Rondo Hatton (April 22, 1894 – February 2, 1946) was an American journalist and actor. After writing for The Tampa Tribune , Hatton found a career in film due to his unique facial features, which were the result of acromegaly . He headlined horror films with Universal Studios near the end of his life, earning him a reputation as a cult icon.
103-609: Hatton was born in the Kee Mar College girls' infirmary in Hagerstown, Maryland . The family moved several times during Hatton's youth before settling in Tampa, Florida . He starred in track and football at Hillsborough High School and was voted Handsomest Boy in his class his senior year. In Tampa, Hatton worked as a sportswriter for The Tampa Tribune . He continued working as a journalist until after World War I , when
206-469: A Francis Bacon inspired "fleshy mass [dubbed "The Blobby Man"] with a typewriter" for Entropy in the UK . Having convinced Karen Berger (Editor in chief of Vertigo) and Roeberg that it was a good idea, the artist recalls that "Shelly rang up and, rather than telling me how wonderful I was, said that when she saw it she nearly lost her lunch! I was asked to turn his skin color from flesh to blue to tone him down
309-469: A "formal invitation" at an SSI meeting, which saw " Dave Gibbons , Kevin O'Neill ... [t]hen Alan Davis and Mark Farmer ," following the artists " Alan Grant "went across" and, at some point, a certain tall hairy writer from the Midlands ." In 1982, DC editor Len Wein chose Bolland to be the artist on DC's Camelot 3000 12-issue maxi-series , with writer Mike W. Barr . The story, dealing with
412-737: A German mustard gas attack during service in World War I. Hatton served in combat and served on the Pancho Villa Expedition along the Mexican border and in France during World War I with the United States Army , from which he was discharged due to his illness. Director Henry King noticed Hatton when he was working as a reporter with The Tampa Tribune covering the filming of Hell Harbor (1930) and hired him for
515-433: A bit." For the final Invisible Kingdom TPB cover, Bolland produced a cover featuring 12 small alternative Invisibles covers, which had been very time consuming. Likening the process to creating "a mini comic strip," Bolland says that "if any detail made any sense it had to be changed to something that didn't." Bolland's style includes the initial 'rough' outline stage, making it easy for the publisher (and, in some cases,
618-475: A committee of the Maryland Lutheran Synod authorized the formation of a corporation of Lutherans to purchase the seminary. In 1866, two Lutherans, Charles W. Humrichhouse and J. C. Bridges purchased the seminary. Humrichhouse later became the sole owner. In 1875, Reverend Cornelius L. Keedy became president of the seminary. He purchased the institution from Humrichouse in 1878. In 1889,
721-481: A continuity of style and imagery while the interior work underwent several changes of style and storyline. Initially, he recalls that his cover images derived directly from the script. He would find a scene from the interior art that appeared to make for a good cover, or use a hook on the cover that outlined the plot of the issue. This included the incorporation of photographs into the later covers of Morrison's tale of metafiction and deus ex machina author-input. With
824-635: A cover artist, producing the majority of his work for DC Comics. Bolland created cover artwork for the Animal Man , Wonder Woman , and Batman: Gotham Knights superhero comic book series. In 1996, he drew and self-penned a Batman: Black and White story, "An Innocent Guy". For DC's Vertigo imprint, Bolland has done covers for The Invisibles , Jack of Fables , and a number of one-shots and miniseries . In addition to interior and cover art, Bolland has also produced several comic strips and pin-ups as both writer and artist. His most notable are
927-489: A fenland farmer, and Lillie Bolland. He grew up in a small village near Boston, Lincolnshire until he was 18 years old. When American comics began to be imported into England, c. 1959 , Bolland hadn't read any comics before the age of ten, but by 1960 he was intrigued by Dell Comics ' Dinosaurus! , which developed into a childhood interest in dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. Comics including Turok , Son of Stone and DC Comics' Tomahawk soon followed, and it
1030-425: A few pages." This knowledge – "that Dave could produce a page a day... and that I was going to have to do the same" – was a shock, but proved to be "the very best kind of training ground." With comics purportedly being new to Nigeria, Bolland recalls this work being created specifically to be "really simple; six panels on a page and [all] the panels had to be numbered." Not only was this work "[t]he best way to learn
1133-401: A film actor from the 1930s, who suffered from acromegaly and got work playing monsters and psychopaths". In the 1991 movie The Rocketeer , actor Tiny Ron Taylor , playing Nazi henchman Lothar, is made up with prosthetics to look like Hatton. The episode of Doctor Who entitled " The Wedding of River Song " features Mark Gatiss as a character whose appearance (achieved through prosthetics)
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#17327873387191236-402: A hit..." In early 1977, Bardon agent Barry Coker called Gibbons and Bolland to the office and showed them "mock-ups from a new science fiction comic IPC was planning to publish." Gibbons joined Carlos Ezquerra in "jumping into 2000AD feet first with issue 1 (or Programme, later Prog 1)... but meanwhile [Bolland] would have to keep drawing Powerman on [his] own." Powerman dropped to
1339-499: A line of comics written by Alan Moore , including a Batman Meets Judge Dredd one-off by Moore and Bolland. After watching the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs , which features a character named Gwynplaine (played by Conrad Veidt ) whose rictus grin inspired the visual design of the Joker, Bolland conceived of the 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke . The book was written by Alan Moore to great critical acclaim, winning
