Frazer Irving (born in the 1970s,
Ilford,
Essex) is a British comic book artist known for the
2000 AD series
Necronauts. Since breaking into the American market he has worked on a number of superhero titles, including a number with
Grant Morrison.
Early life and education
Irving studied art at the
University of Portsmouth,
England, after which he took various temporary jobs in
London.
Career
Irving has worked on
Storming Heaven, a psychedelic tale based around
Timothy Leary and
Charles Manson (written by
Gordon Rennie), and
The Simping Detective and
From Grace written by
Simon Spurrier.
He has done illustration work for RPG companies like Wizards of the Coast, Hogshead Publishing and Guardians of Order, as well as small press publications like The End Is Nigh. He also does animations on Flash for advertising agencies.
Irving's style owes something to the art of Bernie Wrightson, but with a computer-driven edge. His work on Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy, has received some praise in the United States and writer Grant Morrison said:
This led to further work at both of the Big Two, including Ironman: Inevitable. Recent projects include Gutsville with Simon Spurrier and Marvel's Silent War a six-issue mini-series featuring the Inhumans written by David Hine. As part of the Battle for the Cowl storyline he is providing the art for the Azrael mini-series written by Fabian Nicieza.
Irving is responsible for the artwork on the Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential phase CD release of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series adaptation.
He will also be providing the art on an arc of Grant Morrison's Batman & Robin series for DC, which was initially announced as following Philip Tan's arc was the pushed back to after Cameron Stewart's run on the series and was finally confirmed to be in the issues after Andy Clarke's stint, starting in issue #13, in addition to drawing the second issue of The Return of Bruce Wayne. Other projects include the X-Men one-shot which was part of Brian Reed's Timestorm 2009-2099 and, with Phil Hester, the first and last issue of Days Missing for Archaia Studios Press. He has been announced as the artist for a new Xombi series for DC Comics, which is slated to launch in 2011.
Bibliography
Comics
Tharg's Future Shocks (with Steve Moore):
* "The Last Supper" (in 2000 AD #1205, 2000)
* "Skeleton Crew" (in 2000 AD #1209, 2000)
*Necronauts (with Gordon Rennie, in 2000 AD Prog 2000 & #1223-1230, trade paperback, 2001, ISBN 1-904265-09-X)
A Love Like Blood (with John Smith, in 2000 AD #1243-1249, 2001)
*Tharg's Terror Tales (with Gordon Rennie):
* "Reefer Madness" (in 2000 AD #1263, 2001)
* "Mars Needs Mates!" (in 2000 AD #1285, 2002)
* "Monsters of Rock" (in 2000 AD Prog 2004, 2003)
*Sinister Dexter: "Black and White" (with Dan Abnett, in 2000 AD #1268, 2001)
Storming Heaven (with Gordon Rennie, in 2000 AD Prog 2002 & #1273-1278, 2001–2002)
The Scarlet Apocrypha: "The Spirit and the Gaki" (with Dan Abnett, in Judge Dredd Megazine (vol. 4) #14, 2002)
*Judge Death (with John Wagner, collected in Judge Death: My Name is Death, 112 pages, 2005, ISBN 1-904265-73-1):
* "My Name is Death" (in 2000 AD #1289-1294, 2002)
* "The Wilderness Days" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #209-216, 2003–2004)
*The Authority: "" (with Robbie Morrison, one-shot, Wildstorm, 2003)
(with Peter Lenkov, 4-issue mini-series, Dark Horse Comics, 2003, tpb, 2003, Dark Horse, ISBN 1-56971-781-8, Titan Books, ISBN 1-84023-579-9)
From Grace (with Simon Spurrier, in 2000 AD #1357-1361, 2003)
PlagueBringer: (with Simon Spurrier, in Warhammer Monthly, #84-85, 2004)
Shaun of the Dead: "There's Something About Mary" (with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, in 2000 AD #1384, 2004)
*The Simping Detective (with Simon Spurrier, tpb, 144 pages, September 2007, ISBN 1-905437-44-7) collects:
*Mega-City Noir: "Gumshoe" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #220, 2004)
* "Crystal Blue" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #221-223, 2004)
* "Innocence: A Broad" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #224-226, 2004)
* "Dorks of War" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #227, 2004)
