comic art – Page 2

I have a bit of a thing for original comic artwork. Whether pages bought on the internet, usually from the pages of 2000AD or bits and pieces I pick up at comic conventions, I have amassed something of a collection over the last few years.

To hold in your hands the original drawings that make it into the comics you love is quite something and since I picked up my first piece about 8 years ago it remains a real passion. Below are a few pieces I actually found in the cellar that I forgot about. They were picked up at a Comic convention in Leeds and another in London in 2013. I put them in a box when we started house renovations 18 months ago and discovered them this week.

A quite magnificent Dredd by Gary Erskine. He was kind enough to also let me have the sketch he did. It was amazing to stand and watch him create this and just talk to him about Dredd and Roller Grrrls and all sorts.

A Mike Collins Rogue Trooper. A real prize possession and a thing of Beauty.

A John Mcrea Dredd from LSCC which I just adore.

A much treasured Elephantmen page by Boo Cook. So so good. Below are a few more, some by boo cook and a Batman by Dave Taylor. I have piles more but thought I would just share a few tonight.

If I count the things that are particularly precious to me 2000ad is right up there. I mean right up there, perhaps not above the kids but definitely well ahead of a number of the members of my wider family.

Not sure what it is?

Well 2000AD is a weekly British Science fiction comic, first published in 1977 and probably most famous for bringing us Judge Dredd.

From my earliest age I loved the characters and the artwork and a thread throughout my life for as long as I can remember. I remember first reading it in the early eighties growing up in South Africa and the impact it had was huge, feeding my love of science fiction and it is something that has never left me.

When we had our first child we had very little and only £600 in the bank and the opportunity to buy the entire 30 year back catalogue presented itself. Price? You guessed it. £600. I remember driving 200 miles to Bristol in a battered old Vauxhall Corsa with the last of our savings and loading them into the car from floor to roof. You any idea how many comics that is? Well now I have 40 years worth plus some others and believe me, storing more than 2500 comic books is no easy feat. That is every issue from number 1 in 1977.

Ive also developed a love of comic artwork over the years, and will write about it again in a future post but to feed my love of all things 2000Ad I have amassed a pretty sizeable collection of original comic art which I absolutely adore. The photo below shows A Clint Langley original above the printed version.

Have I ever mentioned my tattoos? No? Well this is one of my 2000ad themed ones. A quite gorgeous Judge Dredd on my left arm done by Lee Rudeboy Reynolds at Rude studios in Leeds. A truly marvellous artist. I have another on my right that I will show you another time,

My love gets worse though. I have two children, and both have middle names named after things that really matter to me. I will tell more about my eldest’s some other time but I can confirm that my youngest’s middle name is Joseph, named after Judge Joseph Dredd.

So as you can see, a real influence in my life and there is still nothing as fabulous as the most recent copy dropping through my letter box each week…

Tag: comic art

2000Ad, Elephant Men and Batman

Me and Judge Dredd