1442-439: A living, though. Covers are a safe place for me. If someone else's colors swamp my work then, who cares. It was only one page. I can move on... Bolland had expressed some dissatisfaction with the final book, regretting that its impending schedule for release meant he could not colour the book himself, with John Higgins instead being the colorist. In March 2008, the twentieth anniversary hardcover edition of The Killing Joke saw
1545-504: A long commitment. So, instead [a]fter Killing Joke , DC asked me to do the covers on Animal Man , and I said fine, expecting it to be maybe ten or so. I ended up doing sixty-three. It became almost habitual, and it did mean that there would at least be something new of mine out there to look at. The first 63 issues of Animal Man featuring Bolland's artwork covered the tenures of writers Grant Morrison , Peter Milligan , Tom Veitch and Jamie Delano , with Bolland's images maintaining
1648-565: A member of the lynch mob in the 1943 film of The Ox-Bow Incident . Universal Studios used Hatton's unusual features to promote him as a horror star after he played the part of The Hoxton Creeper (aka The Hoxton Horror) in the studio's ninth Sherlock Holmes film, The Pearl of Death (1944). He made two films playing "the Creeper", House of Horrors and The Brute Man , which were both filmed in 1945 but not released until after his death in 1946. Around Christmas 1945, Hatton suffered
1751-574: A mix of shrubbery, evergreens, and maples. The main hall exhibited Romanesque architecture and landscaped gardens. The campus was designed by a Baltimore architect and a Philadelphia landscape gardener. The auditorium was constructed in 1894. The curriculum included the departments of philosophy, history, mathematics, natural science, and English, Latin, Greek, French, and German language and literature. The college conferred Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and Master of Arts (A.M.) degrees. Diplomas were conferred for literary courses, music, and art. Kee Mar
1854-513: A monthly schedule, and Coker soon got Bolland "a cover on 2000 AD in May '77 with Prog 11" (7 May 1977; signed "Bollo"). Bolland recalls of those early days that: You'll be surprised to hear that even though Judge Dredd had been in 2000AD since Prog 2 the editors weren't sure which of the interior characters would sell the comic best if that character was on the cover. Artists like me just came up with cover ideas and, if they liked them, we'd draw
1957-568: A period of financial trouble, the school was sold to the Washington County Hospital Association in 1911. In the 1840s, a group of civic leaders conceived the idea to improve advanced education for women in Hagerstown, Maryland . These subscribers held a general meeting to elect a board of trustees that consisted of 15 members. Ten were members of the Lutheran church (including five ministers). In 1848,
2060-654: A plan and enacted it into law before further developments were delayed by the American Civil War . Reverend W. F. Eyster succeeded Baughman as the principal in 1863. When the Confederate States Army marched through Hagerstown, the seminary sent its students home and closed for two years. During the Battle of Antietam , the campus was used as a hospital. For nine months between 1865 and 1866, Evelyn Mac and Kate Doolittle acted as principals. In 1865,
2163-427: A recreated cover from an alternate angle to shed new light on an initially inconsequential image. Bolland's covers adorn the whole second and third volumes of Grant Morrison 's The Invisibles and his depictions of the main characters are widely reprinted as the definitive images, despite them all having been realised by other artists – and often drawn by several before Bolland entered the picture. With this title,
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#17327873387192266-565: A second location in London, Bolland "did ads for both of them." Bolland was among the first British comics creators to work in the American comics industry, spearheading the so-called " British Invasion " in 1979/80. Bolland recalls that his big break came when Joe Staton attended the Summer 1979 Comicon, and, needing somewhere to work on Green Lantern while in the UK, arranged to stay with
2369-601: A series of heart attacks , a direct result of his acromegalic condition. On February 2, 1946, he suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on South Tower Drive in Los Angeles . His body was transported to Florida and interred at the American Legion Cemetery in Tampa. Hatton's name – and face – have become recurring humorous motifs in popular culture. In season 6, episode 4 of
2472-623: A site was selected on the "eastern extremity" of Antietam Street. The land was purchased on July 10, 1852, for $ 1,400. On September 21, 1853, the Hagerstown Female Seminary formally opened. It was established under the auspices of the Lutheran church with $ 25,000 raised for the construction and endowment. Reverend C. C. Baugham of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod was appointed to be in charge of
2575-447: A small role. After some hesitation, Hatton moved to Hollywood in 1936 to pursue a career playing similar, often uncredited, bit and extra roles. His most notable of these was as a contestant-extra in the "ugly man competition" (which he loses to a heavily made up Charles Laughton ) in the RKO production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame . He had another supporting-character role as Gabe Hart,
2678-658: A third design going unpublished. Bolland also contributed "A Miracle of Elisha " to Knockabout Comics ' Old Bailey OZ Trial Special , written because Old Testament history had piqued the interest of Bolland when living near the British Museum . This page was later reprinted in the Outrageous Tales From the Old Testament volume, which included works from Moore , Hunt Emerson , Gaiman , Gibbons , and Dave McKean , although Bolland's name
