Bolland, Brian 1951-

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BOLLAND, Brian 1951-

PERSONAL:

Born March 26, 1951, in Butterwick, Lincolnshire, England.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Graphic artist, comics writer and illustrator, and commercial artist.

WRITINGS:

(With others) Camelot 3000 (collection; originally published in comic-book format), DC Comics (New York, NY), 1988.

(Illustrator) Alan Moore, Batman: The Killing Joke, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1988.

(With others) Batman: Black and White (collection) two volumes, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1998, 2002.

Illustrator for comic series, including "Powerman," "Green Lantern," "Camelot 3000," "Batman," and "Freak Show," and of strips, including "Judge Dredd"; creator, writer, and illustrator of strips, including "Mr. Mamoulian" and "The Actress and the Bishop"; contributor of artwork to comics and of short stories to anthologies, including Taboo.

ADAPTATIONS:

The "Judge Dredd" comic-book series was adapted as a film starring Sylvester Stallone.

SIDELIGHTS:

Brian Bolland is a multitalented artist and writer who has created his own comic strips, drawn those written by others, and designed covers for various series. His artwork can also be found on posters, T-shirts, and complementing the work of other comics writers. His first strip appeared in the underground magazine Oz in the early 1970s, and a few years later he drew the character of Powerman, a black superhero.

Bolland, who studied graphic design from 1969 to 1974, was interviewed by a writer for Moles online. When asked to recall his memories of those early days and whether he was a member of the counterculture, Bolland said that he was "hardly a member of the counterculture. I was essentially a farmer's son from rural England. But I did have the long hair and beard and looked like Jesus—and I brought all the freakiest records and read all the countercultural magazines of the time. Thanks to magazines like Oz, It, Friendz in England and Zap comics and all the rest in the United States, it was a very fertile time, creatively. It was a good time to be a fledgling comic artist providing you didn't want to get paid for it."

Bolland may be best known for his years of drawing "Judge Dredd." The Moles interviewer commented that the film based on the series, and which starred Sylvester Stallone "was such a letdown," and asked Bolland how he would re-envision the film. Bolland replied that if another such film were made, an unknown actor should be used. "Throw in Judge Death and the gang, lots of very strange and funny CGI-enhanced mutants, guileless innocent citizens in ridiculous clothes who, through no fault of their own, get caught up in the mayhem and end up in iso-cubes. Throw in the League of Fatties and Otto Stump's Ugly Clinic. Throw in Don Uggie Apelino and the Ape Gang, including Joe Bananas and Fast Eek. Make Mega-City and the whole of its social structure an integral part of the story and you have a recipe for a good film—probably eight hours long!"

Bolland has also provided art for noted graphic novelist Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke, published by DC Comics. A reviewer for Grovel.org.uk called Bolland's artwork "stunning. The characters' expressions speak for themselves. Moore barely needs to fill the speech bubbles with dialogue, And John Higgins's colouring adds a dimension to Bolland's work that lifts it off the page."

Bolland's own comic-book creation, "Mr. Mamoulian," was described by a Dragon Con writer as his "alter ego. Mr. Mamoulian is in constant amazement of the occurrences that life presents him. He's a watcher rather than a doer, but judging from the actions of the doers in the Mamoulian stories, this confused little man would just as soon leave the doing to others."