He is currently working on the second instalment. His best-known work is a graphic novel called the Spiral Cage, an autobiographical account of growing up with the spinal condition that has left him dependent on a wheelchair. “I want to show people what I’m capable of as someone who’s disabled and to just celebrate it.”

I always say it’s something I was born to do – I didn’t chose to be an artist. He is best known for his autobiographical graphic novel The Spiral Cage. Being born with a disability is not a bad thing – without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Al Davison is a comic creator, author, and artist based in FarGo Village. He said: “The illness is not something given to you to punish you in any way but it’s to make you stronger. His remarkable passion to draw began at the tender age of two after being given crayons and he started drawing comic strips before he could even speak.Īt 18, he did some illustrating for a martial arts magazine and over the past 30 years has worked on titles for DC Comics, creators of Superman.Īl owns book shop Astral Gypsy, in the Canal Basin, with his wife, Maggie, aged 58, where he has been teaching kids the art of comic strips for the past five years. He had 21 operations by the time he was eight. The self-taught artist, of Humber Avenue, Stoke, Coventry, spent two years in an isolation unit shortly after he was born to avoid the risk of infection. The 48-year-old was approached by writer and friend Tony Lee at an arts show who offered him the job to work on the next 12 issues, but has been sworn to secrecy about what the future books will entail.īut it hasn’t been easy for him.

Manga Carta is available for download from the festival website since mid-August 2015.GRAPHIC artist Al Davison who was told he wouldn’t survive a severe illness has been chosen to illustrate a new series of Doctor Who comic books.Īl, who was born with spina bifida, has already illustrated and co-wrote a two-part comic called Silver Scream which will be published in America. Īs part of the 10-day Festival800, which took place in Lincoln from 28 August to 6 September 2015, he has been commissioned to create Manga Carta – a 10-page, 30-panel graphic tale of the journey and impact of the 800-year-old Magna Carta. He is the subject of a documentary, also called The Spiral Cage, directed by Paul W. The Spiral Cage featured in Tony Isabella's 1000 Comic Books You Must Read. He is most famous for his autobiographical graphic novel The Spiral Cage (Renegade Press, 1988, longer version Titan Books, 1990, Absolute edition from Active Images, 2003), which describes his lifelong struggle with spina bifida and his rise to successful comic book creator, martial arts instructor, film maker, and performer. He now resides in Coventry, where he runs The Astral Gypsy, his studio and comic shop in Fargo Village, Far Gosford Street, with his wife Maggie. Al Davison is an English comic book writer and artist from Newcastle, England.

The Spiral Cage by Al Davison