2781-412: A total issue of 100. The stock was purchased at par. In 1906, William C. Aughenbaugh purchased Doub's stock, which M. P. Moller had invested in. A board of trustees, comprising chair Holzapfel, Humrichhouse, M. L. Keedy, M. P. Moller, George Oawald, and Jacob Roessner was formed to provide direction. The school closed in 1911. Kee Mar College was purchased by the Washington County Hospital Association for
2884-711: A variety of inspirations, Bolland credits his eventual pursuance of art as a hobby and then vocation to a primary school art teacher. Growing up as an only child with parents that had no interest in art, literature, or music, he embraced the late 1960s pop culture explosion of pirate radio stations, experimental music , recreational drugs, psychedelia , Oz Magazine , " dropping out " and other aspects of hippy culture epitomised by underground comix such as Robert Crumb 's Zap Comix . Having taken both O-Level and A-Level examinations in art, Bolland spent five years at art school beginning in 1969, learning graphic design and art history . Learning to draw comics, however,
2987-454: Is a representation of Hatton's face, based on the bust of "The Creeper", whom Hatton portrayed in the 1946 Universal Pictures film House of Horrors . Kee Mar College Kee Mar College was a private women's college in Hagerstown, Maryland . It was founded in 1853 as the Hagerstown Female Seminary under the auspices of the Lutheran church. The college conferred Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and Master of Arts (A.M.) degrees. After
3090-460: Is based on Hatton's, credited under the pseudonym Rondo Haxton for his performance. A documentary being produced in 2017, Rondo and Bob , and released in 2020, looks at the lives of Hatton and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre art director Robert A. Burns , a self-described expert on Hatton. The Dark Horse comic The Creep focuses on Oxel Karnhus, a private detective with acromegaly, who
3193-604: Is now far more commonly seen as 'just' a cover artist – although he notes that he has never decided to actually solely create covers, having merely explored other jobs from strip work. He admits that he works slowly, and consequently finds covers easier to supply than whole story artwork. He also noted simply that he began to focus on covers simply because they were the assignments he was offered. He adds that for artists like him that are well known for covers, editors will usually ask for pin-ups instead. Bolland has contributed covers – in many cases to complete runs/arcs – to comics since
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3296-448: Is played by actor Tiny Ron in prosthetic make-up. The Scooby Doo cartoon series character The Creeper, who vaguely resembles Frankenstein's Monster, is likely based on Universal Studios' own "Creeper" from the 1946 film The House of Horrors, who was portrayed by Rondo Hatton, with Scooby Doo's Creeper seemingly being a caricature of Rondo in terms of hand size and facial features. The 2000 AD comic book character Judge Dredd , who
3399-423: Is rarely seen without his helmet, used "face-changing technology" to make himself look like Hatton in issue 52 (February 18, 1978) – the first time the character's face was shown unobscured. The name "Rondo Hatton" was also in a list of suspects obtained by Dredd during the case. As the artist Brian Bolland revealed in an interview with David Bishop : "The picture of Dredd's face – that
3502-547: The Carry On films. Rankin's references to Hatton routinely occur in the form of "he had a Rondo Hatton" (hat on). Another namecheck occurs in Rafi Zabor's PEN/Faulkner-award-winning 1998 novel The Bear Comes Home , where the name is used as a nickname for good-natured but unrefined minor character Tommy Talmo. In the 2004 Stephen King novel, The Dark Tower VII , a character is described as looking "like Rondo Hatton,
3605-502: The Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album, and has been regarded as one of the all-time best Joker stories, and one of the greatest Batman graphic novels ever. Director Tim Burton has named The Killing Joke as an influence for his 1989 film adaptation of Batman , specifically the origin of the Joker. It would also prove to be highly influential on future Batman and Joker stories, though it has also been met with criticism for
3708-520: The Express owned the rights to the strip, they were not printing it," but since it had a strong European following, these new episodes (Bolland believes) "got collected in anthologies in French and Spanish," but not in the UK except briefly in "the fanzine Eureka ." In 1985, as a known fan, Bolland was approached by Nick Landau to select stories and draw covers for two Titan collections of the strip, with
3811-492: The Fighting Fantasy book Appointment with F.E.A.R. In 1977, Bolland was approached by Syd Jordan to ghost some episodes of Jordan's newspaper strip Jeff Hawke , after fellow fandom-pro artist Paul Neary had already done a fair number of them. Bolland drew 13 episodes, and "Syd touched up some of the faces, a few details here and there, to make them look a bit more like him." By this point, "although
3914-590: The Vatican , made under the supervision of John Ruskin , was available for use by the students. A large collection of similar reproductions of drawings, namely by Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo , and Raphael were in position by the college. The music faculty comprised teachers from conservatories in Europe. The Margaret Barry School of Expression featured opportunities to develop aesthetic culture. Chapel services were held daily and students were expected to attend
