Don Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Donald Southam Lawrence (November 17, 1928, London
–December 29, 2003, Jevington) was a British
comic book
artist and author.
Lawrence is best known for his comic strip
s The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire
in the British weeklies Ranger
and Look and Learn
and the Storm
series, first published in the Dutch
weekly Eppo
(later relaunched as Sjors & Sjimmie) and subsequently in album form. Famous for his realistic and detailed style, he was an inspiration for later highly influential UK comic-book artists like Brian Bolland
, Dave Gibbons
and Chris Weston
(indeed, Weston was taught by Lawrence).
, a suburb of London
, Lawrence
was educated at St. Paul's School, Hammersmith
. After joining the Army
for his National Service
, Lawrence used his gratuity to study art at Borough Polytechnic Institute (now the London South Bank University
) but failed his final exams. Shortly before, a former student had visited the school to show students the work he was doing as a letterer
on comic strips. Lawrence was inspired to take some samples to an editor at Amalgamated Press
who suggested he try showing them to Mick Anglo, who ran a studio packaging comic strips for a London publisher
and magazine distributor, Len Miller.
Lawrence worked for Anglo for four years, drawing the adventures of superhero
Marvelman
and various Western
comic strips. After an argument with Anglo over pay rates, he found work with Odhams Press, drawing Wells Fargo
for Zip, and with the Amalgamated Press (now renamed Fleetway Publications
), contributing episodes of Billy the Kid to the comic Sun. When the ailing Sun merged with Lion
, Lawrence switched to swashbuckling
historical strips, Olac the Gladiator, Karl the Viking and Maroc the Mighty.
A colour strip produced for Lion Annual 1965 ('Karl the Viking and the Tideless Sea') led to Lawrence being offered colour work in Bible Story
magazine and the sprawling science fantasy
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire
which debuted in Ranger
in 1965. Lawrence was to draw the strip in the pages of Ranger and Look and Learn
until 1976.
Lawrence departed after discovering how widely the strip was syndicated abroad and was immediately offered work on a new Dutch
comic called Eppo
. After an abortive start on a strip entitled Commander Grek written by his friend Vince Wernham, Lawrence found success with Storm
. The first volume, The Deep World, was based on a concept by Martin Lodewijk
but written by Philip Dunn. A further 22 volumes followed.
Lawrence did not limit himself solely to Trigan Empire and Storm and other strips he drew include Fireball XL5
and The Adventures of Tarzan
for TV Century 21
, Carrie for the men's magazine Mayfair
and a number of one-off strips for various Dutch publishers.
A number of partly completed and unpublished comic strips appeared in the series Don Lawrence Collection, published in the Netherlands. The final Storm serial (completed by Lawrence's former assistant Liam Sharp
appeared in the magazine Pandarve published by the Don Lawrence Fanclub in 1999-2001. One of his last illustrations was the cover of volume 6 of the Storm -the collection- from 2002.
In 1995, he lost his eyesight on his right eye, caused by an infection after an unsuccessful cataract
operation. With his depth perception
gone, he could no longer see when the tip of his pen and brush touched the paper's surface, forcing him to teach himself an alternative drawing technique.
He went through a new cataract operation in 1999, this time without medical complications. But his general health was starting to decline, and when he was diagnosed with emphysema
and put on medication, he permanently retired from comics and art.
Lawrence died in December 2003 of emphysema at the age of 75.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
–December 29, 2003, Jevington) was a British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist and author.
Lawrence is best known for his comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
s The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire
Trigan Empire
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, later called simply The Trigan Empire was a science fiction comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth and most notably drawn by Don Lawrence...
in the British weeklies Ranger
Ranger magazine
Ranger was a British weekly comic/text magazine published by Fleetway Publications which debuted on 18 September 1965 and ran for 40 un-numbered issues until 18 June 1966...
and Look and Learn
Look and Learn
Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The...
and the Storm
Storm (Don Lawrence)
Storm is a soft science fiction/fantasy comic book series originally drawn by Don Lawrence. The series is primarily available in Dutch, although all the books are translated in English and German, and some in French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Croatian, Serbian,...
series, first published in the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
weekly Eppo
Eppo (comics)
Eppo is a Dutch comic magazine, that originated after the merging of the magazines Pep and Sjors. It originally ran from 1975 to 1988 on a weekly basis and was revived in 2009 as a fortnightly magazine.-History:...
(later relaunched as Sjors & Sjimmie) and subsequently in album form. Famous for his realistic and detailed style, he was an inspiration for later highly influential UK comic-book artists like Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...
, Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
and Chris Weston
Chris Weston
Chris Weston is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries.-Biography:Weston was born in January, 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child...
(indeed, Weston was taught by Lawrence).
Biography
Born in East SheenEast Sheen
East Sheen, also known as 'Sheen', is an affluent suburb of London, England in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It forms part of the London post town in the SW postcode area....
, a suburb of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Lawrence
was educated at St. Paul's School, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
. After joining the Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
for his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, Lawrence used his gratuity to study art at Borough Polytechnic Institute (now the London South Bank University
London South Bank University
London South Bank University is a university in south London. With over 25,000 students and 1,700 staff, it is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name...
