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Cliff Robinson

Started by JayzusB.Christ, 25 September, 2020, 09:40:24 PM

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JayzusB.Christ

It's just occurred to me that he must be one of Tharg's longest-serving art droids at this stage - possible the longest, now Carlos is gone?  It baffles me, too, that he wasn't snapped up by the yanks during the great exodus of the 80s and 90s - personally I've never seen his work anywhere outside of the House of Tharg.

What's more, his work just gets better and better - that last Meg cover was utterly amazing.  His Dredd is entirely his own - over the years he's added more and more subtle detail to the uniform, to the point where it's got more bells and whistles attached than any other artist's version, but it totally works.

Robinson:  He's the Bolland who stayed.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

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Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 25 September, 2020, 09:40:24 PM
Robinson:  He's the Bolland who stayed.

Bolland is great and all, but he's no Cliff Robinson.
You may quote me on that.

Colin YNWA

Great call. He clearly excels with covers. Would be lovely though if he had a strip that really defined his time with 2000ad. I mean aside from Mother Earth... though maybe that's the thing maybe he's so good at the covers that those are his defining works?

TordelBack

#3
Agree about him getting his own definitive strip (other than Mother Earth),  but several of his too-rare Dredd episodes are top-tier: Zombies for example chokes me up every time, he gets so much expression into the expressionless test subjects. Then there's the Warlord epilogue, with great designs fir Silver and his new Council of Five, that must be one of the single parts I re-read most often.The original Simp story is another piece of design genius, as are Rennie's Couch Potato stories

And for the record I far prefer a modern Robinson cover to a modern Bolland one.

dweezil2

I thought Robinson's art on the Couch Potatoes Dredd strips was simply stunning!
He's easily one of my favourite artists and deserves all the acclaim he receives!
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Richard

Very good call. He doesn't get nearly as much credit as he deserves. He's a fantastic artist.

broodblik

He is the king of covers, he has done the most covers for the prog. I think his tally is about 122. How he draws Dredd's face that is how I always see Dredd.
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JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: TordelBack on 25 September, 2020, 11:39:44 PM
And for the record I far prefer a modern Robinson cover to a modern Bolland one.

Me too, now you mention it.

And yeah, Zombies was brilliant.  A [erfect combination of writing and illustration.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

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Love Cliff's work, me. Strikes me as the perfect fusion of early Bolland and Ron Smith.

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JayzusB.Christ

As a matter of interest, is he actually Tharg's longest-serving active art droid?  Can't think of anyone who's been around longer.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 26 September, 2020, 04:16:30 PM
As a matter of interest, is he actually Tharg's longest-serving active art droid?  Can't think of anyone who's been around longer.

A somewhat intermittent career, but I think Brendan McCarthy wins the award for the artist who's still (occasionally) working for His Verdant Majesty. Cliff's first appearance was Prog 362 (according to BARNEY) where Brendan's is Prog 82. John Higgins' debut prog was 108 (yes, that surprised me, too!).
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Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 September, 2020, 04:26:44 PM
Cliff's first appearance was Prog 362

That just blew my mind - I always think of Cliff Robinson in the same mental breath as Brian Bolland, Cam Kennedy or Steve Dillon.

Always the most fascinating art - there's something bendy about his straight lines that I've always appreciated. I don't know how else to put it. Always just a joy.

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JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 September, 2020, 04:26:44 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 26 September, 2020, 04:16:30 PM
As a matter of interest, is he actually Tharg's longest-serving active art droid?  Can't think of anyone who's been around longer.

A somewhat intermittent career, but I think Brendan McCarthy wins the award for the artist who's still (occasionally) working for His Verdant Majesty. Cliff's first appearance was Prog 362 (according to BARNEY) where Brendan's is Prog 82. John Higgins' debut prog was 108 (yes, that surprised me, too!).

I'd forgotten about Brendan McCarthy! He's been through quite the journey too.  From a relatively straightforward style, to a truly unique one for Sooner or Later and a radically different Dredd design that he somehow got away with.  Then there were the Shade the Changing Man covers, where the brief seemed to be 'have a quick read of the script then do whatever the hell you like'.  Glad he's still with Tharg too.

John Higgins too; I think the only art droid I've ever actually met (not being much of a one for conventions).  His gimlet-eyed Dredd and harsh lines made him the ideal, er, candidate for the democracy storyline - I kind of preferred that to his modern, more curvy-lined style, but he's doing amazing work on Mike Carroll's early judge story.  And he coloured in Watchmen, lest we forget.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

AlexF

I'm legally obliged to post this link  :D

http://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.com/2015/08/no-42-cliff-robinson.html
-and it's still the number 2 listing on Google when I type in 'Cliff Robinson 2000AD' which is ample proof the  man doesn't get the love he deserves!

His covers really are wonderful, although I think it's important to give a fair bit of credit to Dylan Teague, who has been colouring them for maybe a decade at this point - brings a lot to the already substantial textures. Absolutely agree that Robinson's design sense at this point outshines Bolland when it comes to Dredd.

His strips often contained some stunning panels; I love the way he draws water gushing down on people e.g. in the one Game Show (of Death) story.

Rately

Quote from: broodblik on 26 September, 2020, 04:51:50 AM
He is the king of covers, he has done the most covers for the prog. I think his tally is about 122. How he draws Dredd's face that is how I always see Dredd.

I'm with you on this!

The covers he has drawn over the years, especially the Dredd stuff is just so unique, and the energy he brings to that Clint Eastwood-esque Dredd is so visceral.

That model sheet of his for Dredd is just brilliant as well. They should have taken all the different pieces he drew and turned them into posters.