Simon Bisley


Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine.

Early life

Simon Bisley began drawing when he was six years old. He is self-taught, with only a short one-year stay at an art college, saying "I found it very difficult to get any kind of feedback from the art teachers. They weren't interested at all in what I was doing, so I became kind of very introverted with regard to my artwork and yeah, I was just all self-taught."

Career

Bisley started his career doing magazine and album covers, his first work being a T-shirt design for heavy metal magazine Kerrang!
Eventually, even though he had no experience in comics strip drawing at the time, he was hired by the magazine 2000 AD after they saw his interpretations of their magazine characters. According to the Comic Book Database, "while still a student, Bisley did a painting of a robot holding a baby that he sent to the offices of 2000 AD. The image was seen by Pat Mills and inspired him to relaunch the ABC Warriors strip, with Bisley as artist, in 1987". He started with work on ABC Warriors in 1987, later moving to Sláine and Judge Dredd.
Simon Bisley significantly contributed to the visual and conceptual development of the character Lobo in the comic book universe. Alan Grant and Keith Giffen initially contacted Bisley to rework Lobo's appearance. Bisley added distinctive elements such as big biker boots, skull knee guards, a hook and chain around Lobo's arm, and made the character much more muscular, transforming him into an impressive space biker.
He also created Lobo's dog, “Dawg”, incorporating the character into the story despite it not being in the original script. Bisley's tendency to add more than what was written in the script sometimes led Grant to rewrite sections of the book.
Bisley's distorted and surreal artistic style, combined with garish colors and crude language, emphasized the character's violent and absurd nature. He illustrated the 1990 4 issues mini-series Lobo: The Last Czarnian, written by Keith Giffen and Alan Grant, where Lobo, the intergalactic bounty hunter, escorts a mysterious prisoner. Simon Bisley also illustrated the 1992 four-issue mini-series Lobo's Back, where Lobo is killed and sent to both heaven and hell, only to fight his way back to life. The series is filled with dark humor, over-the-top violence, and Lobo's characteristic irreverence.
In addition to his interior artwork, Bisley also produced iconic painted covers that became closely associated with Lobo's brutal and offbeat image.
Originally a minor character, Bisley significantly contributed to the reinvention of Lobo with an anarchic touch that left a lasting impact, making it one of his most iconic contributions to the comic book world.
The original painting for Lobo #1 sold for $192,000 at auction in 2021.
Since 1997, Bisley has been a regular contributor to the comics magazine Heavy Metal.
Bisley has done design work for several music videos, including Chippendales' "Room Service".
In the early 2000s, Bisley was commissioned to create artwork for the drum kit used by System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan, an avid comic book collector and vendor. Dolmayan commissioned Bisley to illustrate the Hulk and Thing on one drum, while the art for other drums in the kit, which depicted other characters and scenes, were produced by Kevin Eastman, Tim Vigil, and Arthur Adams.

Influences

Bisley's style is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, and Richard Corben, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Egon Schiele. He also took inspiration from rock album covers and graffiti as well as traditional comics art.
Bisley's work influenced the Beast in the 2006 Doctor Who episode "The Satan Pit", and Simon Pegg's character graphic artist Tim Bisley on the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced.

Comics

DC

  • The Authority/Lobo :
  • *Jingle Hell
  • *Spring Break Massacre
  • Batman: Black & White, miniseries, #2
  • Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham
  • Batman/Lobo One-Shot
  • Global Frequency #7
  • Hellblazer #259-260, 265–266, 282 ; #271-274
  • Lobo:
  • * The Last Czarnian
  • * Lobo's Back
  • * ''Paramilitary Christmas Special''

    Fleetway

  • 2000 AD : ##555-558, 563–568, 577-581 ; : #626-635, 650–656, 662–664, 688-698 ; #1068
  • Judge Dredd Megazine #1.14, 1.16, 1.17, 1.19, 2.61, 2.62, 3.15, 3.17

