British comic book artist
Simon Bisley is a British
comic book artist best known for his
1990s work on
ABC Warriors ,
Lobo and
Sláine .
Early life
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(April 2016 )
Simon Bisley began drawing when he was six years old. He is self-taught, with only a short one-year stay at an art college, saying "I found it very difficult to get any kind of feedback from the art teachers. They weren't interested at all in what I was doing, so I became kind of very introverted with regard to my artwork and yeah, I was just all self-taught."
[1]
Career
Bisley started his career doing magazine and album covers, his first work being a T-shirt design for heavy metal magazine
Kerrang!
[1]
Eventually, even though he had no experience in comics strip drawing at the time, he was hired by the magazine
2000 AD after they saw his interpretations of their magazine characters. According to the Comic Book Database, "while still a student, Bisley did a painting of a robot holding a baby that he sent to the offices of 2000 AD. The image was seen by
Pat Mills and inspired him to relaunch the ABC Warriors strip, with Bisley as artist, in 1987".
[2] He started with work on
ABC Warriors in 1987, later moving to
Sláine and
Judge Dredd .
[3]
Since 1997, Bisley has been a regular contributor to the comics magazine
Heavy Metal .
[4]
Bisley has done design work for several music videos, including
Chippendales ' "Room Service".[
citation needed ]
In the early 2000s, Bisley was commissioned to create artwork for the
drum kit used by
System of a Down drummer
John Dolmayan , an avid comic book collector and vendor. Dolmayan commissioned Bisley to illustrate the
Hulk and
Thing on one drum, while the art for other drums in the kit, which depicted other characters and scenes, were produced by
Kevin Eastman ,
Tim Vigil , and
Arthur Adams .
[5]
Influences
Bisley's style is strongly influenced by
Frank Frazetta ,
[6]
Gustav Klimt ,
Salvador Dalí , and
Richard Corben ,
Bill Sienkiewicz , and
Egon Schiele .
[7] He also took inspiration from rock album covers and graffiti as well as traditional comics art.
Bisley's work influenced the
Beast in the 2006
Doctor Who episode "
The Satan Pit ",
[8] and
Simon Pegg 's character graphic artist Tim Bisley on the
Channel 4
sitcom
Spaced .
[9]
Bibliography
Comics
DC
The Authority/Lobo (with co-writers
Keith Giffen and
Alan Grant ):
Jingle Hell (2004)
Spring Break Massacre (2005)
Batman: Black & White , miniseries, #2 (with
Neil Gaiman , 1996)
Batman /
Judge Dredd :
Judgement on Gotham (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, 1991)
ISBN
1-56389-022-4
Batman/Lobo One-Shot (April 2000)
Global Frequency #7 (with
Warren Ellis , 2003)
Hellblazer #259-260, 265–266, 282 (full art); #271-274 (along with Giuseppe Camuncoli) (2009–11)
Lobo :
The Last Czarnian (with co-writers Keith Giffen and Alan Grant, 96 pages, 1992)
ISBN
0-930289-99-4
Lobo's Back (with Keith Giffen, 96 pages, 1993)
ISBN
1-56389-103-4
Paramilitary Christmas Special (with Keith Giffen and Alan Grant, 1991)
Fleetway
2000 AD (
ABC Warriors ): ##555-558, 563–568, 577-581 (1988); (
Sláine ): #626-635, 650–656, 662–664, 688-698 (1989–90); (
Judge Dredd ) #1068 (1997)
Judge Dredd Megazine #1.14, 1.16, 1.17, 1.19, 2.61, 2.62, 3.15, 3.17 (1991–96)
Full Circle
Full Cirkle , vol. 1 (with Simon Reed, 2003)
Full Cirkle , vol. 2 (with Simon Reed, 2007)
Thicker Than Blood (colours, with Simon Reed and art by
Mike Ploog , 2007)
Marvel
Verotik
Verotika #1 (with
Glenn Danzig (w), 1994)
Verotika #2 (cover, 1995)
Death Dealer #1 (with Glenn Danzig (w) and
Frank Frazetta (cover), 1995)
Satanika (Vol 1) #0 (with Glenn Danzig (w) and Frank Frazetta (cover), 1995)
Satanika (Vol 1) #1-2 (covers, 1995)
Jaguar God #0 (with Glenn Danzig (w), 1996)
Verotik Illustrated (with Bill Oakley, 1997)
Ge Rouge #1/2 (with Glenn Danzig (w), 1998)
Dalkiel The Prophecy (with Glenn Danzig (w), 1998)
The Darker Horror of Morella (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2001)
Inquisitor (cover, 2002)
Hidden Lyrics of the Left Hand (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2010)
Jaguar God Snake Brothers Revenge (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2012)
Satanika 18th Anniversary Issue (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2013)
Verotika Returns (Vol 1) #2-3 (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2014)
The Infernals (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2017)
Lyrics of the Left Hand, Volume II (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2018)
Satanika Versus Morella's Demon #1-2 (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2019
Verotika Revenge (with Glenn Danzig (w), 2021)
Other publishers
"Once Upon A Time in the West" (with
Alan Grant , in
Toxic! #1, 1991)
"Reapers" (with
John Arcudi , in
Dark Horse Presents :