4017-550: The " direct market " of fans and collectors. For editor Julius Schwartz , Bolland drew covers around which writers would craft stories, which included two Starro covers for Justice League of America No. 189 and 190 and Superman No. 422 (Aug. 1986). Among his earliest interior work for DC was a chapter in Justice League of America No. 200 (March 1982) alongside Joe Kubert , Carmine Infantino , Gil Kane , Jim Aparo , George Pérez , and Dick Giordano . This gave
4120-512: The ' British Invasion ' of the American comics industry, and in 1982 produced the artwork alongside author Mike W. Barr on Camelot 3000 , which was DC Comics ' first 12-issue comicbook maxiseries created for the direct market . Bolland illustrated the critically acclaimed 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke , an origin story for Batman supervillain the Joker , with writer Alan Moore . He gradually shifted to working primarily as
4223-488: The (post-Morrison) move of Animal Man to DC's new 'Mature Readers' imprint Vertigo , Bolland notes that the covers moved to full color paintings with issue No. 57. These of his covers were "a mixture of ink linework, color washes, airbrush and then, eventually, areas painted in poster color by my wife, Rachel," which ultimately saw her have significant input on some covers, with Bolland acknowledging that some of his final Animal Man covers were mostly her work. Describing
Rondo Hatton - Misplaced Pages Continue
4326-576: The 1970s television series The Rockford Files ("Only Rock-n-Roll Will Never Die, part 1"), Jim Rockford, exasperated at a friend who dismisses himself as unattractive, exclaims "You're no Rondo Hatton!" Hatton's physical likeness inspired the Lothar character in Dave Stevens 's 1980s Rocketeer Adventure Magazine stories, and in Disney 's 1991 film version, The Rocketeer , in which the character
4429-399: The 1990s, with his photo-realistic work on the titles for which he works as the primary external reference image. Bolland now draws on a computer, eschewing pencil and paper. He cites the influence of Dave Gibbons , who was himself enthusiastic about the capabilities of computers. Noting also that some colorists were increasingly using computer effects on a whim, he decided if he did not do
4532-788: The Arts . While at art school, Bolland drew and self-published a couple of fanzines and his work was published in British underground magazines Frendz , International Times and OZ . In 1971, his friend Dave Harwood entered printed mass production with his RDH Comix , for which Bolland provided a cover (featuring Norwich Cathedral ). Also in 1971, Time Out – an underground magazine rapidly reinventing itself into "the biggest weekly listings magazine in London" – gave Bolland his first compensated work producing an illustration of blues guitarist Buddy Guy . While in Norwich , Bolland produced
4635-702: The Bollands. Staton called his editor Jack Harris and told him that Bolland, a big Green Lantern fan, would like to draw a Green Lantern cover; Harris agreed. He drew several covers for DC Comics , starting with Green Lantern No. 127 (April 1980), as well as some fill-in stories. These stories included, in 1980-1981, "Certified Safe" in Mystery in Space and "Falling Down to Heaven" in Madame Xanadu , DC's first attempt at marketing comics specifically to
4738-640: The Central School of Art's Galloping Maggot , the college newspaper. In 1972, Bolland attended the British Comic Art Convention at the Waverley Hotel in London, and met several influential figures in the current British comics scene, including Dez Skinn , Nick Landau , Richard Burton , Angus McKie and – crucially – Dave Gibbons . Bolland and Gibbons became firm friends. After finishing his college course, Bolland
4841-579: The Dark Knight Detective. Drawing inspiration from a cover by Alex Toth , and intended as an homage to the Silver Age Batman , Bolland wrote in 2006 that "If anyone were to ask me what is the thing I've done in my career that I'm most pleased with, it would be this." Approached by Batman-editor Mark Chiarello , Bolland was asked whether he would like to draw Batman covers for a new title, Batman: Gotham Knights . Excited by
4944-538: The Law Died ", " The Judge Child Quest " and " Block Mania ". As the Dredd stories rose in popularity, they "were moved so they started on the middle pages" with a colour double-page spread, which Bolland "always struggled with" finding it "very difficult... [trying] to fill that space most effectively." Ultimately the weekly deadlines meant that Bolland was unable to produce all episodes of the epic storylines himself, and
5047-430: The art chores on The Cursed Earth were split between Bolland and Mike McMahon . Bolland's early work on Judge Dredd was much influenced by McMahon, a talented newcomer whose idiosyncratic style was fuelling the interest in the new character. Bolland thought McMahon was "terrific, the real ideas man on Dredd," but noted that McMahon's approach was "very impressionistic ," while the "average comics reader, certainly at
5150-413: The art of good covers, Bolland remarks that [y]ou really have to be constantly thinking of ways that the image on the cover will intrigue and lure in the potential punter. It helps to try and imagine your cover is in a whole bank of thirty or more and you need it to stand out. Coincidentally, when a time travel story arc saw Bolland's work coincide with the plot in such a way that he was able to produce
5253-467: The artist his "first stab at drawing Batman ." Bolland felt that "after my cover [ GL #127] worked out the people at DC turned their gaze on London... and particularly on the group of artists at 2000AD who had been weaned on the DC characters." He recalled that, "after I was settled in at DC, scouts from that company came to our " Society of Strip Illustration " meetings to win over a few more of us," making