) but failed his final exams. Shortly before, a former student had visited the school to show students the work he was doing as a letterer
Letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
on comic strips. Lawrence was inspired to take some samples to an editor at Amalgamated Press
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
who suggested he try showing them to Mick Anglo, who ran a studio packaging comic strips for a London publisher
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
and magazine distributor, Len Miller.
Lawrence worked for Anglo for four years, drawing the adventures of superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Marvelman
Marvelman
Marvelman, also known as Miracleman for trademark reasons in his American reprints and story continuation, is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1954 by writer-artist Mick Anglo for publisher L. Miller & Son. Originally intended as a United Kingdom home-grown substitute for the American...
and various Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
comic strips. After an argument with Anglo over pay rates, he found work with Odhams Press, drawing Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
for Zip, and with the Amalgamated Press (now renamed Fleetway Publications
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
), contributing episodes of Billy the Kid to the comic Sun. When the ailing Sun merged with Lion
Lion (comic)
Lion was a weekly comic published by Fleetway from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. It lasted for 1,156 issues.-Publishing history:...
, Lawrence switched to swashbuckling
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
historical strips, Olac the Gladiator, Karl the Viking and Maroc the Mighty.
A colour strip produced for Lion Annual 1965 ('Karl the Viking and the Tideless Sea') led to Lawrence being offered colour work in Bible Story
Bible story
Bible stories, Judeo-Christian parables retelling some portions of the Bible, have been used in family religious worship, spiritual instruction and literature in Christian and Jewish societies....
magazine and the sprawling science fantasy
Science fantasy
Science fantasy is a mixed genre within speculative fiction drawing elements from both science fiction and fantasy. Although in some terms of its portrayal in recent media products it can be defined as instead of being a mixed genre of science fiction and fantasy it is instead a mixing of the...
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire
Trigan Empire
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, later called simply The Trigan Empire was a science fiction comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth and most notably drawn by Don Lawrence...
which debuted in Ranger
Ranger magazine
Ranger was a British weekly comic/text magazine published by Fleetway Publications which debuted on 18 September 1965 and ran for 40 un-numbered issues until 18 June 1966...
in 1965. Lawrence was to draw the strip in the pages of Ranger and Look and Learn
Look and Learn
Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The...
until 1976.
Lawrence departed after discovering how widely the strip was syndicated abroad and was immediately offered work on a new Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
comic called Eppo
Eppo (comics)
Eppo is a Dutch comic magazine, that originated after the merging of the magazines Pep and Sjors. It originally ran from 1975 to 1988 on a weekly basis and was revived in 2009 as a fortnightly magazine.-History:...
. After an abortive start on a strip entitled Commander Grek written by his friend Vince Wernham, Lawrence found success with Storm
Storm (Don Lawrence)
Storm is a soft science fiction/fantasy comic book series originally drawn by Don Lawrence. The series is primarily available in Dutch, although all the books are translated in English and German, and some in French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Croatian, Serbian,...
. The first volume, The Deep World, was based on a concept by Martin Lodewijk
Martin Lodewijk
Martinus Spyridon Johannes Lodewijk is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist, and advertising adviser.Martin Lodewijk was born in Rotterdam. He dropped out of high school in 1957, and started drawing cartoons, notably of spacecraft and pirates...
but written by Philip Dunn. A further 22 volumes followed.
Lawrence did not limit himself solely to Trigan Empire and Storm and other strips he drew include Fireball XL5
Fireball XL5
Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol...
and The Adventures of Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
for TV Century 21
TV Century 21
TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...
, Carrie for the men's magazine Mayfair
Mayfair (magazine)
Mayfair is a British adult magazine for men. Founded in 1965, it was designed as a response to U.S. magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse, which had recently launched in the UK. For many years it claimed the largest distribution of any men's magazine in the UK.-Fisk Publishing era:Mayfair was...
and a number of one-off strips for various Dutch publishers.
A number of partly completed and unpublished comic strips appeared in the series Don Lawrence Collection, published in the Netherlands. The final Storm serial (completed by Lawrence's former assistant Liam Sharp
Liam Sharp
Liam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
appeared in the magazine Pandarve published by the Don Lawrence Fanclub in 1999-2001. One of his last illustrations was the cover of volume 6 of the Storm -the collection- from 2002.
In 1995, he lost his eyesight on his right eye, caused by an infection after an unsuccessful cataract
Cataract
A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
operation. With his depth perception
Depth perception
Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and the distance of an object. Depth sensation is the ability to move accurately, or to respond consistently, based on the distances of objects in an environment....
gone, he could no longer see when the tip of his pen and brush touched the paper's surface, forcing him to teach himself an alternative drawing technique.
He went through a new cataract operation in 1999, this time without medical complications. But his general health was starting to decline, and when he was diagnosed with emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
and put on medication, he permanently retired from comics and art.
Lawrence died in December 2003 of emphysema at the age of 75.
Awards
- Society of Illustration Lifetime Achievement Award, 1980
- Grand Prix Spatial, 1981
- Gouden Bommel Award, 1987
- De Stripschapprijs, 1994
- Pantera di Lucca Lifetime Achievement Award, 1998
- Lawrence was made a Knight of the Order of Oranje-Nassau in 2003