Lisa Hanawalt is an American illustrator, writer, and cartoonist. She has published comic series, as well as three books of illustrations. She worked as the production designer and a producer of the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman. and co-hosts the podcast Baby Geniuses with comedian Emily Heller. She created and executive produced the Netflix animated series, Tuca & Bertie, which received critical acclaim.
She is a former member of Pizza Island, a cartoonist's studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which included cartoonists Kate Beaton, Domitille Collardey, Sarah Glidden, Meredith Gran, and Julia Wertz. Her illustrations and writings have been published in print and online periodicals including The New York Times, McSweeney's, Vanity Fair, and Lucky Peach magazine. From 2011 through 2013, she was a regular contributor to The Hairpin and produced a series of illustrated film reviews. Her first comic series, I Want You, was published in 2009 by Buenaventura Press. In 2010, Hanawalt was the first woman to win an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, for "I Want You #1." In 2012, she illustrated her first children's book, Benny's Brigade, published by McSweeney's and authored by Arthur Bradford. The book stars a tiny talking walrus, rescued by two sisters with a range of magical animals at the end of the quest. The book was named a "Wildest Book of the Year" by children's lit blog 100 Scope Notes and called "exuberant and imaginative" by Foreword Reviews. The book's jacket reverse folds out into an oversized poster featuring Hanawalt's creatures from the book. In 2013, Drawn and Quarterly published My Dirty Dumb Eyes, Hanawalt's "one-woman anthology" of comics and illustrations, including previously-commissioned works. The collected stories and shorts range from autobiographical narratives to cultural observations, frequently featuring anthropomorphic animal-people and scenes of nature rendered in bright, detailed watercolors, and likened by one reviewer to "a grown-up Richard Scarry turned absurdist social commentator." In 2016, Drawn and Quarterly published Hot Dog Taste Test. This book is a collection of comics and illustrations often featuring animal-people in vibrant watercolors. Publishers Weekly said about her book, "Hanawalt takes a kebab skewer to the pomposity that's grown up around food and dining. The cartoons evoke an idiosyncratic absurdity akin to Roz Chast's work." On August 21, 2018, Hanawalt released a graphic novel with Drawn and Quarterly entitled Coyote Doggirl. Unlike her previous two, Coyote Doggirl features a singular narrative and follows its titular character and her trusty steed, Red, on their escape from a vengeful bulldog and his cronies. In 2019, Drawn and Quarterly announced that they would be releasing a collection of Hanawalt's early comics, I Want You, with a contemporary introduction.
Work in television
The Netflix animated television seriesBoJack Horseman, which debuted in 2014, is designed by Hanawalt. She has been friends with show creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg since high school and previously worked with him on the webcomicTip Me Over, Pour Me Out. In 2019, Netflix released Tuca & Bertie, an adult animatedcomedy created by Hanawalt, starring Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong. Critics called Tuca & Bertieone of the best new shows of 2019, and the show holds a rating of 100% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix cancelled the series after its first season, however the show was revived by Adult Swim in 2020.
Personal life
Her longtime partner is comedian Adam Conover. In 2019, Hanawalt joined other WGA writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA and the practice of packaging.
Awards and recognition
Print magazine named Hanawalt one of the best new, young designers in 2013. Her illustrated short story "On the Trail with Wylie" won a James Beard Foundation Award for humor writing in 2014.