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#17327873387195356-463: The artist remarks the complicated subject matter necessitated his "working a lot of strange symbolism and subliminal messages into the cover designs" to create "an image that puzzles to a degree and is layered with elements of surrealism ." Asked to take over from Sean Hughes on the covers for volume two by editor Shelly Roeberg, Bolland found her to be an ideal editor, effusive with praise and specific in requirements. Generally, Bolland recalls she
5459-505: The backwards N enough to keep it from that day on. Camelot 3000 had lengthy delays between its final issues. Bolland recalled that he and DC spoke often about how long the series would take to complete, and because the series was inked by other artists, he started off enthusiastically working on issues. As the series continued, however, Bolland became increasingly meticulous, always trying to improve upon his pages. The added details he introduced into his artwork caused significant delays in
5562-543: The basic building blocks of our "Art form". And there were the Europeans... Moebius , Manara , Breccia . Later the Filipinos— Alex Niño , Nestor Redondo , Alfredo Alcala , all were inspirational. None of this stuff was to be found in the art schools. During my five years in three art schools I never learnt a single thing about comics from any of my tutors. Bolland studied graphic design at Norwich University of
5665-480: The brand " Eagle Comics ". Bolland provided many of the covers for these compendium issues. Bolland "drew the first three episodes of the Judge Death story over the winter of 1979–80," as "just another villain in just another excellent John Wagner script." He does not "remember doing any sketches to get him right," the "outfit was described somewhat in the script... and details of it were heavily inspired by
5768-430: The church to which they belonged or which their parents selected on Sundays. Vespers were conducted by ministers of different denominations every Sunday. For student social life, formal receptions were held during the school term and the laws of polite society observed at all times. The school's amateur theatrical productions were popular in the Hagerstown area . Kee Mar hosted an alumnae association that continued after
5871-425: The colouring himself, the effects would produce covers that didn't resemble his work. Starting in 1997, Bolland bought a lot of software and spent ten frustrated months learning the ropes and ultimately finding the liberating ability to adapt his now-solely-onscreen artwork. He states categorically that, in his opinion, drawing on his Wacom tablet is no different from drawing on a pad of paper. Having fully embraced
5974-504: The cover and they would write a one-page text story based on it to go inside. These early covers of mine fall into that category. Other covers followed for nearly a third of the first 30 progs, as well as stand-alone pages and some inking duties on Gibbons' Dan Dare . Already familiar with Nick Landau (acting editor), when another artist dropped out, Bolland was called directly to complete a Judge Dredd story in Prog 41 (3 Dec 77) and soon
6077-453: The covers cluttered and the paper quality crude. His appreciation of the artwork of Jack Kirby , he says, only materialised much later. He did however enjoy UK comics, including newspaper strips such as Jeff Hawke by Syd Jordan and Carol Day by David Wright , and Valiant which featured Mytek the Mighty by Eric Bradbury and Steel Claw by Jesus Blasco . Despite such
6180-533: The covers look different in some way, and when DC decided to number the issues backwards [from 12 to 1; to count down to the Millennium ], that set me thinking. I remember seeing Peter Greenaway 's film Drowning By Numbers , in which they had these numbers placed subtly in every scene, and I really liked that idea. So I began to include elements of the issue number... always trying to think of ways to hide it, or make it an integral design element. The covers for
6283-537: The final issues of the limited series, causing issues #8–11 to be released on a quarterly rather than monthly status, and the final issue to be cover dated nine months later than the penultimate issue. Bolland drew a pinup for Superman No. 400 (Oct. 1984) and its companion portfolio. In 1986, Bolland was one of several artists who contributed pages to the anniversary issue Batman No. 400 (Oct. 1986), his offering featuring villains Ra's al Ghul and Catwoman . Around this time, Titan Books were trying to launch
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#17327873387196386-578: The first episodes of an adult Little Nemo in Slumberland parody entitled Little Nympho in Slumberland , and when he moved to the Central School of Art and Design in London in 1973, he continued to produce (mostly full-page) Little Nympho strips for a 50-copy fanzine entitled Suddenly at 2-o-clock in the Morning. He also contributed a smaller, strip entitled "The Mixed-Up Kid" to
6489-510: The first two Camelot 3000 covers, he chose to ignore [the Andru design] completely and come up with my own unapproved design. Len Wein rejected it and told me to do the Ross Andru one. Grudgingly I drew the number one cover that made it onto the issue – but as a protest I reversed the letter N in my signature as a code to remind myself that my "artistic integrity" had been despoiled. I liked
6592-839: The future artist to "trawl... round some of the more remote backstreet newsagents" for comics to store on an overflowing wooden bookcase he'd built in school. As early as 1962, aged 11, Bolland remembers thinking that " Carmine Infantino 's work on the Flash and Gil Kane 's on Green Lantern and the Atom had a sophistication about it that I hadn't [previously] seen." He would later cite Kane and Alex Toth as "pinnacle[s] of excellence," alongside Curt Swan , Murphy Anderson , Sid Greene , Joe Kubert , Ross Andru , Mike Esposito , Nick Cardy , and Bruno Premiani , whose influences showed in his "early crude stabs at drawing comics." The young Bolland did not rate Marvel Comics as highly as DC, feeling
