Bisley I feel was part of the 'second wave' of 2000AD, the first being the holy trinity of Brian Bolland/Dave Gibbons and Mick McMahon, amongst others (notably Kevin O'Neill). Biz was the tip of the spear for the painted era, which was a divisive moment for many original 2000AD fans. I've said it before, but for my money the link between Bisley and that initial era is McMahon, who has influenced a myriad of artists and for one or two of us in the UK, the unrivalled genius.
As far as the spatter/texture effect....I understand that Biz and Fabry used spray cans not airbrushes . The spatter texture is a quick way to unify things. You can paint loosely...spray some texture on top , cut back in with paint to clean up some edges and then just add the highlights. It's fast and it gives the impression that the art is a lot more "rendered" than it actually is.
Fabry uses a toothbrush for splatter texture but you can see obvious airbrush in his work here and there. And you are totally spot on about the splatter making the art look more rendered than it really is. It's a neat trick, it enhances the gradation between tones as well as giving an overall layer of grit.
spraycans and mixed media generally for Biz I think, whatever's nearest to him that works. some happy accidents from the textures of different mediums that look painstaking but may be quickly applied. time constraints definitely play a part - the media used in The Horned God varies throughout, from full colour painting to more minimal sketched pages - the stylistic variation throughout helps easily sell the more minimal pages, that he had to turn out quickly due to deadline. So much innate ability and confidence, I love all his stuff. Just like Corben and Frazetta, his innate cartooning ability gives all his paintings movement and life.
This is exactly how you do a crossover with two icons in comics. This is very important to get people that never read Judge Dredd a chance to discover characters that don’t exist in DC or Marvel. The montage page of Batman’s mind, that character you thought was Man-Bat is actually Catman.
I would advise any Bisley fans to check out Thicker Than Blood. It's a 3 part mini series with Mike Ploog pencil and inks and Bisley painting over it. It's absolutely jaw dropping art. Besides the comics there is an artist edition hardcover that shows Ploog pencils on one page then Bisleys color on the next. Please check it out you will not be disappointed.
Sorry I'm a year late on this, and I don't know if anybody answered already, but you can get the airbrush spatter by holding something like a tongue depressor or a clothespin under the nozzle while you spray. Anything flat really. Paint builds up slightly on the surface and gets picked up by the air and spattered, but with some unpredictable results. It's probably not much different from toothbrush spatter really.
@@CartoonistKayfabe Bisley's painted art was radical and totally informed art in 2000AD for many years to come. It seemed like every artist was doing their best Bisley impression! Fun fact for you if you're a Simon Pegg fan: in the sitcom Spaced he plays an aspiring comic artist named Tim Bisley, named of course after Simon Bisley.
@@jC-kc4si That's funny i was just about to mention that..his Ink work on that was nothing short of PHENOMENAL!! That was hands down one of my Favorite books by him back in the day!!
Great crossover, the 90's really was the last great era in American comics. Crossovers like this practically sprung up every other week. Robocop vs Terminator, Marvel vs DC, Image vs Mars Attacks, etc.
I talked to Bisley on London Film and Comic Con a couple of years ago and he actually sad that he did a page a day for this. That is just insane to me considering how slow I work. To think that he managed one of these pages a day alone inspires and boggles me. And yes, there is your answer: he paints lighting fast.
One of the first comics I remember buying as a kid. I had no idea who Judge Dredd was, but he looked really cool. Everything looked cool. A bunch of moments are burnt into my brain- Judge Death sticking his hand through a dude’s face, Dredd interrogating Batman, Judge Anderson’s intro. I actually remember Batman feeling more like a square than Dredd. Batman says stuff like “I have no quarrel with you!” while Dredd interrogates/beats him. Dredd comes off as a complete asshole, which is something writer Alan Grant was always good at.
There's a hardcover book with all four Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers and the last one, Die Laughing, has Glenn Fabry doing Joker, who becomes one of the Dark Judges. And the very best of it happens when the Joker uncovers that he can explode people's heads with his laugh.
Hmmm that a very good point..i remember coming across that in $1 comic bin & the main reason i bought it was because i thought Bizley had done the cover!! (Only to find out it was Bill Skeinwickz work later LoL)
So awesome. One of the comics that influenced me the most, along with Bisley's Lobo. _Look at the muscularity!_ Ugh... So, so good. It was unbelievable at the time. I would guess that Bisley did those sound effects with the tip of a paint tube, those that kids use in school... Man, you guys just _have_ to do a spotlight video on Glenn Fabry now.
