Messages

I remember buying loads of Woodring when Frank was being put out by Fantagraphics and then Tundra. Re-reading the stuff its beautifully crafted by incredibly hollow. Maybe its so carved out to allow you to put your own emotions into the reams of symbolism but frankly (sorry for that) I ran out of interest. All in all I'm not too sure it's a clever as it is purported to be. Still, incredible stylist. Ware and Mazzucchelli likewise. Smart stylists, comic literate, totally diffident to their work. Asterious Meh tbh.

I can't say who is the 'greatest living', I'll just say that the one person whose every work I'll pick up immediately it is printed is Tardi. After that there are some artists who I'll always buy regardless of story, Dom Reardon, Milo Manara, Francois Schuiten, Simon Fraser being prime amongst them. Then there are those still living but sadly not able to produce any more, of which there is no finer than Cam Kennedy.

I'll bow to no man in my praise for Pat Mills but even Charlies War is a shadow of a book compared to It Was The War of The Trenches. Tardi is simply leagues ahead of anyone for me. I'd LOVE Tharg to have the balls to get Tardi to do a cover or a one-off. Something like Absalom with Tardi on art duites. Make it happen Tharg, before these greats are no longer with us...

The opinion above is also available in English.


like - Tardi.
dislike - generic muscle art.

How about we don't fall back on simple generalisations of Alan Grant's recent work. Last year he had

The excellent Anderson with Boo Cook.
The scary and mean 'In the Presence of the Sacred' Dredd in the Meg
The sublime nobody-does-cits-better The Pusher Dredd in the prog.

Everything else has been pretty dandy too. Stuff like Young Anderson (both the Ezquerra and Yeowell stories) are enjoyable serial comics and notable for their being as all-ages as 2000AD gets. Which many people often think is something 2000AD should be pushing more.

Alan Grant, Carlos & Hector Ezquerra, Classic Era Dog-House goings on? I'm game for that.

Mickey - The Tower hotel in the old city centre will be the one the convention guests will be in - might be booked out by now, the wetherspoons on the corner of the square beside it is were many a breakfast will be had on sunday morning (Phil Winslade can put away a mean breakfast there). The Tower is 1 block / 2 minutes walk from the venue.

Other than that there are a slew of your standard modern hotels about 10 minutes drive away, much of a muchness and probably too far to walk. Taxi is about a tenner max tho.

If you are staying Saturday night (which is a great night as the guests stay drinking for hours most times) then be aware to get breakfast in your hotel - derry is shut down on a sunday till mid-afternoon and only the above

Heh, one for the DVD boxset I imagine - Afraid a I don't have subtitles.

His name is announced by the lass in the middle with the book so it will be in the subtitles when they come out. (Dunno if anyone with Sky can access it iplayer stylee. If so its in the last minute of episode 3.

heh, a sterling effort in the guess-work chaps.

That gentleman, in the Armando Iannucci (Comics Britannia) written VEEP (HBO/SkyAtlantic) was one 'Carlos Ezquerra' which I thought was probably a nice little tip of the hat.

Hint #1 - He's Hispanic, not a Kiwi.

Any ideas as to whom the shorter gentleman of the two in the centre is meant to be?

If subs all switch to digital its the end of the prog. PJ's cogent argument about page design on digital will come into play, paper sales will continually diminish and the vital joy of having a product in your hands, with all the narrative tricks and limits that implies, will dissipate. Comics are and need to be a separate THING, not just another display wrapper on an ipad.

Shellac had the right idea - when you bought their album on vinyl there was an unmarked CD of it, unadvertised, inside. It simply stated 'this is an inferior product' but allowed you 'have' the benefits of the digital format.

So - Free / Discounted digital progs for those that have a paper subscription.

KEEP 2000AD PRINTED.

1) I think Flesh is great. Clearly a bit of retro-programming and some immense art from a guy with talent to burn. Some of his inking choices are so counter-intuitive and yet they just work. So what if its cheescake and Ron Pearlman, so what if there are UFOs in future-New York... its just great accelerator nonsense comics. Mills said in the ECBT interview that the feedback from series 1 was they wanted more Gorehead, more action, well thats here in spades. Its probably the 'dumbest' Pat Mills comic in a while but thats exactly what its meant to be. 

