Comic creator Tim Perkins pays tribute to his friend, artist Jon Haward, who, sadly, left this world last week.
I first met Jon Howard when attending one of the UKCAC comic conventions in the late 1980s – early 1990s, and a friendship was struck up from that moment on.
Back before we had mobile/cell phones we talked almost on a daily basis and each worked, as we chatted on speaker phone. In fact, back in those days, my phone bill looked like a shopping list the monthly statements were so long, when they appeared as a printed bill.
The most common names on that paperwork comprised of John Ridgway, Art Wetherell and, of course, Jon.
I can’t begin to tell you the amount of times we ended up laughing – we had the same sense of humour, regarding, puns, innuendo and comedy sketches. Pretty much every phone call involved one or more often than not both of us in absolute stitches with tears running down our cheeks. So much so we couldn’t speak for a minute or two, until we had stopped.
Things we had in common: Conan, Elric, Fantastic Four, Spider-man, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Rock Music, Art , humour, Fawlty Towers, Carry on Screaming, Benny Hill, Les Dawson, and COMICS, amongst other things.
Artists and Writers we admire(d): Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Barry Windsor Smith, Herb Trimpe, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, Neil Adams, Gene Colan, Craig Russell, Gil Kane, Nestor Redondo, Rudy Nebres, Alex Nino, Don McGregor, Doug Moench, Steve Englehart, Don Lawrence, Frank Bellamy, Ron Embleton, Mike Noble, Frank Hampson and a whole host of others – so we always had lots to talk about.
I travelled to his home in the summer of 1999, and he regaled me with a trip around Lowestoft in Norfolk. He loved the place. The weekend I went down was a lovely sunny one and Jon was in high spirits throughout. I had a great time with him.
It was during that trip I spoke of conversations I had had with other comic professionals at the last UKCAC, which was held in Manchester. The topic was, why wouldn’t someone start a new weekly or monthly comic book?
Jon stayed with me for a week prior to a meeting to get such a comic off the ground in the Autumn of that year. I had prepared sets of documents. From memory there were six, one for each creator – pertaining to all the aspects of starting up a new comic company.
My family loved him, especially my Mum and Dad, who kind of adopted him whenever he came up to visit. He loved what I had done and was so enthusiastic, as we spent the week speaking to people like Alan Grant, who was also all behind the idea.
The meeting was held, at which Jon was my right-hand-man and which had folks on board like John Ridgway, Alan Grant, Art Wetherell, Mike Perkins and a whole host of other comic creators.
Alas, the Ballistic Project did not take off when only a handful of those involved produced any content for the comic. It was great seeing what could have been from the stuff sent to me from Alan, John, Art, Jon and a small number of others.
When the resulting efforts weren’t realised and the idea was canned, Jon was as disappointed as I was. In fact, by the December of that same year I left comics behind me for good, I thought as I entered the world of concept art firstly for themed rides and attractions and then feature animation and TV.
Jon, however, was staunch in his views, and stayed with comics and its, at the time, often feast or famine scenarios. He continued to work on Spectacular Spider-man (his dream job) alongside work from 2000AD and Games Workshop. I remember him being on a high with all the demand for his work.
It was at its peak he decided to stop drawing Spider-man. I tried to convince him otherwise and keep working on Spidey, until he had something else in place. Then, a couple of weeks later, first Games Workshop and then, two weeks later again, 2000AD had no further work for him.
It was about this time that I was planning on the early set up of Wizards Keep and starting work properly on Worlds End. Jon as always was over the moon for me and excited about my new plans.
However, I also remember Jon during this same period being down and not the Jon I knew at all, as he struggled to find work of any kind, and this was affecting him, both physically and mentally.
All throughout this period we continued to speak as we always had, as he searched for a way out. Despite all that was going on around him, the laughter and fun side of Jon never left him and we continued to spend hours laughing on the phone.
But, just like the Jon I knew, he didn’t let this lack of work stop him continuing to fulfill his dream, working in comics. He continued to work up concepts he had back in 1999 for Ballistic, the comic that sadly never was, and other concepts too. I told him I was convinced this lull was not permanent and he would soon be overrun by work once more.
He began to work on a series of humour strips, Tales of the Buddha, written by Alan Grant – and I think this was a real life-saver, for two reasons. It helped him slide back into paid drawing assignments, helping him to get his confidence back, which was hard for me to watch, as he was a terrific and prolific artist and should never have been questioning his abilities. It also raised his humour again, because he loved Alan’s work and he loved the humourous scripts he was being asked to draw.
The phone calls were more upbeat all the time now and filled with his infectious laughter, as he regaled me with the exploits he and Alan were taking their character along to.
I remember one such phone call, one day shortly after starting to work on the comic with Alan, and Jon was over the moon. He was soon to start work on a Graphic Novel that would lead to producing more. That graphic novel was Macbeth, for Classical Comics, and was soon followed up by The Tempest and art directing on Frankenstein. He was on a roll.
His entire outlook changed and Jon was finally back. That entire period saw him burning the midnight candle once again. He was turning pages out like they were going out of fashion and he was rocking and rolling once again.
(Speaking of which, Jon was an avid Kiss fan, and loved their music and was so excited to show me – some years ago now, sometime in the 1990s, I think, his piece that appeared in the bible of all Kiss fans. He was so proud of that – he got an acknowledgement from none other than his hero, Gene Simmons).
