A circle around Pat Mills' characters

[almighty mat]

Okay, I'll fan the flames, this is a copy of the mail sent to Zarjaz editor Andrew Lewis by Mr Mills;



> I sent Pat Mills a copy of ZARJAZ 1 last week and this is his reply--
------
Hi, Andrew,

Thanks for Zarjaz

Great cover and I like the whole idea and intention of it. I think it's
fine for house characters and, of course, it's terrific for publishers
because some of your writers and artists will undoubtedly become a new
generation of pros for 2000AD which you state is their intention and I wis
h them well.

But... for those of us who do not regard our characters as house characters
and I am not alone in feeling this... it means that - although a remote
possibility at the moment - that if , for instance, I fell out with a
2000AD editor or was too busy, or unwell and couldn't write my
characters, or I was too expensive, the editor might be in a position to
have a new semi-trained writer who had possibly proved himself at writing
one of my stories and would presumably be cheaper. .

Because all rights were sold, 2000AD publishers are able to do this. It
very rarely happens, because publishers and editors are thankfully sensitive
to our feelings, especially as writers like myself believe in making our
feelings known loud and clear. Also , it is a grey area where rights are
concerned - because it is expressly against EEC law and morally
reprehensible. Hence why you will see sometimes in publications a quote
about moral rights having been relinquished. In France it would be
impossible - where creativity is more valued than in this country , where
the kind of incident I'm concerned about has happened on occasion. And
recently.

For example, a Flesh series and a Satanus series was recently written
expressly against my wishes by other writers on 2000AD. The editor - Andy
Diggle - although a life-long and encyclopaedic fan of 2000AD, forgot that I
had created Satanus. Frankly, I don't accept that - as I told him at the
time. Another editor, McManus, "forgot" to include writer and artist
credits on a portfolio of 2000AD characters pitched at the film world. I
am extremely militant on this subject because I am aware of "the thin end of
the wedge" principle and aggressively protect my rights on Slaine, Nemesis ,
Finn, ABC Warriors , Ro-Busters, Visible Man etc . Any indication that a
possible writer may be groomed for a future take-over will always meet with
a strong , and if necessary, legal reaction from me.

This may seem a little harsh, but the creative process is a long and painful
one and I don't believe in giving anyone a free lunch . Naturally new
writers need to learn and , of course, you will not be aware of these
concerns because publishers and editors have a different perspective to
writers and would have no reason to bring it to your attention. But my own
feeling is your stories should be purely on recognised house characters or
that your writers should create their own characters. Thus I'm not
thrilled by the idea of Slaine appearing in Zarjaz even though it may well
be homage etc. which I don't accept as a valid reason. Like many
professionals, I also make it a policy not to read things of this nature so
that I cannot be influenced by the content - an accussation that is also
often levelled at pros by people trying to find their way in. When I
started Slaine I had an agreement with the editor that no-one else should
ever write this character. This is an agreement I would hold 2000AD to
today. Of course Zarjaz falls outside this agreement as a fanzine, but I
certainly wouldn't like to see Slaine appearing in it again.

In case you think I am over-reacting. let me quote you some further
examples. Established 2000AD Writer X helped a new Writer Y to get work on
2000AD, encouraging him etc. Writer Y became very successful on 2000AD and
elsewhere and promptly kicked Writer X in the teeth in interviews in
fanzines.
Another young Writer Z's 2000AD career was launched off the back of a
project I had created in and later trashed me in print in a similar way .

So you can understand why I regard new writers not so much as a threat , but
more as potentially parasitical and ungracious like the two examples
above.

Sorry I can't be more positive.

Best

Pat
-----


It should be pointed out that when Alan Grant first saw a copy of this 'zine, he offered Andrew a free 2-page Anderson script to use, which appeared in issue 2. What a nice chap.


mat

[John Caliber]

Ah, so it's really a rant about not having strip creator control, rather than a simple dislike of fan fic. I can understand that - its exactly why I'm not going to submit any original* strip ideas to 2000AD, though artwork is nother matter...

* as in brand new charactrers and situations, not Dredd and Co.

I reckon an ABC sourcebook is okay then; it isn't formatted like a script, presented as description rather than novella. That's a relief :)

- JC

[Art]

Read closer... what you are suggesting would be THE THIN END OF THE WEDGE. Tharg might see it, like it, and employ YOU to write the next series of Slaine instead of him.

