RIP John Hicklenton: The Flying 2000AD Artist Dies At Digitas
RIP John Hicklenton. A talented comic book artist, who worked on cult British comic 2000 AD, Hicklenton, had suffered from multiple sclerosis for 10 years. He died at the Swiss clinic Dignitas.
“The doctor, a locum, just stared at her computer screen,” he told the Telegraph, “and never once looking at me, said: ‘You’ve got MS. You’ll be dead in 12 to 15 years.’ Just like that.”
“Drawing is my walking now, I run with it, I fly with it. It’s keeping me alive. I have a thing with it. I can’t wait to get a piece of paper with a pen because it’s what I can control. I haven’t got MS when I’m looking at my pictures and I haven’t got it when I’m drawing them either. It gives me an ability to express that fear.’
On getting good at what you love:
Later, I was reading 2000AD (from about prog 4 or 5) at a recreation ground – it’s a very clear memory. I opened it up and, at the time, Flesh was in there and a Stegosaur or a Tyrannosaur was being dropped into a mincer. I literally just gave my mates my football, went home and just drew obsessively every day for 8 hours a day. I lived for it.
On taking the chance:
I was good friends at college with a girl called Hannah Smith and at the time I had no idea that her dad was Ron Smith. She’d seen that I’d done a little doodle of Dredd, because I’d done a lot of classes with her, and said “my dad draws that!” She told me who he was and I was already a massive fan by then. So it was near Christmas and, very calculatingly, I did her a fully painted Christmas card with an image of Judge Dredd that I’d spent about 6 weeks doing. After seeing that, he asked to meet me and told me he thought that “the card was really good and you obviously love Dredd”.
RIP
Posted: 29th, March 2010 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