In 2011, Jon went along to Malta Comic Con and was there at my inaugural book launch for my first Graphic Novel, Worlds End Volume 1. He came to visit, once more at my home and stayed for a few days less than a week later for the UK Worlds End Book Launch on my home ground in the north of England. He really was one of my biggest supporters.
He attended Malta Comic Con again in 2013 – he had found a home away from home, just as I have. I remember us walking along the prom near the Hotel Santana that year and stopping for an ice cream, like two old gents looking over the sea and reminiscing about our careers. Great times, as I write these words, I realise just how much I miss him and the laughter – you could never be sad or down around Jon.
In fact, I think it was that same year or the one after that Jon went back to Malta to visit during the summer months and came back looking like a lobster.
Back in March of 2014 my Mum died, and that sent me spiralling away from work of any kind. Despite this, Jon was, as always, a pillar of support and rang a few times during that period to see if I was okay and to raise my spirits. He never failed to make me laugh, when everything else seemed a million miles away from normal for me.
By 2015, I was back on with the second book, which was now behind schedule and Jon and me were on the phone again, and yes, you guessed it, laughing all the way between my home town of Blackburn and his, Lowestoft.
It seems strange now that the next year would see a cease to all contact, and it was indeed very strange. I saw his post of the 26th July 2016, where he was sharing a wonderful painting of Judge Dredd by Chris Weston and then his next post, four days later, was like nothing I had seen before from Jon. I wondered if he had been hacked or was cryptically telling the world of a top-secret new title he was working on.
Despite numerous, phone calls, text messages and Facebook messages, I received no reply for days, which turned into weeks. It was worrying. I found out in the first instance from John Freeman that Jon was indeed very ill, as he had just spoken to Jon’s brother, Jim.
Over the years, I continued to hope and sent the usual birthday messages, but it wasn’t meant to be. I knew it was always going to be a longshot for a recovery, but that didn’t stop me wishing him well.
When I heard the sad news last Tuesday, I knew I wanted to pay my respects to this giant, not just in stature but in talent. But, I wanted the time to reflect on our friendship and get the words right to do the man justice.
Jon was the most humble guys I knew, and I don’t think he ever truly knew just how good and versatile he was. I never saw him speak a bad word about anyone. He loved the comic business and everyone involved in it – pros and fans alike.
I feel so lucky to have called him my friend and will miss his unique laugh, that got me laughing even if the joke or pun wasn’t exactly one of his best.
I have missed you this past few years, Jon, my friend, and will always remember you has a kindred spirit.
Godspeed, Jon – you can finally be at peace, mate.
Now go meet up with all your heroes and have fun – I am sure you will be drawing comics again, mate.
Now, I must get this dust out of my eye…
Your friend,
Tim…
xxx
And, now, because I know Jon would not want me to end this with sadness – here are some never before seen pieces of artwork from Jon.
First up is a piece of artwork I commissioned from Jon in 2009 for a yet to be realised Worlds End Sketch Book using some of my artwork, but also that of a series of other artists.
Next are two pages of Avengers sample artwork from the early 1990s, pencilled by Tim Perkins, inked by Jon Haward
And finally, a Fantastic Four piece, pencilled by Jon and inked by me, which Jon, himself uploaded to his page when we first produced it.
If I say so myself, either way, I think we would have made a pretty good team.
Our thanks to Tim for sharing his memories of Jon. Once again, we wish his family and friends all the best at this time.
Jon was a much loved brother to Jane, Judith and James, and treasured uncle to Emma and Sarah. His family have asked that friends donate to the mental health charity, MIND, in his memory mind.org.uk
If you or anyone you know suffer from mental health issues, find out how to access NHS mental health services and where to get urgent help here on the NHS web site | The charity MIND has a guide to taking the first steps, making empowered decisions and getting the right support for you here
• You can read our full tribute to Jon Haward here
• You can read our a tribute to Jon Haward by Paul H. Birch here
• Read Tim’s review of Classical Comics Macbeth
• Read Tim’s review of Classical Comics The Tempest
Tim Perkins has worked as a graphic designer since 1980 and in the comic book and children’s books industries since 1983. In 1999 he began work in the theme park industry and a year later in the animation field. His career in comics includes working for Marvel UK, 2000AD, Marvel US, DC comics, Defiant, Tekno, Caliber, Fleetway, Newsstand, and Toontastic amongst others.
Tim cites some of his career highlights in comics as Dreamstone, Dark Dominion, Phage – Shadowdeath, Chopper, Dinoswords, and Doctor Who.
Wizards Keep – wizards-keep.com – is the culmination of his many years of experience in the art industry. He is a regular guest of Malta Comic Con, who profile him here
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: 2000AD, British Comics, Comic Creator Spotlight, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Obituaries
An astonishing and worthy tribute to Jon. I first met Jon in the 80’s, when he was starting his journey. I always admired his talent, his absolute enthusiasm, and general sense of wonder at the world. I knew, and know, of his skills and talent, but I really knew him as someone who saw the world with love – maybe sometimes at odds with the images he produced – and someone who just liked people. And Lowestoft. RIP old chap. John E