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 The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

Biography

Allison started creating

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be c ...

s 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 ''Scary Go Round'' is a webcomic by John Allison. Running from 2002 to 2009, it is set in the fictional North Yorkshire town of Tackleford and follows university students battling fantasy and science fiction threats to the town. The comic was ...

''. 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." 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. In 2013, Allison pitched a spin-off from ''Scary Go Round'', '' Giant Days'', to Boom! Box, a newly formed imprint of

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 ...

for established artists outside the comics industry. 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 , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. 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

and three

Harvey Awards The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

, with a fourth Harvey nomination for Lissa Treiman's work on the comic. In 2019, it won two Eisner Awards, for Best Continuing Series and Best Humor Publication. It concluded later that year with a special over-sized issue. 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 is now writing and drawing ''Steeple'' for

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 ...

. Allison currently resides in

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

Works

* '' Bobbins'' (1998–2002, 2014–present) * ''

'' (2002–2009) *'' Bad Machinery'' (2009–present) * '' Giant Days'' (2011, 2015–2019) * ''By Night'' (2018–19) * ''Steeple'' (2019–present) * ''Wicked Things'' (2020–present)

Awards

, - , 2002 , '' Bobbins'' , UK

National Comics Awards The National Comics Awards was a series of awards for comic book titles and creators given out on an annual basis from 1997 to 2003 (with the exception of the year 2000) for comics published in the United Kingdom the previous year. The votes wer ...

: Best Online Strip , , , - , 2002 , '' Bobbins'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three categories:
* Best Use of Color
* Best Site Design
* Best Female Character , , , - , 2003 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Original Digital Art , , , - , 2003 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three other categories:
* Outstanding Art
* Outstanding Environment Design
* Outstanding Use of Color , , , - , 2004 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Art , , Joint winner with

Mac Hall Mac or MAC most commonly refers to: * Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese * Ma ...

, - , 2004 , ''

'' , 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 , , , - , 2005 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Comic , , , - , 2005 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three other categories:
* Outstanding Art
* Outstanding Environment Design
* Outstanding Layout , , , - , 2006 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Comic , , , - , 2007 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in three categories:
* Outstanding Comic
* Outstanding Character Writing
* Outstanding Writer , , , - , 2008 , ''

'' , Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards: Outstanding Character Rendering , , , - , 2016 , '' Giant Days'' , Eisner Award: Best Continuing Series , , Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal. , - , 2016 , '' Giant Days'' , Eisner Award: Best Writer , , , - , 2017 , '' Bad Machinery, Vol. 5: The Case of the Fire Inside'' , Eisner Award: Best Publication for teens (ages 13-17) , , , - , 2018 , '' Giant Days'' , Eisner Award: Best Continuing Series , , Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal. , - , 2018 , '' Giant Days'' , Eisner Award: Best Humor Publication , , Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal. , - , 2019 , '' Giant Days'' , Eisner Award: Best Continuing Series , , Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal. , - , 2019 , '' Giant Days'' , Eisner Award: Best Humor Publication , , Allison wrote for Giant Days. The nomination was for John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal.

References

External links

*official website *official website 1976 births Living people British webcomic creators British comics artists Web Cartoonists' Choice Award winners {{John Allison