John M. Burns

English comics artist (1938–2023)

Burns art from the Nikolai Dante strip

John M. Burns (1938 – 29 December 2023) was an English comics artist, with a career stretching back to the mid-1960s.

Biography

His initial work was as an illustrator for Junior Express and School Friend.^[4] During the 1960s, Burns worked on TV Century 21 and its sister magazines, including the Space Family Robinson series in Lady Penelope.

For a while he drew daily comics strips for newspapers The Daily Sketch, The Daily Mirror and The Sun, including The Seekers, Danielle and, for a period succeeding Enrique Romero during 1978–79, Modesty Blaise.^[4]

Burns moved on to illustrate TV tie-in strips for Look-in, always scripted by Angus Allan. He also worked on the title story for Countdown.

Burns was already well known by the start of the 1980s, but it was when he made the crossover to 2000 AD (along with fellow Look-in alumni Jim Baikie and Arthur Ranson) that his position in British comics was cemented.

In 1991 Burns began by working on Judge Dredd. By his own admission, Burns did not enjoy drawing science fiction strips, and the uniform of Judge Dredd he found unpleasant to draw.^[5] However, in 2007 Burns began working on Nikolai Dante, another science fiction strip.

Burns co-created (with Robbie Morrison) a contemporary adventure strip, The Bendatti Vendetta, for the Judge Dredd Megazine; this was rare for the title in having no science fiction or fantasy elements at all.

In 2008, he finished an adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, whose script was rendered by Amy Corzine, for UK publisher Classical Comics.^[6] He previously worked on similar adaptions of Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore and, later, Wuthering Heights by Brontë's sister Emily.

In October 2023 he announced his retirement.^[7] He died in a hospital on 29 December 2023.^[8]

His new series Nightmare, New York, for 2000 AD, is to be published posthumously in 2024.^[9]

