Comics, he argues, are a “very vibrant art form in their own right.”Īnd yet, Gibbons is understandably ambivalent about this newfound respectability. “In France,” he has argued, “comics are called the ninth art, they stand alongside music and literature … But one of the problems comics have always had in this country – and this isn’t so prevalent in Europe – is they have always been associated with very cheap and somewhat lurid entertainment.” ( Guardian interview, 2014). He is ideally suited to the job of promoting both the art form, the culture of reading, and fighting what se sees as the marginalization of the comics medium in the UK. In recognition of this importance, Gibbons was named as the UK’s first ‘comics laureate’ in 2014. By visualizing the machines of the future - from the zeppelins and cigarettes in Watchmen, the medical machines in Give Me Liberty, or the hoverbikes in the Originals, his warped alternate take on the Quadrophenia – his has managed to trademark a particular form of vintage futuristic aesthetic. Moreover, through all his work, Gibbons has also managed to express one of the most influential visions of the future: an unnerving blend of cyberpunk and steampunk that transcends both into something else entirely. In Watchmen, he perfected a stark new twist on the nine-panel comic layout that was at once intensely narrative-driven and packed with symbolic depth. Through these collaborations, Gibbons pioneered various instantly recognizable styles. Gibbons was responsible for look and design of this groundbreaking comic, and his collaboration with Moore has proved an enduring influence on later generations of readers and writers. But above all, he is celebrated for his role in creating the seminal graphic novel Watchmen with Alan Moore. Then there are the collaborations with Dark Knight author Frank Miller on the political satire Give Me Liberty in the early 1990s, and his own more recent solo output. His reputation rests first upon his influential 1980s work on Green Lantern, Batman, 2000AD, and Doctor Who series, and his work on the some of best Superman stories. To Time Magazine, he is simply, “a genius - one of the major comic book artists of the 21st century.” The Times of London place him at the head of “the vanguard of “a British invasion of the States” that began in the 1980s. In 2015 he was appointed the UK’s first ‘comics laureate’ to champion the use of graphic novels in promoting literacy.ĭave Gibbons is one of Britain’s most respected comic books artists, with a diverse and prolific career stretching back almost forty years. 2006), with art by John Higgins a Kamandi serial for Wednesday Comics with Ryan Sook in 2009 and Tales of the Sinestro Corps, also in 2009. Gibbons’ most recent complete works are a black and white graphic novel, The Originals (2005), a futuristic treatment of the Mods and Rockers wars of the 1960s and ongoing comic work, including the Albion spin-off Thunderbolt Jaxon (April–Sept. He is best known in the US for collaborating with Alan Moore on the 12-issue limited series Watchmen (1986-7) now one of the best-selling graphic novels of all time, and for his collaborations with Frank Miller on Give Me Liberty (1990) After leaving 2000AD, Gibbons became the lead artist on Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly, drawing the main comic strip for most of the issues, and was hired in 1982 to draw Green Lantern for the American DC imprint. He broke into British comics by working on horror and action titles for both DC Thomson and IPC during the late 1970s, and he joined ‘2000 AD’ as an Art Director. Gibbons is a graphic novels writer and illustrator, born in London in 1949.
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