That Twitter thread… You know the one

[IndigoPrime]

Gordon: Especially given some of his recent tweets slamming Rebellion for allowing some series to be illustrated by someone other than the original artist. When challenged on this regarding his own strips, which only survived through multiple artists, something something different back then something. Neither of which addresses the Edmond point.

I've only tangentially worked with Rebellion, and perhaps things are very different when you're fully on the inside. But they never struck me as the evil monster Mills makes them out to be. What gets be at this point is the level to which he's burning bridges. I genuinely don't get it. If this is all to drum up custom for Spacewarp, it's a curious type of marketing. If he genuinely believes it, fair enough; but in my experience people who repeatedly punch the mouth that feeds them eventually get to the point where they are cast adrift one way or another.

[Jim_Campbell]

Gordon: Especially given some of his recent tweets slamming Rebellion for allowing some series to be illustrated by someone other than the original artist. When challenged on this regarding his own strips, which only survived through multiple artists, something something different back then something.

I've always thought that was an argument you could drive a coach and horses through: how come Pat gets to say "no one writes my stories but me" but Kev O'Neill didn't get to say "no one draws Nemesis but me"...? Slaine would have been a fucking short strip if Angie Kincaid had asserted the same rights that Pat demands. And "different back then" doesn't really explain the artist changes on Defoe, Mills' most recent creation for 2000AD — how come Leigh Gallagher didn't get to say "No, I co-created this strip and no one draws it but me"?

[Leigh S]

I work in the Public Sector and even there we could see through the "let's all make this a jolly place to work" nonsense they try to enforce in lieu of offering decent pay.  It's fundamentally corporate Gaslighting.

[IndigoPrime]

Bloody hell.

You're right. Easy to part with real royalties while still controlling character.  It doesn't happen IMHO cos it's about power more than money. 'How dare the peasants Rebel? We need to keep them in their place.'  They even call themselves 'Rebellion'  which is truly Orwellian!

He'd best hope Spacewarp continues to sell or Rebellion are just all "he's off on one again".

[JayzusB.Christ]

Gordon: Especially given some of his recent tweets slamming Rebellion for allowing some series to be illustrated by someone other than the original artist. When challenged on this regarding his own strips, which only survived through multiple artists, something something different back then something.

I've always thought that was an argument you could drive a coach and horses through: how come Pat gets to say "no one writes my stories but me" but Kev O'Neill didn't get to say "no one draws Nemesis but me"...? Slaine would have been a fucking short strip if Angie Kincaid had asserted the same rights that Pat demands. And "different back then" doesn't really explain the artist changes on Defoe, Mills' most recent creation for 2000AD — how come Leigh Gallagher didn't get to say "No, I co-created this strip and no one draws it but me"?

That's something that's never occurred to me, and it's a bit sad that it hadn't occurred to Pat Mills either.  Has the Accident Man film thing ever been put to him?   

Also, I won't miss the ABC Warriors all that much; it hasn't really grabbed me since the early 90s. I'll miss Sláine, but for the art way more than the scripts.  Everything up to, and including, the Horned God was truly beautiful, and I'll re-read them forever, but everything afterwards was fairly hit-and-miss, especially when dead characters started coming back.  Sorry, it's harsh, but I feel if a writer is going to call his colleagues 'hacks', then his own work better be pretty freaking amazing.

[Richard]

Everything up to, and including, the Horned God was truly beautiful, and I'll re-read them forever, but everything afterwards was fairly hit-and-miss

The Swan Children was very good.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Apart from some name-changes and the inclusion of Ukko, it was absolutely identical to an old Irish legend, the Children of Lir, but it was very good, yes.  I enjoyed quite a few of the post-Horned God stories - like I said, hit and miss; there were definitely hits. 

[Jim_Campbell]

]

That's something that's never occurred to me, and it's a bit sad that it hadn't occurred to Pat Mills either.  Has the Accident Man film thing ever been put to him?

