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I always end up working with writers with a twisted sense of humour and a fine sense of warped violence.

Steve Dillon (22 March 1962 – 22 October 2016) was a British comics artist, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Preacher.

Quotes

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Vertigo Interview (1998)

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Vertigo: Winter's Edge, "Preacher Interview", #1 (January 1998) pp 92–93

  • [Preacher is] funny, dirty, a little bit frightening, but, ultimately, very satisfying—a bit like losing your virginity.
  • I aim to find time in my schedule for a decent night's sleep without cutting into my drinking time.

Sequential Tart Interview (1998)

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"Drinking With the Boys: An Evening with Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon" (27 September 1998)

  • [Creator-owned projects] give you the chance to do your own ideas. But there's a lot of fun to be had working on characters that somebody else owns. I mean, before I die, I'd love to do a Batman [story]. I won't get as much money for it, unless it sells really really well. But it's something I'd like to do.
  • I think a lot of mainstream comics don't appeal to women, because that's the male fantasy of superheroes. [...] Preacher's more character-driven than it is action-driven.
  • Superheroes, the best superheroes, tend to be more soap opera-ish -- like the X-Men, and the old Spiderman stuff. But, that's for a continuing-forever sort of series. We've got a definite [Preacher] story that's got a definite finish, so soap opera is a bit of a disjointed term. But we do have the character subplot stuff going on.
  • [I]'ve got so much workload that [I] work about 12 hours a day. The last thing [I] want to do when [I] finish is read comics. It's like what Garth was saying. [I] work and then do something completely different. [...] It's part of the job really to keep aware of what other people are doing. But I just really haven't had the time to do anything else, anything else rather than the comic.

Tim Pilcher Interview (2005)

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"Steve Dillon - A Farewell Interview" (24 October 2016)

  • I was more than happy to do [Hellblazer] as I ended up not being that happy on Animal Man, as it wasn't the book for me. Because I hate drawing animals, so it was rather silly of me in the first place to say yes. But it was the first offer of a regular (ongoing) comic book, which, for me, was a big thing.
  • When I start work with a new writer, they often ask "What do you like to draw?" and my pat answer is always, "A good story". I'm not one of these artists into drawing giant robots or soldiers or big-titted women. Because for me, it's all about the story.
  • The acting side of comics is quite important to me. The facial expressions, how they interact and all that sort of thing. [...] I can [draw big fight scenes] if I need to, but not as good as some, because some people have a love for it, so that love shows through. I have a love for drawing people sitting in the pub talking. My specialised subject!
  • I haven't re-read [Preacher] yet. [...] Occasionally I see pages from it, and probably like most comic artists, the moment you see a drawing you did – no matter how many years ago – you can remember exactly how you did it, what the situation was when you were doing it, what time of night it was, whether you were drinking coffee or whether you were half-pissed! It all comes flooding back, just like smells or music bring back memories.
  • I've changed my technique a few times in my career. [...] Sometimes you just change to challenge yourself. But also over the six years of Preacher, [my] style [changed] a bit. It's unusual to have a run that's so long that you can actually notice how the characters change. If I'd only done it for a year it wouldn't have changed that much. The characters just evolved naturally.

Judge Dredd Interview (2011)

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Judge Dredd Megazine, "Pure Genius", #311 (21 June 2011) pp 16–22

  • Paul was a great help to me. He saved me a lot of time because one of the problems I had was that I used to draw comics when I fancied it, and suddenly now I had to draw comics when I had to. So I had to do three pages a week whether I wanted to or not. That'd be a luxury now, just doing three pages a week. But at the time it was a bit much for me to handle and Paul helped me make a quantum leap which would have taken me months longer if I'd been doing it myself.
  • I did a long series that I did on my own, Cry of The Werewolf. [...] I spent a whole summer drawing werewolves and there was my girlfriend and her mate sunbathing topless in the back garden, but I was there drawing werewolves. And there was nothing I could do about it because I had to do six pages a week. (laughs)
  • It's hard when you've done [something] yourself to step back and look at it but hopefully [Preacher] does have some sort of timeless quality because of the universal themes that are tackled, so that many years later people can still connect with it.
  • I always end up working with writers with a twisted sense of humour and a fine sense of warped violence. And that's right up my strasse.
  • It's been ironic, really, because I got into comics wanting to draw superheroes. I used to draw superheroes for fun when I was a kid but in my career, from the earliest days, I wasn't drawing superheroes. Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD wasn't really a superhero. The first thing that I did, the Hulk, wasn't really a superhero either. If you look at the Doctor Who stuff, what I did for Warrior, then if you look at the work I did on Hellblazer and Preacher as well, that's not superheroes either. The closest I ever got to doing a superhero comic was Wolverine: Origins.
  • I suppose [the apex of my work] would have to be Preacher. It's the thing that's the longest lasting, it's the thing that's seemed to have had the most effect on people. It's also something that me and Garth came up with ourselves.

