Nick Abadzis ( el, Νικ Αμπατζής; born 1965)
Lambiek's ''Comiclopedia''. Retrieved Jan. 28, 2020. is a British comic book writer and artist.

Early life

Abadzis is of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and British parentage and raised in Sweden, England and Switzerland. He is British by nationality.

Career

In 1987, he secured a job at Marvel Comics' UK publishing branch where he was, at that time, the youngest-ever editor. Abadzis went freelance in 1988 when his career as a cartoonist took off in the pages of legendary UK comics and music magazine ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

''. Here he created two of his best-known characters, Hugo Tate, a stick-man lost in a figuratively drawn world, and the shapeshifting Mr. Pleebus, who later starred in his own series of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. His series ''Hugo Tate'' ran in ''Deadline'' magazine from 1988 to 1994. Some of this series was collected as ''Hugo Tate: O, America'' in 1993, which won in 1994 a

UK Comic Art Award The UK Comic Art Award was a British awards for achievement in comic books. Winners were selected by an open vote among British comic book professionals (creators, editors, and retailers); the awards were given out on an annual basis from 1990 to 1 ...

for best graphic novel. As a part of the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

of American comics, he wrote '' Children of the Voyager'' for

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

in 1993 and '' Millennium Fever'' in 1995 for

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

. His graphic novel, ''

Laika Laika (russian: link=no, Лайка; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 space ...

'', about the eponymous dog, the first living creature from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

to enter

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

, was published in 2007. ''Laika'' was well-received, with the ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hent ...

'' remarking that "the British comics creator has fashioned a poignant and accurate portrait of the lives Laika touched in the three years leading up to

Sputnik 2 Sputnik 2 (, russian: Спутник-2, ''Satellite 2''), or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 (PS-2, russian: Простейший Спутник 2, italic=yes, ''Simplest Satellite 2'') was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on 3 November 195 ...

's launch. His characters — including the dog – are as real as the story he's telling: animated with complex personalities, flaws, humor and emotion." ''Laika'' won an Eisner award in 2008 for Best Teen graphic novel and a further nomination for Best Reality-based Work. In the same year it was nominated for a

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

for Best Original Graphic Album. In 2009, the book won Meilleur Scénario (Best story/script) – Festival du Livre Aéronautique at Le Bourget Book Festival in France, and at the Napoli Comicon Awards, Italy for Best Foreign Graphic Novel. Abadzis also worked as a newspaper cartoonist on '' The Sunday Correspondent'' (now defunct), and as a freelance illustrator and comics writer and as a development and consultant editor on a range of best-selling children's magazines for various British publishers. He has also moonlighted as a TV writer for the children's animated show ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

''. He has created ''Cora's Breakfast'' for '' The DFC'', which has run in the comic section of the weekend '' Guardian''. ''The Trial of the Sober Dog'', a graphic novella, was serialised in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' over a six-month period in 2008. Beginning in May 2010, Abadzis' one-off comics have been published weekly in ''

Nib-Lit ''Nib-Lit'' is a weekly comics journal edited by Mykl Sivak and published both independently in an electronic format as well as running as a two-page section in ''Southern News'', the student newspaper of Southern Connecticut State University. The j ...

Comics Journal''.

Bibliography

Revolver

*''Revolver Horror Special'', 1989 *"The Head" (script, with art by Edmund Perryman)

Crisis

*"The Big Voice", (script, art by Edmund Perryman) in ''

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'' no. 63, 1991 *"Commuter's Journey", (script and art) in ''Crisis'' no. 63, 1991

Hugo Tate

*''Hugo Tate: O, America'' (

Tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

/ Atomeka, 1993)

Marvel

* '' Children of the Voyager'' (script, with art by Paul Johnson, four-issue mini-series,

, 1993)

DC

*'' The Big Book of Death'': "Six Feet Under" (script and art,

Paradox Press Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like ' ...

, 1993) *'' Millennium Fever'' (script, with art by

Duncan Fegredo Duncan Fegredo (; born 1964) is a British comic book artist. Career Born in Leicester, Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a sh ...

