Brian Bolland
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Brian Bolland (born 1951) is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. He is particularly known as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comic 2000 AD, and as one of the foremost cover artists for the "big two" comic publishing houses, DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
Brian Bolland was born on March 26, 1951 in Lincolnshire, England and began drawing comics at the age of ten. As a child, his main inspirations were titles by Dell Comics and DC.
While at art school, Bolland drew and self-published a couple of fanzines and his work was published in British underground magazines Friendz, International Times, OZ and Time Out. In 1972, at the Comic Convention held in the Waverley Hotel in London, he met Dave Gibbons. On Gibbons' recommendation Bolland joined art agency Bardon Press Features and it was Bardon who provided Bolland's first professional work: Powerman, an African superhero comic published in Nigeria. Bolland and Gibbons drew alternate issues. In 1977 Bardon found places for Gibbons and then Bolland in the new British science fiction weekly 2000 AD. Bolland's first work was a cover on issue ("Programme") 11. Other covers followed, stand-alone pages and some inking of Gibbons' Dan Dare. When another artist dropped out, Bolland was called in to complete a Judge Dredd story in issue 41 and soon was established as a regular artist on the series. Bolland's early work on Dredd was much influenced by Mike McMahon, a talented newcomer whose idiosyncratic style was fueling the interest in the new character. Bolland adapted the "granite-jawed" look that McMahon introduced for Dredd; however, his distinct abilities with subtle facial expressions, dramatic lighting and the dynamic composition of page layout soon began to emerge and distringuish Bolland from his peers. Bolland's detailed, realistic art contrasted particularly with the more impressionistic, rough-brushwork style of McMahon. Bolland contributed artwork to such popular and seminal Judge Dredd story-arcs as "The Cursed Earth," "The Day the Law Died," "The Judge Child Quest," and "Block Mania"; his most memorable contributions to the Judge Dredd universe included the introductions of Judge Death, the Dark Judges and Judge Anderson. In between Dredd assignments Bolland drew horror strips for the House of Hammer, the occasional record cover, covers for paperbacks and magazines (including the now-established Time Out) and work in the advertising industry.
Bolland began working for DC Comics in 1979 with covers and short stories. His first DC cover appeared on Green Lantern #127. Among his earliest interior work for DC was a chapter in Justice League of America #200 alongside the legendary Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Jim Aparo, George Perez and Dick Giordano. In 1982, DC editor Len Wein chose Bolland as the artist on DC's Camelot 3000 12-issue limited series, with writer Mike W. Barr (dealing with the return of King Arthur to save England from an alien invasion in the Year 3000). In 1986, Bolland was one of many artists to provide artwork for the 400th issue of Batman. DC editor Dick Giordano then offered Bolland the opportunity to partake in any project for DC that he wanted; Bolland's project of choice was a one-off Batman/Joker graphic novel with Alan Moore as writer. The result was the popular, influential and controversial Batman: The Killing Joke, first published in 1988. The 20th anniversary edition of the book in 2008 featured new colouring by Bolland (the original version was coloured by John Higgins). In 1996, Bolland wrote and drew the story "An Innocent Guy" for the anthology Batman: Black and White.
However, Bolland is recognized more as a cover artist; Bolland himself has admitted that he works slowly and consequently finds covers easier to supply than whole story artwork. Bolland has contributed covers — in many cases to complete runs/arcs — to some of the more famous landmark comics of recent years. Examples of his work include the whole second and third volumes of Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, a large run of Animal Man (covering the tenures of Morrison, Peter Milligan, Tom Veitch and Jamie Delano), and assorted issues of Tank Girl, The Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman (esp. Batman: Gotham Knights), and many more. Bolland is currently the cover artist on Vertigo's Jack of Fables, replacing previous artist James Jean.
He is also noted for his use of bondage imagery in some of his work. Additionally, Bolland has penned the humour strip Mr. Mamoulian, which was printed in various issues of the Caliber Comics anthology Negative Burn. Also his occasional strip The Actress and the Bishop, all of which were collected in the book Bolland Strips! in 2005. In 2006 a sizable retrospective of Bolland's work was published under the title The Art of Brian Bolland with text by the artist.
Awards
Bolland and his work have received much recognition in the industry. The mini-series Camelot 3000, which he created with Mike W. Barr, was nominated for the 1985 Kirby Award for Best Finite Series.