{{short description|Swiss comic artist (born 1966)}} thumb|Thomas Ott (2019) '''Thomas Ott''' (born 10 June 1966) is a Swiss comic artist. His comics have been published in German-speaking countries, France, the United States, Spain, Denmark, Italy and other places.

Ott's often wordless comics feature a dark, grim atmosphere; he works mainly with cutters and scratchboard.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=In the Dark The Macabre Vision of Thomas Ott {{!}} Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/in_dark-macabre_vision_of_thomas_ott |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=exclaim.ca |language=en-ca}}</ref>

== Biography == After graduating from the School of Design in Zurich in 1987, Ott worked as a comic artist in Zurich and Paris. His first book, ''Tales of Error'', was published by Edition Moderne in 1989. Other books followed with the same publisher as well as the French publisher L'Association. He has worked for ''Strapazin'', ''Lapin'', ''L'Écho des Savanes'' and various newspapers, among other publications.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kurzbiografie auf den Seiten des Comicfestivals bilbolbul.net|periodical=|publisher=|url=http://www.bilbolbul.net/mostra_ott_uk.html|url-status=|access-date=2009-05-12|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=|year=|language=|pages=|quote=}}</ref>

From 1998 to June 2001, Ott studied film at the Zurich School of Art and Design.<ref name=":0" /> His diploma film was the 15-minute ''Sjeki vatcsh!''.

The artist's favourite technique is scratchboarding: “it makes images emerge from multiple layers of black ink by literally ‘scratching’ them with a nib, specifically a Japanese cutter. A painstakingly delicate work that leaves no room for error, in which Ott is now a master”.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=La foresta di Thomas Ott – Accettazione del lutto e potere dell'immaginazione |url=https://www.raicultura.it/letteratura/foto/2021/04/La-foresta-di-Thomas-Ott-dc62b266-f90d-4f9b-bf3a-b9c4f39b3a67.html |website=Rai Cultura |publisher=Rai |access-date=30 May 2023 |language=Italian}}</ref> The dark, distressing and suffocating atmospheres of his stories have received critical acclaim. Ott skilfully combines “fragments of detective fiction, noir and horror. For him, popular genres, such as fairy tales, are a universal basis in which everyone can recognize themselves”.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Schicksalsnummer |journal=Der Bund |date=20 May 2008}}</ref> Some add that “despite his lines steeped in black humour, one would do him wrong to see them merely as a parody of the horror genre [...] Ott empathises with the underdogs and has a certain sensitivity to truly tragic stories.”<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ein Herz für Pechvoegel |journal=Tagesanzeiger}}</ref> And again: “For years, the Swiss comic artist has been delivering the darkest visions of the absurd side of modern civilisation.”<ref>{{cite journal |title=Das böse Spiel der Zahlen |journal=Süddeutsche Zeitung |date=18 April 2008}}</ref>

In 2013, Ott released another new work after three years: ''Dark Country'' is the story of a nightmarish honeymoon and is a standalone adaptation of the 2008 film of the same name by screenwriter Tab Murphy and director and Hollywood actor Thomas Jane (The Punisher). Jane himself invited Ott to tell his film as a comic.<ref>{{Cite book |url= |title=Dark Country |date=2013 |publisher=Edition Moderne |isbn=9783037311141 |edition= |volume= |pages= |issue=}}</ref>

In 2015, Ott co-founded the Swiss doom metal band Tar Pond. The other two founding members were former Celtic Frost bassist Martin Eric Ain (replaced by Monika Schori after his death in 2017)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tarpond.bandcamp.com/album/protocol-of-constant-sadness |title=Tar Pond Protocol of Constant Sadness |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=bandcamp.com/ |publisher= |access-date=12 December 2023 |quote=}}</ref> and former Coroner drummer Markus "Marky" Edelmann.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tar-pond.com/bio |title=TAR POND are sonic Doom'n'Gloom |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2023 |website=tar-pond.com |publisher= |access-date=12 December 2023 |quote=}}</ref> Ott has performed vocals for the band since its founding, including on both of its studio albums, ''Protocol of Constant Sadness'' (2020) and ''Petrol'' (2023). He also designs the band's t-shirts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tar-pond.com/merch/p/dpf23ytfj7app1rm0osei7031rn3sc |title=Tar Pond Merch Hate T-Shirt |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2023 |website=tar-pond.com |publisher= |access-date=12 December 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

Ott taught for a decade at the Zurich University of the Arts, deciding “just before the first wave of the pandemic” to resign in order to work as an author and illustrator.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Thomas Kern |title=Geschichten mit und ohne Sprechblasen |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/kultur/pro-helvetia-comics-foerderung_geschichten-mit-und-ohne-sprechblasen/46430498 |website=swissinfo.ch |publisher=SWI |access-date=30 May 2023 |date=19 April 2021}}</ref>

In 2020 he was awarded a scholarship from the Pro Helvetia foundation.