Miscellaneous Quotes

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  • As [Garth and I] talked it over, I thought [Preacher] was a great idea for a story. I was very conscious that nothing like it had been done by a big, mainstream comic publisher before and I wondered if we’d get away with the stuff we wanted to do. As it turned out, DC, and Vertigo's Karen Berger in particular, were great. There were a few battles but, for the most part, we managed to get it done the way we wanted it.
  • It's not like watching a car crash. It's like watching people setting fire to their own cars and ramming into school buses at high speed.

Quotes about Dillon

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  • Steve Dillon was the finest of artists [and] finest of people. Working with him was an honor.
  • Most of you already know there are few in the history of comics [who] could touch Steve for storytelling, and I fear I [might] have picked his brain ad nauseum on the subject - but this is the point, and why I loved Steve - he made me feel like an equal, a colleague in "the trenches". [...] His work has been a huge influence on mine, and his kindness and frank wisdom even moreso.
    • Russ Braun, reacting to Dillon's death on Facebook (22 October 2016)
  • I was immediately impressed with his talent, and we gave him a script without hesitation. [...] His style was like a muscular version of Brian Bolland's work. He always made sure to tell the story first and he made the process look easy.
    • Richard Burton, as quoted by Karl Stock, Judge Dredd Megazine, "Steve Dillon", #378 (20 December 2016) p 41
  • I think the wonderful thing about Steve is: he was such an effortless storyteller. [...] His work has a real solid simplicity to it. And actually, as an artist, trying to do stuff like that: it's very, very hard because there's nothing to hide behind.
  • One of the greatest British comic artists of all time, and a lovely guy.
  • He completely inspired me. I was six years old when he started working professionally in comics. [...] I loved to see him drawing, all the amazing things he would do. He put my name backwards on a spaceship in Nick Fury, and in Block Mania he drew a Judge with a "Glyn" badge; he was always doing stuff like that for me. He was my hero and he was drawing superheroes -- when you're six, there's nothing better than that.
    • Glyn Dillon, as quoted by Karl Stock, Judge Dredd Megazine, "Steve Dillon", #378 (20 December 2016) p 41
  • The artist of Preacher was, and is—and could only ever have been—my good friend Steve Dillon, and he captured exactly what it was I wanted.
  • I'd say Steve is the best storyteller in the industry. He's got an almost supernatural gift for it. [...] He also has the very useful ability to look into my head and see exactly what I mean. I can write a script for him that will be extremely sparse, 'cause I know he will nail it perfectly.
  • Steve was best man at my wedding and my good and dear friend. I think he probably taught me more about what that word means than anyone else.
  • It was his ability with character – to say so much with what looked like so little – that was really one of the secrets of Steve's success, and therefore, the secret of our success together.
    • Garth Ennis, as interviewed by Michael Molcher, The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast, "Remembering Steve Dillon" (2 November 2016)
  • [Preacher] was a perfect example of our creative partnership, in that we both gave it our all and we each trusted the other to do the job and not make life difficult. [...] There are some truly insane things in that book, but Steve refused to be awed by them, always finding a way to render them as part of a complete, logical world. Too many artists would have emphasised the outlandish at the expense of narrative and character. Not Steve.
    • Garth Ennis, as quoted by Karl Stock, Judge Dredd Megazine, "Steve Dillon", #378 (20 December 2016) p 42
  • We had a kind of perfect symbiotic relationship: "I write, you draw; we trust each other." And it was actually as simple as that! There was no careful dissection and discussion of what we were doing. There was no "Would it be better if...?"
  • Dillon was a storyteller with few peers, able to render everything from a bloody confrontation to a quiet conversation, from moments of gut-busting comedy to the most crushing heartbreak imaginable.
  • My experience of Steve was always this consummate professional who never took it too seriously or wanted to blow his own trumpet. He drew my first pro job as a scriptwriter and showed how you really can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. What a lovely guy, what an immense talent – he will be sorely missed.
    • Simon Furman, as quoted by John Freeman, downthetubes, "In Memoriam: Comic Artist Steve Dillon, A True Legend of Comics" (23 October 2016)
  • Steve Dillon was a master storyteller. Preacher, Punisher, all of it done with so much exceptional skill [and] magic.
    • Mitch Gerads, reacting to Dillon's death on Twitter (22 October 2016)
  • One of the most gifted comic storytellers I've ever seen.
  • He knew in his his DNA how to tell a good story, and more than most professionals twice his age and experience. His use of composition, figure drawing and characterisation was second to none.
