Nationality British Role Comics artist Name David Pugh | Notable collaborations Pat Mills Notable works Slaine | |
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Area(s) Writer, Artist, Letterer, Colourist | ||
David Pugh is a British comics artist best known for his work on Sláine at 2000 AD.
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Early life and career
Pugh attended Art College at Brighton and Kingston upon Thames. On leaving he joined the American company Pier 1 Imports, as company artist and photographer, he worked with the London-based advertising agency Brockie, Haslam and Allen. After two years he returned to Wales to work for the Thomson Organization as a visualiser in various advertising and promotional departments. His first published comic strip was Looking Glass Library in the Thomson weekly newspaper the Merthyr Express in 1977. In 1979 he also created Captain Classified: Star Ranger for the weekly Glamorgan Star, it was this work that brought him to the attention of Pat Mills and the beginning of his professional comics career.
Comics
Pugh began drawing Sláine for 2000 AD in 1984, helping to remould the character into his current incarnation and create the look of longtime villain, Elfric. His work on "Time Killer" and "Tomb of Terror" has been reprinted several times and is still available in various collected editions. He became one of the top artists in Boys' Adventure comics for Fleetway, visualising Peter Milligan scripts for MASK comic. His personal favourite character was Loner, the black space gunslinger, especially created for him to showcase his talent in the Sci-Fi weekly, Wildcat.
When Wildcat merged with the Eagle comic and became the New Eagle, Pugh handed Loner over to Eric Bradbury and took on the challenge of reinventing his own childhood hero, Dan Dare. David was fortunate to alternate with Keith Watson from the original Frank Hampson studio. Together they recreated Dare into an eighties action hero, retaining the look of the original character but heavily influenced by movies such as Alien and Predator. Work followed for AC Comics and Tekno Comix in the USA, the most successful work being on Neil Gaiman's Phage: Shadowdeath, written by Bryan Talbot. David wrote and drew a regular sci-fi strip and designed many spacecraft for Games Workshop. Obvious Tactics the graphic novel for Black Library has been reprinted twice and is available as a free download. Until recently, he provided the colour and 3D computer effects for the Scorer football strip in the Daily Mirror.
Creative work outside comics
Pugh has also been design consultant for Holiday World International Travel and Oberland Holidays since 1979. This work helped fund his travels taking him into the homes of many deprived families and becoming long term friends with many of them.
He has created many adventure books featuring Disney and Sega characters, illustrated a series of educational books for Belitha Press. Pugh has been commissioned to work on several 3D art projects including a campaign for Renault cars and has collaborated on a 3D children's book The Boy who Walked on the Ceiling, with his friend Jon Haward, written and created by Doug Moench.
Other work
He is now the founder of Bus Fare, a charity set up to help migrant workers and refugees reunite with their families. Currently living in India he is alternating between working as designer and computer graphics teacher for the LHA Charitable Trust, working with Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala and helping a street children project in Rishikesh. His friends, Bhuwan Chandra and Kamal Chandra are helping to put fifteen girls through full-time education and giving free daily music and yoga classes to around thirty other children. Their project is funded by giving music and yoga lessons to foreign visitors, who are encouraged to also work with the children.
Bus Fare is currently working to help a migrant worker in the Gambia keep in touch with his family in Guinea Bissau. David is helping to develop home stays in the isolated forest village of Cassalol in Guinea Bissau.