First Prog: 609
Latest Prog: 1023 (as
colourist); 966 (strip art)
Total appearances: 98
including a small handful as inker and colourist
Creator Credits:
Armoured Gideon
Dead Meat
 |
| Giant robots and gooey monsters! |
Other art credits:
Tales from the Doghouse
Harlem Heroes (the reboot)
RoboHunter
Judge Dredd
A handful of one-offs
Notable character creations:
Maeve the Many-Armed
Frank Weitz
Armoured Gideon
Inspector Raam
Notable characteristics:
If ever there was an
artist with a super distinctive style, it’s Simon Jacob. He’s hardly unique in that
regard, but by gosh it doesn’t take much familiarity with the man’s work to
spot it a mile off. Describing why is proving weirdly elusive. Cartoony
features on otherwise anatomically correct figures. Slightly stiff poses, even
when in mid-action. Something about the way he does eyes (maybe the eyelids in
particular are more noticeable than with other artists?). Very specific skin
texture, too. But above all, he has a fiercely imaginative way with
ectoplasmically gooey monsters.
 |
| Making the most of a pnael description that says 'demon bursts out from a manhole' Words by John Tomlinson |
On Simon:
And here we have
another artist who was something of a mainstay for a specific time period,
appearing as often as not between Progs 600-1000, and then seemingly fell of
the face of the Earth as far as Tharg was concerned. A damn shame, as he was a
reliable bringer of fun, to my eyes.
While he did dabble in
a few established series, he’s always going to be most known for robotic
demon-buster, Armoured Gideon. And
he’s one of those artists who defined their signature character so clearly that
other artists who have occasionally drawn the character (on covers or those
group shots we all love so much) never quite get it right.
But before there was
Gideon, there was Maeve.
 |
| Whatever happened to Maeve the Many-Armed? Words by Hilary Robinson |
Tharg wanted to
experiment with the world of Strontium
Dog, expanding it beyond merely the adventures of Johnny Alpha. Somehow it
never quite took off, but one of the better characters to emerge from the
short-lived Tales from the Doghouse
strip was Maeve the Many-Armed, brainchild of Hilary Robinson and
then-newly-minted art droid Simon Jacob.
Keeping track of all
those limbs (and attendant guns) shows an attention to detail that Jacob never
shied away from.
 |
| I do love a good bit of bubble-writing sounds effect in my cartoony comics. Shades of Jason Brashill to come... Words by Hilary Robinson |
 |
| Comedy eyes on display Words by Stewart Edwards |
See also a spate of
rather jolly Future Shocks.
 |
| This early work forshadows his major interests: Fantasy worlds that aren't afraid to mock themselves. Words by Mike Collins |
 |
| Drawing a character raining himself down from the sky - a challenge! Words by Brian Williamson |
I suppose there’s
something about the style of cartoony art Jacob uses that inherently renders his
work funny. It’s certainly the comedy, even in the face of ultraviolence, that
landed Jacob a few gigs on the revamped RoboHunter.
His Slade is quite the gurner, and his hat has a logic all its own (although to
be fair, Gibson kind of started that inadvertent trend).
 |
| It's all in the lips, apparently. Words by Mark Millar |
He had a couple of
late forays into the world of Dredd,
again emphasising comedy. Not Jacob’s fault, but his one Prog Dredd was the much-reviled Awakening of Angels. More gurning again,
but I’d argue he’s following in the vein of Mike McMahon and Ron Smith, not to
mention the incredibly caricaturish nature of the Angel Gang themselves.
 |
| "And not a brain cell between them!" as the cover tagline might have run it in 1982 Words by John Wagner |
His other Dredd effort
was from a special, and speaks to the sort of work he appears to be doing now –
fantasy comics. Dredd is re-imagined as a knight on horseback, and it’s an
eye-catching look. It’s also married to a script Jacob himself wrote, which
does enough to set up the story but doesn’t have much to say beyond an excuse
for some truly glorious visuals.
 |
| A strong enough image ot sell a whole story! Words by Simon Jacob |
Stepping back in time,
let’s have a look at Dead Meat.
Yes, the series that
re-imagined Judge Dredd as a sheep, in a world ruled by vegetarians.
Sarcasm aside, I can
actually see why Tharg backed this series and promoted it pretty hard. It’s a
funny idea, and it kind of predicts by some years 2000ADs ‘aching to be cool
phase’, where efforts to have a finger on some sort of pulse birthed BLAIR 1 and the Space Girls. Unlike those two stinkers, Dead Meat was both clever and funny. Sadly, much like those other
two strips, it never really had any storied to tell.
