January 2004 News Archive
GURR ON DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS
13/1/03: British comics creator Simon Gurr is working on a comic strip adaptation of Day of the Triffids which is being published in the Bristol Evening Post, as part of the city's second Great Reading Adventure program.
The Great Reading Adventure is an annual project which promotes books and reading throughout the city -- last year's book was Treasure Island. This year, the book is The Day of The Triffids by
John Wyndham and the organisers are giving away 2000 free copies. "The organisers have asked me to do a comic-strip adaptation of the story," says Simon. "This
runs in the Bristol Evening Post as
12 daily episodes from tomorrow (Monday 12th January) until Saturday
24th."
One of the many events tied in to The Day of The Triffids is a Science Fiction weekend, with film screenings and interviews, at the Watershed on 21-22 February.
Confirmed speakers include: Brian Aldiss, Christopher Priest, Maureen Kincaid Speller, David Ketterer, Andy Sawyer, John Durant, Robin McKie and Simon Conway Morris. Part of the Great Reading Adventure promotion includes a very nice, full-colour, 48-page Guide To The Day of The Triffids Reader's Guide which is available free, if you register at www.bristolreads.com.
(This also puts you in the running for one of the free copies
of the novel) "Obviously, I have a vested interest," says Simon, "but
I do think it's a brilliant science fiction novel and it's great
that they chose our medium of comics as one of the ways of promoting
the book!"
• The Science Fiction Foundation at Liverpool University holds an archive of the work of John Wyndham
ART WETHERELL DIES
2/1/04: Talented artist Art Wetherell
died on Christmas Day of a perforated stomach ulcer.
Art, whose credits include Searchers,
many strips for Marvel UK, including Transformers, Star
Wars for Dark Horse and many
adult comics (he was also
one of the first artists published by Fantagraphics as part of its Eros
Comix line, creating such titles as 2 Hot
Girls on a Hot Summer Night and
Treasure Chests),
had
a
lot
of friends in the UK comic fraternity and beyond. He will be much missed.
Writing
for the website of Norway's Raptus Festival, Arild Wærness reminisces
about the artist:
"I remember meeting him for the first time, at Bristol in 2000. Frode and I had just completed our very first Raptus presentation of the Norwegian comics life. Outside the sweaty hall we were met by two earnest guys, Dave Windett and Art. They told us their main excuse to visit Bristol that year was to meet up with us (as representatives of the Norwegian comics industry).
We were very impressed with this show of respect, of course, and during the rest of the weekend we spent considerable time together with the two. I was especially thrilled to meet the artist behind one of my favourite comics series of the mid-Nineties; The Searchers. Frode started running up plans for their visit to Raptus in the autumn, and it was decided that Art would take top billing due to his background in Dark Horse/Star Wars strips. Thus, Art Wetherell shared the poster with Mort Walker at Raptus 2000!
"At Raptus, Art performed in fine form, entertaining and informing the Norwegian public in a quiet, self-effacing way about his work, pencils and inking. Bringing with him his family, he gave as much time as possible to the crowds, making sketches for young kids and old."
IN MEMORIAM: DON LAWRENCE
2/1/04: Just days after
receiving word of an appeal
for original Trigan
Empire art comes
the sad announcement of the death of its creator,
Don Lawrence.
His official
web site reports the talented comics artist and writer died
on 29 December from pneumonia, in a hospital near his hometown
of Jevington, surrounded by his family. He was 75.
Announcing
his
death
to
many
UK
comics
creators,
artist
Liam
McCormack
Sharp,
who
worked
as
his
assistant
for
many
years,
described
Don
as
his "mentor and dear friend" and "one
of
the
comic
industries
true
greats.
He
will
be
terribly
missed."
Don Lawrence is probably best known for his long running science
fiction series Storm,
which he has been drawing for the last 22 years.
Don started out as a comics creator in the Gower Street Studios
in London, first working on Marvelman --
for which he was paid one pound a page -- then moving on to Karl
the Viking for Lion,
followed by the full colour strip, The
Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire,
for Look and Learn.
Although he received no royalties, the strip, which he drew for
10 years, was sold to dozens of other magazines worldwide.
Sadly, his official web site reveals, Don wasn't aware of the
strip's success until he got in contact with a Yugoslavian agent,
Ervin Rustemagic, at an International Comic Convention. Ervin
told Don how well the series was doing on the continent and the
day after Don asked his publisher for a big raise, which was
rejected. He immediately resigned from the strip and accepted
an offer from Dutch publisher Oberon (Big Balloon) to draw Storm,
which he co-created with Martin Lodewijk. Although the strip
has seen only limited English release it is one of the most popular
comic series in Holland and Germany, with over two million albums
sold to date.
Just
a
few
months
ago
Don
Lawrence
was
the
special
guest
at
Comicdays,
a
huge
comic
festival
in
Holland.
Many
fans
stood
in
line
for
over
one
hour
at
the
stand
where
Don
Lawrence
was
signing,
to
have
a
chat
and
to
congratulate
him
on
his
upcoming
75th
birthday. "That
was the greatest thing about Don," says one of the fans
who runs his web site. "He
always
took
time
to
have
a
chat
and
was
interested
in
who
you
were
and
what
you
were
doing.
This
made
him
the
most
beloved
artist
in
Holland
were
his
publishers
house
was."
The Filth and Ministry
of Space artist Chris Weston,
who also worked with Don for a year, told Comic
Book Resources the artist's death was similar to
the US industry losing a Kirby, Colan, or Kubert.
"I was priviliged to call Don my friend and mentor," he
told CBR. "He
was
generous
enough
to
offer
me
a
whole
year's
personal
tuition
in
the
art
of
illustrating
comics...
a
time
I'll treasure forever.
I'll miss him terribly."
