Al Davison is an English comic book writer and artist from Newcastle, England. He now resides in Coventry, where he runs The Astral Gypsy, his studio and comic shop in

Fargo Village FarGo Village is a Strip mall, creative quarter on Far Gosford Street, Coventry, England. Costing £5 million and opened on 27 September 2014, it is a mixture of mobile catering units, small boutique style units housed in repurposed shipping c ...

, Far Gosford Street, with his wife Maggie. He is most famous for his autobiographical graphic novel '' The Spiral Cage'' (Renegade Press, 1988, longer version Titan Books, 1990, Absolute edition from Active Images, 2003), which describes his lifelong struggle with

spina bifida Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, me ...

and his rise to successful

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

creator,

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

instructor, film maker, and performer. ''The Spiral Cage'' featured in

Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...

's ''1000 Comic Books You Must Read''. He is the subject of a documentary, also called ''The Spiral Cage'', directed by

Paul W. S. Anderson Paul William Scott Anderson (born 4 March 1965) is an English filmmaker who regularly works in science fiction films and video game adaptations. Anderson made his feature film debut with the British independent film '' Shopping'' (1994), a ...

. As part of the 10-da
Festival800
which took place in Lincoln from 28 August to 6 September 2015, he has been commissioned to create ''Manga Carta'' – a 10-page, 30-panel graphic tale of the journey and impact of the 800-year-old Magna Carta. ''Manga Carta'' is available for download from the festival website since mid-August 2015.

Bibliography

*''

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'', issue 34, 1989 *'' The Spiral Cage'' original graphic novel, 1990 *'' Minotaur's Tale'' Dark Horse Books, 1992 *'' Tainted'' (with

Jamie Delano Jamie Delano (; born 1954) is an English comic book writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers which started to feature in American comics in the 1980s. He is best known as the first writer of the comic book s ...

) one-shot, 1995 *'' The Endless Gallery'', one-shot, 1995 *'' Teknophage'', (with Paul Jenkins) 7–10, 1995 *''

Hellblazer ''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...

'' issue 101 (with Paul Jenkins) (mistakenly credited to

Sean Phillips Sean Phillips (born 27 January 1965) is a British comic book artist, best known for his collaborations with Ed Brubaker on comics including '' Sleeper'', ''Incognito'', the '' Criminal'' series of comics, '' Fatale'', '' The Fade Out'', and ' ...

), 1996 *''

Vermillion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It is v ...

'', 1–7, (with

Lucius Shepard Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014) was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism. Career Shepard was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia where ...

) 1996-97 *''

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

'', 20–21, 1998 *''

'', (with Caitlin R Kiernan) 41, 1999 *'' Spiral Dreams'' 2000 *'' 9/11'', anthology, one story, 2002 *'' The Spiral Cage'' Active Image edition, 2003 *'' Hokusai Demons'' Astral Gypsy Ltd, 2009 *''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', (with

Tony Lee Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

) 1–2, 7-8 2009-10 *''

'', 2010 *'' The Unwritten'' issue 24, 2009 *''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

'' issue 17, 2009 *'' The Alchemist's Easel'' The Astral Gypsy Ltd 2013 *'' Tommy Taylor & The Ship That Sank Twice'' Vertigo 2014 *'' The Unwritten Apocalypse #5 & #7'' Vertigo 2014 * ''Manga Carta'', 2015

References

20th-century births Living people English comics artists Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne People with spina bifida Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-comics-creator-stub