Aliens ,
Dark Horse Comics , 1992, collected in
Aliens Omnibus #3, 2008,
ISBN
1-59307-872-2 )
The Terminator: The Enemy Within #1-4 (Dark Horse Comics, 1991–1992, covers)
Bisley's Scrapbook (
Atomeka Press , 1993)
Melting Pot (with
Kevin Eastman /
Eric Talbot ,
Kitchen Sink Press , 1995,
ISBN
0-87816-362-X )
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Bodycount (with Kevin Eastman, 4-issue mini-series, tpb,
Image Comics , 1996, tpb,
ISBN
1-887279-36-9 )
Mutant Chronicles : Golgotha (illustration by Bisley,
Acclaim Comics , 1996)
Bad Boy (with
Frank Miller ,
one-shot ,
Oni Press ,
Dynamite Entertainment , 1997)
Fistful of Blood (with script and layouts by Kevin Eastman, in
Heavy Metal #192-202, May 2001 - January 2003, hardcover, 64 pages, February 2003,
ISBN
1-882931-86-6 )
The Dead (with Alan Grant, Berserker Comics, 2008–2009)
[10]
Church of Hell #1-3 (Berserker Comics, 2009, covers)
[11]
The Lost Pages (Zaid Comics, 2020, cover)
The Lost Pages 3 (Zaid Comics, 2023, cover)
SOS: Onslaught (Chimera Comics, 2020, cover)
Collected editions
The Authority/Lobo : Holiday Hell (160 pages, 2006)
ISBN
1-4012-0992-0
Global Frequency, Volume 2: Detonation Radio ,
ISBN
1-4012-0291-8
Heavy Metal Dredd (with
John Wagner /
Alan Grant , reprinted from
Rock Power , collected in Heavy Metal Dredd
ISBN
0-7493-1555-5 ):
"A Mega-City Primer" (in
Judge Dredd Megazine #1.14, 1991 and 2000 AD #1068, 1997)
"Rock On, Tommy Who?!" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #1.16, 1992)
"Chicken Run" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #1.17, 1992)
"The Legend of Johnny Biker" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #1.19, 1992)
"Ironfist" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #2.61, 1994)
"Night Before Christmas" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #2.62, 1994)
"The Great Arsoli" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.15, 1996)
"Bimba" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.17, 1996)
Music album covers
Computer game box
Role-playing games
Movie posters
Centurion (2010) (Possibly in error, also attributed to Simon Bowles and Pathe productions.)
Black Death (2010)
Books
Biz: The Intense Art of Simon Bisley (
Verotik Pub Inc, August 1997)
Fakk 2 (80 pages, Heavy Metal Magazine, June 1999)
The Art of Simon Bisley Redux (132 pages, Heavy Metal Magazine, June 2007,
ISBN
1-932413-79-0 )
Simon Bisley's Illustrations from the Bible: A Work in Progress (Heavy Metal Magazine, July 2007,
ISBN
1-932413-78-2 )
Simon Bisley Calendar 2010 (Heavy Metal Magazine, August 2009,
ISBN
1-935351-06-0 )
Awards
1990: Won "Favourite Artist UK"
Eagle Award
1992:
[12]
Won "Best Artist"
Eisner Award , for
Judgement on Gotham
Won "Best Artist"
UK Comic Art Award
[13]
Won "Best Original Graphic Novel" UK Comic Art Award for Judgment on Gotham (with John Wagner and Alan Grant)
Nominated for "Best Cover Artist" Eisner Award, for Judgement on Gotham and Doom Patrol
Nominated for "Best Graphic Album: New/First US Publication" Eisner Award, for Judgement on Gotham (with Alan Grant and John Wagner)
1993:
[14]
Nominated for "Best Cover Artist" Eisner Award, for Grendel: War Child , Terminator , and Enemy Within
Nominated for "Best Painter (Interior)" Eisner Award, for "Lair of the Lizard Ladies" in
Mr. Monster Attacks #3
Nominated for "Best Artist" UK Comic Art Award
[15]
2002: Nominated for "Best Artist Ever"
National Comics Award
References
^
a
b
"Comic Art & Graffix Gallery Artist Interviews - Simon Bisley" . www.comic-art.com .
^
"Simon Bisley Comic Book DB" . comicbookdb.com . 2008.
^ Ringgenberg, Steve (1995).
"interview with Bisley, p. 1" . comic-art.com . Wayback Machine.
^ Duncan, Randy; Smith, Matthew J. (2013).
Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman, Volume 1 . p. 332.
ISBN
9780313399237 .
^ Collis, Clark (8 August 2006).
"System of a Down's drummer on his art-covered kit" .
Entertainment Weekly .
Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2023 .
^ Ringgenberg, Steve (1995).
"interview with Bisley, p. 5" . comic-art.com .
Wayback Machine .
^
"Simon Bisley"
Archived 9 August 2017 at the
Wayback Machine .
East Coast Comiccon . Retrieved 6 April 2017.
^ "Artist Biography", "The Tick's 20th Anniversary Special Edition #1", May 2007, New England Comics Press
^ Spaced Series 2 DVD Homage-o-meter (Alternative subtitles)
^
The Dead issue #1 at Berserker Comics
^
Church of Hell at Berserker Comics
^
1992 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners at the Comic Book Awards Almanac
^ "Newswatch: UK Awards Named," The Comics Journal #149 (March 1992), p. 22.
^
1993 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners at the Comic Book Awards Almanac
^ ER. "International Miscellanea: 1993 UK Comic Art Awards," The Comics Journal #161 (August 1993), p. 40.
External links
International National Artists Other