Paul Jason ("P. J.") Holden (b. 28 December 1969) is a comics artist from Belfast.
Much of his early work was in collaboration with writer Malachy Coney. Between 1995 and 1997 he drew the third issue of Holy Cross and the graphic novel The Moon Looked Down and Laughed, both published by Fantagraphics Books, and the gay superhero parody The Dandy Lion, published by Fantagraphics' Eros imprint. Also in 1997 he drew Suicide Kings, written by Mike Carey, for Caliber Comics' Negative Burn anthology, and self-published another of Coney's gay superhero parodies, The Simply Incredible Hunk. There then followed a period of working in the UK small press, including FutureQuake Press and Omnivistascope's anthologies. Around this time he pioneered the Shareware Comics concept of distribution.
Since then he has worked for Black Library's Warhammer Monthly, 2000AD (including drawing Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper) and the Judge Dredd Megazine. He co-created Fearless, with writers Mark Sable and Dave Roth, for Image Comics in 2007, and Dead Signal, with writer Al Ewing, for 2000AD in 2008. He has also collected his small press work into a self-published volume called Previously.
In 2008 he was involved in developing software to run comics on the iPhone and iPod Touch with Infurious Comics. Apple declined to carry the first comic, Murderdrome, written by Al Ewing and drawn by Holden, on content grounds. Ewing and Holden then developed a series for younger readers called Eye Candy, the second issue of which was drawn by John McCrea. Murderdrome is being reworked as a webcomic.
He drew the three issue story "Happy Valley", about an Australian RAF bomber crew in 1942, in Garth Ennis' series Battlefields for Dynamite Entertainment, in 2009-10. Numbercruncher, a creator-owned series with writer Si Spurrier, ran in the Judge Dredd Megazine in 2011, and he was the visual creator of espionage series "Black Ops Xtreme", written by John Freeman, in Strip Magazine, launched in late 2011.
He was a founding contributor to Eclectic Micks sketchblog but stepped down as a contributor in February 2010. In 2009 he, alongside Ron Abernethy and Scott Ferguson, launched the podcast Sunnyside Comics. He is married to Annette and they have two sons, Nathan and Thomas.
Bibliography[]
- Holy Cross #3 written by Malachy Coney, Fantagraphics Books, 1995
- The Moon Looked Down and Laughed, written by Malachy Coney, Fantagraphics Books, 1997
- The Dandy Lion, written by Malachy Coney, Fantagraphics Books, 1997
- The Simply Incredible Hunk, written by Malachy Coney, self-published, 1997
- "Nanas and Custard", written by Stu Taylor, Toxic!, 2004-2005
- Origins of the Cadre #2, written by Matt Nastos and Andrew Pellerito, Nifty Comics, 2005
- Fearless, 4 issues, written by Dave Roth and Marc Sable, coloured by Nick Filardi, Image Comics, 2007-2008
- Previously, various writers, self-published, 2007
- Eye Candy #1: "The Masked Marshal", written by Al Ewing, Infurious Comics, 2008
- Battlefields: "Happy Valley", 3 issues, written by Garth Ennis, coloured by Tony Avina, Dynamite Entertainment, 2009-2010
Negative Burn[]
- "Carla Allison: Steps", writer, drawn by John McCrea, Negative Burn #41, Caliber Comics, 1996
- "Suicide Kings", written by Mike Carey, Negative Burn #49, Caliber Comics, 1997 (Reprinted in Mike Carey's One-Sided Bargains, Image Comics, 2006)
Warhammer Monthly[]
- "The Soldier's Tale", written by Mitchel Scanlon, Tales from the Ten Tailed Cat, Black Library, 2002
- "Succubus", written by David Stoddart, Eternal Damnation, Black Library, 2003
- "Blood Rites". written by Jim Alexander, Eternal Damnation, Black Library, 2003
2000AD[]
[]
- "Judge Dredd: Sino-Town", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD #1233, 2001
- "Judge Dredd: Unnatural Selection", written by Alan Grant, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD #1278, 2002
- "Judge Dredd: Waiting", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD #1312, 2002
- "Judge Dredd: Meet the Flooks", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Gary Caldwell, 2000AD #1359, 2003
- "Johnny Woo: A Bullet in the Head", written by Gordon Rennie, Judge Dredd Megazine #231-233, 2005
- "Judge Dredd: The Magnificent Umbersons", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe, Judge Dredd Megazine #235, 2005
- "Judge Dredd: Warzone", written by John Wagner, coloured by Len O'Grady, Judge Dredd Megazine #240-243, 2006
- "Judge Dredd: House of Pain", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe and Eva de la Cruz, 2000AD #1488-1489, 2006
- "Judge Dredd: On Campus", written by John Wagner, coloured by Eva de la Cruz, 2000AD #1522, 2007
- "Judge Dredd: It Came from Bea Arthur Block", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Eva de la Cruz, 2000AD # 1637-1639, 2009
- "Judge Dredd: Sanctuary", written by Michael Carroll, 2000AD #1646, 2009
- "Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty", written by John Wagner, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD #1656, 2009
- "Tales from the Black Museum: Heart of Iron", written by Arthur Wyatt, Judge Dredd Megazine #291, 2009
- "Judge Dredd: The Lost Cases: A Contract on Grud", written by Alan Grant, Judge Dredd Megazine #293, 2010
- Judge Dredd: "Dragon's Den", written by Gordon Rennie, 2000AD #1670-1671
- "Johnny Woo: A Hong Tong Ghost Story", written by Gordon Rennie, Judge Dredd Megazine #298-299
- "Judge Dredd: A Home For Aldous Mayou", written by Al Ewing, 2000AD #1699, 2010
Future Shocks[]
- "Future Shocks: Alpha Team", written by Si Spurrier, 2000AD #1262, 2001
- "Future Shocks: Skeleton Key", written by Richard McTighe, coloured by Angus McKie, 2000AD #1276, 2002
- "Future Shocks: Autocrats Anonymous", written by Jaspre Bark, 2000AD #1370, 2003
- "Future Shocks: A Terrible Hunt", written by Alec Worley, 2000AD #1560, 2007
[]
- "Rogue Trooper: Realpolitik", written by Gordon Rennie, 2000AD #1380-1385, 2004
- "The 86ers: Tochdown", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD #1482-1485, 2006
- "The 86ers: Interference", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD #1508-1510, 2006
- "The 86ers: Walking to Eternity", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Chris Blythe, 2000AD Prog 2007, 2006
- "The 86ers: Grendel", written by Gordon Rennie, coloured by Eva de la Cruz, 2000AD #1544-1549, 2007
- "The 86ers: Under Pressure", written by Arthur Wyatt, coloured by Eva de la Cruz, 2000AD #1625-1630, 2009
Other[]
- "Dead Signal", written by Al Ewing, coloured by Eva de la Cruz, 2000AD #1581-1587, 2008
External links[]
- P. J. Holden's website
- Sunnyside Comics
- Infurious Comics
- Eclectic Micks
- Paul J. Holden creator profile at 2000adonline.com
- Read The Simply Incredible Hunk online at MyEBook
Interviews[]
- The Irish Times, 2001
- 2000AD Review, 2004
- Interview about Murderdrome, 2008
- Culture Northern Ireland, 2009
- Hypergeek, 2009
- Wayne Simmons, 2010
- Quick Questions With, Irish Comic News, 21 June 2011
Reviews[]
Online reference[]
- P. J. Holden on Wikipedia
- P. J. Holden on Lambiek
- Paul J. Holden - 2000AD profile
- P. J. Holden at the Comic Book DB