Celebrating legendary artist Paul Neary, 18th December 1949 to 10th February 2024.
News emerged on Thursday night of Paul's passing after a long illness at the age of 74. As someone who grew up with comics in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Paul was as important to me as icons of the medium such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Byrne and Barry Windsor-Smith.
When the 'Marvel Revolution' took place in the UK in 1979, one of the things that made the comics pop out from the newsagents shelves were the covers, especially those by Paul Neary. There were nods to 'King' Kirby's muscular style but also Al Williamson's delicate line work. Of course, I knew little about either influence to be honest; as an 8-going-on-9 year old, all I cared about were stunning images of the Hulk in a threatening stance on a rooftop or Spider-Man facing down a charging rhino whilst The Chameleon gloated in perceived victory. These were the characters that I loved but rendered in a style that was somehow uniquely British.
Over the next 4-5 years, Paul's art could be found on the covers and inside Marvel UK titles featuring Spider-Man, Hulk, The Avengers, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Daredevil, Captain Britain and the X-Men.
Paul's work was also published in 2000AD (several "Future Shocks" short stories with Alan Moore) and Warrior. His Marvel UK work also led to work for the 'mother ship' in the US, the concluding issues of Ka-Zar The Savage and The Thing, the epic Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. series and a memorable 3-year run on Captain America.
In 1990, Paul Neary became editor-in-chief at Marvel UK and was responsible for a second 'Marvel Revolution', this time introducing a new and ambitious line of titles and characters intended to be every bit as successful as their 'big gun' siblings across the pond. By 1994, the line had imploded as forcefully as it had exploded but it left a lasting legacy and, more importantly, proved to be a launchpad for some incredible artistic talent.
Paul also established a formidable reputation as a collaborator, inking other artist's pencil work. Perhaps the most famous of these partnerships were with Alan Davis on Excalibur (1987-1990) and Bryan Hitch on The Authority (1999) and The Ultimates (2002-2007).
Paul Neary's loss is as a great as the legacy he leaves. Thank you, Paul.
...To the best of my knowledge, Paul Neary didn't follow the lead of other comic creatives such as Alan Moore (The Sinister Ducks) or Charlie Adlard (Cosmic Rays) in pursuing musical passions. However, his namesake just happens to be a DJ and producer operating out of Maidstone in Kent with a body of work stretching back over the past decade.
Not someone I was at all familiar with until about an hour ago but a few samples of Paul Neary's dark, minimalist techno and I like what I hear.
As this is supposed to be a music blog, here are four examples: Dumping Ground from the Unfamiliar Ground EP (2013); the Paul Neary Creepin' Remix of Don't Go by Yo Montero (2020); Avalanche from the Livid EP (2021) and Cats & Rats from the PN001 EP (also 2021). Lots more scattered across Bandcamp for you to find and a glance at Paul's Facebook page indicates that new music is on the way.
Ah yes... those covers you posted were all familiar to me, representing some of my earliest comic purchases. I was very sad to hear of Paul's passing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rol. It was a win-win for me at the time as I was buying Spider-Man and my friend Dean was buying Hulk every week - and occasionally our pocket money would stretch to Star Wars or one of the other Marvel UK titles. And Paul Neary's work on the Doctor Who comic strip Timeslip was/is unforgettable. And that was only the start for me.
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