Artist Portfolio Jock

The British artist tells Gary evans how an unconventional portfolio review led to Batman, Superman and Hollywood

- Gary Evans

Jock remembers waiting in line to see Glenn Fabry in 1995. He’d hitchhiked to a comic con – all the way from Devon in southwest England to Glasgow in Scotland. He went with a friend. The pair had painted together for six months, often staying up all night to do so. Neither had any paid work, but they felt ready to show their portfolios to the professionals.

He was 22 at the time. His friend – fellow comic artist Dom Reardon – was just 18. Jock reached the front of the line. Glenn, an artist who’d painted some of comic’s most famous characters, glanced as his work and said: ‘Why are you showing it to me? F*** off and make some money.’

“It was our first big trip, young and coy, and Glenn was the first person we showed our work to,” says Jock. “He essentially said, ‘Great. Why are you showing me? Go make cash from it.’

“Persistence. The only advice I can give is persistence. If we’re honest with ourselves, and literally compare your work to someone else’s, you know whether you’ve got something, or if there’s at least potential that you’ll have something. I tried to be realistic about it. Not in denial. It’s persistence.”

His persistence certainly paid off. The British comic book artist – real name Mark Simpson – has worked for 2000 AD, Marvel and DC. He created one the most iconic covers in recent memory: Detective Comics #880 features his brilliant and terrifying vision of the Joker. More recently, he moved into the film industry. Jock created art for Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight trilogy, Dredd, Star Wars: Episode VIII, and the Oscar winning Ex Machina. But it’s been a long road from that first meeting with Glenn Fabry to where he is now.

FROM NORTH TO SOUTH