Steven Appleby

Steven Appleby
Born	(1956-01-27) January 27, 1956

Steven Appleby (born in 1956) is a cartoonist, illustrator and artist living in Britain. He is a dual citizen of the UK and Canada. His humour is usually observational or absurd.

His work first appeared in the New Musical Express in 1984 with the Captain Star comic strip, which was made into an animated cartoon series in 1997. Captain Star also appeared in The Observer, Zeit Magazin, and various comics in the UK, Europe and America. Other comic strips appeared in many publications including The Times and the Sunday Telegraph. The strip Loomus can currently be seen in The Guardian. His work has also appeared on album covers, most notably on Trompe le Monde by the Pixies. In 2014 he produced over 100 drawings for Black Francis & Josh Frank's novel The Good Inn.

His series of cartoons Steven Appleby's Normal Life was successful enough not only to be translated into German and published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, but also to be made into a radio series for BBC Radio 4. An earlier series, Small Birds Singing, which ran for eight years in The Times, concerned itself with the usually surreal doings of the occupants of an English country house.

Appleby has also had many exhibitions of paintings, published over 20 books and collaborated on a musical play, Crocs In Frocks (with Teresa Early and Roger Gosling), which was staged in Camberwell and at the ICA, London, in 2006.

His most recent book, Guide to Life, was published by Guardian Books in October 2012.

Personal life

Appleby was born in Northumberland in 1956.

He is an alumnus of Manchester Metropolitan University, Northumbria University and the Royal College of Art. Steven Appleby describes himself as transgender. He lives with his ex-wife and their children, and her new partner, in Camberwell, South London.

Selected bibliography

• Normal Sex, 1994, ISBN 0-7475-1898-X
• Men: The Truth, 1995, ISBN 0-7475-2251-0
• Happy Families, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-2604-4
• The Secret Thoughts of Babies, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-5855-8
• The Secret Thoughts of Cats, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-5850-7
• The Secret Thoughts of Dogs, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-5870-1
• The Secret Thoughts of Men, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-2969-8
• The Secret Thoughts of Women, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-2968-X
• Antmen Carry Away My Thoughts as Soon as I Think Them, 1996, ISBN 0-7475-3740-2
• The Secret Thoughts, 1997, ISBN 0-7475-3491-8
• Alien Invasion:Steven Appleby's Guide to Having Children, 1999, ISBN 0-7475-4455-7
• Encyclopedia of Personal Problems, 2000, ISBN 0-7475-5067-0
• The Truth About Love, 2000, ISBN 0-7475-4833-1
• Steven Appleby's Normal Life, 2001 ISBN, 0-7475-5614-8
• Mr Concerned's Book of Home Therapy, 2002, ISBN 0-7475-6073-0
• A Book of Machinese Whispers, 2006, ISBN 1-905847-01-7
• The Nine Lives of a Dysfunctional Cat, 2003, ISBN 0-7475-6935-5
• ABC of Childhood, 2005, ISBN, 0-7475-7604-1
• The Little Book of Farts, 2006, ISBN 0-7475-8245-9
• The Captain Star Omnibus, 2008, ISBN 978-0-9739505-6-4
• The Coffee Table Book Of Doom, 2011, ISBN 978-0-224-08695-0
• Guide to Life, 2013, ISBN 978-0852-653777

Writing credits

Production	Notes	Broadcaster
Captain Star	13 episodes	ITV
Small Birds Singing	Short film (2007)	N/A
How to Destroy the World: Transport	Short film (2008)	N/A
How to Destroy the World: Rubbish	Short film (2008)	N/A
How to Destroy the World: Games	Short film (2008)	N/A
How to Destroy the World: Food	Short film (2008)	N/A
A Traditional Christmas at Small Birds Singing	Short film (2009)	N/A
The Grand Easter Egg Hunt	Short film	N/A
Hinterland	Short film	N/A

See also

• Captain Star

External links

• Steven Appleby's website
• Captain Star comic strip collection