Bisley absolutely redesigned Lobo, he pretty much gave him Lemmy from Motorhead vibe.

Bisley would've been introduced to DC audiences via cover art, especially on the Morrison Doom Patrol run (since issue 26, in Oct. '89). Those were very popular, and the covers were boss!

The first time I put my eyes on Bisley's Lobo was in 3rd grade. The only comics I got then was Little Lulu and Archie kind. Studying in a religious school, It was mind-blowing to see the guy get expelled from heaven and hell, reborn as a female, and then rip someone in half. My brain never functioned in the same way since.

I was a huge Biz fan back in the 90s. My introduction was through his work on Judge Dredd, but I quickly discovered Lobo, Slaine, etc. As a grown man, I don't find the over-the-top violence to be quite as "radical" as my 14 year-old self did, but I do still appreciate his unique style. I wish he was doing more comics now.

Blake 7 is a reference to a U.K. sci-fi t.v. “Blake’s 7” that ran in the late 70’s, early 80’s.

L.E.G.I.O.N. was a grade A book! Kitson was amazing on that series. Smart storytelling and engaging characters. Before L.E.G.I.O.N. Lobo was a disco badass. It's his presence in L.E.G.I.O.N. that really pushed him towards becoming the Main Man we all love.

The UK show Spaced from around 1999 which was co-written and starring Simon Pegg as Tim Bisely, named after Simon Bisely because his artwork was used on the show.

I always thought that at times, Bisleys comical side can reference chuck jones. You see the side profile of that wheelchair ‘bam!’ Guy? Straight up chuck. He does it a lot. I can’t remember if I saw his Lobo before he did ‘judgment in gotham’ that was the one we all drooled over in the UK. This was also a period when graffiti art was really flourishing in the UK and many writers referenced his work in their pieces. I’ve always enjoyed the fact that he is clearly not precious about his work. It shines through. And yes I think all of the non-speech lettering is his. The style is consistent throughout all of his work that I’ve seen.

So glad you're talking about this. Bisley's art style blew my socks of as a 12 year old. One of my all time favourite comics.

You can see that same lively Sienkiewicz line Bisley uses on that Denys Cowan ad you flipped past. There was a stretch where Sienkiewicz style was almost a cliche signal that the comics were hip and off-trail. In the beginning, I'd say that it was the source of the aesthetic of early Vertigo.

90's Lobo was basically a 2000 AD comic. Alan Grant, Bisley, Critchlow, McCrea, Flint, etc.

As a metalhead who loves comics lobo is a favorite of mine \m/ especially bisley’s art is metal as hell \m/

The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special is, to this day, one of my 10 favorite comics of all time and I have been reading comics for 50 years. Chris "The Crusher" Kringle...LOL

I grabbed this one too and like y'all I didn't discover comicbook shops until after Image came on the scene. I feed my Marvel hunger from the grocery store and got my DC fix from the drug store next to it. I seem to be remembering this might of been in a 3 or 4 pack though. There was also a Family Dollar in that same shopping center which might of carried these.

I’ve been wanting to read a bunch of Lobo books. They’re barely collected anywhere... we need a fat Lobo omnibus!

I know you mentioned Star Wars, Jim, but that splash page of the outside of the cantina gave me real Douglas Adams “Restaurant at the End of the Universe” vibes, which I imagine could be something Bisley would be very aware of.

Bisley's work on Lobo and Slaine were very influential in my artistic upbringing. I was in art school at the time, and my buddies and I would try to emulate his painting technique.

If they ever make a Lobo movie, I imagine him having a British accent

I am seeing a lot of influence from the artist from Pink Floyd's the wall. Especially with the teachers design.

my first visit to Motor City Comic Con included meeting Simon Bisley and he bought one of my drawings in my portfolio. cool guy that Bisley.

This comic introduced me to Lobo and the beautiful artwork of Bisley.

Bisley defined "LOBO" as the main man. Giffen's TRENCHER was so cool ! Wish he would have continued with that loose style of art. Very satisfying ! I still follow Bisley today. Love his pencil work. The unpolished artwork is a joy to behold. It's like watching creation. Undefined by any rules. Just happening out on the edge.

Great vids, guys, thanks! Devoured this when it came out, was fortunate enough to be on the DC mailing list back then, and when this one showed up every month, it was one of the first ones I read. Here's to a less sensitive era.

The yellow-clothed lady boss is also reminiscent of Susan Powter, famed personal trainer from the 90's.

