Paul Jason Holden (born 28 December 1969) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

based in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. He has worked for '' 2000 AD'', ''

Warhammer Monthly ''Warhammer Monthly'' was a comics anthology published by Games Workshop's publishing arm, Black Library, from March 1998 to December 2004, running to 86 issues in total. The final two issues were published bi-monthly under the name ''Warhammer Com ...

'', and ''

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 Like ...

''. Among other stories for these publications, he has provided the art for ''

Rogue Trooper ''Rogue Trooper'' is a science fiction strip in the British comic '' 2000 AD'', created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons in 1981. It portrays the adventures of a " Genetic Infantryman" named Rogue and three uploaded minds mounted on his ...

'', ''

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology Comic book, comic. He is the ...

'' and '' Johnny Woo''.

Biography

First published by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

in 1997 (Holy Cross #3) with

Malachy Coney Malachy Coney is a comics writer and cartoonist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Ardoyne in the north of the city.''Fractured Visions'part oneanpart two video documentary, 2010 Biography Coney's first notable comics work was a two- ...

and provided art for a story with Mike Carey from

Caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

in 1997. Not professionally published again until ''2000 AD'' (''

'' "Sino-Cit") in 2001 - has been working professionally since. This work has included further stints on ''Judge Dredd'' and most recently becoming the main artist on ''

The 86ers ''The 86ers'' is a '' 2000 AD'' comic story set in the Rogue Trooper universe and created by writer Gordon Rennie and artist Karl Richardson, now being drawn by PJ Holden. The story stars G.I. pilot Rafaella "Rafe" Blue and her robot Gabe. The ...

'', taking over for the third instalment of the first story. He has a long history within the

British small press comics British small press comics, once known as stripzines, are comic books self-published by amateur cartoonists and comic book creators, usually in short print runs, in the UK. They're comparable to similar movements internationally, such as American m ...

, amongst other things providing the early covers for ''

FutureQuake FutureQuake was a British small press comic book founded by Arthur Wyatt, and later edited by Richmond Clements, David Evans and Owen Watts. Dedicated to showcasing work by new writers and artists, they published mostly self-contained comic stor ...

'', and this has continued until today with his providing forums to small press publishers on his Pencil Monkey message board. He has recently collected all his small press work into a single volume, ''Previously''. Holden got his break into the American comic book market with the

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Fearless Fearless or The Fearless may refer to: Psychology * Lack of fear * Courage or bravery Film, television and audio Film * ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi * ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...

''. Holden has also formed Infurious Comics a company aiming to produce

mobile comic A mobile comic is a digital comic or cartoon strip that can be purchased, downloaded, read and sometimes edited or shared with friends via mobile phones. Overview Increasingly the line between digital comics, animation and games is blurring and ...

s for the iPhone and

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...

and he helped design the Comic Reader App to facilitate this, which the BBC highlighted as one of "four pioneering web innovations". He has also provided the art for their first comic ''

Murderdrome ''Murderdrome'' is the title of a mobile comic created by Al Ewing and PJ Holden. It is an ironic pastiche of certain British 'boys adventure' comics of the late seventies, particularly ''Action''. It contains scenes of on-panel decapitation and e ...

'', written by

Al Ewing Al Ewing () is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press and for '' 2000 AD'' and Marvel Comics. Career Al Ewing began his career writing stories in the four-page ''Future Shocks'' format for '' 2000 AD'' and moved on ...

.Murderdrome
/ref> Although this was banned by Apple for violent content, the publicity raised the profile of Comic Reader App, which resulted in

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

licensing it for their ''

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

. This led the BBC to suggest "Mr Holden and his colleagues may have accidentally hit upon what could be the future of comic book publishing.

Bibliography

Comics

Comics work includes: *''

'' (with

): ** ''Holy Cross'' #3 ** ''The Moon Looked Down and Laughed with'' ** ''The DandyLion'' * "Suicide Kings" (with Mike Carey, ''

Caliber Comics Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of America ...

'', 1997) * ''

Mega-City One Mega-City One is a fictional city that features in the ''Judge Dredd'' comic book series and related media. A post-nuclear megalopolis covering much of what is now the Eastern United States and some of Canada, the city's exact geography depends ...

'': "The Burning Red" (with

Simon Spurrier Simon "Si" Spurrier (born 2 May 1981) is a British comics writer and novelist, who has previously worked as a cook, a bookseller, and an art director for the BBC. Getting his start in comics with the British small press, he went on to write ...

, in ''

Zarjaz ''Zarjaz'' is a comics anthology fanzine for the long-running British science fiction comic '' 2000 AD''. Publication history ''Zarjaz'' was started in 2001 by Andrew J. Lewis. The fanzine contained comic strips based on various ''2000 AD'' ...

