I'm immensely saddened to report the death of legendary 2000 AD letterer Tom Frame, claimed by cancer. I worked with Tom for twelve years, on both the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD. His lettering was as much a part of Dredd as the future lawman's badge or gun. Tom took a great deal of care with and pride in his work, and rightly so. But he wasn't just a letterer. For a long time in the early 80s Tom coloured the covers and centre-spread of 2000 AD, making the most of the primitive printing facilities used on the weekly. If you ever needed a living embodiment of curmudgeon, Tom was it - but he was kind-hearted grouch, with a face that spoke volumes about a life well lived. He was a demon on the pool table, frustrating his opponents and smiling at their misfortunes. But most of all he was an exemplary professional who cared about telling stories and always strove to do his best, even if he did leave the occasional set of artwork in a curry house after a long night's drinking!
The world is that little bit poorer for his death, and British comics will never be the same now that Tom's gone. Rest in peace.
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4 comments:
Sorry to hear about this - only met him a couple of times when I was in the office, but I found him extremely likeable when we did chat.
Thanks for passing on the news.
Sorry to hear this sad news. Never met him, but as a 2000AD reader I sure as heck appreciated his work.
How far back did Tom go with 2000AD? I have the impression that it was all the way. He anchored things in my mind anyway, kept a sense of continuity in the comic over the years from whe I was just a fan to being a droid myself. Certainly nothing quite gave me quite as much of a kick as getting moderately drunk with him once...or twice perhaps. It all blends together in my memory.
I was also very impressed by how he managed to get some fairly verbose Wagner dialog into a space that really shouldn't have been able to take it.
All the best big man!
Si.
AFAIK, the earliest story lettered by Tom Frame in 2000AD was Invasion! in Prog 4.
He will be sorely missed by many a 2000AD reader.
Wake
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