The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

John Freeman was passing around a story originating from the Telegraph which has been a fair old schocker to most of us in the British comics community – John Hicklenton, probably best known to many of us for his work in 2000AD (in fact there’s a great big serving of John’s classic work in the second Complete Nemesis the Warlock which just came out towards the end of last year) is seriously ill with MS. Despite the illness laying him low John is pretty far from taking it lying down though – he’s brought in the cameras and decided to talk publicly about the disease and how it has affected his life in the hope that he can do something positive and create more awareness of this awful affliction:

“When celebrated graphic artist Johnny Hicklenton learnt that he had multiple sclerosis, the news was delivered with a brutality that stuns him still – nearly seven years later. “The doctor, a locum, just stared at her computer screen,” he says, “and never once looking at me, said: ‘You’ve got MS. You’ll be dead in 12 to 15 years.’ Just like that.” Her remit, he says, was presumably not to become emotionally engaged. Johnny’s is the opposite.”

It’s quite terrifying to think on something like this affecting anyone, let alone someone only 40 years old and for an artist it must be especially cruel that, while he can still draw for the moment, increasing pain and spasms as the disease progresses mean that eventually John’s ability to draw will degrade: “I am grateful for the amount of drawing I have done so far, but I’m scared to put pen to paper now. The last time I drew anything was last year.” Angry not only at the disease but the lack of understanding and help from health professionals John allowed himself to be the subject of a documentary, “Here’s Johnny”, by Animal Monday, which will be shown in the London Science Museum’s Dana Centre on 30th January.