Carl Critchlow (born 1963) is a British fantasy and science fiction comic illustrator. He is perhaps best known for his character Thrud the Barbarian, which originally appeared in White Dwarf magazine, and for his work for the Lobster Random comics.
Critchlow began his career in the early 1980s, initially contributing to fanzines and informal publications. His professional career began in Games Workshop's White Dwarf magazine in 1983 with issue 45, where Critchlow first portrayed his fantasy barbarian character Thrud the Barbarian in a regular page-long black and white ink-drawn strip of the same name. Thrud ran for over fours years until issue 106, with the strip being voted 'most popular feature' for three years running in readers' polls. The strip would often reflect current Games Workshop product lines, borrowing themes from games like Judge Dredd, Blood Bowl and Warhammer 40,000 in addition to Thrud's native fantasy theme. In celebration of the character's status as a popular feature of the publication, Citadel produced a number of metal miniatures of Thrud during his run in the magazine. Critchlow went on to provide numerous black and white interior illustrations for Games Workshop's Dark Future game, and was eventually featured in an Illuminations exposč in White Dwarf issue 103.
Critchlow's debut in actual comics began in 1984 when he contributed The Black Current strip for Warrior issue 26. Later, in the 1990s, after the Thrud strip had run its course in White Dwarf, Critchlow began working in mainstream comic book publications with 2000AD, contributing artwork for Pat Mills' Nemesis & Deadlock strip. Critchlow has gone on to contribute the art for numerous strips in 2000AD, including Tharg's Future Shocks, Judge Dredd, Son of Mean Machine, Tales of Telguuth, Flesh, and full colour work for the 1995 crossover Judge Dredd/Batman:The Ultimate Riddle.
Critchlow embarked upon further forays into the gaming world in 2000, and his work has appeared in Dungeons & Dragons third edition books such as the Monster Manual, Monsters of Faerūn, Magic of Faerūn , Lords of Darkness, Tome of Magic, and Hordes of the Abyss. He has also provided illustrations for the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game and the Star Wars supplements Secrets of Tatooine, Ultimate Alien Anthology and Star Wars Hero's Guide, as well as almost two hundred illustrations for the The Gathering card game. He also contributed to the DC Comics graphic novel by Alan Grant Riddle of the Beast.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Critchlow disappeared from the world of mainstream comics for a while, as he both wrote and drew the Thrud the Barbarian strip for its own comic. The series proved popular with the comic reading public, eventually winning the Diamond 2004 Award for Best Small Press Title. During this time he also worked as a lecturer and has been credited by numerous new comics artists (e.g. Barry Renshaw) for helping and inspiring them.
In October 2002, four months after the first issue of Thrud was published, Critchlow started drawing for 2000AD again. His first story for the comic was the Judge Dredd story Out of the Undercity written by John Wagner, followed by the introduction of Lobster Random in 2003 with No Gain, No Pain, a series written by newcomer Simon Spurrier, followed by Tooth & Claw in 2004 and The Agony & the Ecstacy in 2006.
Current work includes ongoing art for Lobster Random, and artwork for Judge Dredd scripts by Gordon Rennie.
Critchlow's early work, including the entire Thrud the Barbarian series in White Dwarf, was executed solely in black and white ink work. The Thrud character originated at art college, where Critchlow was studying under comic book maestro Bryan Talbot. Presented with a course comic strip project, he began to develop Thrud, partly inspired by Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, which he was reading at the time. In an exposč published in the magazine towards the end of Thrud's tenure, art editor John Blanche commented that Critchlow's "unique, chunky comic book technique provides the perfect vehicle for the biffoesque barbarian."
In the 1990s Critchlow began to employ colour, with his work on the 1995 Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle being fully painted. At the time, while considered impressive his paint work was also viewed as forced, confused and muddy. Critic Joseph Szadkowski wrote that his 1996 work "Sherlock Joker Strikes Out" shows Critchlow's "commitment to presenting the Joker in an expressionist style, almost Kirchner in a good mood."
Critchlow continued to develop his colour work and new stylistic direction as he abandoned paint and began to combine traditional line drawings with computer colouring. However, having been pigeon-holed as a painter he did not believe he would be able to interest anyone in this radically different approach. Still, this new technical combination was employed in 2000AD for the Judge Dredd story Out of the Undercity and was initially well received and seen as a marked improvement over his previous fully painted style, with clearer figures and atmospheric computer colouring. As the Undercity story developed, however, Critchlow was criticised for using too narrow a palette, with too many greys and blues, although this may have been a result of the story's underground setting. By the end of the series, views on Critchlow's artwork were mixed, although there was a desire to see him working on a story set above ground, in daylight.
Criticism of Critchlow's subdued colouring continued with his work on the Lobster Random debut in 2003, but as appreciation for the story grew, the two-toned colouring and scratchy line style came to be viewed by some as well-suited to the character. In one installment of the series, the protagonist was drugged, and Critchlow handled the subject by introducing more colour into the strip, using sumptuous Day-Glo colours and experimenting with unconventional panel layouts, moves that were well-received. By the conclusion, Critchlow's style was recognised as being truly unique, with even the previously criticised blues and greys viewed as working well with other coloured elements.
In 2004, Critchlow's work on the Judge Dredd story, Cincinnati was praised for showing further stylistic improvements and introducing more colour than had previously been seen. Critchlow's work on two further Lobster Random stories, in 2004 and 2006, was very well received, with Tooth & Claw being praised for its character designs and use of colour, while The Agony & the Ecstacy was considered immediately recognisable with its "volume, colour and verve".
In considering his principle formative influences Critchlow cites Frank Frazetta, and his inspiration at seeing the work of Bryan Talbot's Luthor Arkwright series first hand. Other favourite artists from the comic book field include Mike McMahon, Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, Jamie Hewlett, Simon Davis, Nicolas de Crecy and Masamune Shirow.