After setting up a
future united Europe, complete with new currency the 'ecu', and showing Inspector Raam going to extreme lengths to defend a mouse
form a cat, all we’re left with is evil meat eaters.
 |
| Dead Meat was also about climate change, not just vegetarianism. There's a whole lot of 'Waterworld' going on. Words by Michael Cook |
 |
| Inspector Raam - one in a short but noble line of heroic Welshmen in 2000AD* Words by Michael Cook |
It’s to writer Michael Cook’s credit that he manages to get two whole action/mystery plots going. It’s
to Simon Jacob’s credit that we care about those plots at all, largely because
his designs for Raam and the uber-earnest Vera Brett.
 |
| Vera Brett: action hero! Words by Michael Cook |
 | |
| That's more like it! (Actually, I'm rather fond of Brett and her no nonesense, super earnnest ways.) Words by Michael Cook |
Moustache twirling
proto-hipster villains, who will only eat proper food cooked in a particular way, completed the package.
 |
| And I’ll admit, I
never got tired of seeing Raam butting his way in and out of trouble (not unlike the Mean machine, I guess). |
 |
| Another unmistakable Simon Jacob eyball, there. |
I’d have liked to see
more Dead Meat, but I can’t for the
life of me imagine where such a story would go. I suppose recent Disney hit
Zootropolis/Zootopia kind of tackled the issue of a world in which carnivores
were forced to be vegetarian, and did so with no little delight and humour.
Which leaves us with
his magnum opus, Armoured Gideon.
Across four books and a handful of one-offs, Jacob really evolves in style and
confidence. Hero Frank Weitz (perhaps like Danny Franks before him), goes from
a somewhat stiff grouch to a rather looser, more well-rounded grouch (the
series wasn’t particularly interested in character development, but frankly the
character was great and didn’t need developing).
 |
| Frank Weitz, on a journey from schlubby loser... |
 |
| ...to schlubby loser. Words by John Tomlinson |
Jacob’s inherent
humour is absolutely perfectly matched with Tomlinson’s overall theme of the
series – what if satanic cults (and the sort of buffoons who join them) really
could summon up demons? There’d have to be a system in place to collect them
and send them back to Hell. Jacob’s buffoons are great, but it’s his ability to
draw cartoon demons and the giant robot who retrieves them that make the series
something of a lasting classic.
 |
| One of these robots is possessed by a demon |
Both Tomlinson and
Jacob were finding their feet with Book 1;
by Book II they both knew what they
were doing, and let the comedy sing out.
 |
| A comedic climax to book II Words by John Tomlinson |
Book III tried to mix
things up a little by delving into 20000AD’s past. Fun if throwaway from a
reading point of view, but utter delight from an art perspective. Can’t get
enough of this sort of thing…
 |
| Yup, that's rare appearances from: Bill Savage; Harry Angel; Abelaard Snazz; Wolfie Smith and MACH0 Words by John Tomlinson |
 |
| Staring down the wrong end of Savage's shootah Words by John Tomlinson |
 |
| Shako vs Savage: Send one Pat Mills creation to catch another Pat Mills creation. Words by John Tomlinson |
Book IV was an
improvement storywise, moving into body-swap territory. Artwise, it’s likely
Jacob’s best work for Tharg, really fleshed-out, three dimensional goodness at
work.
 | |
| Body swap, as in Fank Weitz is in Gideon's body... |
 |
| ...meaning Gideon must be in Frank. Words by John Tomlinson |
As many others have
said before, Armoured Gideon deserves
the reprint treatment, and not just for Book I! I’d love a digital collection,
but floppies for Books II-IV (and not forgetting the specials) would be neat.
And while you’re at
it, why not bring Jacob back for another humour series? I could see him doing
could work on Ulysses Sweet or Survival Geeks, if a mix of artists is
needed.
More on Simon Jacob:
Personal favourites:
Tales from the Doghouse: Maeve the Many-Armed; Niall of the Nine
Sausages
Armoured Gideon: the art is glorious throughout
Future Shocks: Digby Trench; Tree of Knowledge
*Evans the Fist, Harris from 10 Seconders - anyone else? I always like to read Dirty Frank in a Welsh accent, but he's canonically American.