[Oddboy]

Still worth checking with Rebellion though (they might even raise the unofficial status to official if you're lucky!

What I want to know is why Mills let Rico & Hammerstein be used in the fanfic that is Judge Dredd the Movie..?

[paulvonscott]

Actually I'd embellished lots of imaginary fiery flairs on it myself since I last read it.  It is strongly worded, but he's putting his case forward for his dislike of fan fiction based on his characters and not actually accusing the recipient of any of these things, just pointing out all the potential hazards as he sees it and why he'd rather it wasn't done.  And there is positive stuff in there too.  He said.

Maybe it's how you read it, then again I've read it before, it would certainly give me a fright over my cereals*.

Cheers

*Which are either Special K, Shreddies (no puns) or Weetabix for the insatiably curious.

[Art]

Well, he doesn't actually own them, and their part of the Dredd continuity anyway*

* The same applies to Satanus, which is why I find the fuss he makes about that a little weird. Perhaps sneaking off with another writer was "The Terrible Thing That He Would One Day Do", the cheap reptilian whore.

[Art]

In the interests of pathos, every time we slag of pat mills can we also include a flashback scene where our childhood selves read and enjoy one of his classic scenes? And then we can cut back to him as he is now, old and inflamed with gout, beating fan fic writers with a stick...

+++FLASHBACK+++

"This" the young Arthur thinks to himself "is the coolest thing ever" as he flicks through the climactic battle to Nemesis book one. Its not even the original: Its an American knock-off with really dodgy colouring that he picked up on his first ever trip to Forbidden Planet (in the futuristic city of Milton Keynes). Only one thought troubles his young mind: How is he ever going to get the money together to buy the really cool looking Titan reprints of books 2-5?

[JimBob]

Lets give it a go

Random Insult to Mills

+++Flashback+++

"From the makers of 2000 AD" thought young Jim "I'll have to buy this." He rushed home, trembling with expectation. Sitting in his room he began to read. "This," thought Jim "is shite. Third World War my ginger arse. Thank god there'll never be a spin off featuring arch-wanker Finn."

+++Flashback ends+++

[Quirkafleeg]

Special K! hardly a real man's cereal Mr Scott...

[Art]

You're not really getting the whole "innocent child-like awe at the early works of Mr Mills, back when he still delivered maximum thrill power" vibe of the flashback thing, are you?

[paulvonscott]

Sadly no Gary, I've even been known to dabble in Special K with red berries.  Though sometimes I mix them with Shreddies (no puns) to make them more vigorous and manly.

I preferred Special K when they were those funny dimples, not this flake business.  I bet George Lucas was behind the change.

Incidently, though the target audience for Special K may be women who don't want a fat arse, I gave to say that from my experience, they do not seem to work.

[The Monarch]

porridge is a real mans cerial hee hee hee

oh by the by a.b.c warriors THE MEK-NIFICENT 7 nuff said really

(i can't believe i said nuff said shoot me now)

[Art]

Have you tried the crunchy nut cornflakes with the bits of nut and red berries?

Random fact: I once did a quick and dirty website for the people who manufactured little red flakey fruit bits. Its still there.

Link: http://www.kanegrade.com/products/fruit.htm" target="_blank">http://www.kanegrade.com/products/fruit.htm

http://www.kanegrade.com/images/fruit2.jpg">

[paulvonscott]

No, I always thought crunchy nut cornflakes, the very concept of it, was overly complicated and fussy.  To be honest I always wondered what sort of person might buy them, perhaps some decadent aesthete or popular anarchist.

If I wanted a more exciting life in cereals, I'd probably turn to Ricicles, Cocoa Pops and Frosties in that order.  Though if they put those bits of Candy in Ricicles again, I'd be tempted to write to my MP, Tony Blair, about the matter.

[Matt Timson]

Don't be silly, Paul- you can't beat a bowl of Crunchy-Nut-Cornflakes.  ESPECIALLY with the cream of the milk.  Any fool knows that...

yummy yum yum.

Actually- two Weetabix, again with the cream of the milk, sugar and eaten before the whole thing descends into a gloopy mess.  That runs a pretty close second!

Matt