    Full Circle

  • Full Cirkle, vol. 1
  • Full Cirkle, vol. 2
  • ''Thicker Than Blood''

    Marvel

  • X-Men Unlimited #46
  • Halo Graphic Novel,
  • Incredible Hulk #620

    Verotik

  • Verotika #1
  • Verotika #2
  • Death Dealer #1 and Frank Frazetta
  • Satanika #0 and Frank Frazetta
  • Satanika #1-2
  • Jaguar God #0
  • Verotik Illustrated
  • Ge Rouge #1/2
  • Dalkiel The Prophecy
  • The Darker Horror of Morella
  • Inquisitor
  • Hidden Lyrics of the Left Hand
  • Jaguar God Snake Brothers Revenge
  • Satanika 18th Anniversary Issue
  • Verotika Returns #2-3
  • The Infernals
  • Lyrics of the Left Hand, Volume II
  • Satanika Versus Morella's Demon #1-2, 2019
  • ''Verotika Revenge''

    Other publishers

  • "Once Upon A Time in the West"
  • "Reapers"
  • The Terminator: The Enemy Within #1-4
  • Bisley's Scrapbook
  • Melting Pot
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount
  • Mutant Chronicles: Golgotha
  • Bad Boy
  • Fistful of Blood
  • The Dead
  • Church of Hell #1-3
  • The Lost Pages
  • The Lost Pages 3
  • ''SOS: Onslaught''

    Collected editions

  • The Authority/Lobo: Holiday Hell
  • Global Frequency, Volume 2: Detonation Radio,
  • Heavy Metal Dredd :
  • * "A Mega-City Primer"
  • * "Rock On, Tommy Who?!"
  • * "Chicken Run"
  • * "The Legend of Johnny Biker"
  • * "Ironfist"
  • * "Night Before Christmas"
  • * "The Great Arsoli"
  • * "Bimba"

    Music album covers

  • Mayhemic Destruction, by Mortal Sin
  • Created in Hate by Annihilated
  • First Offence, by First Offence
  • Kilt by Death, by Drunken State
  • Thrall-Demonsweatlive, by Danzig
  • 6:66 Satan's Child, by Danzig
  • Gorgeous Frankenstein, by Gorgeous Frankenstein
  • Lost Tracks of Danzig, by Danzig
  • Among Flies, by Last House on The Left
  • Black Laden Crown by Danzig
  • The Blood of Gods, by Gwar

    Computer game box

  • Gods, by The Bitmap Brothers
  • Weaponlord, by Visual Concepts
  • Fur Fighters, by Bizarre Creations
  • Tekken Tag Tournament 2, by Namco Bandai Games

    Role-playing games

  • ''Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of''

    Movie posters

  • Centurion
  • ''Black Death''

    Books

  • Biz: The Intense Art of Simon Bisley
  • Fakk 2
  • The Art of Simon Bisley Redux
  • Simon Bisley's Illustrations from the Bible: A Work in Progress
  • ''Simon Bisley Calendar 2010''

    Awards

  • 1990: Won "Favourite Artist UK" Eagle Award
  • 1992:
  • * Won "Best Artist" Eisner Award, for Judgement on Gotham
  • * Won "Best Artist" UK Comic Art Award
  • * Won "Best Original Graphic Novel" UK Comic Art Award for Judgment on Gotham
  • * Nominated for "Best Cover Artist" Eisner Award, for Judgement on Gotham and Doom Patrol
  • * Nominated for "Best Graphic Album: New/First US Publication" Eisner Award, for Judgement on Gotham
  • 1993:
  • * Nominated for "Best Cover Artist" Eisner Award, for Grendel: War Child, Terminator, and Enemy Within
  • * Nominated for "Best Painter " Eisner Award, for "Lair of the Lizard Ladies" in Mr. Monster Attacks #3
  • * Nominated for "Best Artist" UK Comic Art Award
  • 2002: Nominated for "Best Artist Ever" National Comics Award
  • 2024: Inducted into the London Film and Comic Con's Hall Of Fame.