Nigel Kitching
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nigel Kitching (born 29 May 1959) is an illustrator and writer in comics and in books. He first made his name in comics with Trident Comics, as the artist of Saviour (written by Mark Millar) from its second issue and Light-Brigade (which he co-created with Neil Gaiman)
So far, he is best known for his highly acclaimed work as writer on the anthology title Sonic the Comic (STC) from 1993-1999 and 2000. He wrote most of the lead Sonic strips throughout this time, as well as several of the other strips, including a few runs on Tails, every Knuckles story, a short run each on Streets of Rage, Sparkster and Shining Force, and a very lengthy run both writing and drawing Decap Attack, which became a cult favourite with STC's readership, as well as being a favourite of his own. It was through Sonic the Comic that he met his regular collaborator Richard Elson; he also brought his friend Nigel Dobbyn onto the book to illustrate Knuckles, and lifelong idol Mick McMahon to illustrate Decap Attack.
As STC wound down with most of the material being replaced by reprint, he found himself forced off the book in mid-1999, only to be brought back on the book following the appointment of a new editor at the end of the same year. He wrote another ten episodes of the lead strip which saw print in 2000, after which he was made redundant as the lead strip was replaced by reprint. (Kitching's only return to the title after that was an article he wrote for the comic's 200th issue which eventually saw print in an adapted format in the final issue, #223.)
When Sonic began drying up for work, Kitching entered the world of book illustration with the intent to work in comics again, but despite some promising starts (Magpie, Mort Janus, Gimmik etc.) very little has got off the ground yet. In 2004 he had work published in 2000AD: a single-issue Tharg's Terror Tales entitled "Krypt" and a nine-episode story entitled "A.H.A.B.". Although both stories were well-received, they saw print during one of the most creatively accomplished runs the series had seen in years, and it seems unlikely that Kitching will return to the title at this point in time.
At the Bristol Comics Festival 2004, which featured such big names as Dave Gibbons and David Finch, he was briefly in a position to claim the title of biggest star at the convention, as for the "Meet the Stars" event at the start of the show, he was the only creator to actually turn up.
Kitching currently has a strip in Toxic Magazine: Grott the Mighty and is also currently a Drawing and Graphic Technique lecturer at the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough, UK.