Bisley did the spatter effect with a toothbrush and a comb if I remember correctly. I was into drawing and painting strips and characters back then and experimented with that effect. It was almost entriely inspired by Bisley's fully-painted strips, plus a few other UK artists of the time. That Bisley version of Batman though, eh? Almost more 'rubberized-future-cyborg-bat' than man, and stylish as could be. I still have the soft cover UK edition of Judgement on Gotham wrapped up in 5 plastic bags somewhere.
I got this way back in 7th grade and it completely blew my mind. It was the first time I ever really saw Bisley’s work and it immediately influenced my drawing. I tried to rip off his Batman in all of my drawings. The violence was completely crazy and like nothing I ever saw before in comics. It was amazing. Neca released a Batman vs alien two pack a couple years ago and that Batman looks so much like the Bisley Batman, it’s great.
In case nobody mentioned it before in the comics, that spatter you were wondering about Ed is achieved by using a lower psi on the compressor on the airbrush, and since the air pressure is low it'll just spit out paint
When this first came out over here (Ireland and uk) we had the choice of buying the Dc published edition or the 2000ad published edition which was magazine sized and really seemed to display the Biz art better. Not sure if that was available in US too but only ever see the DC standard sized one these days.
The Last Americans' profile shot of Ulysses Pilgrim firing a chain fed machine gun, while standing on pile of bones, Vs Lobo's Back profile shot of Lobo firing a chain fed machine gun, standing on a pile of spent bullet casings... Bisleys got a lot of 2000 A.D. and Mike McMahon in him.
Man this was such a great match up it makes me wonder what the kayfabe crew could cook up. Based off Jim's past works, could we see Rambo vs Predator? Robocop and Judge Dredd team up?
I remember getting this when it first came out all those years ago. Now, as then, I think the project starts amazingly - those first 6 or 7 pages are as good as anything Bisley has done - then it slowly goes downhill. Biz wasnt used to DC's strict deadlines and as a result the art is sporadic genius among some often rushed panels. The storyline is not the strongest either, Grant and Wagner went for comedy more than action, but overall it still holds up well after 30 years.
Simon Bisley is great, no amazing but he is not my favourite 2000AD artist. That honour is left to Colin Macneil. Absolutely amazing. Also the artist on one of my favourite comic book stories of all time, Song of the surfer. Bisley has Slaine, The Horned God, Macneil has Chopper.
Not just Geiger, but Bisleys got some Mike McMahon influence in there too. Not so obvious in Bisleys paint work, but compare Bisleys line art and McMahons in "The Last American." Bisley definitely grew up reading 2000 A.D.... which explains a lot about the Wagner connection in this book...
Best version to get is the Mandarin UK version of Batman vs Dredd: JOG. It is magazine size and beautifully printed. There are other versions that aren't very good. I think there is a Spain reprint that is horribly printed in the inside. That DC comic book size one is okay, but once you see the larger UK version you'll see what I mean.
The UK Editions are all oversized editions, and the first three crossovers have a Hardback (cardboard) cover. They were also released in the oversized format as comics in the UK. It's only the American DC Editions that are small.
For context, Fabry was first then Bisley came along with his heavy metal magazine energy and style. Both valid and must've rubbed off on each other a bit
would like to see an episode on some of the artists who were (fairly or unfairly) labelled as Bisley clones - Alex Horley, Chris Halls/Cunningham, Siku, Greg Staples, Morak Oguntade. "Coffin" from Toxic comic, painted by Oguntade and written by Pat Mills and Alan Mitchell, is totally insane, about a big roided up African magician who smashes fuck out of everything.
I think that one Bat villain is Black Mask
Could be Scarecrow, based on how he's drawn in this comic.
Bisley I feel was part of the 'second wave' of 2000AD, the first being the holy trinity of Brian Bolland/Dave Gibbons and Mick McMahon, amongst others (notably Kevin O'Neill). Biz was the tip of the spear for the painted era, which was a divisive moment for many original 2000AD fans. I've said it before, but for my money the link between Bisley and that initial era is McMahon, who has influenced a myriad of artists and for one or two of us in the UK, the unrivalled genius.
agreed - Bisley's stuff took McMahon's gestural, expressionistic quality, turned it crazy steroid 90s and did it in paint
When do you two sleep?! the hardest-working pair on TH-cam..
