Brett Ewins (1955 – 16 February 2015) was aBritishcomic book artist best known for his work onJudge Dredd andRogue Trooper in the weeklyanthology comic2000 AD.

Ewins studied Conceptual Art atGoldsmiths College, where he was also taught fine art byMichael Craig-Martin.^[2] Ewins met future collaboratorPeter Milligan at Goldsmiths, and left in 1977. In 1980, Ewins held a solo exhibition of his work atFrestonia'sCar Breaker Gallery in London,^[3] a squat inLadbroke Grove's Republic of Frestonia.^[4] Ewins formed a long-term collaborative partnership with fellow artistBrendan McCarthy who also showed at the Car Breaker Gallery, creating the comicSometime Stories, which faltered after the first issue leaving the second issue completed but unpublished. On the strength ofSometime Stories, Ewins soon started providing covers for2000 AD, the first being issue #33 published in October of the same year.

Ewins and McCarthy continued working together onFuture Shocks andJudge Dredd, but soon after Ewins began working solo onRogue Trooper and laterJudge Anderson. In 1985 Ewins started working onBad Company, a sci-war epic, written by Peter Milligan with artwork by Ewins and Jim McCarthy (brother of Brendan).

Brett Ewins did the cover art for theJudgement Day (1986) supplement forGames Workshop'sJudge Dredd: The Role-Playing Game.^[5]

Along withSteve Dillon, he started the comic magazineDeadline in 1988, which continued for another seven years.^[2] At the same time as Ewins was startingDeadline, he began working onSkreemer for American comics publisher, DC. Ewins was also still contributing art to2000 AD at the same time. This level of work was to have a serious impact of Ewins' health.

He "suffered a serious breakdown from overwork" in 1991 and was unable to take on work that had a deadline, which led to lost commissions fromDC Comics andPenguin Books.^[6] His plan to recover was to create ananthology based on work from friends in the industry likePeter Milligan,Alan Grant andAlan McKenzie, as well as friends like musician Michael White. The volume was finished off with "Machine", a story written by Ewins based on his breakdown.^[7] He worked on the stories from 1995 to 2003^[6] and the book was published asThe Dark Gate in 2004 byCyberosia Publishing.

Ewins also was a painter and had a number of exhibitions. Ewins was also an influence onstreet art, especially The IFC and theMutoid Waste Company, and a Ewins-influenced exhibition was held in November 2011.^[8]

In 2011, Air Pirate Press published a biographical retrospective book of Ewins' life and work,The Art of Brett Ewins (ISBN 095691490X).

In January 2012 it was reported that he had sustained head injuries during a confrontation with police, in which one policeman received stab wounds.^[9] He subsequently appeared beforeUxbridge Magistrates Court in February 2012 charged with causinggrievous bodily harm with intent,^[10] and ultimately spent time in prison.^[1]

He died on 17 February 2015 fromemphysema.^[1]

Comics work includes:

• Tharg's Future Shocks:
  • "Robot Repairs" (with writerRobert Flynn and artistJim McCarthy, in2000 AD #37-38, 1977)
  • "The Man Who Was Too Clever" (withPeter Milligan, in2000 AD #216, 1981)

Judge Anderson:

• • "Four Dark Judges" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, 2000 AD Progs 416 - 427, 1985)
  • "The Possessed" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, 2000 AD progs 468 - 478, 1986)
• Judge Dredd:
  • "Bring Me The Head of Judge Dredd!" (withJohn Wagner, as "John Howard", and sharing art dutiesBrendan McCarthy, in2000 AD #88, 1978)
  • "The DNA Man" (with John Wagner, as "John Howard", in2000 AD #114-115, 1979)
  • "The Haunting of Sector House 9" (with John Wagner, as "T. B. Grover", in2000 AD #359-363, 1984)
  • "The Wally Squad" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant as "T.B. Grover", in "2000 AD" #390 - 392 (1984)
• ABC Warriors: "The Order of Knights Martial" (withPat Mills, in2000 AD #124, 1979)
• Rogue Trooper: "Bagman Blues" (withGerry Finley-Day, in2000 AD #261-262, 1982)
• Strange Days #1-3 (with Peter Milligan,Eclipse Comics, 1984–1985)
• TheJohnny Nemo Magazine #1-3 (with Peter Milligan,^[11] Eclipse Comics, 1985–1986)
• Bad Company (pencils, with Peter Milligan and inks by Jim McCarthy^[11]):
  • "Bad Company" (in2000 AD #500-519, 1986–1987)
  • "The Bewilderness" (in2000 AD #548-557, 1987–1988)
  • "Young Men Marching" (in2000AD Annual 1989, 1988)
  • "The Krool Heart" (in2000 AD #576-585, 1988)
  • "Simply" (in2000 AD #601, 1988)
  • "Ararat" (in2000AD Annual 1990, 1989)
  • "Kano" (in2000 AD #828-837, 1993)
  • "Down Among the Dead Men" (in2000AD Annual 2001, 2000)
  • "Bad Company 2002" (in2000 AD Prog 2002 and #1273-1277, 2001–2002)
• Swamp Thing #70 (withRick Veitch,Vertigo, 1988)
• Hellblazer #7-8 (withJamie Delano, Vertigo, 1988)
• Skreemer (pencils, with writer Peter Milligan and inks bySteve Dillon, 6-issuelimited series, 1989,DC Comics,trade paperback, 169 pages, 2002,ISBN 1-56389-925-6)^[11][12]
• Secret Origins: "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" #23 (with Rick Veitch, DC Comics, February 1988)
• Mr X Special (with Peter Milligan,one-shot,Vortex Comics, 1990)
• The Dark Gate (editor and artist, with Peter Milligan,Alan McKenzie andAlan Grant, 64 pages,Cyberosia Publishing, 2004,ISBN 0-9742713-6-5)

• 1990: Won "Favourite Single or Continued Story US"Eagle Award, forSkreemer

• Official website

• 1955 births
• 2015 deaths
• Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London
• Artists from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• Deaths from emphysema
• English Buddhists
• English comics artists
• Games Workshop artists
• People from Hammersmith
• Role-playing game artists

• CS1 errors: periodical ignored
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Comics nation sweep
• Comics infobox without image
• Track variant DoB
• Track variant DoD
• Date of birth missing
• Place of birth missing