‘They came looking for us’

Jock explains how an ‘f*** off’ led to his first job in the comics industry

Glenn Fabry’s blunt, but approving critique (see p.41) was a breakthrough moment. Steve MacManus, an editor at 2000 AD, heard about what happened and offered Jock a commission in the 1995 summer special.

It wasn’t until five years later that he had regular work for 2000 AD. But that first job was a breakthrough moment: “Myself and Dom Reardon weren’t particularly good,” Jock says. “But Steve was trying to encourage us. He heard about that meeting and therefore came looking for us, rather than the other way round. So it was an awesome moment.”

Jock went on to big things at 2000 AD, and won the best newcomer award at the National Comics Award in 2001. He worked with writer Andy Diggle on Lenny Zero, a pairing which led to his big break in the US. Together they published The Losers with DC Comics. The rest is history. And it all started from that most unconventional of portfolio reviews. Now Jock sits on the other side of the signing desk…