6695-647: The gore" for his first Hammer horror adaptation – although he found much of the "blood painted out" in the printed version. From the 1970s to the present, Bolland has also produced one-off pieces of artwork for use as record (including one for The Drifters in 1975 ), paperback book (including the UK Titan editions of George R. R. Martin 's Wild Cards anthologies ) and magazine covers (including Time Out and every major comics publication). He continued to produce work for fanzines, including for Nick Landau's Comic Media News , and Arkensword and even "drew
6798-491: The hazard cards" for a board game called Maneater . He later "got to know the Games Workshop guys, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone ," and produced various "games related drawings" including a cover or two for Fighting Fantasy Adventure Game Books, and RPG scenario pamphlets. His cover work for Games Workshop includes the role-playing game Golden Heroes and its only adventure Legacy of Eagles , and
6901-474: The highstreet," opening the first Forbidden Planet comics shop, for which Lake asked Bolland to produce the now-famous "People like us shop at... FORBIDDEN PLANET" adverts. Bolland's artwork would also feature on the shop's plastic bags, as well as T-Shirts and "covers for their SF, comic and TV & film catalogues," among other places. Later, when a branch of Forbidden Planet was opened in New York, and at
7004-517: The idea of a 2000 AD continuity between characters," Bolland seeing this as a "strength... hav[ing] one great new idea each week." Soon, though, the writers began to craft serials, and Bolland's distinct abilities with subtle facial expressions, dramatic lighting and the dynamic composition of page layout made him the perfect choice to draw the ongoing sagas, starting with " The Lunar Olympics ". Bolland contributed artwork to such Judge Dredd story-arcs as " Luna Period ", " The Cursed Earth ", " The Day
7107-593: The knowledge acquired in the classroom. The separate departments of Kee Mar had specialized libraries containing a mix of reference books and works of general interest. Students also had use of the Old Washington County Library located nearby. Painting was taught as an allied department of the institution, and history of art was studied as a feature of the curriculum. Kee Mar hosted a collection of art reproductions brought from Italy. A series of over thirty reproductions of Sistine frescoes of
7210-411: The latter style. Bolland drew all bar a couple of Walter's adventures, which appeared between Progs #50–61; #67–68 and #84–85 (with Ian Gibson drawing the first two episodes and Brendan McCarthy the last two), and says that he "was usually able to complete one in a day." He namechecks "the great Don Martin " as an artist he "shamelessly ripped off" for the human supporting characters, drawing most of
7313-559: The look of Kevin O'Neill 's Nemesis the Warlock . Bolland was, he acknowledges, "by far the slowest of the rotating Judge Death artists," opting to "take as long as I needed and do a half-way decent job" rather than rushing. For the sequel, a "massive (for me) 30 pages," 2000 AD 's editorial banked one-off stories to give Bolland long enough to draw it all. When Nick Landau began (in 1981) Titan Books ' reprints of Judge Dredd material, he "used this story non-chronologically" to begin
7416-472: The look of the character and contributing to the highest-profile early storylines, Bolland also created the look of two of the wider Dredd universe's most enduring characters: Judge Death (and the other three Dark Judges ) and Judge Anderson . Later, Landau's Titan "decided they could repackage the Judge Dredd stories in an American comic format with new covers and sell it to America," and did under
7519-466: The opportunity, he remarks that a misunderstanding resulted in his being unaware of the first issue being scheduled, resulting in Dave Johnson drawing No. 1 instead, and Bolland joining at issue No. 2. Bolland's first two covers were coloured by editor Chiarello, but from issue No. 5 to No. 47 (his last) they were coloured by the artist himself. As his run progressed, the cover art on Gotham Knights
7622-581: The pages in Chiswick , 1978. In between Dredd assignments Bolland drew horror strips for Dez Skinn 's House of Hammer , having been introduced to the comic through another of the "fanboy in-crowd," Trevor Goring , who drew "a comic strip version of the movie Plague of the Zombies ," and asked Bolland to ink it. Soon, Bolland was asked to draw " Vampire Circus " (dir. Robert Young , 1972; comic version scripted by Steve Parkhouse ), and "pile[d] on
7725-410: The release of the artwork as Bolland intended it, and is completely recoloured by Bolland himself. The book made The New York Times Best Seller list in May 2009. In 1996, Bolland wrote and drew the story "An Innocent Guy" for the anthology Batman: Black and White , in which an otherwise normal inhabitant of Gotham City documents his plan to carry out the ultimate perfect crime and assassinate
7828-753: The reported price of $ 60,000. The buildings were converted for hospital purposes. Kee Mar College consisted of 11 acres (4.5 ha) centrally located on high ground in Hagerstown with a view of the Cumberland Valley . From its buildings, one could view the Blue Ridge Mountains , Crampton's Gap , and South Mountain . The buildings comprised a main college building, a music hall, and a large auditorium. These were all heated by steam and lighted by gas and electricity. The campus contained ten acres (4.0 ha) of forested land containing
7931-578: The return of King Arthur to save England from an alien invasion in the year 3000, not only the largest body of work in a single series by Bolland – and his only attempt to draw a monthly title – but was also the first maxi-series from DC or any other publisher. Bolland was not familiar with the Arthurian legends, and initially conceived Merlin as a comical character. The series was graced with considerable media hype, and Bolland found himself invited to San Diego Comic-Con and other conventions. Bolland
