Carl Critchlow

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Carl Critchlow is a British artist working mainly in the field of science fiction comics. His fully-painted style contributed to Judge Dredd series such as Son of the Mean Machine and “Dredd versus Batman” adventure The Ultimate Riddle. He also worked with Pat Mills on the third book of the series Flesh, entitled Flesh III: The Legend of Shamana.

Critchlow’s developing style saw him disappear from the world of mainstream comics for a while, as he both wrote and drew the series Thrud the Barbarian for its own spin-off comic, which proved popular with the comic reading public, eventually winning the Diamond 2004 Award for Best Small Press Title. He also during this time worked as a lecturer and has been credited by numerous new comics artists (e.g. Barry Renshaw) for helping and inspiring them.

In 2004, Critchlow returned to 2000AD with Lobster Random, a series written by new star Simon Spurrier. The comedic adventures of the eponymous grumpy, elderly torturer-for-hire, who has had lobster claws surgically attached to him for no good reason and an insatiable appetite for sex with robots, the series’ off the wall humour proved an immediate hit. Much reader and reviewer comment centred around Critchlow’s new style, a unique combination of line work and flat colour shades that looked almost like the characters had been carved from granite.

In addition to ongoing work on this series, Critchlow has also begun contributing once again to Judge Dredd’s adventures, to scripts by Gordon Rennie.

Contents 1 Developing artistic style 1.1 White Dwarf 1.2 Fully painted style 1.3 Computer drawn style 2 Bibliography 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Developing artistic style

[edit] White Dwarf

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[edit] Fully painted style

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Once the Thrud the Barbarian strip ran its course in White Dwarf, Critchlow worked on other comics including the Judge Dredd/Batman crossover story The Ultimate Riddle, first published in 1995.^[1] His work on this story was fully painted, and while considered impressive^[2] was also criticised as being forced, confused^[2] and muddy.^[3] Critchlow was developing a new style^[4] based on line-drawings with computer colouring,^[3] but having been pigeon-holed as a painter did not believe that he would be able to interest anyone in this very different style.^[4]

[edit] Computer drawn style

In October 2002, four months after Thrud issue 1 was published, Critchlow started drawing for 2000AD again after a break from that comic. His first story was the Judge Dredd, Out of the Undercity story written by John Wagner. His new line drawing style was initially well received and seen as a marked improvement over his previous fully painted style with clearer figures and atmospheric computer colouring.^[3] As the Undercity story developed, however, Critchlow was criticised for using too narrow a palette, with too many greys and blues, although this might have been as a result of the story being set underground.^[5] By the conclusion of the story, views on Critchlow's artwork were mixed, although there was a desire to see him working on a story set above ground, in daylight.^[6]

Criticism of Critchlow's subdued colouring continued with the 2003 story No Gain, No Pain.^[7] This story, written by Simon Spurrier introduced new character Lobster Random and as appreciation for the story grew, so did recognition of how well the two-toned colouring and scratchy line style suited the character.^[8] For part seven of the story, Random is drugged and Critchlow introduced more colour into the comic, using sumptuous Day-Glo colours and experimenting with unconventional panel layouts that were well-received.^[9] By the conclusion, Critchlow's style was recognised as being truly unique and even the previously criticised blues and greys were seen to work well when used with other coloured elements.^[10]

In January 2004, Critchlow and Wagner teamed up again for another Judge Dredd story, Cincinnati. Here, Critchlow was praised for continuing to improve his new style, introducing more colour than previously.^[11] Crtichlow also worked on two further Lobster Random stories, Tooth & Claw in October 2004 and The Agony & the Ecstacy in April 2006. The art in both stories was again very well received, with Tooth & Claw being praised for its character designs and nice colours^[12] while Critchlow's style in The Agony & the Ecstacy was recognisable from a mile off with its "volume, colour and verve".^[13]

[edit] Bibliography

• Thrud the Barbarian:
  • "Judge Thrud" (in White Dwarf) [1]
  • "Carborundum Capers" (in Thrud the Barbarian #1, 2002)
  • "Ice 'n' a Slice!" (in Thrud the Barbarian #2, 2003)
  • "Lava Louts" (in Thrud the Barbarian #3, 2004)
  • "Thrud Rex!" (in Thrud the Barbarian #4, 2005)

• Nemesis & Deadlock (with Pat Mills):
  • Warlocks and Wizards (in 2000 AD #700, 1990)
  • Enigmass Variations (in 2000 AD #723-729, 1991)

• Tharg's Future Shocks: "Blink of an Eye" (with Mark Eyles, in 2000 AD #748, 1991)

• Flesh:
  • "Legend of Shamana Book 1" (with Pat Mills/Tony Skinner, in 2000 AD #800-808, 1992)
  • "Legend of Shamana Book 2" (with Pat Mills/Tony Skinner, in 2000 AD #817-825, 1993)
  • "Flesh 3000AD" (with David Bishop/Steve MacManus, in 2000 AD #1034, 1997)

• Judge Dredd:
  • "Happy Birthday Judge Dredd" (with Mark Millar, in 2000 AD #829, 1993)
  • "Out of the Undercity" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1313-1316, 2002)
  • "Cincinnati" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1371-1373, 2004)
  • "The Searchers" (with Gordon Rennie, in 2000 AD #1424, 2005)
  • "Burned Out" (with Gordon Rennie, in 2000 AD #1461 - Judge Dredd Megazine #238, 2005)

• Mean Machine: "Son of Mean Machine" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine #2.63-2.72, 1994-1995)

• Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, 1995) [2]

• Tales of Telguuth (with Steve Moore):
  • "Uhuros the Horrendous" (in 2000 AD #1198, 2000)
  • "The Caverns of Garnek-Spay" (in 2000 AD #1240-1242, 2001)

• Lobster Random (with Simon Spurrier):
  • "No Gain, No Pain" (in 2000 AD #1342-1349, 2003 ISBN 1-904265-63-4)
  • "Tooth and Claw" (in 2000 AD #1411-1419, 2004)
  • "The Agony & The Ecstasy" (in 2000 AD #1482-1490, 2006)
  • "The Forget-Me-Knot" (in 2000 AD #1600-, 2008)

[edit] External links

• Artist's website
• 20000 AD profile

[edit] References