    • John Higgins, as quoted by Karl Stock, Judge Dredd Megazine, "Steve Dillon", #378 (20 December 2016) p 41
  • He was a gifted artist, brilliant raconteur, loving dad, the best Guinness drinking buddy I have ever had.
    • John Higgins, as quoted by John Freeman, downthetubes, "In Memoriam: Comic Artist Steve Dillon, A True Legend of Comics" (23 October 2016)
  • Started my career photocopying Steve Dillon. A genius storyteller, he pushed comics forward by merging genres in order to elevate them.
  • Steve Dillon's art is perfect for the [Preacher] story. It puts tainted saliva on the fangs of Garth Ennis's prose. It puts the shadow behind the curtain and makes the blood on the floor crawl.
  • Making comics for adults — not stolid, "highbrow" comics, but explosive, shocking comics that tickle grownup palates — is a challenge for many creators, but it's one that artist Steve Dillon embraced with gusto.
  • Steve was a great guy and a terrific talent. [...] One of those comic artists you could call a 'natural'.
    • David Lloyd, as quoted by John Freeman, downthetubes, "In Memoriam: Comic Artist Steve Dillon, A True Legend of Comics" (23 October 2016)
  • For those who knew him, or had met him even once, and for the many more who admired and were inspired by his work, two themes emerged: first, his friendliness, good nature and powerful humor, and second, his astonishing skill as a storyteller from a young age.
  • Steve Dillon was one of the best because he knew what was most important in what we do: the storytelling. That's his legacy.
  • I very rarely ever told Steve how much I admired and appreciated his work, so that's the note I think I would like to end on, is just how big a fan I was of his work, and how brilliant and natural an artist he was.
    • John McCrea, as interviewed by Michael Molcher, The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast, "Remembering Steve Dillon" (2 November 2016)
  • Steve Dillon was one of our best quiet dramatists.
  • He had such a feeling for film noir. He was one of the comic greats.
    • Pat Mills, as quoted by John Freeman, downthetubes, "In Memoriam: Comic Artist Steve Dillon, A True Legend of Comics" (23 October 2016)
  • Steve was one of the definitive artists on 2000 AD. He was a titan.
    • Michael Molcher, The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast, "Remembering Steve Dillon" (2 November 2016)
  • Dillon will be remembered as one of the best storytellers the comics medium has seen; and rightly so: because all he needed was an eye-level angle, a single point of focus, and his repertoire of facial expressions to take you from expansive sci-fi worlds to demons and vampires to a couple on the bed discussing their relationship— all using the same approach, all telling complete and interesting stories entirely visually. And maybe best of all: he made it seem so effortless; and that's the true thing we'll miss from comics, going forward. It wasn't brash, it wasn't showing off; but what it was was incredibly simple, incredibly economic, with incredibly well-crafted storytelling.
  • In a long and storied career, Dillon's work was characterized by concise layouts, subtle manipulations of time and space, and a remarkably expressive cartooning style that gave his comics an emotional resonance unlike any other.
  • It is often said that good comic art should not be so detailed as to slow the pace, but equally must be accurate and vivid to conjure scenes real enough to live in the reader's imagination. Steve's art managed these traits perfectly, sacrificing flashy page layouts and complex panel constructions for the sake of concise storytelling.
  • He was a legend among comic-book fans and considered a master of his craft by colleagues. Known for a deeply expressive, often humorous style that leapt off the page, he created characters that could communicate volumes with a single expression.
    • Justin Porter, The New York Times, "Steve Dillon, Comic Artist Who Helped Create 'Preacher,' Dies at 54" (23 October 2016)
  • What Dillon did better than just about anybody was tell stories using the human form. If we were to deploy a cinematic metaphor, Dillon was exceedingly good at cinematography, but he was unparalleled at directing, if you will, his characters. He conjured body language and facial expressions that could break your heart, crack you up, or make you gasp.
  • Steve was a true original, a natural destined to bring pleasure to the world with his amazing work.
  • Master storyteller - brilliantly immersive, [a] true original. Contributions to the form immeasurable[.]
  • I knew he was good but, to my shame, I never realised quite how good. One of the most brilliant artists ever to put pen to paper for 2000 AD.
    • John Wagner, as quoted by John Freeman, downthetubes, "In Memoriam: Comic Artist Steve Dillon, A True Legend of Comics" (23 October 2016)
  • I remember learning so much about storytelling from simply absorbing and marveling at Steve's work. [...] Gone far too soon and missed dearly, Steve will continue to inspire generations of comic book storytellers and dreamers.
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