'' (vol. 1) #1, 2001) * ''

'': ** "Sino-Town" (with

Gordon Rennie Gordon Rennie is a Scottish comics writer, responsible for ''White Trash: Moronic Inferno'', as well as several comic strips for '' 2000 AD'' and novels for ''Warhammer Fantasy''. In May 2008, he announced he was leaving comics to concentrate f ...

, in '' 2000 AD'' #1233, 2001) ** "Unnatural Selection" (with Alan Grant, in ''2000 AD'' #1278, 2002) ** "Waiting" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1312, 2002) ** "Meet the Flooks" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1359, 2003) ** "Dead Man Walking" (with

Jonathan Clements Jonathan Michael Clements (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shi Huang, as well as monthly opinion columns for '' Neo'' magazine. He is also the co-aut ...

, in ''

'' #226, 2004) ** "The Magnificent Umbersons" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' #235, 2005) ** "Warzone" (with

John Wagner John Wagner (born 1949) is an American-born British comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. ...

, in ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' #240-243, 2006) ** "House of Pain" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1488-1490, 2006) ** "Sanctuary" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1495, 2006) ** "On Campus" (with John Wagner, in ''2000 AD'' #1522, 2007) ** "It Came From Bea Arthur Block" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1637-1639, 2009) ** "

Tour of Duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

: Interlude" (with John Wagner, in ''2000 AD'' #1656, 2009) * ''

Tharg's Future Shocks ''Tharg's Future Shocks'' is a long-running series of short strips in the British weekly comic '' 2000 AD'' in 1977. The name originates from the fictional editor of 2000 AD and the book titled ''Future Shock'', written by Alvin Toffler, publi ...

'': ** "Alpha Team" (with Simon Spurrier, in ''2000 AD'' #1262, 2001) ** "Skeleton Key" (with Richard McTighe, in ''2000 AD'' #1276, 2002) ** "Autocrats Anonymous" (with Jaspre Bark, in ''2000 AD'' #1370, 2003) * ''

'': "Realpolitik" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1380-1385, 2004) * "The Cut Above" (in ''

'' #2, 2004) * '' Johnny Woo'': "A Bullet In The Head" (with Gordon Rennie, in ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' #231-233, 2005) * '' Origins of the Cadre'' #2 (with Mat Nastos and Andrew Pellerito,

Nifty Comics Nifty may refer to: * Nifty Corporation, a Japanese internet service provider * Nifty Comics * '' Nifty magazine'', a high fashion magazine * Nifty Copper Mine, Western Australia * Nifty Airport, Western Australia * Nifty Theatre, Waterville, ...

, 2005) * ''

'': ** "Touchdown" (with writer Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1482-1485, 2006) ** "Interference" (with writer Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1508-1510, 2006) ** "Walking to Eternity" (with writer Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' prog 2007, 2006) ** "Grendel" (with writer Gordon Rennie, in ''2000 AD'' #1544-1549, 2007) ** "Under Pressure" (with writer

Arthur Wyatt Arthur Wyatt is a writer for British comic '' 2000 AD'', creating stories mostly in the Future Shock format and in the Judge Dredd universe, including the comicbook sequels to the 2012 Dredd movie. Wyatt was also selected as one of 2005's five b ...

, in ''2000 AD'' #1625-1630, 2009) * ''

'' (with

Mark Sable Mark A. Sable (born June 22, 1975) is an American writer for stage, screen, and comic books. Biography Mark Sable is a writer for comics, film and television, best known for such creator-owned comics as Image Comics "Graveyard of Empires" and ...

and Dave Roth,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

-2008) * ''Dead Signal'' (with

, in ''2000 AD'' #1581-1587, 2008) * ''

'' (with Al Ewing,

, 2008) * ''

Battlefields A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...

: Happy Valley'' (with

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dari ...

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptation ...

, January–February 2010, tpb, 88 pages, June 2010, , included in ''The Complete Battlefields, Volume 2'', hardcover, 200 pages, July 2011, )Ennis Heads Back to the 'Battlefields'

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

, October 26, 2009 *''Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human'' (with Rob Williams, 5-issue limited series, Dynamite Entertainment, July–November 2011, tpb, 104 pages, March 2012, )

Covers

Covers work includes: * ''

'' #1-3, (2003–2004)

VR

VR work includes: * ''Dragon Slumber''

Notes

References

*
P. J. Holden
at Barney

External links

*
Mailing list

Interviews

Interview
with Richmond Clements at 2000adreview.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, P.J. 1969 births Living people Comics artists from Northern Ireland Writers from Belfast 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland Male writers from Northern Ireland