Without Ralph Steadman, ‘Gonzo’ would probably not have as massive a profile as it does today. Without the bizarre illustrations created by this most charming yet quite clearly nuts Englishman, the sheer audacity and plain batnuts craziness of Hunter S. Thompson’s tales of wildness might never have been communicated as well they have. But it’s not only his long association with the Gonzo genre that Steadman is known for - as an illustrator, his work is now amongst the most collectible of any in the world.     Now the ripe old age of 76, Ralph’s lifelong body of work is a testament to his dark humour and the mastery of a technique that includes the liberal use of India ink (or liquids found close at hand such as tea or red wine) to create splatter patterns. His style of caricature is in the vein of another famous English illustrator, Quentin Blake, who similarly enjoyed a lifelong working association with a great writer, Roald Dahl. But in his creation of particularly distorted figures, and as the anointed illustrator of Gonzo, he stands alone and in a class of his own.     Always willing to portray his subjects as demented or grotesque, Steadman’s work initially offended more people than might have been good for an illustrator seeking to make a career of his art. After graduating from the London College of Printing in the late 1960s, Steadman did freelance work for a number of titles including Punch, Private Eye, the Daily Telegraph, New York Times and Rolling Stone. But it was his first assignment with Thompson, as his partner in crime at the Kentucky Derby in 1970, that made his name. Later described by Thompson as “like falling down an elevator shaft and landing in a pool of mermaids”, the escapade established a life of collaboration between the two, and set the tone for Thompson’s future writing - ‘The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent And Depraved’ has been noted as ‘the beginnings of the Gonzo style’.   Having mastered the art of managing Thompson as a creative partner - or having managed to survive him - Steadman’s success and destiny became entwined with the Good Doctor’s. The resulting images created for ‘Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (A Savage Journey To The Heart of The American Dream)’ lent to its critical success, and its worldwide renown as a tale as unhinged as the characters who feature in it. From that point on, Ralph Steadman’s career enjoyed popular success.     Steadman remains a prolific creative, and he still produces illustrations and self-written books. Among these are his longstanding line of work for Oddbins, the British wine chain, and a number of illustrations for classic book titles such as Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, Ambrose Bierce’s ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’, as well as illustrating Will Self’s column in The Independent newspaper. With a a unique style that has come to personify the crazy side of his life’s experiences, Ralph Steadman remains the wild card in the world of illustrators, and for that, we salute him - and wish him a very fine ‘Happy Birthday!’ for last week (he was born on May 15th, 1936).