Jamie Delano

Infobox Comics creator


imagesize = 150px
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = 1954
location = Northampton, England
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = British
area = writer
alias =
notable works = "Captain Britain"
"Hellblazer"
awards =
website = http://www.jamiedelano.co.uk

Jamie Delano (born 1954 in Northampton) is a British comics writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers. Best known as the first writer of the comic book series "Hellblazer", starring John Constantine.

Biography

Jamie Delano was hand-picked by Alan Moore to continue writing John Constantine, Fact|date=July 2007 originally a secondary character introduced during Moore's revolutionary "Swamp Thing" run. Delano established the character in his own right, fleshing out what had been, in Moore's hands, a more shadowy, wisecracking sort of figure. It was also Delano who set the character firmly in London, Moore (and later Veitch) preferring to present him travelling virtually anywhere at will. Delano's Constantine is very much flesh and blood, never using magic when a con will do, frequently drunk, down & out, and haunted by his accidental condemning of a little girl named Astra to Hell.

Delano's approach owes much to the quiet, cold but vicious work of British "new wave" writers like Ramsey Campbell and J.G. Ballard Fact|date=July 2007 and it is this tone that subsequent writers have either had to adopt or go violently against. This also makes Delano the first Vertigo writer, as "Hellblazer" is often thought of as the company's flagship title. He established the character's history – and his family's – going all the way back to the time of King Arthur in one of the more emblematic Constantine stories, "The Bloody Saint" (1989), drawn by Bryan Talbot. Much of his version of Constantine was the basis of the 2005 "Constantine" movie.

Most of his work since leaving the book to Garth Ennis and many others since (though he has gone back to the character a number of times), has also been for DC/Vertigo, both radical treatments of established characters and more pointed, political works, a list of which (from his site) can be found below.

Much of Delano's often bitingly witty work shares concerns with that of other British comics writers like Pat Mills, Fact|date=July 2007 and can be characterized as science fiction, or horror, but often is a blend thereof and used very allegorically. In its concern with transformation of bodies and cultures, through psychedelia, conspiracy, or science, his work shares much with the likes of David Cronenberg Fact|date=July 2007 and some, like "Ghostdancing" or "Animal Man", have taken a great deal of influence from Carlos Castaneda and Jim Morrison. Fact|date=July 2007

Frequent subjects in his work include the War of the sexes ("World Without End"), imperialism and genocide ("Ghostdancing"), and environmental & cultural collapse ("2020 Visions", "Animal Man").

Most recently, it has been announced that, as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, he will be returning to "Hellblazer" to write "Pandemonium", a graphic novel to be drawn by Jock. He is also has a number of series in the pipeline at Avatar Press. [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=10971 Back into Hell: Jamie Delano returns to John Constantine's world] , July 27, 2007, Comic Book Resources]

Bibliography

* "Night Raven":
** Various prose (with illustrations by Alan Davis, in Marvel UK's "The Daredevils", 1983-1984)
** "House Of Cards" (with David Lloyd, Marvel UK, one shot, 1993)

* "Captain Britain" (with Alan Davis, in Marvel UK's "The Mighty World Of Marvel", volume 2, #14-16 and "Captain Britain Monthly", #1-14, 1984, tpb, 1988, ISBN 1854000209)

* "One-Off":
** "Blood Sport" (with David Pugh, in "2000 AD" #484, 1986)
** "The Ark" (with Dave Wyatt, in "2000 AD" #504, 1987)

* "Tharg's Future Shocks":
** "The Ship that Liked to Dance" (with Barry Kitson, in "2000 AD" #501, 1986)
** "Fair's Fare" (with Massimo Belardinelli, in "2000 AD" #501, 1987)

* "Doctor Who" (with John Ridgway, collected in "The World Shapers", Panini Comics, , 288 pages, May 2008, ISBN 1905239874):
** "Time Bomb" (in "Doctor Who Magazine" #114-116, 1986)
** "The Gift" (with inks by Tim Perkins, in "Doctor Who Magazine" #123-126, 1987)

* "D.R. and Quinch": "DR & Quinch's Agony Page" (with co-author and pencils Alan Davisand inks by Mark Farmer, in "2000 AD" #525-534, 1987)

