Ian Culbard, professionally known as I. N. J. Culbard, is a British comic artist, writer and animator.

Biography

Culbard was born in Greenwich, London. He began his career as an animator but is best known for his work in comics and has gained a reputation in particular for his adaptations of classics by H.P. Lovecraft,

Robert W. Chambers Robert William Chambers (May 26, 1865 – December 16, 1933) was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories titled '' The King in Yellow'', published in 1895. Life Chambers was born in Brooklyn, New York, t ...

and Arthur Conan Doyle. His earliest comics work was a contribution to an anthology of competition entries by undiscovered newcomers published as

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

’ ''New Recruits'', followed by some work in the ''

Judge Dredd Megazine ''Judge Dredd: The Megazine'' is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in September 1990. It is a sister publication to '' 2000 AD''. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Judge Dredd's locale Mega-City One. Content Li ...

'' and the first of his classics adaptations for

SelfMadeHero SelfMadeHero is an independent publishing house which specialises in adapting works of literature, as well as producing ground-breaking original fiction in the graphic novel medium. SelfMadeHero's books are distributed in the U.S. by Abrams Bo ...

: ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...

'' in collaboration with

Ian Edginton Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as ''X-Force'', '' Scarlet Traces'', '' H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds'' and ''Leviathan''. Career Ian Edginton is known for his steampunk/ alternate history wor ...

. Culbard’s first original graphic novel was ''Celeste'', a science fiction story published in 2014 by SelfMadeHero. Other notable original series include those published in '' 2000 AD'': '' Brass Sun'', a steampunk adventure story created in collaboration with Ian Edginton and the science fiction police drama ''Brink'' in collaboration with

Dan Abnett Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, sinc ...

. Culbard and Abnett have also worked together for

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Ho ...

on ''Wild’s End'' and for

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

on '' The New Deadwardians.'' He won a

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

in 2011 for his adaptation of ''

At the Mountains of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was or ...

''.

Influences

Culbard has credited French comics creator

Jean-Claude Mézières Jean-Claude Mézières (; 23 September 1938 – 23 January 2022) was a French ''bandes dessinées'' artist and illustrator. Born in Paris and raised in nearby Saint-Mandé, he was introduced to drawing by his elder brother and influenced by co ...

’ science fiction series ''

Valerian and Laureline Valerian may refer to: Arts and entertainment * a fictional character in ''Valérian and Laureline'', a comics series **''Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'', a film adaptation of the comic series * an early pseudonym for Gary Numan ( ...

'' as well as Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga ''

Domu Xen (pronounced ) is a type-1 hypervisor, providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently. It was originally developed by the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory a ...

'' as influences on his style. He attributes much of his pace and visual economy to the influence of manga.

Selected bibliography

* ''Wild's End: The Enemy Within'' (written by Dan Abnett, BOOM! Studios, 2016, ) * ''The King in Yellow'' (written by Robert W. Chambers, SelfMadeHero, 2015, ) * ''Celeste'' (SelfMadeHero, 2014, ) * ''Brass Sun: The Wheel of Worlds'' (written by Ian Edginton, Rebellion Developments, 2014, ) * ''The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath'' (written by H.P. Lovecraft, SelfMadeHero, 2014, ) * ''The New Deadwardians'' (written by Dan Abnett,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, 2013, ) * ''The Shadow Out of Time'' (written by H.P. Lovecraft, SelfMadeHero, 2013, ) * ''Deadbeats'' (written by Chris Lackey & Chad Fifer, SelfMadeHero, 2012, ) * ''The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: A Graphic Novel'' (written by H.P. Lovecraft, SelfMadeHero, 2012, ) * ''The Valley of Fear'' (written by Arthur Conan Doyle, text adapted by Ian Edginton, SelfMadeHero, 2011, )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culbard, Ian Living people British comics artists British comics writers Year of birth missing (living people)