...and there is this Great Lobo's Logo. It is very fitting and effective!

Im doin a rewatch on this and Im seeing Ralph Steadman a bit herw and there. Anyone else seeing it?

Thanks for covering this one, a really fun classic with one of a kind art.

I fragin love Lobo, he's the bastich that got me started collecting comics. I made sure to get every copy, and yes I was a hard core punk rock kid in the late eighties and early nineties, great video thanks.

Recent viewer, recent book follower. love these videos, man.

I was working at a comic shop when this came out (Altered Images) we always had cool shit going on in the shop some of our regulars were Tim Vigil, Jim Valentino,Joseph Linsner, etc...we always had cool in store guests or people just hanging around...anyways...We fucking loved this book when it came out and ill never forget being at Knotts Scary Farm and running into a guy dressed as Lobo! So we were pretty stoked and hit him up..He stayed in character for a while...but then said that no one there even knew who he was hahah

another heads up and correction from the peanut gallery. Colorist Lovern Kinderski is a dude. I know cuz he shops at my LCS occasionally. He is the main man from digital chameleon a 90's digital colouring power house, he colored Trencher too and plenty of other cool things.

When this came out in 1990, I was in high school and was cruising all the local shops to find this, it was extremely hot title at the time. I found a Vietnamese comic shop owner who was bragging "you wan Lobo numbah won, I have the Lobo numbah won" with a half smoked cigarette hanging out his mouth. Stereotypical, hilarious and unforgettable. I bought two copies of "numbah won"

Thanks for the video - i absolutely love Bisley's work!

Shoutout to Simon Bisley's soft hands.

If I remember correctly this was a heavily promoted book. I can’t help but wonder if DC wasn’t thinking that Bisley was going to follow on the success of Moore and Gaiman as their next hot 2000 AD alum.

The sam keith esque art style is most likely a Gerald Scarfe influence since Bisley is British

A Glen Danzig interview would be amazing.

Lobo is a great comic. I have all of these issues.

robert rodriguez should direct the jason mamoa lobo movie...

iv tributed some of Bisleys work my self in trying to recreate his style, very unique

Still have mine. LOVE the look of it.

Very awesome. Thanks for reviewing Lobo #1 nice

Love this video, will you do a video for others from the The last czarnian series book? 😀

I was introduced to Lobo in first or second grade, a local publisher started printing some DC books so it made a lot available that I couldn't really get before. Holy shit, big game changer for me. I never knew comics were this violent until then

I might be wrong but I think Lobo was getting popular in his appearances in Justice League by Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire?

Great video guys. Would love to see your take on Sam Kieth's Lobo work.

the tone and world remind me of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

I was a metalhead kid who became a Lobo fan because of BIZ. But for me it went Danzig>Verotik>Death Dealer>BIZ>DC v. Marvel>Wolverine v. Lobo>wow Lobo is cool>BIZ drew Lobo>Buy a bunch of old Lobo issues

I love this comic! I bought it when it came out, then I got to meet Grant and Bisley and have them both sign my copy!

Funny you guys say the thing about the kid getting Gatorade and skating. I almost never bought comics around this time. Think I was in 7-8th grade maybe. There was a gas station across the street from my hometown skate park. I just randomly saw this on the spinner by the drink case and thought the cover was badass. I couldn’t buy enough Lobo after that and started hunting down Bisley stuff as well. So your thoughts on who was picking it up is hilariously accurate.

This was my intro to Simon Bisley. Utter badass. I was Lobo for no less than four subsequent Halloweens.

I've always hated Lobo. A few weeks ago I saw art from some of this and Infanticide. The art alone got me so interested that I finally started reading it. Now I know why people love Lobo! 😁

I know everyone is all "Bisley" (and maybe Giffen) when it comes to Lobo, but don't sleep on Alan Grant. Such a fun writer in this era. I loved the Lobo spinoff Outcasts as well. It almost pisses me off that I never got the US versions of most Lobo books, since they were translated to Swedish and readily available in Sweden at the time. As always, great episode. I'm going deep into the backlog of Kayfabes!

Lobo first showed up in a spandex outfit, drawn by Giffen in Omega Men. He then showed up next revamped slightly in Giffen's Justice League drawn by Kevin Maguire wearing a leather jacket and boots with no accessories, which was more of a leather jumpsuit in L.E.G.I.O.N as Barry Kitson drew him. When Bisley came on board for this miniseries, he added all the "metal" and "biker" chains/pads/tears etc.

The main man! Awesome memories!

