I’ve just heard that one of Britain’s best loved and one of the world’s most respected historical illustrators, Angus McBride, died on 15 May 2007 from a heart attack. He was 76.
Angus McBride was one of the world’s most respected historical illustrators, who contributed to more than 90 titles for publishing company Osprey over three decades, Look and Learn, Middle Earth illustrations for Iron Crown Enterprises games (sample, left) and much, much more. (Warriors and Warlords: The Art of Angus McBride, published in 2002, is packed with fine examples of his stunning illustrations).
Born in 1931 of Scottish Highland parents but orphaned as a child, he was educated at Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He worked in advertising agencies from 1947, and after national service, and emigrated to South Africa where he lived for several years before relocating to Ireland.
Osprey are currently preparing a fitting tribute to Angus and his work have set up an e-mail for people wishing to send tributes: tribute@ospreypublishing.com. They say they will do their best to publish a selection of them.
There’s a small tribute to McBride on the Look and Learn blog, and of course, as Steve Holland reports over on his Bear Alley blog, some 500 images by McBride that the Look and Learn team have on their website… and there are many more to follow.
Update, 27 May 2007: The Guardian published a full obituary to Angus on 26 May, written by Steve Holland.
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Obituaries
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