* "Hellblazer":
** Hellblazer (with John Ridgway, Richard Piers Rayner, Mark Buckingham, Bryan Talbot, Steve Pugh, Sean Phillips, & others, Vertigo/DC, #1-40 & #84, 1988-1991) collected as:
*** "Original Sins" (collects #1-9, Vertigo, October 1998, ISBN 1-56389-052-6, Titan Books, February 2007, ISBN 184576465X) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1618 "Original Sins" trade details] , at DC]
*** "The Devil You Know" (collects #10-13, "The Hellblazer Annual" and "The Horrorist" #1-2, Vertigo, May 2007, ISBN 1-40121-269-7, Titan Books, July 2007, ISBN 1845764900) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=7230 "The Devil You Know" trade details] , at DC]
*** "Rare Cuts" (collects #11, 25-26 and 35, Vertigo, February 2005, ISBN 1-40120-240-3, Titan Books, January 2005, ISBN 1840239743) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=2502 "Rare Cuts" trade details] , at DC]
*** "Fear Machine" (collects #14-22, 208 pages, Vertigo, June 2008, ISBN 1-40121-810-5, Titan Books, ISBN 1845768809) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=9396 "Fear Machine" trade details] , at DC]
*** "Family Man" (collects #23-24 and 28-33, 208 pages, November 2008, Titan Books, ISBN 1845769783, Vertigo, ISBN 1401219640) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=10250 "Family Man" trade details] , at DC]
** "Bad Blood" (with Philip Bond & Warren Pleece, Vertigo, 4-issue mini-series, 2000)
** "Pandemonium" (with Jock, graphic novel, 128 pages, Titan Books, March 2009, ISBN 1845768655, Vertigo, October 2009, ISBN 1401220355, forthcoming)

* "World Without End" (with John Higgins, DC, 6-issue mini-series, 1990)
* "Animal Man" (with Steve Pugh, DC, #51-79, 1992-1994)Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = Animal Man | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 27 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015]
* "Ghostdancing" (with Richard Case, Vertigo, 6 issue mini-series, 1995)
* "Tainted" (with Al Davison, Vertigo, one shot, 1995)
* "The Horrorist" (with David Lloyd, Vertigo, 2 48 page issues, 1995)
* "Batman/Manbat" (with John Bolton, DC, 1996)
* "Twisted Metal 2" One-Shot Promo Comic
* "2020 Visions" (with Frank Quitely (1-3), Warren Pleece (2-6), James Romberger (7-9) & Steve Pugh (10-12), Vertigo, 12 issue mini-series, 1997)
* "Shadowman" 5-15(co-written with Dick Foreman (14-15), art: Charlie Adlard, Acclaim Comics, 1997)
* "Hell Eternal" (with Sean Phillips, Vertigo, one shot, 1998)
* "Cruel & Unusual" (cowritten with Tom Peyer, art: John McCrea & Andrew Chiu, Vertigo, 4 issue mini-series, 1999)
* "The Territory" (with David Lloyd, Dark Horse, 4 part mini-series, 1999, tpb, 96 pages, 2006 ISBN 978-1-59307-010-6)
* "Legends of the DC universe#24,25 (Darkseid story)" (with Steve Pugh, DC, 2 part mini-series, 2000)
* "Outlaw Nation" (with Goran Sudzuka, Vertigo, 19 issue series, 2000-2002, tpb, 456 pages, Image Comics, 2006, ISBN 158240707X)
*"Nevermore": "The Pit and the Pendulum" (with Steve Pugh, graphic novel adaptation, Eye Classics, Self Made Hero, October 2007, ISBN 978-0-9552856-8-4) [ [http://www.selfmadehero.com/classical_eye/nevermore.html : Selfmadehero : ] ]
*"Narcopolis" (with Jeremy Rock, 4-issue mini-series, Avatar Press, February 2008) [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12341 Future Imperfect: Jamie Delano talks "Narcopolis"] , Comic Book Resources, November 7, 2007]

Notes

References

*gcdb|type=writer|search=Jamie+Delano|title=Jamie Delano
*comicbookdb|type=creator|id=3060|title=Jamie Delano
* [http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=JAMIED Jamie Delano] at 2000 AD Online
* [http://www.darkhorse.com/search/search.php?sstring=Jamie+Delano Jamie Delano] at Dark Horse Comics

External links

*

Interviews

* [http://www.darkhorse.com/news/interviews.php?id=676 Dark Horse Comics' 1998 interview about "The Territory"]
* [http://tci.homestead.com/DELANO.html "The Comics Interpreter" 1999 interview with Jamie Delano]
* [http://www.popmatters.com/comics/interview-delanojamie.shtml "Popmatters" interview with Jamie Delano]
* [http://www.tabula-rasa.info/AusComics/Hellblazers.html "Tabula Rasa" interview with Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis]