John Ridgway (comic artist)

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John Ridgway (born 1940) is a British comics artist. He began his career initially as a hobby, drawing D.C.Thompson's Commando War Stories alongside professional work as a design engineer. In 1984 Ridgway became a full-time professional, broadening his employment to include 2000 AD, Guttenberghus, Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

Ridgway's full-colour work is immediately distinctive for its unusual realism coupled with a delicate, sketchy pencil line, the two combining to give a slightly old-fashioned look influenced strongly by classic British artist Frank Hampson. This has made him ideal for illustrating strips such as the '60's set Summer Magic and Enid Blyton's The Famous Five, but it is also a look that lends itself well to large-scale science fiction such as Babylon 5. His portfolio is unusually wide, incorporating Doctor Who, Zoids, the Incredible Hulk and My Name is Chaos.

Ridgway has been responsible for creating the look for a number of series, including Hellblazer, Luke Kirby and Junker, a sign of the high regard in which he is held by many editors. He was also the artist chosen to depict Judge Dredd without his helmet for the first and only time in the character's 28-year history, in the saga The Dead Man.

He has recently begun experimenting with incoporating computer graphics into his work.

[edit] Bibliography

Comics work includes:

• The Spiral Path (in Warrior #9-12, 1983)
• Young Marvelman (in Warrior #12, 1983)
• The Shroud (in Warrior #13, 1983)
• Marvelman Family (in Warrior #17, 1984)
• Home is the Sailor (in '"Warrior #17, 1984)

• Tharg's Future Shocks: "Doing Time" (with Alan Hebden, in 2000 AD #377, 1984)

• Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine # 8-123, 1984-87)

• The Liberators (with Grant Morrison, in Warrior #26 & the Warrior/Comics International flipbook, 1985 & 1996)

• Spider-Man and the Zoids #36-37: "Bits and Pieces" (with Grant Morrison, 1986)

• One-Off: "Candy and the Catchman" (with Grant Morrison, in 2000 AD #491, 1986)

• Judge Dredd:
  • "The Raggedy Man" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #525-26, 1987)
  • "Twister" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #588-591, 1988)
  • "A Night at the Opera" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #597, 1988)
  • "Alzhiemer's Block" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #605-606, 1988)
  • "Radlander" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.16-4.18, 2002)
  • "Damned Ranger" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine #218-220, 2004)
  • "Cursed Earth Rules" (with Simon Spurrier, in Judge Dredd Megazine #236, 2005)

• The Journal of Luke Kirby (with Alan McKenzie, Steve Parkhouse, Graham Higgins and John Ridgeway): [1]
  • "Summer Magic" (in 2000 AD #571-77, Apr tp June 1988)
  • "A Winter's Tale" (in 2000 AD Winter Special 1 Dec 1988) - Art by Graham Higgins
  • "The Dark Path" (in 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1990)
  • "The Night Walker" (in 2000 AD #800-812, Sep to Nov 1992)
  • "Sympathy for the Devil Prologue" (in 2000 AD #850-851, Aug to Sep 1993)
  • "Trick or Treat" (in 2000 AD 1994 Yearbook, 1993)
  • "Sympathy for the Devil" (in 2000 AD #873-877 and 884-888, April to June 1994)
  • "The Old Straight Track" (in 2000 AD #954 - 963, Aug - Oct 1995)
  • "The Price" (in 2000 AD #972, 1995)

• Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine #143-144, 1988)

• The Dead Man (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #650-662, 1993) [2]

• Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine #157-161, 1990)

• Junker (with Michael Fleisher)
  • "Junker Part 1" (in 2000 AD #708-716, 1990-1991)
  • "Junker Part 2" (in 2000 AD #724-730, 1991)

• Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine #191-192, 1992)

• Strontium Dog: "The Walking Lady (An Untold Tale)" (with Peter Hogan, in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1992)

• Calhab Justice (with Jim Alexander): [3]
  • "Calhab Justice" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #2.10-2.13, 1992)
  • "Hogmanay" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #2.18, 1992)
  • "Family Snapshot" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #2.64-2.66, 1994)

• Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine #207-211, 1993-94)

• Vector 13:
  • "Case One: Who Was the Mothman?" (with Shaky Kane, in 2000 AD #951, 1995)
  • "Case Seven: Are They Cats?" (with Peter Hogan, in 2000 AD #957, 1995)
  • "Case One: Berserkers" (with Brian Williamson, in 2000 AD #965, 1995)
  • "Case Six: A Salver in the Heavens" (with Dan Abnett, in 2000 AD #970, 1995)
  • "Case Eight: Worlds at War" (with Dan Abnett, in 2000 AD #995, 1996)
  • "Case Ten: Video Nasty" (with Pat Mills, in 2000 AD #997, 1996)

• Darkness Visible (with Pat Mills, in 2000 AD #975-979, 1996) [4]

• Missionary Man: "Place of the Dead" (wih Gordon Rennie, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.9-4.13, 2002) [5]

• Armitage: "Apostasy in the UK" (with Dave Stone, in Judge Dredd Megazine #212-213, 2003) [6]

• Middenface McNulty (with Alan Grant):
  • "Mutopia" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #205-207, 2003)
  • "Killoden" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #224-229, 2004-05)

• Transformers
  • "Man of Iron" pt 1–2 (in Transformers #9–10 [UK] 1985, #33 [US] 1987)

[edit] External links

• 2000 AD profile