GIBBONS, DAVE

   Working name of prolific, award-winning UK COMIC-strip artist David Chester Gibbons (1949-); using a bold, firm line style, he specializes in the SUPERHERO genre. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, he trained as a surveyor and began his artistic career providing ILLUSTRATIONS and strips for fanzines. He turned professional in 1973, drawing The Wriggling Wrecker for the D.C. Thompson comic Wizard. Further strips with an sfflavour followed until, in 1975, he began work on the Nigerian superhero Powerman, his monthly 16pp episodes alternating with those by BrianBOLLAND to produce a fortnightly publication schedule. DG was one of the initial team of artists on 2,000 AD, drawing Harlem Heroes and Robusters and co-creating Rogue Trooper with writer Gerry Finley-Day. DG drew a number of DR WHO episodes for the UK division of MARVEL COMICS, and in 1981 began a long association with the US publisher DC COMICS, drawing TheCreeper, 12 issues of Green Lantern and a SUPERMAN tale called "For the Man who Has Everything", written by Alan MOORE. His greatest achievement to date, also written by Moore, has been the phenomenally successful WATCHMEN (12-vol series 1986-7; graph 1987 US; with additional material1988 US); this ALTERNATE-WORLD superhero story, rich in semiotics, won a special category for Best Other Forms in the 1988 Hugo Awards (HUGO for discussion of this category). DG's next major project was Give Me Liberty (graph 1990), written by Frank MILLER. DG has recently begun to establishhimself as a writer with a Superman/Batman team-up (1991), a Batman vs Predator comic book (1992) and World's Finest (1993), all for DC.

   RT

   See also: DAN DARE - PILOT OF THE FUTURE; GRAPHIC NOVEL.