Bulletproof Creator Showcase

Alan Burrows

25/04/08 | by Matt Yeo, Editor-in-Chief | Categories: Artists

A mainstay of the British comics scene for over 15 years, Alan’s artwork has appeared in a number of diverse titles including Starblazer, Eagle, Victor, The Beano, Transformers, Commando, Dark Horse Presents, Red Dwarf and Batman as well as in such national newspapers as the Daily Telegraph, Daily Star and Daily Mirror.

KEY WORKS

STARBLAZER

EAGLE

COMMANDO

RED DWARF

DOCTOR GIGGLES (DARK HORSE PRESENTS)

BULLETPROOF INTERVIEW

Alan Burrows Talks To Paul H. Birch - 1993

After doing weekly illustrations for the Manchester Advertiser, Alan Burrows took a Scientific Illustration course, of which he jokingly remarks, “So I know all about anatomy even if it doesn’t show in some of my work!” “Trying to rip-off Frank Bellamy", is how he describes his subsequent illustrations for Quest magazine. Indeed, his influences are distinctly British and of the old school.

“The second 2000 AD Sci-fi Special had a Frank Bellamy article, and the drawings looked so real to me I decided then I wanted to be a comic artist.” After self-publishing the 64-page Bicentennial Star, of which he “sold every copy", Burrows used the pseudonym of ‘Sin’, writing and drawing Switchblade for Avalon.

“It was dreadful… I knew then I had a career in comics!” He returned to college but later received the order of the boot. “A script arrived from DC Thomson’s Starblazer and I was so amazed I ended up going to the pub for three weeks, spending the money I thought I was going to get,” adding, “then realised Thomson’s didn’t pay that much!” It took six months to complete.

“I was surprised that they sent me another script, but I ended up working on Starblazer for about two years. After it folded, a script arrived from the new Eagle, out of the blue.” Commissioned to produce one-off stories that were to last for only a few weeks, editor Barry Tomlinson liked the results so, “they carried them on for a year.”

When Eagle went to monthly reprints, a phone call to the Victor’s editor, Ken Peters as the twists of fate would have it brought a reply from The Beano asking him to draw General Jumbo. After being seen, Victor sent him Man for Hire scripts. “I drew that in black and white for a while, then moved on to do Nightmare Zone in colour.” He also coloured Robin Smith’s Transformers for Marvel UK. “I quite enjoyed it, although I don’t know where they appeared.” But Burrows is assured where other work appears. Commando editor George Low asked him to do cover work for the digest comic, “which I’ve been doing ever since.”

“Garry Leach thought I’d be right and should show London Editions my work,” he says of his Red Dwarf assignments. He found preparing samples fine, but as for the initial batch of comic book work? “I didn’t have many photos to base them on, and I didn’t want to draw one large close-up with lots of little images; I tried to make it flow as a story and interpretations of the book rather than the TV series, which I don’t think went down too well. After the third issue, I actually tried to make sure they looked just like them.”

A chance conversation with Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley led to Burrows being asked to draw a prequel to the Doctor Giggles movie for three issues of Dark Horse Presents. Laughing, he attempts to explain the weird storyline scripted by Manny Coto.

“He’s a genius surgeon who can work out any complaint immediately, but unfortunately his methods are to slice people up instead. Sewing their lips together etc. Lovely! “Basically, he’s a psychopath!” “I’m also inking Kent Burles, with Bill Spicer lettering on a mini-series adaptation of the film.”

Burrows isn’t fond of the paper the penciller’s used but finds the work enjoyable, if not relaxing. “I’m trying to follow him line-for-line at the moment rather than change his work, which I’d hate anyone to do to mine.” He’s not sure how Tundra UK’s current circumstances will affect his Funguys. “They wanted one of their regulars, Ian Eddington, to script it. Ian’s ideas sounded really good, but we’ll have to see what the future brings.” Something that’s been gathering dust for two-and-a-half years is A Guide to Comic Scripting, written by Dave Taylor and to be published by Robert Hayle Ltd.

“I drew half the book, but with other commitments I was unable to complete it. Bill Storie’s taken over the rest of the job with me just doing designs and rough layouts.”

“Basically it’s an adventure with two people, they travel through this world from a living room and by the end of the story you should have learnt how to write comics.” With around 112 pages in the price range of £8, it looks set to be an essential Christmas purchase. Alan’s also expressed an interest in illustrating How to Break into the Comics’ Business - The Real Way! whilst looking forward to other projects, which he’s keeping uncharacteristically quiet about…

Interview © 1993 Paul H. Birch