This was my favourite comic as a kid, I spent hours looking and re-looking at each page and panel
Me too
You should interview Biz he hates interviews 😂
Please do a Bisley interview! You guys are great interviewers. You might even be able to handle The Biz.
As far as the spatter/texture effect....I understand that Biz and Fabry used spray cans not airbrushes . The spatter texture is a quick way to unify things. You can paint loosely...spray some texture on top , cut back in with paint to clean up some edges and then just add the highlights. It's fast and it gives the impression that the art is a lot more "rendered" than it actually is.
Fabry uses a toothbrush for splatter texture but you can see obvious airbrush in his work here and there. And you are totally spot on about the splatter making the art look more rendered than it really is. It's a neat trick, it enhances the gradation between tones as well as giving an overall layer of grit.
spraycans and mixed media generally for Biz I think, whatever's nearest to him that works. some happy accidents from the textures of different mediums that look painstaking but may be quickly applied. time constraints definitely play a part - the media used in The Horned God varies throughout, from full colour painting to more minimal sketched pages - the stylistic variation throughout helps easily sell the more minimal pages, that he had to turn out quickly due to deadline. So much innate ability and confidence, I love all his stuff. Just like Corben and Frazetta, his innate cartooning ability gives all his paintings movement and life.
Yep, Biz is a mad fan of the Spray paint. He got heaps of 2000 AD artists onto it too
this is one of his masterpiece
Simon Bisley, one of the best. I was looking at Heavy Metal's Art of Simon Bisley this morning so this is a welcome surprise!
I've only just come across Bisley's work recently with his Doom Patrol covers. So beautiful. I need to get this and more from him!
Agreed..I came to say check out the Doom Patrol covers...
This is exactly how you do a crossover with two icons in comics. This is very important to get people that never read Judge Dredd a chance to discover characters that don’t exist in DC or Marvel. The montage page of Batman’s mind, that character you thought was Man-Bat is actually Catman.
I would advise any Bisley fans to check out Thicker Than Blood. It's a 3 part mini series with Mike Ploog pencil and inks and Bisley painting over it. It's absolutely jaw dropping art. Besides the comics there is an artist edition hardcover that shows Ploog pencils on one page then Bisleys color on the next. Please check it out you will not be disappointed.
Sorry I'm a year late on this, and I don't know if anybody answered already, but you can get the airbrush spatter by holding something like a tongue depressor or a clothespin under the nozzle while you spray. Anything flat really. Paint builds up slightly on the surface and gets picked up by the air and spattered, but with some unpredictable results. It's probably not much different from toothbrush spatter really.
This is so crazy. I just. JUST. Read this last night and was wondering what you guys would say about this amazing work.
Please please do a video on Slaine: The Horned God! It changed British comics forever.
How so?
@@CartoonistKayfabe Bisley's painted art was radical and totally informed art in 2000AD for many years to come. It seemed like every artist was doing their best Bisley impression! Fun fact for you if you're a Simon Pegg fan: in the sitcom Spaced he plays an aspiring comic artist named Tim Bisley, named of course after Simon Bisley.
@@jC-kc4si That's funny i was just about to mention that..his Ink work on that was nothing short of PHENOMENAL!! That was hands down one of my Favorite books by him back in the day!!
Biz is King! Also, really appreciate your review/ description & explanation of the comic. This is one of my all time favourite Biz comics. Thanks!
Nobody beats the Biz! Probably his greatest single issue of any comic he ever illustrated. Ridiculously dope things happening here!
This book blew my 15 year old mind away when it came out in 91.
Me too!
When I bought the European version the size of the comics was bigger. Magazine sized I believe. It's awesome in bigger size
one of the greatest, was wondering when u guys would get to this gem
My first real Bisley work from beginning to end. His black&white ABC Warriors book is also brilliant.
Great crossover, the 90's really was the last great era in American comics. Crossovers like this practically sprung up every other week. Robocop vs Terminator, Marvel vs DC, Image vs Mars Attacks, etc.
I talked to Bisley on London Film and Comic Con a couple of years ago and he actually sad that he did a page a day for this. That is just insane to me considering how slow I work. To think that he managed one of these pages a day alone inspires and boggles me. And yes, there is your answer: he paints lighting fast.
Biz Rules! My favorite Simon Bisley book. Thanks for sharing.
