Comic-book artist ends his life at Swiss clinic

A respected comic-book artist who illustrated famed characters such as Judge Dredd has ended his life at the Swiss clinic Dignitas, it was disclosed yesterday.

John Hicklenton, who lived in Brighton, died at the assisted- suicide clinic on March 19 aged 42 following a 10-year battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).

He was renowned for his characteristically-grotesque figures in the cult British comic 2000 AD, including interpretations of famous characters Judge Dredd and Nemesis The Warlock.

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Mr Hicklenton, known as Johnny, was also a strident MS campaigner and was the subject of an award-winning television documentary charting his fight against the condition.

In Here's Johnny, which was produced by Brighton-based independent film and TV company Animal Monday, he spoke movingly of using art as an escape.

He said: "Drawing is my walking now. I run with it, I fly with it. It's keeping me alive. I have a thing with it. I can't wait to get a piece of paper with a pen because it's what I can control.

"I haven't got MS when I'm looking at my pictures and I haven't got it when I'm drawing them either. It gives me an ability to express that fear."

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The illness took an increasingly tight hold on him, affecting his mobility, and he decided to end his life before he became permanently disabled.

Friends and family travelled with him to the clinic, his agent Adrian Weston said.

He said yesterday: "He was one of the most clear-sighted and visionary people I have ever met.

"Having worked with him was one of the greatest privileges of my professional life."

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Mr Weston said he he had only recently finished completing his final book, 100 Months, before he travelled to Zurich.

Mr Hicklenton finished his last drawing the day before going to Dignitas. "Johnny said that finishing the book kept him alive for another year," said Mr Weston.

Tributes have been paid online to Mr Hicklenton, with one person describing him as "uncompromising, unpretentious and unique".

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