Hey guys. I'm in the mid 40s and Lobo had some real buzz starting around '88. Suddenly I had older DC fans telling me that Lobo was the baddest superhero and Wolverine was old news. Over the next two years I would find random LEGION issues and the Superman and Justice League books where Lobo kicked Superman and Guy Gardners ass. All of which happened prior to the Bisley mini. Great work guys, as always. I would recommend the LEGION run for Jim, all the groundwork for the character is set up in that run. Lobo is a jerk and dishes out lots of ultraviolence.

Cool review, and I agree with you guys. I am a metalhead/art student occasionally buying comic books and shit, but when this first came out I was immediately drawn and hooked. Not only that, when I showed this to my other metalhead buddies who were never really into comics, they got in on the action too, buying comic books after that. From that point on, I guess this particular issue broke stereotypes of comic book readers as being fanboy geeks, which Bisley makes fun of in his comics. Hahaha! You also mentioned about Danzig probably discovering the Biz through Lobo, well Glenn is a comic book nerd too and way before making it in the comic book industry the Biz designed Heavy Metal album covers, so he might also have been exposed through that platform as well.

I bought this knowing Lobo from Justice League. Talking about Lobo being on newsstands, I bought Cinder and Ashe from Walden books in 1988. Lobo is almost tame in comparison.

On the topic of "newsstand" distribution and this title: DC had two tiers of non-direct-market titles: your main line titles - Detective, Superman, JL, etc - printed on low-grade paper with a lower price point. These would be available at drug and convenience stores, supermarkets, etc. Then you had the 'prestige' (iirc) titles, which were priced at $1.25 or so and would be available at Waldenbooks, Barnes and Noble, etc. You could get them at non-comics stores, but NOT at the corner shop. But they would still have the bar code (as this copy does); direct market editions had art or the DC logo.

Excellent review. Don't forget the lemmy comparison.😅

Have you saw the stuff he did for Slaine?

The first Lobo mini was so great. DC made a huge mistake firing Bisley during the second mini Lobo's Back.

To me his 'opus magnum' is 'Slaíne' and the ongoing bible project

I was familiar with Bisley from seeing Slaine in Heavy Metal which I think was that fully painted Boris Vellejo/Frank Frazetta vibe but his work on Lobo has a Sienkiewicz meets Frank Miller meets BWS meets Meobius meets 2000 A.D. flavor. This shit totally rocked my world and I started trying to combine what he was doing with that Adam Hughes/Kevin Maguire style in the art I was doing at the time. I doubt I was very effective.

Great vid. Loved Lobo when it came out. PS- Lovern Kindzierski is definitely a fella. :)

I very nearly made an online order for the Lobo trades... Maybe next week.

Seems Biz cribbed his own Slaine design and I always liked the mad Max reference with the one sleeve on the leather jacket absent. Thx for dusting this one off.

Classic!

I say Bill Plimpton's animations are very Bizleyish and those got shown arround on tv europe wide.

Look up bisleys heavy metal judge dredd, the Christmas one is ace. Ho ho holy shit

Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham Is in my view Simons best work

God bless 2000AD Artist

I found Bisley thru the Czarnian issue two and had to play catch up from there.

never actually read this. A lot more restrained looking than his 2000AD stuff but really good. Marshall Law must have been an influence on this, similar flavour.

Wow, the Ace of Spades

the one thing i never liked about american comics... was the amount of pages dedicated to commercials.

i was waiting for them to say...."tell them their marching orders jimmy!.....BITE ME FAN BOY!"

Small part of the story ---the "last czarnian " he's the last for a reason. The planet had gone unchecked with positive energy and it was a paradise for millenia with no pain or anything bad happening. So Lobo was born to balance pleasure with pain. He was the embodiment of the complete opposite of thousands of years of goodness. You can imagine the hate for such a planet. Enough to make you puke! 😈

Biz Rules!

Lobo > Deadpool and I'm still waiting on a good movie adaptation.

Lobo was dope than he was too over the top Kinda like Deadpool who kills everyone, but doesn't

that first page looks very Taiyo Matsumoto...

Have guys read: SLAINE ?!

#1 of this Lobo mini series was and still is one of the best things DC put out in the 90’s. Now DC doesn’t want entertain they want to push political beliefs on people. We at least have the past to reread or discover comics in the past that had great art and story.

BERSERK MANGA !!!

I'M FIRST!!! {:-D Over here on the other side of the Atlantic we saw Lobo as Bisley's Slaine Goes Psycho in Space!!