His latest work, ''The Forest'' (2022), is a “magnificent illustrated tale” in which Ott “manages to recount in his signature style, with extraordinary delicacy but without compromising on terror, the journey of a child facing and accepting the loss of a beloved person.”<ref name=":1" />

== Works ==

* ''Tales of Error'', 1989, Edition Moderne * ''Phantom der Superheld'', 1994, Edition Moderne * ''Greetings from Hellville'', 1995, Edition Moderne * ''Dead End'', 1996, Edition Moderne * ''La douane'', 1996, L’Association * ''La bête à cinq doigts'', 1996, L'Association * ''La grande famiglia'', 1997, L'Association * ''t.o.t.t.'', 2002, Edition Moderne * ''Cinema Panopticum'', 2005, Edition Moderne * ''The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8'', Zürich: Edition Moderne 2008, 2nd edition 2013. ISBN 978-3-03731-025-0 * ''Unplugged. Das Skizzenbuch'', Zürich: Edition Stephan Witschi, 2009 * ''R.I.P. Best of 1985-2004'', Zürich: Edition Moderne 2010. ISBN 3037310529 * ''Dark Country'', Zürich: Edition Moderne 2013. ISBN 978-3-03731-114-1 * ''Black Island'', Zürich: Hammer-Verlag 2013 * ''A Hell of a Woman'' (Jim Thompson), Editions la Baconnière, 2014 * ''Louis Vuitton - Travel Book - Route 66'', Editions Louis Vuitton, 2017 * ''Wo die Liebe hinfällt'' (illustrations by Thomas Ott), Diogenes Verlag, 2018 * ''The Forest'', translated from ''La Forêt'', published in France, 2020 * ''Der Wald''. Carlsen, Hamburg, 2021, ISBN 978-3-551-76020-3

== Exhibitions ==

* 2009: ''Cinema Panopticum'' – ''Thomas Ott'', Cineteca di Bologna<ref>{{cite web |title=Cinema Panopticum - Thomas Ott |url=http://fondazione.cinetecadibologna.it/ott |website=Cineteca di Bologna |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> * 2010: Fumetto * 2019: ''Es zog mich durch die Bilder'', Kubin@Nextcomic, Landesgalerie Linz, with works by ATAK, Brigitta Falkner, Anke Feuchtenberger, Nicolas Mahler, Thomas Ott, Christina Röckl, Franz Suess, Edda Strobl and Alfred Kubin<ref>{{cite web |title="Es zog mich durch die Bilder..." KUBIN@NEXTCOMIC |url=https://www.ooekultur.at/detail/es-zog-mich-durch-die-bilder-kubinnextcomic |website=ooekultur.at |access-date=30 May 2023 |date=13 March 2019}}</ref> * 2019: ''Black Holes'', with Simone Baumann, Galerie Stephan Witschi, Zurich<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Ott and Simone F. Baumann: Black Holes |url=https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Thomas-Ott-and-Simone-F--Baumann--Black-/B9FA6BFB1254132B |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> * 2021: ''La forêt'', Galerie Martel, Paris<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Ott - La Forêt |url=https://www.galeriemartel.com/thomas-ott-2021/ |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> * 2025 ''"Thomas Ott: From Scratch"'' (Cartoonmuseum Basel – Centre for Narrative Art, Basel, Switzerland)<ref>Cartoonmuseum Basel, Anette Gehrig (ed.): '' Thomas Ott: From Scratch ''. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2025, ISBN 978-3-03969-044-2.</ref>

== Awards ==

* 1996: Max & Moritz Prize at the Comic-Salon Erlangen for Best German-speaking comic artist<ref>{{cite web |title=Max und Moritz-Preis 2020 |url=https://www.comic-salon.de/de/max-und-moritz-preis-seit-1984 |website=comic-salon.de |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> * 2006: Attilio Micheluzzi Award for best foreign language comics with ''Cinema Panopticum''<ref>{{cite web |title=Napoli Comicon 2006 -2: Le nomination dei Premi Attilio Micheluzzi |url=https://www.comicus.it/mainmenu-news/item/39333-napoli-comicon-2006--2-le-nomination-dei-premi-attilio-micheluzzi |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> * 2017: Swiss Federal Office of Culture Grand Award for Design<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Ott|periodical=|publisher=ZHdK|url=https://kvis.zhdk.ch/news/thomas-ott-grand-prix/|url-status=|format=|access-date=2019-09-06|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=|year=|language=de|pages=|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Culture |first=© Federal Office of |title=Thomas Ott |url=https://www.schweizerkulturpreise.ch/awards/en/home/design/design-archiv/design-2017/design-gpd-2017/thomas-ott.html |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=www.schweizerkulturpreise.ch |language=en}}</ref> * 2020: Trophée de l’édition for best book production with ''The Forest''<ref>{{cite web |title=[Trophées de l'édition 2020] Fabrication du livre : "La Forêt" chez Martin de Halleux |url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/trophees-de-ledition-2020-fabrication-du-livre-la-foret-chez-martin-de-halleux |website=Livreshebdo |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref>

== External links ==

* [http://www.tott.ch Official Website] * {{German National Library portal|124044522}} * {{SIKART|10712178|Ott, Thomas}}

== References == {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ott, Thomas}} Category:1966 births Category:Swiss comics artists Category:Artists from Zurich Category:Living people