John Burns with a copy of small-press magazine FutureQuake

For other people named Burns, see Burns (disambiguation).

John Burns (sometimes John M. Burns) is a British comicbook artist, with a career stretching back to the mid-1960's. Cover to FutureQuake issue 5, by Charlie Adlard. ... Burns refers to: Robert Burns, pioneer of the Romantic movement and Scotlands national poet Burns (clan), a Scottish clan several places: Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community Eagle County, Colorado Burns, Kansas, town Marion County, Kansas Burns, New South Wales was a town on the border of New South Wales-South... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ...

Beginning by drawing Modesty Blaise, and moving on to illustrate TV tie-in strips for now-defunct title Look-In, always scripted by Angus P. Allan, Burns was already well-known by the start of the 1980's. But it was when he made the crossover to 2000AD, along with fellow look-In alumni Jim Baikie and Arthur Ranson, that his position as one of the British comics greats was truly cemented. Cover of the first Modesty Blaise novel. ... A tie-in is an authorized product that is based on an existing or upcoming media property, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. ... As almost the only script writer employed by television listings comic Look-In in the 1970s, Angus Allan (sometimes also credited as Angus P. Allan) was responsible for original comic strip adaptations of, among others, such well-known 70s and 80s TV series as: Catweazle Adventures of David Cassidy... Cover of the first issue of 2000 AD, 26 February 1977. ... British comic strip artist Jim Baikie collaborated with Alan Moore on Skizz, then went on to both write and illustrate Skizz II and Skizz III for 2000AD. Before his 2000AD work, Baikie had been known principally for his work in TV comics of the 1970s and 80s, working... Arthur Ransons photorealistic drawing style has been gracing British comics since the early 1970s. ...

Burns began by working on Judge Dredd, a strip to which he continues to contribute to this day. By his own admission (in a 2004 interview with David Bishop in the Judge Dredd Megazine), Burns does not enjoy drawing science fiction strips, and the look of Judge Dredd is one that he finds particularly unpleasant to draw: this is ironic, as his version has drawn much reader acclaim. Judge Dredd (Joseph Dredd or Joe Dredd) is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazines longest running (having been featured there since its second issue in 1977). ... David Bishop is the New Zealand born editor of British comics the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD. Generally agreed to have been the man who began to reverse the steep decline in sales suffered by both titles in the early 1990s, Bishop has been responsible for discovering many... Judge Dredd Megazine is a British magazine featuring comic strips set in the world of Judge Dredd, launched in October 1990. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...

Burns art from the Nikolai Dante strip

Recently, Burns lobbied to work on the Nikolai Dante strip, and has proved so successful that he is now considered the lead artist on the story. He has also co-created (with Robbie Morrison) a contemporary adventure strip, the Bendatti Vendetta, for the Megazine. this is unique for the title in having no science fiction or fantasy elements at all. Lobbying is the professional practice of public affairs advocacy, with the goal of influencing a governing body by promoting a point of view. ... Nikolai Dante is the eponymous hero of a comics series published in the weekly British science fiction anthology 2000 AD. Created by writer Robbie Morrison and artist Simon Fraser, Dante first appeared in 1997. ... Robbie Morrison is a British comics writer most known for his work in 2000 AD and as the co-creator of popular character Nikolai Dante. ...

Burns' work is fully painted, and can seem old-fashioned but very solidly crafted.

External links

• 2000 AD profile