Lawrence did not limit himself solely to Trigan Empire and Storm and other strips he drew include Fireball XL5 and The Adventures of Tarzan for TV Century 21, Carrie for the men's magazine Mayfair and a number of one-off strips for various Dutch publishers.Ī number of partly completed and unpublished comic strips appeared in the series Don Lawrence Collection, published in the Netherlands.
The first volume, The Deep World, was based on a concept by Martin Lodewijk but written by Philip Dunn. After an abortive start on a strip entitled Commander Grek written by his friend Vince Wernham, Lawrence found success with Storm. Lawrence departed after discovering how widely the strip was syndicated abroad and was immediately offered work on a new Dutch comic called Eppo. Lawrence was to draw the strip in the pages of Ranger and Look and Learn until 1976. When the ailing Sun merged with Lion, Lawrence switched to swashbuckling historical strips, Olac the Gladiator, Karl the Viking and Maroc the Mighty.Ī colour strip produced for Lion Annual 1965 ('Karl the Viking and the Tideless Sea') led to Lawrence being offered colour work in Bible Story magazine and the sprawling science fantasy The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire which debuted in Ranger in 1965. After an argument with Anglo over pay rates, he found work with Odhams Press, drawing Wells Fargo for Zip, and with the Amalgamated Press (now renamed Fleetway Publications), contributing episodes of Billy the Kid to the comic Sun. Lawrence worked for Anglo for four years, drawing the adventures of superhero Marvelman and various Western comic strips. Lawrence was inspired to take some samples to an editor at Amalgamated Press who suggested he try showing them to Mick Anglo, who ran a studio packaging comic strips for a London publisher and magazine distributor, Len Miller. Shortly before, a former student had visited the school to show students the work he was doing as a letterer on comic strips. After joining the Army for his National Service, Lawrence used his gratuity to study art at Borough Polytechnic Institute (now the London South Bank University) but failed his final exams. Early lifeīorn in East Sheen, a suburb of London, Lawrence was educated at St. Famous for his realistic and detailed style, he was an inspiration for later UK comic-book artists like Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons and Chris Weston (indeed, Weston was taught by Lawrence). Lawrence is best known for his comic strips The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn and the Storm series, first published in the Dutch weekly Eppo (later relaunched as Sjors & Sjimmie) and subsequently in album form.
Par.Donald Southam Lawrence (17 November 1928 – 29 December 2003) was a British comic book artist and author. The most forgettable comics I have ever owned.PS One thing that always baffled me - does one pronounce Trigo or Trigan with a hard or soft "g"? Can't imagine that in a Marvel or DC book they'd have appeared by the weekend. One aspect of the stories that did impress me was epic scope, and that they weren't afraid to have stories stretch out over reasonable lengths of time - I recall one where Trigo and his brother disappear, and turn up as slaves on an enemy trireme.some six moths later. And I agree, the stories in themselves aren't really that great - but the whole idea is such a good one, and Lawrence's artwork so lush that you just can't help but forgive it and go along for the ride. I first came across the strip in the early 70s editions of "Look and Learn" that the school library had on order.didn't see it again till the "Vulcan" reprints and ultimately the aforementioned book. Yes, that particular book certainly seemed to be doing the rounds back in the late 70s - I picked mine up in a pile of remaindered editions at a department store.I'm told they can fetch a pretty penny these days!
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