, four-issue mini-series,

, 1995)Millennium Fever (DC Comics) on Comic Collector Connect, home of the Collectorz.com comic database
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2000 AD

*'' Tharg's Terror Tales'' (script, with art by Paul Johnson): ** "The Operatives" (in ''2000 AD Winter Special'', 1994) ** "The Devil you know" (in '' 2000 AD'' No. 936, 1995) *''2000AD Alternity Winter Special'': "The Big Fight" *''

Rogue Trooper ''Rogue Trooper'' is a science fiction strip in the British comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'', created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons in 1981. It portrays the adventures of a "Supersoldier, Genetic Infantryman" named Rogue ...

(

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...

)'': "Mind Bombs" (art, with Steve White and Edmund Perryman, in ''2000 AD'' #937–939, 1995) *'' Vector 13'': ** "Case Three: Circle of Evil" (script, with

Kevin Cullen Kevin Cullen (born May 1, 1959) is an American journalist and author. He was a member of ''The Boston Globes 2003 investigative team. ''The Boston Globe'' as an institution won a Pulitzer Prize for ''Public Service'' for coverage of the sexu ...

, in ''2000 AD'' No. 953, 1995) ** "Case Eleven: Imaginary Friend" (script, with Paul Johnson, in ''2000 AD'' #998–999, 1996) ** "Case 667: Suburban Hell" (art, with Igor Goldkind, in ''2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1996'') ** "Case Two: It's Good to Talk" (script, with

Sean Phillips Sean Phillips (born 27 January 1965) is a British comic book artist, best known for his collaborations with Ed Brubaker on comics including '' Sleeper'', ''Incognito'', the '' Criminal'' series of comics, '' Fatale'', '' The Fade Out'', and ' ...

, in ''2000 AD'' #1025, 1997) *''Darkness Visible'' (script, with art by John Ridgway, in ''2000 AD'', #975–980, 1996)

The Pleebus Planet Books

*''The Amazing Mr Pleebus'' (script and art, Orchard Books, 1996, reissued by Rising Trout Press, in 2001) *''The Freaky Beastie of Hill Road School'' (script and art, Orchard Books, 1997, reissued by Rising Trout Press, in 2001) *''The Magic Skateboard'' (script and art, Orchard Books, 1998, reissued by Rising Trout Press, in 2001) *''Voyage to Planet Voon'' (script and art, Orchard Books, 1999)

Other

*''The Dangerous Planet'' (script and art, 48-page

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

. Heinemann, now Harcourt Education, 1999) *''The Pyramid of Doom'' (script and art, 48-page

. Heinemann, 2000) *The Dog From Outer Space (script and art, Heinemann, 2001, published in the USA by Rigby) * "The big voice" (script, with Edmund Perryman, in ''

'' No. 63, 1991) *'' Doctor Who'': "The Betrothal of Sontar" (with co-author John Tomlinson, and art by Mike Collins, in Doctor Who Magazine #365–367, 2006) *''

'' (art and script, First Second Publishing,

, 2007) * ''Cora's Breakfast'' ('' The DFC'', 2008-ongoing) *''The Trial of the Sober Dog'', graphic novella, serialised in ''

'' over a six-month period in 2008. *''Pigs Might Fly'' (writer, illustrated by Jerel Dye, First Second Publishing, graphic novel, 2017)

Notes

References

*
2000 AD profile

External links

* *
Blog
Silver Bullet Comic Books

Selected interviews

Talking with Nick Abadzis about ''Laika''
Newsarama, 19 September 2007
Air & Space MagazineComic Book ResourcesWashington Post ExpressBBC's The WorldThe Comics ReporterJazma Online

Radio and podcasts

BBC's The World magazine on Laika by Clark Boyd featuring Nick Abadzis (originally broadcast on The World radio program)Inkstuds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abadzis, Nick British comics artists British people of Greek descent Living people 1965 births British expatriates in Sweden British expatriates in Switzerland