Nationality British Name Ian Gibson | Role Comics | |
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Notable works Robo-HunterThe Ballad of Halo JonesJudge Dredd Similar People John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Alan Grant, Jurgen Prochnow | ||
Ian Gibson (born 1946) is a British comic book artist, best known for his 1980s black-and-white work for 2000 AD, especially as the main artist on Robo-Hunter and The Ballad of Halo Jones, as well as his long run on Judge Dredd.
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Biography
His imaginative cartoonish, and intricately detailed style (especially in black and white strips) lends itself best to humorous strips, such as Robo-Hunter and Ace Trucking Co., although his work on the Alan Moore-penned The Ballad of Halo Jones shows that he is capable of telling a serious story.
In the US, Gibson made a good name for himself drawing Mister Miracle for DC Comics in the 1980s. Subsequently he started work on Meta 4, an innovative science fiction/superhero comic written by Stefan Petrucha. This series was cut short when publisher First Comics went out of business.
Since 2000, Gibson has mostly been occupied drawing Judge Dredd and the revived Robo-Hunter series starring Sam Slade's daughter, Samantha.
He also regularly contributes articles and rants to the Den of Geek website about the state of today's comics industry.
Controversy
In 2013, Gibson offered a selection of his artwork to Bristol Comic Expo. They were to choose a single piece to be made into a limited edition print of only 50 copies, which were Intended to raise money for charity. In the collection was a topless illustration of a character that bore a resemblance to feminist character Halo Jones, one of Gibson's more notable characters. An image that Gibson claims to have drawn "as a joke for a friend" and that he only named the piece after Halo Jones to give it some appeal to potential buyers, saying "it doesn't even really look very much like Halo". and "I just called it 'topless Halo' as otherwise it was just a nameless pinup". The print in question shows the character that is meant to be Halo Jones, topless with the moonlight shining down on her posing next to a single tree in the background. It was reported by the Guardian that the Expo website described the piece as "a special, very limited run of Halo in all her 'glory'!", for "the discerning adult. This is an opportunity not to be missed!".
It was reported by the Guardian to have "provoked a wave of protests", with complaints from comic fans and industry professionals. Rebellion Developments Ltd. The publisher of the 2000AD comic series, was said to have expressed concerns about the portrayal of their intellectual property, Halo Jones. The image was taken down from the Expo's website soon after.
Gibson said he found it "ironic that Halo would be known as a 'feminist' character", and that he had been "attacked in the past for 'using' her and thus all women for my own nefarious ends", and how the bare-breasted image of the female heroine was keeping in line with "the ideas I had for any continuation of the saga". He went on to say "I had plans for her being pregnant – hence the bigger boobs. Also as a slave, hence the token chains and nakedness.". Gibson described the controversy as "a storm in a D-cup", a pun based on the idiom "Storm in a teacup" and referring to a woman's bra size.