Judge Death looks like the inspiration for the Batman who Laughs
One of the first comics I remember buying as a kid. I had no idea who Judge Dredd was, but he looked really cool. Everything looked cool. A bunch of moments are burnt into my brain- Judge Death sticking his hand through a dude’s face, Dredd interrogating Batman, Judge Anderson’s intro. I actually remember Batman feeling more like a square than Dredd. Batman says stuff like “I have no quarrel with you!” while Dredd interrogates/beats him. Dredd comes off as a complete asshole, which is something writer Alan Grant was always good at.
One of my favorite books of all time. Little 12 year old me was blown away, I had never seen something like this.
My first comic! Judge Death looking like a goddamn Xenomorph and the Batmobile was the coolest thing my 10 year old mind had ever seen.
My all time fave comic. Have you seen Chris Cunningham's (AKA Chris Halls) Son of Mean Machine? He only did about 13 pages or so.
Simon was working out of a tiny brick shed for a while, using spray cans to texture up his paintings.
There's a hardcover book with all four Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers and the last one, Die Laughing, has Glenn Fabry doing Joker, who becomes one of the Dark Judges. And the very best of it happens when the Joker uncovers that he can explode people's heads with his laugh.
LOVE ME SOME BIZ! And BTW, pre-ordered Red Room through DCBS just yesterday. Congrats and hope for much success!
I feel like Biz's BATMAN originated from Sienkiewicz's take on the character, from BATMAN #400.
Hmmm that a very good point..i remember coming across that in $1 comic bin & the main reason i bought it was because i thought Bizley had done the cover!! (Only to find out it was Bill Skeinwickz work later LoL)
An art director I used to work with had a bust of Bisley's Batman on his desk, it always looked so freaking cool.
Thanks for this gents, I fucking love this comic, Biz is the man.
So awesome. One of the comics that influenced me the most, along with Bisley's Lobo. _Look at the muscularity!_ Ugh... So, so good. It was unbelievable at the time.
I would guess that Bisley did those sound effects with the tip of a paint tube, those that kids use in school...
Man, you guys just _have_ to do a spotlight video on Glenn Fabry now.
Really good episode again! This one shows Bisley on the top of his game!
Bisley did the spatter effect with a toothbrush and a comb if I remember correctly. I was into drawing and painting strips and characters back then and experimented with that effect. It was almost entriely inspired by Bisley's fully-painted strips, plus a few other UK artists of the time.
That Bisley version of Batman though, eh? Almost more 'rubberized-future-cyborg-bat' than man, and stylish as could be. I still have the soft cover UK edition of Judgement on Gotham wrapped up in 5 plastic bags somewhere.
Love Bisley and this comic ♥️. Now I want to go watch Dredd
I would love it if, one day, you guys looked at The Biz best work; The ABC Warriors
The character in the page when Judge Anderson looks into Bat's brain is Black Mask.
I've seen airbrush artists running a finger over a toothbrush or something similar for that spatter effect.
Damn, I havent looked at this beautiful comic in 20 some years, thanks guys!
Judge Dredd is cream of the crop in comics.
long time lurker, first time poster - this book just changed my world. glorious. Still a Biz Stan to this day because of this one.
I love bisley art. Have you seen any martin emond art? Especially lobo/deadman: the brave and the bald. It's incredible stuff too.
loved that novel, inspired some of my work from a young age an to this day
I got this way back in 7th grade and it completely blew my mind. It was the first time I ever really saw Bisley’s work and it immediately influenced my drawing. I tried to rip off his Batman in all of my drawings. The violence was completely crazy and like nothing I ever saw before in comics. It was amazing. Neca released a Batman vs alien two pack a couple years ago and that Batman looks so much like the Bisley Batman, it’s great.
In case nobody mentioned it before in the comics, that spatter you were wondering about Ed is achieved by using a lower psi on the compressor on the airbrush, and since the air pressure is low it'll just spit out paint
One of my most treasured comics
I grew up on 2000AD and love Bisley's art, had this one when it first came out, check out the Doom Patrol covers on the Morrison run.
Another intensely painted Biz art job was his short story "Lair of the Lizard Ladies" in Mr. Monster Attacks.
4:20 Maybe its putting ink or paint on a toothbrush and flicking it?
Airbrush paint is fluid enough that you could load it up on a toothbrush and flick it. That’s my best guess for the color splatter.
As spectacular as the art is, the book is really funny too. I'm on copy #3, my previous ones fell apart from looking at them all the time.
I'd assume the mystery man at 9:40 is Black Mask?? I thought it was a Xenomorph at first, but wrong crossover I guess...
When this first came out over here (Ireland and uk) we had the choice of buying the Dc published edition or the 2000ad published edition which was magazine sized and really seemed to display the Biz art better. Not sure if that was available in US too but only ever see the DC standard sized one these days.