2) Even if I didn't think Flesh was great I'd not stoop to telling any droid to 'Jog The Fuck On'. What is it exactly makes people think they should talk to any creator like that? Nevermind he's the original Tharg, nevermind he's given us some of the greatest strips and characters, nevermind he's brought on great artists time and time again you've paid you money so you can come here and curse at him? Don't thinnk so.

Everything else was great too. Excellent prog. As Zilk nears its end I hope Tharg has more work sorted for McCarthy.

You've missed the point Al, as a creator you were meant to give yourself free. Didn't you see the queue of nubile young maidens behind you?

Please find below the latest gems from my government-mandated 'Becoming A More Compliant Drone' unemployment course.

Appalling. Please tell me there were people there (yourself?) who openly scoffed at/ otherwise challenged this idiocy. The great absurdity is that governments have to put on charades like this so they can satisfy voters and taxpayers that people without work are being kept busy and under pressure. That's far more important than that the whole pantomime should produce any useful results.

If you scoff you are liable to be kicked out. Remember than under the mantra of post-foucault late-liberalism it is YOUR fault you are unemployed, your refusal to take responsibility and act upon yourself as a member of the community. These courses are in ensuring you regulate yourself, not scoff at the experts. Scoffers are refuseniks who wont learn. Cut off their benefits! Refuse them Scottish farm-fished salmon in a ginger and chilli dressing! Its notnthat there are no jobs, its that there is irresponsibility!

Everytime I read party policy papers and think-tanks on employment I bash my head against the desk.

20 quids worth of comics I'll never read landed on the doormat, off to pay santa to nieces, nephews and orphans (where do they keep orphans these days?) and annoy their parents by getting them hooked.. hope you all have a great FCBD and spread the word (no flipping on ebay, m'kay)

meh, he doesn't care for 2000ad either because 2000ad doesn't tickle his balls or because only big 2 fanboys give page clicks on that vacuous site. Its notable Tharg doesn't give his exclusives  to BC. Last years FCBD 2000ad got very positive reviews on TCJ.com and exposure as been booming since the social media explosion... largely because so many creative icons constantly proclaim their love for 2000ad that people are now switched on and doing their best to cover it. Just look at the Forbidden Planet Blogs upsurge in 2000ad coverage, downthetubes fantastic quirky pieces etc. Stuff like ECBT2000ad and Bad Librarianship do great work in feeding this. Fxxk BC and its knuckle-dragging entitlement. Its 2000ad ignorance is astounding.

[COVER]

hurrah, non-subby bags a thread on behalf of mid-week readers everywhere!

FCBD Prog just landed (thanks to the link provided by this very forum) and its a doozy.

COVER Dredd, Zombo & Icabod in fab Jock-o-vision. supersweet.

Dredd - 4 page exclusive of Wagner & Rufus with Dredd's world introduced via a QnA with a TV host as Dredd tracks down some drug pushers. Rufus' art gives a really solid meaty McMahon/Flint Dredd and more Tank Girl style toony cits. a few of them have a touch of the Brett Ewins styling which is fab. Its a great combo and perfect for the tone of the piece. He really nails Dredd every time. Great to see him drawing for 2000ad again. Wagner indulges the fanboys a nice reference at the end of the strip after what otherwise is clearly, and beautifully, written for the new reader.

Icabod Azrael Opening chapter of BK I, as beautiful and glorious as ever.

Zombo The Day The Law Died Pt 1. Seemed a bit odd as Zombo himself doesn't feature.

Robusters Alan Moore & Steve Dillon's classic Bax The Burner tale. Effective and emotive although to me seems very dated. Maybe just because I can remember it from publication. Wonder how it plays to a new reader.

FS - Whatever happened to the Green Pedestrian Palm? Chris Weston's beautiful tale from recent times. They could print this every year and i'd not tire of it. The Dave Gibbons painting makes me smile each time.

back cover THAT  Chris Weston 'after Brian Bolland' piece from this year, free of obscuring type. beautiful.

also - fantastic funny PYE advert in a Hitch-hikers Guide humour style. Deserves to be in the Prog 'proper' one of these days.

a fabulous collection, lets hope it converts a few hundred thousand to the cause.