Don Lawrence
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Donald Southam Lawrence (17 November 1928 – 29 December 2003) was a British comic book artist and author. Lawrence is best known for his
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
s '' The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'' in the British weeklies '' Ranger'' and ''
Look and Learn ''Look and Learn'' was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness ...
'', and the ''
Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...
'' series, first published in the Dutch weekly '' Eppo'' (later relaunched as ''
Sjors & Sjimmie ''Sjors & Sjimmie'' (''George & Jimmy'') is a Dutch adaptation of the comic strip '' Winnie Winkle'', specifically the character Perry Winkle from that strip. The difference between the American original and the Dutch adaptation is that Sjors (Per ...
'') and subsequently in album form. Famous for his realistic and detailed style, he was an inspiration for later UK comic-book artists such as
Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ''2000 AD (comi ...
,
Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story " For the M ...
and Chris Weston (indeed, Weston was taught by Lawrence), and influenced Indonesian artist Apri Kusbiantoro.


Early life

Born in
East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long High Street, high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic ...
, a suburb of London, Lawrence was educated at St. Paul's School,
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
. After joining the Army for his
National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
, Lawrence used his gratuity to study art at Borough Polytechnic Institute (now the
London South Bank University London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...
) but failed his final exams. Shortly before, a former student had visited the school to show students the work he was doing as a
letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic-book-reading experience. The l ...
on
comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
. Lawrence was inspired to take some samples to an editor at
Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...
who suggested he try showing them to Mick Anglo, who ran a studio packaging comic strips for a London publisher and magazine distributor, Len Miller.


Career

Lawrence worked for Anglo for four years, drawing the adventures of
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
''
Marvelman ''Marvelman'' was a British Golden Age superhero comic book, published by L. Miller & Son in the United Kingdom between 1954 and 1963. The lead character was originally created by Mick Anglo as a replacement for Captain Marvel due to Fa ...
'' and various
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
. After an argument with Anglo over pay rates, he found work with Odhams Press, drawing ''
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
'' for '' Zip'', and with the Amalgamated Press (now renamed
Fleetway Publications Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. History It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies ...
), contributing episodes of ''
Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...
'' to the comic ''
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
''. When the ailing ''Sun'' merged with ''
Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
'', Lawrence switched to
swashbuckling A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...
historical strips, '' Olac the Gladiator'', '' Karl the Viking'' and '' Maroc the Mighty'' (written by
Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...
). Gravett, Paul
"Obituary: Don Lawrence: Comic-book artist who brought the Trigan empire and Captain Marvel to life,"
''The Guardian'' (20 Jan. 2004).
A colour strip produced for ''Lion Annual 1965'' (''Karl the Viking and the Tideless Sea'') led to Lawrence being offered colour work in ''Bible Story'' magazine and the sprawling
science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...
'' The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'' which debuted in '' Ranger'' in 1965. Lawrence was to draw the strip in the pages of ''Ranger'' and ''
Look and Learn ''Look and Learn'' was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness ...
'' until 1976. In 1976 Lawrence attended the London comic book convention called ''Comics 101'', the first convention dedicated to British comic book creators. There he learned that ''The Trigan Empire'' was syndicated all over Europe. When his publisher refused to give him any form of royalties or compensation, he departed from his old employer and was immediately offered work on a new Dutch comic magazine called '' Eppo''. After an abortive start on a strip entitled ''Commander Grek'' written by his friend Vince Wernham, Lawrence found success with ''
Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...
''. The first volume, ''The Deep World'', was based on a concept by
Martin Lodewijk Martinus Spyridon Johannes Lodewijk (born 30 April 1939) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist, and advertising illustrator. Martin Lodewijk was born in Rotterdam. He dropped out of high school in 1957, and started drawing cartoons, notably of ...
but written by Philip Dunn. A further 22 volumes followed. Lawrence did not limit himself solely to ''Trigan Empire'' and ''Storm''; other strips he drew include ''
Fireball XL5 ''Fireball XL5'' is a 1960s British children's Science fiction on television, science-fiction puppet television series about the missions of ''Fireball XL5'', a vessel of the World Space Patrol that polices the cosmos in the year 2062. Commanded ...
'' and '' The Adventures of Tarzan'' for TV Century 21, ''Carrie'' for the
men's magazine This is a list of men's magazines from around the world. These are magazines (periodical print publications) that have been published primarily for a readership of men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the target audienc ...
''
Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
'' and a number of one-off strips for various Dutch publishers. A number of partly completed and unpublished comic strips appeared in the series Don Lawrence Collection, published in the Netherlands. The final Storm serial (completed by Lawrence's former assistant Liam Sharp) appeared in the magazine ''Pandarve'' published by the Don Lawrence Fanclub in 1999–2001. One of his last illustrations was the cover of volume 6 of the Storm -the collection- from 2002. In the mid-1980s he was looking for an assistant and accepted then 17-years old Liam Sharp as his apprentice, but after realizing he did not want to step back as much as he had thought he would, he helped Sharp develop his own style.British comic-book artist Liam Sharp on his career, DC or Marvel, and advice for his younger self
/ref>


