John Allison (comics)

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For other people named John Allison, see John Allison (disambiguation).

John Allison
John Allison at the Barcelona Comic Fair (2022)
Born
John Allison

1976 (age 47–48)
NationalityBritish
Known forWebcomics
Notable workBobbins, Scary Go Round, Bad Machinery, Giant Days

John Allison (born 1976) is a comic writer and artist. He has been producing comics since 1998 and his work has won multiple Eisner Awards.

Biography

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Allison started creating webcomics in 1998 with Bobbins, a series which ran on Keenspot. He ended Bobbins in 2002, later saying that he had fallen out of love with the rough and ready nature of 'Bobbins', and at the same time started a new comic, Scary Go Round. Then, in 2009, he ended Scary Go Round and started Bad Machinery. In an interview, Allison said that he ended Scary Go Round because "the work I was doing was becoming somewhat uninspired. I had a lot of characters that I didn't care about, and I was making whole runs of strips about characters that people didn't really like... I had lost perspective and direction. I was also losing readers for the last year and it was evident that changes had to be made."[1]

Allison described Scary Go Round as "a comic that I've been making since 2002. It started off as a comic about barmaids Tessa and Rachel, then it became more about Shelley Winters and her bizarre escapades. In recent times it is kind of a split between the Shelley Show and Tackleford Grammar School. It's always evolving." Bad Machinery focuses on several of those grammar school children, now teenage detectives.[1]

In 2013, Allison pitched a spin-off from Scary Go Round, Giant Days, to Boom! Box, a newly formed imprint of Boom! Studios for established artists outside the comics industry.[2] The series follows three young women—Esther de Groot, Susan Ptolemy and Daisy Wooton—who share a hall of residence at the University of Sheffield. The series began as a six-issue limited run, and was then picked up as an ongoing series. In 2016, Giant Days was nominated for two Eisner Awards and three Harvey Awards, with a fourth Harvey nomination for Lissa Treiman's work on the comic.[3][4] In 2019, it won two Eisner Awards, for Best Continuing Series and Best Humor Publication.[5] It concluded later that year with a special over-sized issue.[6]

The success of Giant Days led to further work with independent presses. Allison went on to write the series By Night for Boom! Studios, and both wrote and illustrated Steeple for Dark Horse Comics.[6]

In 2024, Allison published a Conan the Barbarian webcomic on his website. Despite the character being public domain in the UK, he received a cease-and-desist from Conan Properties International, the holders of the Conan IP rights in the United States. This caused Allison to cease publication of the webcomic, saying that he did not "have the time or the energy to contest this."[7]

Allison currently resides in Letchworth Garden City.[8]

Works

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Awards

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Year Nominated work Category Result Notes
2002 Bobbins UK National Comics Awards: Best Online Strip Nominated [10][11]
2002 Bobbins Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three categories:
* Best Use of Color
* Best Site Design
* Best Female Character 		Nominated [12]
2003 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Original Digital Art Won [13]
2003 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three other categories:
* Outstanding Art
* Outstanding Environment Design
* Outstanding Use of Color 		Nominated [13]
2004 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Art Won Joint winner with Mac Hall[14]
2004 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in six other categories:
* Outstanding Comic
* Outstanding Writing
* Outstanding Environment Design
* Outstanding Character (Writing)
* Outstanding Comedic Comic
* Outstanding Story Concept 		Nominated [14]
2005 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Comic Won [15]
2005 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three other categories:
* Outstanding Art
* Outstanding Environment Design
* Outstanding Layout 		Nominated [15]
2006 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Comic Nominated [16]
2007 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three categories:
* Outstanding Comic
* Outstanding Character Writing
* Outstanding Writer 		Nominated [17][18][19]
2008 Scary Go Round Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Character Rendering Nominated [20]
2016 Giant Days Eisner Award: Best Continuing Series Nominated Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal.[21]
2016 Giant Days Eisner Award: Best Writer Nominated [21]
2017 Bad Machinery, Vol. 5: The Case of the Fire Inside Eisner Award: Best Publication for teens (ages 13–17) Nominated [22][23]
2018 Giant Days Eisner Award: Best Continuing Series Nominated Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal.[24]
2018 Giant Days Eisner Award: Best Humor Publication Nominated Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal.[24]
2019 Giant Days Eisner Award: Best Continuing Series Won Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal.[25]
2019 Giant Days Eisner Award: Best Humor Publication Won Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b Dueben, Alex (28 December 2009). "John Allison's "Bad Machinery"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Boom! Studios announces new imprint Boom! Box, an experimental line of titles created just 'for the love of it'". Boom! Studios. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. ^ "2016 Eisner Award Nominees". Comic Con. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. ^ "2016 HARVEY AWARDS Nominees Announced". Newsarama. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Eisner Awards current info". ComicCon International San Diego. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b Byron Brewer (9 August 2019). "DF Interview: John Allison brings his acclaimed series to a close with 'Giant Days: As Time Goes By'". Dynamic Forces. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  7. ^ Johnston, Rich (2 May 2024). "Creators Getting Cease And Desists Over Conan And Red Sonja". bleedingcool.com.
  8. ^ "John Allison". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  9. ^ "John Allison's "Bad Machinery"". BOOM! Studios. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  10. ^ "2002 National Comics Awards". Hahn Library. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  11. ^ "National Comics Awards 2002". 2000AD. Archived from the original on 16 February 2006. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  12. ^ "2002 Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  13. ^ a b "2003 Ceremony". CCAwards. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  14. ^ a b "2004 Results". CCAwards. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  15. ^ a b "2005 Results". CCAwards. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  16. ^ "WCCA 2006 - Outstanding Comic". Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Outstanding Comic". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Outstanding Character Writing". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Outstanding Writer". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Here are Your 2008 WCCA Winners!". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Here Are Your 2016 Eisner Award Nominees". 20 April 2016.
  22. ^ "2017 Eisner Award nominees include 'The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye' and 'Saga'". LA Times. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  23. ^ "2010-Present". Comic-Con. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  24. ^ a b Salkowitz, Rob (27 April 2019). "Eisner Award Nominations For 2018's Top Comics Announced". Forbes. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  25. ^ a b McMillan, Graeme (20 July 2019). "Eisner Awards: The Complete Winners List". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
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