Don Lawrence

Don Lawrence
Don Lawrence
	Don Lawrence, 1990.
Born	Donald Southam Lawrence; 17 November 1928; East Sheen,London, England
Died	29 December 2003(aged 75); Jevington,England
Nationality	British
Area(s)	Writer, Artist
Notable works	The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire; Storm
	www.donlawrence.nl

Donald Southam Lawrence(17 November 1928 – 29 December 2003) was a British comic book artist and author.

Lawrence is best known for hiscomic stripsThe Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empirein the British weekliesRangerandLook and Learn,and theStormseries, first published in the Dutch weeklyEppo(later relaunched asSjors & Sjimmie) and subsequently in album form. Famous for his realistic and detailed style, he was an inspiration for later UK comic-book artists such asBrian Bolland,Dave GibbonsandChris Weston^[1](indeed, Weston was taught by Lawrence), and influenced Indonesian artist Apri Kusbiantoro.^[2]

Early life

Born inEast Sheen,a suburb of London, Lawrence was educated atSt. Paul's School,Hammersmith.After joining the Army for hisNational Service,Lawrence used his gratuity to study art at Borough Polytechnic Institute (now theLondon 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 alettereroncomic strips.Lawrence was inspired to take some samples to an editor atAmalgamated Presswho suggested he try showing them to Mick Anglo, who ran a studio packaging comic strips for a London publisher and magazine distributor, Len Miller.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Lawrence worked for Anglo for four years, drawing the adventures ofsuperheroMarvelmanand variousWestern comic strips.After an argument with Anglo over pay rates, he found work with Odhams Press, drawingWells FargoforZip,and with the Amalgamated Press (now renamedFleetway Publications), contributing episodes ofBilly the Kidto the comicSun.When the ailingSunmerged withLion,Lawrence switched toswashbucklinghistorical strips,Olac the Gladiator,Karl the VikingandMaroc the Mighty(written byMichael Moorcock).^[3]

A colour strip produced forLion Annual 1965(Karl the Viking and the Tideless Sea) led to Lawrence being offered colour work inBible Storymagazine and the sprawlingscience fantasyThe Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empirewhich debuted inRangerin 1965. Lawrence was to draw the strip in the pages ofRangerandLook and Learnuntil 1976.^{[citation needed]}

In 1976 Lawrence attended the London comic book convention calledComics 101,the first convention dedicated to British comic book creators. There he learned thatThe Trigan Empirewas syndicated all over Europe. When his publisher refused to give him any form of royalties or compensation, he departed from his old employer and was immediately offered work on a new Dutch comic magazine calledEppo.^[4]After an abortive start on a strip entitledCommander Grekwritten by his friendVince Wernham,Lawrence found success withStorm.The first volume,The Deep World,was based on a concept byMartin Lodewijkbut written byPhilip Dunn.A further 22 volumes followed.

Signing session in Haarlem, 1990

Lawrence did not limit himself solely toTrigan EmpireandStorm;other strips he drew includeFireball XL5andThe Adventures of TarzanforTV Century 21,Carriefor themen's magazineMayfairand a number of one-off strips for various Dutch publishers.^{[citation needed]}

A number of partly completed and unpublished comic strips appeared in the seriesDon Lawrence Collection,published in the Netherlands. The final Storm serial (completed by Lawrence's former assistantLiam Sharp) appeared in the magazinePandarvepublished 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.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-1980s he was looking for an assistant and accepted then 17-years oldLiam Sharpas his apprentice, but after realizing he did not want to step back as much as he had thought he would, he helped Sharp develop his own style.^[5]

Later life

In 1995, he lost sight of his right eye, caused by an infection after an unsuccessfulcataractoperation. With hisdepth perceptiongone, 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.^[6]

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 withemphysemaand put on medication, he permanently retired from comics and art.^[6]

Lawrence died in December 2003 of emphysema at the age of 75.^[3]^[6]