At least once, because the response that I saw was that he and Tony Skinner had "done all the development work" before it was handed to Emond. Obviously, unless that development work included detailed character designs and a full visual style guide, that's clearly bollocks.

[JayzusB.Christ]

]

That's something that's never occurred to me, and it's a bit sad that it hadn't occurred to Pat Mills either.  Has the Accident Man film thing ever been put to him?

At least once, because the response that I saw was that he and Tony Skinner had "done all the development work" before it was handed to Emond. Obviously, unless that development work included detailed character designs and a full visual style guide, that's clearly bollocks.

Feck sake, I hadn't realised the double standards involved in his rants before today.

(Also, what's wrong with 'getting on with your work' when you're at work? That's what most of us have to do. That's how we get paid.)

[broodblik]

Currently AD is blessed with some great and talented writers and I believe Mill's stories is not "required". His writing (even Spacewarp felt like his current series) has not been so great. All his current series is not boiling over with new ideas or concepts but rather rehash of the same boring anti-authority storylines.

I always enjoyed Slaine and will mist this the most.  I would like a concluded chapter of Savage. 

[Rogue Judge]

My favorite Mills' work includes ABC Warriors Volgan Wars, and Meknificant Seven (and much of Black Hole). Other than that and Cursed Earth, I don't enjoy much of his output. Not a big Slaine fan, but haven't bothered to read much of it.

If I was a creator and retiring, I'd be excited to see what others were going to do with my characters. Others using your characters would be a compliment. I assume Wagner is okay passing along Strontium Dog, as I've seen a new series is on the way?

[13school]

I for one will be deeply saddened if Mills' upcoming work is his last for 2000AD. His voice has been a core part of the magazine for mine, and while it's obvious he's increasingly not for everyone, his being a regular in 2000AD went a long way towards giving it a unique tone I couldn't find anywhere else.

While his various arguments on creators rights are about as morally shaky on examination as many other comic writers who've taken a similar public stand - personally I think the fact that creating a comic requires an artist more than a writer sometimes gives writers some fairly large blind spots - I still think it's valuable that he's willing to say such things publicly. If he's trashing his career at 2000AD, he's earned that right: there wouldn't be a 2000AD without him.

[The Monarch]

I for one am sad no one else would get to write a.b.c warriors way back in the day i always wondered what a gordon rennie written a.b.c would have been like? course that was before i found out about the satanus shitshow and well...

god uncle pat pisses me off to no end. At least with  Alan moore he recognises artists as equals to the point when he takes his name off adaptations he lets the artists get the recognition. I don't see uncle pat being that nice

[Colin YNWA]

While I see as many inconsistancies in Uncle Pats view - I see as many in his work these day. The strip I'm really going to miss, or at least I'd like to see him give a conclusion to hasn't been mentioned as much.

Both ABC and Slaine have to me become bloated and have plenty of points where their adventure could have wrapped up quite happliy. So slapping another on those will have less impact.

Savage however has been a much tighter story and felt like it was going somewhere so that's the one I'll miss most and wish was going to be wrapped up.

[TordelBack]

For me it's Defoe. 

I love Sláine to bits, it's my all-time favourite 2000AD strip after all, but it's had more than a fair run: I'll miss it, but there's plenty of it to re-read. ABC Warriors has been great fun in recent years, but it's definitely been treading old ground. Savage, while really incredibly flexible in the genres it has effortlessly hopped, had maybe got a bit too involved in its continuity stitching efforts.

Defoe, on the other hand, has been completely fresh almost every time it's appeared. Booda's most recent space saga being the ultimate example: did anyone back in 2007 think we'd eventually be getting Reeks In Spaaace? I could definitely use more Defoe.

So I'll miss that, but mainly and always the excitement of a new Mills strip in the prog: you never, never know what you're going to get. There is something ridiculous about expecting any of these gods of the prog to still be serving us up brilliant comics at a per-page fee, now they are in their 70s. Wanting to do something differently, or wanting to do less, is their well-earned right.