Later life

In 1995, he lost sight of his right eye, caused by an infection after an unsuccessful
cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...
operation. With his
depth perception Depth perception is the ability to perceive distance to objects in the world using the visual system and visual perception. It is a major factor in perceiving the world in three dimensions. Depth sensation is the corresponding term for non-hum ...
gone, he could no longer see when the tip of his pen and brush touched the paper's surface, forcing him to teach himself an alternative drawing technique.The World of Don Lawrence – Just 75
/ref> He went through a new cataract operation in 1999, this time without medical complications. But his general health was starting to decline, and when he was diagnosed with
emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...
and put on medication, he permanently retired from comics and art. Lawrence died in December 2003 of emphysema at the age of 75.


Awards

* 1976 The IPC Magazines Award for the Best Adventure Comic Artist of 1975 * 1980 Society of Illustration Lifetime Achievement Award * 1981 Grand Prix Spatial * 1987 Gouden Bommel Award * 1994 De Stripschapprijs * 1998 Pantera di Lucca Lifetime Achievement Award * 2003 Knight of the
Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...


Bibliography

Comics work published in English include: * ''The Look and Learn Book of the Trigan Empire'' (1973) * ''The Trigan Empire'' (1978) * ''Storm: The Deep World'' (1982) * ''Storm: The Last Fighter'' (1987) * ''Storm: The Pirates of Pandarve'' (1989) * ''Tales From the Trigan Empire'' (1989) * ''Cathy'' (1991) — reprints Carrie * ''Don Lawrence Collected'' (2001) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 1'' (May 2004 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 2'' (May 2004 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Prisoner of Zerss'' (August 2004 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 3'' (September 2004 ) * ''Don Lawrence: The Legacy Book 1 — Storm'' (October 2004) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Sun-Worshippers'' (February 2005 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: The House of the Five Moons'' (June 2005 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 4'' (June 2005 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Curse of King Yutta'' (December 2005 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 5'' (February 2006 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Three Princes'' (May 2006 ) * ''Don Lawrence: The Legacy Book 2 — Women'' (June 2006) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Rallu Invasion'' (August 2006 ) * ''Pandarve: The Worlds of Don Lawrence'' (September 2006) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Reign of Thara'' (November 2006 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: Revolution in Zabriz'' (March 2007 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 6'' (April 2007 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 7'' (April 2007 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Puppet Emperor'' (November 2007 ) * ''Karl the Viking'' (October 2008) (also released as a box-set containing all four volumes): ** ''Volume 1: The Sword of Eingar'' () ** ''Volume 2: The Powers of Helvud'' () ** ''Volume 3: Island of the Monsters'' () ** ''Volume 4: Quest of the Long Ships'' () * ''Storm The Collection Volume 8'' (October 2008 ) * ''Storm The Collection Volume 9'' (October 2008 ) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Invaders From Gallas'' (forthcoming 2009) * ''The Trigan Empire: The Green Smog'' (forthcoming 2009)


Notes


References

*
Don Lawrence
at
Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the prov ...
's Comiclopedia


External links

*
''Look and Learn'' magazine search for Don Lawrence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Don 1928 births 2003 deaths People from East Sheen Alumni of London South Bank University British comics artists British comics writers British science fiction artists British science fiction writers People educated at St Paul's School, London Deaths from emphysema Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Winners of the Stripschapsprijs