the-76th-annual-reubens/ | url-status=dead }}

In 2019, along with writer Joey Alison Sayers, he took over the drawing duties on the classic comic strip Alley Oop.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/arts/design/alley-oop-comic-strip.html|title = Alley Oop Will Return (Spoiler Alert)|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 26 October 2018|last1 = Gustines|first1 = George Gene}}

His work has been exhibited at the Cartoon Art Museum{{Cite web|url=https://www.cartoonart.org/a-boy-and-his-tiger-a-tribute-to-bill-watterson|title = A Boy and His Tiger: A Tribute to Bill Watterson}} and the Huntington Beach Arts Center.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huntingtonbeachartcenter.org/the-wonderful-world-of-comics.html|title=The Wonderful World of Comics|website=Huntington Beach Art Center|access-date=2021-06-18|archive-date=2022-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703142535/https://www.huntingtonbeachartcenter.org/the-wonderful-world-of-comics.html|url-status=dead}} He has done album artwork for numerous musicians, including Flipper's Guitar, Yukio Yung,{{cite web | url=https://onomaresearch.bandcamp.com/album/keep-the-black-flag-flying | title=Keep the Black Flag Flying, by Yukio Yung }} and the Thurston Lava Tube. Both Lemon and his comic strips are appear in the 2022 award winning{{cite web | url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/dances-with-films-2022-complete-winners-list-1235048859/ | title=Anike L. Tourse's Drama 'America's Family' Claims Grand Jury & Audience Awards at Dances with Films 2022 – Complete Winners List | date=20 June 2022 }} documentary feature film "Jack Has a Plan."{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14222380/|title=Jack Has a Plan|via=IMDb}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jack_has_a_plan | title=Jack Has a Plan | website=Rotten Tomatoes }}{{cite web |url=https://jackdocumentary.com/ |title=Home |website=jackdocumentary.com}}