Telos Publishing has opened orders for The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner, written by the late John Lawrence, the artist’s long-time friend and agent.

This is the first-ever comprehensive biography of the artist, and presents a wealth of his incredible and highly distinctive work, all reproduced in unparalleled quality, compiled by John before his death last year.
Expected to be published in November, The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner is available to pre-order direct from Telos Publishing now. Copies of this book will be available to US-based customers through Bud’s Comics and Art.

Artist Ron Turner (1922-1998) was a British master of science fiction book and magazine covers, and a comic strip legend. In a career spanning five decades, he provided illustrations for hundreds of classic SF paperbacks, numerous periodicals and some of the UK’s most fondly-remembered comics, his strip work taking in everything from Doctor Who’s “The Daleks” for TV Century 21 and the Supermarionation shows of Gerry Anderson to 2000AD’s Judge Dredd.
The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner, written by Turner’s long-time friend and agent John Lawrence (1944-2023), is the first-ever comprehensive biography of the artist, and presents a wealth of his incredible and highly distinctive work, all reproduced in unparalleled quality.


Telos Publishing’s Stephen James Walker says: “I’ve been a huge admirer of Ron Turner’s work ever since I saw his brilliant contributions to TV Century 21’s ‘The Daleks’ strip in the mid-1960s, and I’m pleased and proud to have been able to edit and design this title as the latest addition to Telos’s growing range of superb coffee-table art books.
“The author, John Lawrence, sadly passed away in 2023, before he got to see the results of all his hard work, but I feel sure this will stand as the definitive account of Turner’s life.”
Noted British science fiction authority Philip Harbottle, the author’s friend and literary agent, and also a friend and professional associate of Turner’s, adds: “This amazing book offers not only a biography of Ron Turner, but a full bibliography, and gives behind-the-scenes information available nowhere else. John writes from the heart, and in revealing his unflagging admiration for Turner’s work, also reveals much of his own life and character.
“It is a wonderfully warm human document celebrating the artist’s life and career, showing Turner’s dogged commitment to artwork of the highest quality. This is a must-have book for all science fiction book and comics fans and collectors.”
• The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner 320pp approx. Large format 11×8.5-format full colour hardback | ISBN 978-1-84583-235-3 | November 2024 (Provisional)
• Available to pre-order direct here from Telos Publishing now. Copies of this book will be available to US-based customers through Bud’s Comics and Art
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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: Art and Illustration, Books, British Comics, British Comics - Books, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
Fantastic news, no pun intended.
Ordered.