Friday, 30 August 2019

Nigel Dobbyn

Many of us in the UK comics community were shocked and saddened to hear this morning that the comic artist Nigel Dobbyn has passed away. He suffered a sudden and unexpected heart attack last Saturday. He was just 56 years old.

The sad news was announced on the 2000AD website:
https://2000ad.com/post/5774?fbclid=IwAR0nIFUXhBev_n4YlS-OdxHws0SsFglw-EKN99ULk77YNIwJlQ50mhBCQuQ

I'd known Nigel for over 20 years as we'd met when freelancing for Sonic the Comic in the 1990s. A softly spoken and gentle man, Nigel was one of the nice guys in the industry and an incredibly talented artist. I was a writer on Sonic the Comic and Nigel illustrated several of my stories. He always did a fantastic job and I loved his art style and rich colour work. 

Here's one of the stories we worked on. Trapped in the Vortex was published in Sonic the Poster Mag No.9 in 1994. Script by Lew Stringer, Art/colours by Nigel Dobbyn, Letters by Elita Fell...





Trapped in the Vortex was one of my favourite stories that we did together.

Nigel also worked for many other comics throughout his career of course, including 2000AD, The Beano, Spider-Man and Friends and more. He had a great versatility to his work, able to adapt his style to suit the job. Down the Tubes has a fuller account of his career, which you can read here:
https://downthetubes.net/?p=110547

I'd occasionally see Nigel at various comics conventions and we last chatted at the Oldham Comic Con in May. Myself and his other friends and colleagues in the industry are stunned by this tragic news and tributes are pouring in on social media from creators and fans alike. 

A few years ago, Nigel drew this fabulous birthday card for me featuring my Brickman character. A fantastic surprise.
My deepest condolences to Nigel's wife Sue and the family for this awful loss, and to his many friends who always regarded him as a decent man and top talent. He will be sadly missed. 
Above: At the Birmingham International Comic Art Show in 2007. The Sonic the Comic team reunited. Left to right: Lew Stringer, Nigel Kitching, Richard Elson, Nigel Dobbyn. 

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5 comments:

  1. Rich30 August 2019 at 19:18

    It's difficult to know what to say when something as shocking as this happens, but that's a lovely tribute to Nigel. Nigel's hand coloured work always looked amazing in print, but even better in real life. There are some beautiful panels in that story. You guys made a great team. Thanks Lew.

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  2. Lew Stringer31 August 2019 at 00:54

    Thanks Rich. His work was amazing. I wish we'd done more but I'll always regard the various strips we did as some of the best to work on.

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  3. Shane Chebsey31 August 2019 at 10:22

    Thank you for sharing your memories and thoughts Lew. A lovely tribute to Nigel... A talent and personality truly worth celebrating and remembering.
    Those pages of art a wonderful example of his great sense of colour and the versitiliy of his style.

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  4. Lew Stringer31 August 2019 at 13:37

    Thanks Shane. I'll post another story we did when I find the issues. My comics aren't in any order so I couldn't find them in the boxes I looked through yesterday.

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  5. Lew Stringer1 September 2019 at 22:26

    Very sorry to hear of your loss, Donna. Losing a parent is so painful as I know myself. Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughtful comment at this sad time for you. Take care.

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