GURR ON DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS

13/1/03: British comics creator Simon Gurr is working on a comic strip adaptation of The 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

2026 Addendum: An evaluation of the project on Bristol Ideas notes the specially commissioned 12-part comic serial based on the book published in the Bristol Evening Post, had an estimated readership of around 216,000 people a day. It was devised by local artist Simon Gurr. Artist-led workshops inspired by themes raised by the project took place in schools and libraries. There was also a science fiction weekend with screenings of classic films and television programmes, and lectures and discussions on Wyndham’s work. City Inn provided free accommodation for the speakers, who included the authors Brian Aldiss and Christopher Priest.

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 29th 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.”