Gary Erskine

Infobox Comics creator


name = Gary Erskine
imagesize = 150px
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|10|23|df=y
location = Paisley
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = Scottish
area = Artist
alias =
notable works = "Knights of Pendragon"
influences =
influenced =
awards =

Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist born in Paisley, near Glasgow in 1968.

Biography

Erskine started drawing work for fanzines while at art college and aspired to be a comic book artist. After sending samples of his work to Marvel UK he was eventually given "Knights of Pendragon" to draw on a regular basis in 1988. Erskine's work proved to be popular and he also drew "Warheads" for Marvel UK.

Erskine then expanded his work into "2000 AD", drawing a Judge Dredd story written by Garth Ennis. For "2000 AD", he also drew "Flesh" written by Dan Abnett and Steve White, and for "2000 AD"'s sister title "Crisis" he illustrated "The Real Robin Hood", written by Michael Cook, in 1991. Working with writer John Tomlinson he drew the "Lords of Misrule" graphic novel for Tundra in 1993. The novel was based upon old British legends and urban myths and was well received.

Erskine by this time was drawing fill in issues for various DC Comics titles, but "Silencers", a mini series written by Warren Ellis for Epic Comics was put on indefinite hold due to the collapse of Epic.

Erskine spent much of the 1990s doing guest artist work on various titles such as James Robinson's "Firearm" (a two part story set in a cyberspace/punked version of his native Glasgow), as well as a selection of Star Wars titles for Dark Horse. He also drew a mini series based upon "The Terminator" films for Malibu Comics.

In 2000 "Silencers" was finally printed by Image Comics as "City of Silence", and Ellis and Erskine finally saw the story receive critical acclaim. The same year saw him ink Chris Weston on an issue of "War Stories" written by Garth Ennis, as well as drawing two issues of "Hellblazer" for Vertigo. He also stepped in at the last minute to complete Mark Millar's run of "The Authority".

In 2002 he again inked Chris Weston in the pages of Grant Morrison's "The Filth".Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = The Filth | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 83 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015] He also drew a "Justice Society of America" mini series in 2004 as well as another "War Story".

In 2005 Erskine worked on "Jack Cross", an ongoing series written by Warren Ellis for DC Comics, which unfortunately stalled after the first story arc of four issues. Although mention of a further eight finished scripts and plots for twelve more issues was posted on various forums, the scripts were incomplete (requiring further dialoguing) and the book was placed on hiatus after the fourth issue. Later on, Ellis posted on his MySpace page that there will be "No more Jack Cross for DC". The rest of the year included digital painting of covers for "X-Wing : Rogue Leader", a "Star Wars" mini series published by Dark Horse.

2006 brought about a new Vertigo series called "Army@Love" for Erskine to work on.Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = Army@Love | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 28-29 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015] The ongoing series written and pencilled by comic book veteran Rick Veitch is currently receiving good reviews from the industry and magazines, including "Military Times". The story centers on a group of diverse characters and the problems with their relationships and the madness of corporate involvement/ sponsorship of a Middle Eastern War. DC Comics have billed the book as "Desperate Housewives meets The War five years in the future".

November 2007 saw the release of Garth Ennis' "Dan Dare", published by Virgin Comics, and included full artwork by Erskine. [ [http://www.2000ad.nu/spacefleet/virgin/ Gary Erskine's page on "Dan Dare"] ] Thie seven issue series saw the return of the classic British hero, previously published by "2000 AD" and "Eagle" (in various interpretations) since the 1950s.

Erskine has also contributed character designs and storyboards for television, commercials and games development working with various companies over the last eighteen years. He has also worked on licensed properties such as the Dreamworks characters (including Shrek and Madagascar) and for Sony and occasionally freelances with the award winning Glasgow studio Axis Animation.

Erskine now lives mostly in Heidelberg, Germany with partner Mhairi although he spends time in Glasgow, Scotland.

Bibliography

*"Knights of Pendragon" (with Dan Abnett/John Tomlinson, Marvel UK, 1990-1993)

*"Judge Dredd": "Twin Blocks" (with Garth Ennis and Gina Hart, in "2000 AD" #741, 1991)

*"Flesh": "Chronocide" (with Dan Abnett/Steve White, in "2000 AD" #973-979, 1996)

*"ZombieWorld": "Home for the Holidays" (with Gordon Rennie, one-shot, 1997, Dark Horse, collected in "ZombieWorld: Winter's Dregs", 2005 ISBN 1-59307-384-4)

*"Terminator: Nuclear Twilight" (with Mark Paniccia, Malibu Comics)

*"HyperSonic" (with Dan Abnett/Steve White, Dark Horse, 1997-1998)

*"City of Silence" (with Warren Ellis, Image Comics, 2000)

*"Hellblazer" #144-145: "Ashes & Honey" (with Darko Macan, Vertigo, 2000)

* "The Filth" (inks, with Grant Morrison and pencils by Chris Weston, Vertigo, 13-issue mini-series, 2002, tpb, 2004 ISBN 1-4012-0013-3)

*"The Authority: Brave New World" #29 (with Mark Millar, Wildstorm, 2002, collected in "Transfer of Power", Titan Books, ISBN 1840234903, DC Comics, ISBN 1401200206)

*"War Story" (with Garth Ennis, Vertigo):
** "Johann's Tiger"' (inks, with pencils by Chris Weston, one-shot, 2001, collected in tpb "War Stories: Volume 1", 2004, ISBN 1-84023-912-3)
** "Archangel" (one-shot, 2003, collected in tpb "War Stories: Volume 2", 2006, ISBN 1-4012-1039-2)

* "JSA Strange Adventures" #1-6 - DC Comics, 2005

*"Jack Cross" (with Warren Ellis, 4-issue mini-series, DC Comics, 2005-2006)

*Osprey Graphic History:
**"Island of Terror: Battle of Iwo Jima" (with Larry Hama and Anthony Williams, 48 pages, October 2006, ISBN 1846030552)
**"The Empire Falls: Battle of Midway" (with Steve White and Richard Elson, 48 pages, October 2006, ISBN 1846030587)
**"Day of Infamy: Attack on Pearl Harbor" (with Steve White and Jerrold Spahn, 48 pages, February 2007, ISBN 1846030595)

*"Testament" #16 (inks, with Douglas Rushkoff and pencils by Peter Gross, March 2007)

*"Army@Love" (inks, with Rick Veitch, DC Comics, 2007, ongoing):
**"The Hot Zone Club" (tpb, collects #1-5, 128 pages, October 2007, ISBN 1401214746) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=7980 "The Hot Zone Club"] at DC Comics]
**"Generation Pwned" (tpb, collects #6-12, 168 pages, July 2008, ISBN 1401218326) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=9579 "Generation Pwned"] at DC Comics]

*"Dan Dare" (with Garth Ennis, 7-issue mini-series, Virgin Comics, November 2007 - May 2008, ongoing, tpb, hardcover, 208 pages, September 2008, ISBN 0981480837)

Notes

References

*gcdb|type=credit|search=Gary+Erskine|title=Gary Erskine
*
* [http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=GARYE 2000 AD profile]

External links

* [http://www.garyerskine.blogspot.com/ Gary Erskine blog]
* [http://www.garyerskine.demon.co.uk/ Gary Erskine homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/garyerskine/ Gary Erskine] at MySpace
* [http://www.crackcomicks.com/the_filth_team.htm Profile at crackcomics.com]
* [http://www.majic12.com/citymcloudrev.htm "City of Silence" review]