8034-534: The school was renamed Kee Mar College. The name is based on the first three letters of Keedy's name and the first three letters of his wife's maiden name, Marburg. The college seal was a reproduction of an intaglio found in Pompeii . The original intaglio has been in the British Museum , belonged to the king of Saxony, and was in the possession of principal Margaret Barry. In April 1901, Keedy sold Kee Mar to Daniel W. Doub and Henry Holzapfel Jr. They incorporated
8137-415: The school with the name Kee-Mar College of Washington County. In 1905, president Bruce Lesher Kershner and his brother, Frederick Doyle Kershener, dean of faculty, disposed of their financial interests in the college to William C. Aughinbaugh, who became financially interested in the college. The Kershner brothers remained with the college until the close of the scholastic year. The Kershners held 49 shares of
8240-490: The school's closure. In 1949, the association was still in operation. Activities included raising funds for educational scholarships for local students and annual parties. Brian Bolland Brian Bolland ( / ˈ b ɒ l ə n d / ; born 26 March 1951) is a British comics artist . Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD , he spearheaded
8343-622: The semi-autobiographical humour strip Mr. Mamoulian and the whimsical rhyming strip The Actress and the Bishop . All strips of both projects were included in the Bolland Strips! collection book, published in 2005. In 2006, he compiled the art book The Art of Brian Bolland , showcasing all of Bolland's work to date and also his work as a photographer. Brian Bolland was born in Butterwick, Lincolnshire , England, to Albert "A.J." John,
8446-489: The seminary. In its first year, 101 students from ten states including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Illinois, West Virginia, and Ohio enrolled. In 1857, the seminary produced its first graduates. During a period of financial trouble, the board of trustees applied to the Maryland General Assembly for an act to allow them to raise funds or sell property to meet its financial obligations. The Assembly created
8549-519: The series. Landau spent time paginating the book at Bolland's flat, and discovered that "[s]ome stories started or ended on the wrong page thereby leaving blank pages," as it was set to be "in effect, the first book exclusively of my work" the artist "gladly offered to add three full page pictures for the Cursed Earth volume and a new back cover for the first Judge Dredd volume. Walter the Wobot
8652-681: The simple rules of comic book storytelling," but "better still, it was going someplace where nobody I knew could see it." He "drew around 300 pages of that very straightforward, simple-to-follow work, and I guess the storytelling flowed naturally from that." Even so, he "was always struggling to get the last eight or ten pages finished," and was occasionally helped by friends, both from his "Norwich School of Art days," Gibbons and future- 2000 AD and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen artist Kevin O'Neill . Bolland writes that starting with Powerman he "found regular employment drawing comics, one of which, Judge Dredd , in 1977–80, turned out to be quite
8755-418: The symptoms of acromegaly developed. Acromegaly distorted the shape of Hatton's head, face, and extremities in a gradual but consistent process. He eventually became severely disfigured by the disease. Because the symptoms developed in adulthood (as is common with the disorder), the disfigurement was incorrectly attributed later by film studio publicity departments to elephantiasis resulting from exposure to
8858-479: The technology, Bolland has also produced a number of lessons/tutorials on his official website demonstrating his complex techniques. He states that, while this leap means that he no longer produces any paper-based artwork (a profitable sideline for many artists who sell on their original work to collectors), he was certain on abandoning pen and paper. Bolland recalls that, in the wake of The Killing Joke , he received plenty of work offers, but didn't feel ready to make
8961-415: The third volume of The Invisibles were done using a computer, in part because Vertigo had requested "painted" covers and Bolland felt that line and flat color wouldn't suffice. The experimental nature of the twelve covers was assisted by the fact that neither Bolland or Roeberg saw the issue script. For the trade paperback covers, Bolland "was determined to make each one weirder than the last," and so created
9064-401: The time, does tend to prefer realism." Bolland therefore states that he "aped Mike's genius... and then reinterpreted [Dredd] in a style which actually borrowed a lot from the work of the American artists," retaining McMahon's "granite-jawed" look but bringing a level of realism and fine detail to the character, which Mark Salisbury says "finally cemented the iconic image." As well as honing
9167-414: The violence inflicted on the character Barbara Gordon . Speaking circa 2000, Bolland said that since The Killing Joke he has only drawn comics that he also wrote. Six years later he clarified that Since then I haven't wanted to draw comics that anyone else has had a hand in. I'd rather not work on a story I haven't written myself or one that will ultimately be colored by someone else. I have to earn
9270-404: The writer) to "sign off" on his designs. In the case of The Invisibles , however, although Morrison officially had final approval on cover art, Bolland described him as generous to the work Bolland came up with. In selected cases, however, Bolland would ask for ideas, and in one specific case " Shelly [Roeberg] , the editor... did once relay that Grant wanted an arm coming out of the water holding