Bibliography

• Judge Dredd:
  • "Garbage Disposal" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #738, 1991)
  • "Twilight's Last Gleaming" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #754–756, 1991)
  • "The Art of Geomancy" (with Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #762–765, 1991–92)
  • "Raider" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #810–814, 1992)
  • "Virtual Unreality" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD Yearbook 1994, 1993)
  • "Part Exchange" (with Dan Abnett, in 2000 AD #903, 1994)
  • "The Exterminator" (first two episodes, with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #919–920, 1994)
  • "Horror House" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD Winter Special, 1994)
  • "Statue of Judgement" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #954, 1995)
  • "The Cal Files" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #959–963, 1995)
  • "Lonesome Dave" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1031–1032, 1997)
  • "Holiday Special" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1053, 1997)
  • "Sleaze" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 3 #40, 1998)
  • "Stone Killer" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 3 #43, 1998)
  • "The Scorpion Dance" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1125–1132, 1998–99)
  • "Cheating Drokkers" (with Robbie Morrison, in 2000 AD #1272, 2001)
  • "Bad Manners" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 4 #4, 2001)
  • "First Blood" (with Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #1277, 2002)
  • "Necrophage" (with Gordon Rennie, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 4 #11, 2002)
  • "Revenge of the Chief Judge's Man" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1342–1349, 2003)
  • "Bite Fight!" (with John Smith, in Judge Dredd Megazine #224–225, 2004)
  • "Master of Fear" (with Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #1375–77, 2004)
  • "All is Bright" (with Michael Carroll, in Judge Dredd Megazine #331, 2013)
  • "Sealed" (with Michael Carroll, in 2000 AD #1816, 2013)
  • "Shotgun" (with Michael Carroll, in Judge Dredd Megazine #335, 2013)
  • "Ferals" (with Emma Beeby, in 2000 AD #1858–61, 2013)
• Doctor Sin: "The Strange Case of the Wyndham Demon" (with John Smith, in 2000 AD Action Special, 1992)
• Black Light: "Survivor Syndrome" (with Dan Abnett/Steve White, in 2000 AD #1001–1005, 1996)
• Vector 13:
  • "Thrillkill" (with Brian Williamson, in 2000 AD #974, 1996)
  • "Screaming Friar" (with Brian Williamson, in 2000 AD #993, 1996)
• Penthouse Comix:
  • "Abducted by Aliens" (with Eliot R. Brown/George Caragonne/Buzz Dixon, in Penthouse Comix #17–20, 1996–1997)
  • "Zheena: Deadlier Than The Male" (with Ian Edginton, in Penthouse Comix No. 26, 1997)
• Nikolai Dante (with Robbie Morrison):
  • "Cruel Seas" (in 2000 AD #1148–1149, 1999)
  • "Requiem for Lost Love" (in 2000 AD #1150, 1999)
  • "Rudinshtein Irregulars " (in 2000 AD #1183–1190, 2000)
  • "Love and War" (in 2000 AD #1200–1207, 2000)
  • "One Last Night in the House of Sin" (in 2000 AD prog 2001, 2000)
  • "The Romanov Empire" (in 2000 AD #1250–1262, 2001)
  • "Hell and High Water" (in 2000 AD prog 2003 & #1322–1328, 2002–2003)
  • "The Sea Falcon" (in 2000 AD prog 2004, 2003)
  • "Agent of Destruction" (in 2000 AD prog 2005 & #1420–1427, 2004–2005)
  • "How could you believe me when I said I loved you when you know I've been a liar all my life?" (in 2000 AD #1428–1431, 2005)
  • "Primal Screams" (in 2000 AD #1433–1436, 2005)
  • "Devil's Deal" (in 2000 AD prog 2006, 2005)
  • "Usurper" (in 2000 AD #1487–1489, 2006)
  • "The Depths" (in 2000 AD #1500–1501, 2006)
  • "Dragon's Island" (in 2000 AD #1502–1507, 2006)
  • "The Road of Bones" (in 2000 AD prog 2007, 2006)
  • "Deadlier than the Male" (in 2000 AD #1518–1520, 2007)
  • "The Beast of Rudinshtein" (in 2000 AD #1532–1535, 2007)
  • "The Dissenter" (in 2000 AD #1537, 2007)
  • "The Chaperone" (in 2000 AD #1560–1564, 2007)
  • "Destiny's Child" (in 2000 AD prog 2008, 2007)
  • "The Tsar's Daughter" (in 2000 AD #1578–1580, 2008)
  • "Prisoner of the Tzar" (in 2000 AD #1612-1616, 2008)
  • "Bring me the Head of Nikolai Dante" (in 2000 AD prog 2009)
  • "Hero of the Revolution" (in 2000 AD, prog 2010, #1666-1675, 2010)
  • "The Master of Krondstadt" (in "2000 AD", #1705-1708, 2010)
  • "The Dante Gambit" (in "2000 AD", #1774-1779, 2012)
• The Scarlet Apocrypha: "Necrocultura" (with Dan Abnett, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.12, 2002)
• The Bendatti Vendetta (with Robbie Morrison):
  • "The Bendatti Vendetta" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.13–18, 2002)
  • "Blooded" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #209–211, 2003)
  • "See Naples and Die" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #234–236, 2005)
• Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte, adapted by Amy Corzine, 144 pages, Classical Comics, Spring 2008, ISBN 978-1-906332-06-8, ISBN 978-1-906332-08-2)
• Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte, adapted by Sean Michael Wilson, Classical Comics, 2011)
• Angel Zero (with Kek-W, in 2000 AD #1751–1763, 2011)
• Sinister Dexter:
  • "Malone Again" (with Dan Abnett, in 2000 AD #1832–35, 2013)
  • "In Plain Shite" (with Dan Abnett, in 2000 AD #1836–40, 2013)
• Future Shocks: "Immunity" (with Eddie Robson, in 2000 AD #1870, 2014)
• The Order (with Kek-W):
  • "The Order" (in 2000 AD "Prog 2015" and #1912–1922, 2014–15)
  • "In the Court of the Wyrmqueen" (in 2000 AD #1961–1972, 2015–16)
  • "Wyrm War" (in 2000 AD #2011–2022, 2016–17)
  • "The New World" (in 2000 AD #2087–2099, 2018)
  • "Inbetween Days" (in 2000 AD #2182, 2020)
  • "Land of the Free" (in 2000 AD #2184–2195, 2020)
  • "Fantastic Voyage" (in 2000 AD #2262–2272, 2021–22)
  • "Heart of Darkness" (in 2000 AD #2317–2324 & 2326–2329, 2023)

Interviews

• Ark #28 (1989)
• Judge Dredd Megazine #224 (2004)
• True Brit (Twomorrows Publishing, 2004)
• Vworp Vworp Vol. 3 (2007)

References

1. "Other American [sic] Awards," Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
2. ER. "International Miscellanea: 1993 UK Comic Art Awards," The Comics Journal #161 (August 1993), p. 40.
3. Previous Winners: 2006 at the official Eagle Awards website, archived at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 16 January 2020.)
4. "John M. Burns". Comiclopedia. Lambiek.
5. David Bishop. "Interrogation – John Burns Veteran," Judge Dredd Megazine #224 (2004).
6. Classical Comics – Bringing classics to life Archived 18 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
7. Down the Tubes
8. "In Memoriam: Comic Artist John M. Burns" by John Freeman, at downthetubes.net, 1 January 2024
9. 2000 AD #2365, 17 January 2024, p. 2

External links

• 2000 AD profile
• Career retrospective at 2000ad.com, 9 October 2023