Living Death is a real German Thrash Metal band from the 1980s. Their logo even uses a similar font.
Pure gold
If its airbrush, it will do it when its a little clogged, its pretty random but can be workable!
The Last Americans' profile shot of Ulysses Pilgrim firing a chain fed machine gun, while standing on pile of bones, Vs Lobo's Back profile shot of Lobo firing a chain fed machine gun, standing on a pile of spent bullet casings... Bisleys got a lot of 2000 A.D. and Mike McMahon in him.
Man this was such a great match up it makes me wonder what the kayfabe crew could cook up. Based off Jim's past works, could we see Rambo vs Predator? Robocop and Judge Dredd team up?
I remember getting this when it first came out all those years ago. Now, as then, I think the project starts amazingly - those first 6 or 7 pages are as good as anything Bisley has done - then it slowly goes downhill. Biz wasnt used to DC's strict deadlines and as a result the art is sporadic genius among some often rushed panels. The storyline is not the strongest either, Grant and Wagner went for comedy more than action, but overall it still holds up well after 30 years.
I think he painted a bunch of art for Magic the Gathering as well!!!
I've bought so many comics I don't care about just for the Bisley covers.
You can pick em out from across the room.
You guys ever check out the Biz run on Hellblazer ?
Bisley uses a toothbrushes loaded with paint and spraycans to get the spatter effect.
This is a major formative influence on 12 year old me. Would not be commenting right here right now without this book
Is that mystery character (on that Batman splash page) killer croc?
Great stuff all around
Love BIZ
Simon Bisley is great, no amazing but he is not my favourite 2000AD artist. That honour is left to Colin Macneil. Absolutely amazing. Also the artist on one of my favourite comic book stories of all time, Song of the surfer. Bisley has Slaine, The Horned God, Macneil has Chopper.
9:42 - it’s black mask
I had this comic
Not just Geiger, but Bisleys got some Mike McMahon influence in there too. Not so obvious in Bisleys paint work, but compare Bisleys line art and McMahons in "The Last American." Bisley definitely grew up reading 2000 A.D.... which explains a lot about the Wagner connection in this book...
Best version to get is the Mandarin UK version of Batman vs Dredd: JOG. It is magazine size and beautifully printed. There are other versions that aren't very good. I think there is a Spain reprint that is horribly printed in the inside. That DC comic book size one is okay, but once you see the larger UK version you'll see what I mean.
All gen x'ers were influenced by this. I remember drawing Batman's punch when I was 17.
Was thinking it’s Black Mask in the splash of villains.
No mention of Lobo/Dredd: Psycho Bikers vs. Mutants from Hell??
Love this book. Biz is the main man.
I would love to see Bisley paint a Maxx comic.
Pretty sure that one character is supposed to be Killer Croc
Could you do a review of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic Bisley illustrated, Bodycount in the near future?
The colorist of that series ruined the book for me.
10:21 black mask
I need this in an oversize hardcover edition.
The UK Editions are all oversized editions, and the first three crossovers have a Hardback (cardboard) cover. They were also released in the oversized format as comics in the UK. It's only the American DC Editions that are small.
It might be Killer Croc
I believe the splatter was from spray paint...in past interviews he's said he uses them...
This comic is bad ass.
Was that villain Killer Croc?
I think that Batman villain is Killer Croc
That villain could be killer croc
Mystery Batman villian looks like Black Mask
For context, Fabry was first then Bisley came along with his heavy metal magazine energy and style. Both valid and must've rubbed off on each other a bit
wow.. may be Lobo first mini series next
th-cam.com/video/woM_tHU-dP4/w-d-xo.html
@@CartoonistKayfabe thanks
I think that's Man-Bat.
Maybe that villain is Black Mask..?
Pretty sure it was Man-Bat
In my country, this was published in European format, but soft cover.
Black Mask
Simon Bisley is Tim Burton of comic books
would like to see an episode on some of the artists who were (fairly or unfairly) labelled as Bisley clones - Alex Horley, Chris Halls/Cunningham, Siku, Greg Staples, Morak Oguntade. "Coffin" from Toxic comic, painted by Oguntade and written by Pat Mills and Alan Mitchell, is totally insane, about a big roided up African magician who smashes fuck out of everything.
never saw Fabry as a Bisley clone - they are contemporaries and Fabry is a lot cleaner/more 'controlled'/Bolland influenced