The University of Dundee’s The Art of Sydney Jordan: Dream Pedlar exhibition opens on Friday (6th October 2023) celebrating the work of artist Sydney Jordan, the creator of “Jeff Hawke“, who was born in Dundee in 1928.
You can book a free ticket for the opening night here.
Sydney is best known as the creator of Jeff Hawke, whose fantastic adventures appeared daily in the Daily Express from 1954-75. He then created “Lance McLane“, a strip that ran in the Daily Record for twelve years, between 1976 and 1988.
“Jeff Hawke” was the first regular science-fiction comic series in the UK that appealed to adults as well as children. However, its success in this country was eclipsed by its enormous popularity in Europe, particularly in Italy and Scandinavia, where it had a significant influence on the development of science fiction and fantasy comics.
As we previously reported, this exhibition features a feast of original art from Jeff Hawke and more, revealing Sydney’s extraordinary skill and visual imagination.
“Most of the material is on loan from the collection of Alastair Hunter,” curator Matthew Jarron told downthetubes, “and we are grateful to him, to William Rudling of The Jeff Hawke Club and especially to Sydney and his wife Jan for their help and support.”
• The Art of Sydney Jordan: Dream Pedlar will run from Saturday 7th October 2023 – Saturday 6th January 2024, University of Dundee Museums, Dundee | Free – No Booking Required | Open Monday – Friday 9.30am – 7.00pm, Sat 11.00am – 4.00pm (Closed for Christmas 23rd December 2023 – 2nd January 2024) | Find out more about University of Dundee Museums
• Book free tickets for the opening night event on Friday 6th October 2023
• If you’re a Jeff Hawke fan, check out the Jeff Hawke Fan Club here
Special issue, limited to 1000 copies, and the biggest special issue yet! The sumptuous art quarterly presenting the world’s finest illustrators.
At long last, a fitting tribute to two of the greatest British newspaper comic strip artists, Sydney Jordan, renowned for the finest SF strip “Jeff Hawke” and Jim Holdaway, the definitive artist on Peter O’Donnell’s iconic “Modesty Blaise” newspaper strip.
With a touching foreword by Brian Bolland, features include the Jeff Hawke gallery, Jeff Hawke index, an in-depth interview with Sydney Jordan, the art of Jim Holdaway, the Modesty Blaise gallery, Modesty Blaise index, Romeo Brown index, and much more.
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.
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