* "Playing Futsie" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #234-236, 2005)
* "Fifteen" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #237, 2005)
* "Petty Crimes" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #238-239, 2005)
* "No Body, No How" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #253-257, 2007)
*The End Is Nigh:
* "Thirty-Seven Degrees" (illustrating short story by Richmond Clements, #1, 2005)
* "A Very English Apocalypse" (illustrating Michael Molcher's interview with Alan Moore, #2, 2005)
*Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy (with Grant Morrison, 4-issue mini-series, DC Comics, 2005)
Hellblazer #213: "The Gift" (with Mike Carey, Vertigo, 2005, collected in tpb The Gift, 2007, ISBN 1-40121-453-3)
Frankenstein (with Gary Reed, graphic novel, Puffin Books, 2005, ISBN 0-14-240407-1, Spotlight, 2006, ISBN 1-59961-116-3)
Iron Man: Inevitable (with Joe Casey, 6-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, 2006, tpb, 144 pages, September 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2084-X)
Beneath (
Flash animation with Simon Spurrier, in
The Telegraph Magazine 2006-02)
#8 (with Paul Jenkins, Marvel Comics, 2007)
Robin #157-158 (with Adam Beechen, DC Comics, February–March 2007, collected in tpb, Teenage Wasteland, 208 pages, November 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1480-0)
Gutsville (with Simon Spurrier, 6-issue limited series, , 2007, ongoing)
Inhumans: Silent War (with David Hine, 6-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, January–June 2007, tpb, 144 pages, October 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2425-X)
Button Man: "The Hitman's Daughter" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1551-1566, 2007)
"The Hole" (with Andy Schmidt, in , Marvel Comics, July 2008)
Azrael: Death's Dark Knight (with Fabian Nicieza, three-issue mini-series, DC Comics, March 2009)
Timestorm 2009-2099: X-Men (with Brian Reed, one-shot, Marvel Comics, August 2009)
Days Missing #1, 5 (with Phil Hester, 5-issue limited series, Archaia Studios Press, August 2009)
Forty-Five (with Andi Ewington and 44 other artists, graphic novel, Com.x, February 2010, ISBN 1615847138)
"The Cure" (with Kieron Gillen, in The Mystic Hands of Dr. Strange, one-shot, Marvel Comics, May 2010)
#2 (with Grant Morrison, DC Comics, July 2010)
Batman & Robin #13-16 (with Grant Morrison and , DC Comics, July–November 2010)
Collected editions
There are other
trade paperback collections of a number of his stories:
Storming Heaven: The Frazer Irving Collection (collects Storming Heaven, A Love Like Blood and From Grace and his two Shaun of the Dead tie-in comics, Rebellion, 144 pages, January 2007, ISBN 1-904265-77-4)
Role-playing games
Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games (New Style) (2000), Hogshead Publishing Ltd., Interior Artist, Cover Artist
Heaven and Earth Player's Guide, 2nd Ed. (2001), Guardians of Order, Interior Artist
Nobilis, 2nd Ed. (2002), Hogshead Publishing Ltd., Interior Artist
d20 Menace Manual (d20 Modern) (2003), Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
Eberron Campaign Setting (2004), Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual III (2004), Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
Awards
2001 National Comics Awards: Best New Talent - Tied win (for Necronauts)
2002
* National Comics Awards: Best New Talent
* Best New Talent, Diamond Comics Awards
2004 Graphic Novel of the Year, Diamond Comics Awards (for Necronauts)
Notes
References
Frazer Irving at 2000 AD online
Marvel artist, inker, colorist and covers profiles (currently the same results but that may change)
Frazer Irving at the RPG Database
External links
Frazer Irving at Red Slap
Interviews
Interview @ PopImage, June 2002
Brief interview with Ninth Art circa 2002
REFLECTIONS: Talking with Frazer Irving, Comic Book Resources, April 1, 2007
Interview on the Bullpen Bulletins Podcast 2007
Videocast: Frazer Irving at the New York Comic Con 2007
Droid Interrogation: An Exclusive Interview with Frazer Irving on Gutsville, Batman & Robin, Days Missing… and More!, Hypergeek, August 21, 2009
Category:1970s births
Category:Dungeons & Dragons artists
Category:Fantasy artists
Category:Horror artists
Category:Living people
Category:People from Ilford
