Mike White Passes

[Rich Johnston]

Mike Perkins writes;

Just to let you know that Mike White passed away this weekend after a long illness.





Erstwhile British artist and one of my artistic heroes. Mike had worked on a variety of [Action and 2000AD] strips from the controversial Kids Rule OK, through Invasion, Disaster 1990, Ro-Busters, Mean Arena (a favourite of mine) and a fair few Future Shocks including some truly memorable ones with Alan Moore eg: Eureka and Bad Timing as well as the classic Time Twisters - The Reversible Man and Going Native. He also collaborated with Mr. Moore on a few stories featuring the incorrigible Abelard Snazz - The Double Decker Dome! In recent years he had been drawing and painting historical illustrations for various book publishers through his long alliance with Temple Rogers Artist Agents.





I've had the honour to go drinking with Mike a few times and had always found him to be a lovely bloke - with a curmudgeonly streak -accompanied by aplethora of tales. He arrived in London during "The Swinging Sixties" and, by his accounts, he made the most of it - regaling me with tales of drinking Oliver Reed under the table and another, unmentionable tale, involving Felicity Kendal! It's my belief that he was in love with the theatre and felt compelled to pursue this as a career. I have no idea why he didn't but am glad that he chose the path he did - enriching so many lives with his artwork even if he himself believed he left no lasting impression unlike those talented "kids" Bolland and Gibbons. I like to think that, in our times drinking in the Lord Salisbury pub,I had persuaded him, just a tiny bit, that his work was, indeed, influential on, at least, my life.





He'll bemissed. Next time you're at Orbital pop around the corner to the Lord Salisbury and raise a drink for him from me.

[thekeith82]

That's an absolutely terrible shame. One of the greats

[_OM_]

...Two things:

1) What was the Kids Rule OK story about that caused such controversy?

2) Didn't the Time Twisters story get reworked and redone for some DC anthology in the 80's? I swear I've read that story before, but not as one of Tharg's.

[JamieB]

...Two things:

1) What was the Kids Rule OK story about that caused such controversy?

2) Didn't the Time Twisters story get reworked and redone for some DC anthology in the 80's? I swear I've read that story before, but not as one of Tharg's.

Two answers:

1) It was a scene in which some feral kids (see illustration in OP) kick the crap out of a policeman, which was a big no-no (though ACTION's final demise was thanks to the scene in violent football strip LOOK OUT FOR LEFTY where Lefty's girlfriend chucks a bottle at an opposing player.) See Martin Barker's excellent and reprint-heavy ACTION: THE STORY OF A VIOLENT COMIC for more.

2) It may well have come out under the DC aegis at some stage, as there were several attempts to bring 2000AD stateside and I think Fleetway and then DC put out some US-format comics with reprints from TIME TWISTERS, FUTURE SHOCKS etc. If there's a very similar US story, I dunno.

[fredmanson]

Again, a great British artist is gone... I hate this kind of news, it is the way of the life, but I really hate this...

RIP Mike White (and drew to your colleagues in the Heavens the best strips ever!!).

[drachenfells]

Very sad news.

[toodoor]

A very classic British comic art style, RIP.

And damn I want to know the Kendall story.

[Locusmortis]

This is very sad news, I enjoyed Mike Whites work years ago in 2000AD and more recently the stories that he has illustrated for Commando.

[GreyMouser]

RIP Mr. White