If there was ever an artist who helped define an era it was undoubtably Ian Gibson; with his easily identifiable and unique style coupled with his writing he worked on some iconic characters over the years. His Judge Dredd art was sublime and captured the mood of the brutal lawman, Robo-Hunter was smart and funny, and Halo Jones – a lauded comic strip with heart and amazing character – oozed style and maturity. ‘The Ballad of Halo Jones‘ teamed Gibson with Alan Moore, and together they produced one of the best science fiction comic strips to come out of the 1980s.
>His body of work stretched from 2000AD in the UK to DC and Dark Horse in the United States, with plenty of work in between. His amazing artwork on the Star Wars titles Star Wars: Droids, Star Wars: Droids: Rebellion and Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire only proved that he was capable of so much and was able to move from one franchise to another and thrive in it, bringing something new and exciting to everything he worked on.
But through it all, Ian Gibson was one of the first and best artists to appear in – and even help define – 2000AD, the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. Which is fitting, because the galaxy was where Ian Gibson explored, and he created entire worlds doing it.
Born in 1946, Ian’s first work was on fanzines but by 1973 his art was appearing in Pocket Chiller Library, the Bionic Woman Annual, and in House of Hammer titles. After his ‘skinny’ girls were rejected by editors on IPC’s range of girls’ comics, he worked with renowned Spanish artist Blas Gallego, who lived in London at the time, with Gallego inking over Gibson’s pencils. It was his work on ‘Death Wish’ in 1975 for Valiant that marked the beginning of a decades-long collaboration with writer and editor John Wagner.
After 2000 AD launched in 1977, Gibson contributed a string of work drawing the futuristic lawman, including episodes for the first Judge Dredd epic, ’Robot Wars’. It was his portrayal of robots inspiring Wagner to come up with a new series that would suit his talents – ‘Robo-Hunter’.
When the long-running series about a weary, wise-cracking bounty hunter called Sam Slade tracking down errant robots began, its first episode was by Spanish artist José Ferrer – but Gibson soon stamped his authority on the character, catapulting him into the pantheon of 2000 AD greats.
‘Verdus’, which saw Sam and spaceship pilot Kidd (who had been reverse-aged into a foul-mouthed baby) attempt to escape a planet populated entirely by robots, is one of the most inventive stories 2000 AD has ever published. Gibson brought an anarchic and constantly surprising approach to storytelling on the series, as brilliant at handling the high-stakes action sequences as he was at injecting humour, bringing charm to the laconic lead character and introducing a host of memorable supporting characters who caused chaos and kept readers riveted to each new story.
In 1981, Gibson worked with rising star Alan Moore on the Tharg’s Future Shock story ‘Grawks Bearing Gifts’ and the pair would reunite a few years later for one of the landmark stories in 2000 AD history: ‘The Ballad of Halo Jones’. Halo Jones is rightly considered to be a classic story in comics history: one which continues to influence and inspire new creators to this day.
With his 2000 AD catalogue including runs with stories including ‘Ace Trucking Co’, ‘Anderson: Psi Division’ and many more, in the late 1980s Gibson moved across to work in America, with a storied career working on comics including Mister Miracle, Star Wars, the major DC comics event storyline ‘Millennium’, and ‘Meta 4’ for First Comics. In the 1990s, he designed pre-production visuals and characters for the pioneering CGI-animated TV series, ReBoot, as well as creating ‘The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad’.
- Star Wars: Droids #3, 5 (with Dan Thorsland, 6-issue limited series, Dark Horse Comics, June, August 1994)
- Star Wars: Droids #1-4: “Rebellion” (with Ryder Windham, 8-issue limited series, Dark Horse Comics, April–July 1995)
- Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire #1-3 (with John Wagner, 4-issue limited series, Dark Horse Comics, January–March 1999)
Ian Gibson: 20 February 1946 – 11 December 2023. He will be missed.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Wagner, John (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 114 Pages - 10/06/1999 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
