When John McCrea told me he was writing a sequel to the Judge Dredd white werewolf story, I pretty much forced him to accept a pin up for it.
The Cry of the Werewolf was one of those defining moments in comics for me, even now it tingles my spin thinking about it. Steve Dillon, werewolves, Dredd? A perfect blend of awesome stuff.
I was lucky enough to meet Steve a few times, the first when I was in my early 20s or so, in Belfast. He was a guest at The Talisman comic shop (later to become Forbidden Planet) and because I knew all the guys they invited me out for a drink. We went to the Empire in Belfast.
Steve, was, Steve. A funny, warm guy with lots of great stories. He told us about drawing the wolves in that story one hot summer in London (later on I found out he was living with Jerry Paris at the time, famous for C&VG and Bug Hunters).
I told Steve I wasn’t much of a drinker. “Oh” he said “You’ll have to learn if you want to be a comic artist”.
Second time I met Steve was in New York, decades later and only a few years ago. He was drinking with Garth. I’d everything with me to head off to my flight that was due to depart in a few hours.
“Hey”, Steve leaned in, “he’s trying to get you drunk, you better make your excuses and head off!”
Steve’s untimely death, came I think, when his artwork was actually reaching new heights. For an artist as naturally gifted as Steve (working professionally from the age of 16!) it would have been easy to sit back and let your experience drift you along, but the recent punisher work he’d been doing felt like an artist pushing themselves further.
John’s story and my pin up offer happened before Steve’s death. Work went on and Steve left a hole in comics, and it felt more important to me personally to contribute a pin up.
Here’s some of the background stuff to that.
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Hey, hope you liked this post. Posts like this will only be available to Patroens with Back Stage Passes from Thursday, if you’re one of the early birds you can get a back stage pass for $5 – first 25 people only! After that it’s $10 for the same thing. I’ll be posting about story telling, using Clip Studio Paint as well as layouts and thumbnails for lots of projects. Come join me! (And if you’re already signed up – you crafty bugger!)
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