Awards

Medal of the Knight of theOrder of Orange-Nassau

1976 The IPC Magazines Award for the Best Adventure Comic Artist of 1975
1980 Society of Illustration Lifetime Achievement Award
1981 Grand Prix Spatial
1987 Gouden Bommel Award
1994De Stripschapprijs
1998 Pantera di Lucca Lifetime Achievement Award
2003 Knight of theOrder of Orange-Nassau

Bibliography

Comics work published in English include:

The Look and Learn Book of the Trigan Empire(1973)
The Trigan Empire(1978)
Storm: The Deep World(1982)
Storm: The Last Fighter(1987)
Storm: The Pirates of Pandarve(1989)
Tales From the Trigan Empire(1989)
Cathy(1991) — reprints Carrie
Don Lawrence Collected(2001)
Storm The Collection Volume 1(May 2004ISBN 978-90-73508-52-1)
Storm The Collection Volume 2(May 2004ISBN 978-90-73508-49-1)
The Trigan Empire: The Prisoner of Zerss(August 2004ISBN 978-90-73508-54-5)
Storm The Collection Volume 3(September 2004ISBN 978-90-73508-57-6)
Don Lawrence: The Legacy Book 1 — Storm(October 2004)
The Trigan Empire: The Sun-Worshippers(February 2005ISBN 978-90-73508-62-0)
The Trigan Empire: The House of the Five Moons(June 2005ISBN 978-90-73508-64-4)
Storm The Collection Volume 4(June 2005ISBN 978-90-73508-68-2)
The Trigan Empire: The Curse of King Yutta(December 2005ISBN 978-90-73508-66-8)
Storm The Collection Volume 5(February 2006ISBN 978-90-73508-77-4)
The Trigan Empire: The Three Princes(May 2006ISBN 978-90-73508-78-1)
Don Lawrence: The Legacy Book 2 — Women(June 2006)
The Trigan Empire: The Rallu Invasion(August 2006ISBN 978-90-73508-82-8)
Pandarve: The Worlds of Don Lawrence(September 2006)
The Trigan Empire: The Reign of Thara(November 2006ISBN 978-90-73508-84-2)
The Trigan Empire: Revolution in Zabriz(March 2007ISBN 978-90-73508-91-0)
Storm The Collection Volume 6(April 2007ISBN 978-90-73508-81-1)
Storm The Collection Volume 7(April 2007ISBN 978-90-73508-97-2)
The Trigan Empire: The Puppet Emperor(November 2007ISBN 978-90-73508-93-4)
Karl the Viking(October 2008) (also released as a box-set containing all four volumes):
- Volume 1: The Sword of Eingar(ISBN 978-9088860-32-4)
- Volume 2: The Powers of Helvud(ISBN 978-9088860-34-8)
- Volume 3: Island of the Monsters(ISBN 978-9088860-36-2)
- Volume 4: Quest of the Long Ships(ISBN 978-9088860-38-6)
Storm The Collection Volume 8(October 2008ISBN 978-90-73508-99-6)
Storm The Collection Volume 9(October 2008ISBN 978-90-8886-023-2)
The Trigan Empire: The Invaders From Gallas(forthcoming 2009)
The Trigan Empire: The Green Smog(forthcoming 2009)

Notes

References

Don Lawrenceat the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
Don LawrenceatLambiek's Comiclopedia

External links

[1] Don Lawrence, 75, Science Fiction Illustrator

[2] Apri Kusbiantoro: Indonesian successor of Don Lawrence

[obit-3] Gravett, Paul."Obituary: Don Lawrence: Comic-book artist who brought the Trigan empire and Captain Marvel to life,"The Guardian(20 Jan. 2004).

[4] British Artist Don Lawrence Dies at 75

[5] British comic-book artist Liam Sharp on his career, DC or Marvel, and advice for his younger self

[Just75-6] The World of Don Lawrence – Just 75

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Don Lawrence
Don Lawrence, 1990.
Born	Donald Southam Lawrence (1928-11-17)17 November 1928 East Sheen,London, England
Died	29 December 2003(2003-12-29)(aged 75) Jevington,England
Nationality	British
Area(s)	Writer, Artist
Notable works	The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire Storm
www.donlawrence.nl