9373-484: Was a 1940s actor called Rondo Hatton. I've only seen him in one film." Additionally, the character The Creep in the Dark Horse Presents comic-book series strongly resembled Hatton. Hatton is regularly name-checked in the novels of Robert Rankin , often referred to as "the now-legendary Rondo Hatton" and credited as appearing in films that are either fictional, or in which he clearly had no part, such as
9476-437: Was allowed to pick between two inkers, but opted to ink his covers himself. Bolland was uncomfortable with having a third party ink his pencils, and later admitted that he put a high level of detail into his art for the series to leave as little room as possible for the inker to creatively reinterpret his work. However, he was satisfied with the finished results. Reacting indignantly to being presented with Ross Andru layouts for
9579-402: Was an android with a speech impediment who served as Judge Dredd's personal servant robot. Created for comedic relief , Bolland notes that "[t]he great thing about the Judge Dredd strip was it's [sic] ability to slide seamlessly between gritty sci fi adventure, nasty gothic horror , spoofery , all the way to daft comedy." Walter's solo adventures – "Walter the Wobot, Fwiend of Dwedd" – were
9682-497: Was an art he self-taught, with Bolland eventually writing a 15,000-word dissertation in 1973 on Neal Adams – an "artist [his teachers] had never heard of." He would later recall: It was during this time that I discovered the sheer range of comics and their history. All the British stuff I'd missed was there to be discovered. I found the American greats, Foster , Herriman , Alex Raymond and Winsor McCay ... Noel Sickles , Milt Caniff , Roy Crane , had all, I discovered, put down
9785-534: Was commissioned by future- Titan Distribution and Forbidden Planet co-founder Mike Lake (who was "working there at the time") c. 1976. As well as the DTWAGE adverts, Bolland and most of his peers also contributed artwork to advertise, and/or feature in programme booklets for the UK Comicon , starting c. 1976 . In 1978, Nick Landau, Mike Lake and Mike Luckman "took their comic distribution business into
9888-407: Was established as a regular artist on the series. "From that point on," writes Bolland, "either he [Landau] or his successor Steve MacManus called me direct whenever they wanted me to do a Dredd story." Dredd stories started as traditional UK comic stories, i.e. "six-page one-offs... [Writers] Pat Mills and John Wagner seem[ing] to spurn the American comic idea of continuing stories or, worse,
9991-456: Was excited for his ideas, although Morrison had approval on all designs as the series creator. Finding that he had a rapport with, and the trust of, his editor, Bolland thinks that these factors led to some of his most experimental work. Newly embracing the use of a computer, Bolland cites The Invisibles Vol 2 No. 11 as his earliest computer-assisted piece of artwork. For the third series, we [Bolland and Morrison] talked about trying to make
10094-663: Was hit with "the stark reality of unemployment" and on the advice of Gibbons joined art agency Bardon Press Features. He soon found work doing a number of two-page strips for D.C. Thomson resulted, but Bolland would refer to this period as his "lowest time." Bardon did however produce a client called Pikin which was "planning a bi-weekly comic about an African superhero," Powerman , which was to be sold in Nigeria . Gibbons and Bolland were to draw alternate issues, with Bolland first drawing Powerman No. 2. Bolland recalls that "soon Dave had drawn his entire story and I had produced just
10197-461: Was increasingly done by Chiarello and other artists, and Bolland's first ideas for covers were rejected more often. Eventually, Bolland was told that he'd be done on the title within a few issues, but after discovering that upcoming covers featured Bane prominently (and not the Joker or Penguin as he had been hoping for some time), Bolland offered to leave immediately. Although his forays into interior artwork are almost universally acclaimed, Bolland
10300-572: Was known for its notable faculty members. The institution maintained a close relation with the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching. One member of its staff was an affiliated teacher. Two courses of university extension lecturers were given during the year 1905 to 1906 and other lectures were frequently held. Two literary organizations, The Society of Elaine and The Society of Antigone, helped students put to into practice
10403-462: Was left off the cover. Bolland produced a considerable amount of advertising work, initially because his agent "Barry Coker kept putting advertising jobs my way," including a number of ads for " Palitoy 's Star Wars toys." He also drew some of the earliest pieces of advertising artwork for the science fiction and comic shop Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed , which ran in various fanzines , convention programmes, and magazines such as Time Out and
10506-610: Was modelled after Hatton and his "Creeper" character. The full story of Hatton's life is told in the Scott Gallinghouse book Rondo Hatton: Beauty Within the Brute (BearManor Media, 2019), which also includes exhaustive production histories of his Universal horror films. Since 2002, the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards have paid tribute to Hatton in name and likeness. The physical award
10609-631: Was this burgeoning comics collection that would help inspire Bolland to draw his own comics around the age of ten with ideas such as "Insect League." He recalls that "[s]uperheroes crept into my life by stealth," as he actively sought out covers featuring "any big creature that looked vaguely dinosaur-like, trampling puny humans." These adolescent criteria led from Dinosaurus! and Turok via House of Mystery to " Batman and Robin [who] were [often] being harassed by big weird things, as were Superman , Aquaman , Wonder Woman [etc]," Bolland recalled. Soon, family outings to Skegness became an excuse for
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