British artist John M. Burns, best known for his work on
Judge Dredd, Nikolai Dante, and other
2000AD series, died on December 29, 2023.
Burns was born in 1938 and got his start at Link Studios, an art agency run by Doris White that provided artwork for a number of titles, and Burns’ artwork ran in
Girls’ Crystal and
School Friend, as well as the
Champion the Wonder Horse Annual.
After leaving to serve in the Air Force in Singapore, he returned to the UK and to the drawing board, working on adaptations of
Wuthering Heights and
Great Expectations, as well as original stories, for the girls’ comic
Diana, as well as comics based on
The Space Family Robinson, Space 1999, and others for
TV21, Look-In, and
Lady Penelope. During this time his work also appeared in
Wham, Eagle, and
Robin. He did newspaper work, including
The Seekers, a newspaper strip that ran from 1966 to 1971 and was reprinted in the U.S., where it ran in
The Menominee Falls Gazette (see “
R.I.P. R.C. Harvey”), and
Modesty Blaise, which he took over in 1978-79.
In 1991, Burns began drawing
Judge Dredd with the story “Garbage Disposal,” written by Garth Ennis, in
2000AD #738. He continued to draw Judge Dredd stories for over 20 years, working with writers Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Dan Abnett, among others. From 1999 to 2012 he collaborated with Robbie Morrison on
Nikolai Dante, which ran in
2000AD; the two also worked together on
The Bendatti Vendetta for
Judge Dredd Megazine. More recently, he had been working with Kek-W on
The Order, another
2000AD series. A final joint project with Kek-W,
Nightmare New York, will be published in
2000AD later this year.
While most of his work was done for British publishers, Burns did covers and interiors for Marvel’s
Sable & Fortune #1-3, as well as the cover for #4, in 2006.
Most of Burns’ work was fully painted, and according to the obituary posted on the
2000AD website, he submitted his artwork as physical copies, which he sent to the office in poster tubes. “His work had a wonderfully tangible quality as a result, his incredibly detailed paints leaving the office marvelling over every single panel he created,” the obituary said.
Burns won a UK Comic Art Award Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993 and the Eagle Awards 30th Anniversary Award for Outstanding Achievements in British comics in 2007.
