Emily Strange

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Emily the Strange and her cats. A reference to the tea party in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Emily the Strange (sometimes written as Emily Strange) is a fictional counterculture character, created by Rob Reger and his company Cosmic Debris Etc. Inc.

1 History
2 Emily
3 Tie-ins
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Prior to receiving press coverage and becoming the object of product placement, Emily appeared on a sticker, a freebie distributed at concerts, record stores and skate shops to promote Cosmic Debris, the clothing line founded by skateboarder Rob Reger and racecar driver Matt Reed. Reger's friend Nathan Carrico designed Emily in 1991 for a skateboard company in Santa Cruz, where Cosmic Debris was born. In his Santa Cruz garage (and later an artist warehouse in San Francisco) Reger created the designs and with Matt Reed brought them into the fashion world by creating t-shirt designs that captured the essence of this mysterious young girl with 4 black cats. Since then, Cosmic Debris has grown into a multi-million dollar firm with dozens of employees. Cosmic Debris has most recently moved its operations to Berkeley, California, and plans to open an Emily retail store there soon. With the momentum of mainstream success, several comics about Emily have also been made. Key creative people over the years (designers, graphic artists, illustrators), who have worked with Reger's Cosmic Debris design house are Buzz Parker, Brian Brooks, Grace Fontaine, Liz Baca, Noel Tolentino, Fawn Gehweiler, Jessica Gruner, Adele Pedersen and Nicomi "Nix" Turner. Rob Reger remains the key creative force behind the brand, and Buzz Parker is the key illustrator for the comic books and Web site. Buzz Parker runs EmilyStrange.com from his offices in Arcata, California.

[edit] Emily

Emily is a 13-year-old (birthday: 9/23) of exceptionally pale complexion. She has jet black hair, and wears a black dress and black tights, set off by large white Mary Jane shoes. She has a dark, gothic world view. The character's appearance and demeanour could be likened to those of Wednesday Addams.

Accompanying Emily are her four black cats. Sabbath, who is distinguished by a scar on his left ear, is the troublemaker of the four and rarely seen close up. Nee-Chee, who has a black and white striped tail, is the schemer. The creative cat, Miles, has a white X on his right eye. Mystery, the leader of the group, has a white star on her right eye. Because she is the leader, she is the closest to Emily.

[edit] Tie-ins

Emily the Strange has gained a reputation as something of a feminist comic icon^{[citation needed]}, and the franchise has a considerable merchandising catalog, including clothing, stationery, stickers, and accessories, all featuring Emily's distinctive appearance and frequently featuring one of her sayings (such as a beach-towel emblazoned with "Wish you weren't here"). Emily The Strange fashion is popular and attractive in the Goth scene with young adults and teenagers.

[edit] Comics

Emily the Strange is published by both Chronicle Books and Dark Horse Comics in the USA.

The Chronicle Books hardback graphic novellas include:

Emily the Strange (2001)
Emily's Secret Book of Strange (2003)
Emily's Good Nightmares (2004)
Emily's Seeing is Deceiving (2006)

In 2005, the first two issues of her comic book were released through Dark Horse Comics: "The Boring Issue" (#1) and "The Lost Issue" (#2). "The Dark Issue" (#3) was published in 2006. The collected edition of the first three comic books ("Emily the Strange: Lost, Dark, and Boring") was published in November 2006. "The Rock Issue" (#4) was published in 2007.

[edit] Clothing

In July/August 2003 V magazine ran a double page spread of clothing inspired by the character, created by Chanel, Gautier, Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, and others.^[1]

Emily has been shown in Vanilla Sky and on MADtv. Celebrities including Julia Roberts, Britney Spears, and Björk have all worn the brand. Epiphone have created an Emily Strange themed SG guitar, based on a Gibson 310 Custom.^[2]

[edit] Novels

In October 2007 it was announced that four young adult novels based on Emily the Strange will be published by HarperCollins. They will be co-written by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner. ^[3]