Topics

31

General / 2014 End Of Year Readers' Poll

« on: 27 December, 2014, 08:23:48 PM »

WITHOUT TREADING ON THE TOES OF PETE WELLS AND HIS END OF YEAR BEST COVERS POLL WHATSOEVER, I thought we should revive the readers' poll in an unofficial capacity. If that turns out not to be a good idea, I'm sure this thread will quietly disappear.

I've just ripped-off the categories I can remember featuring in the old surveys which appeared in the prog and Megazine; feel free to include your own categories, but NO WORST WRITER, WORST STRIP, or WORST CHARACTER (etc) nominations.

There's no closing date, make up your own mind whether you want to nominate a single candidate per category or rank three candidates first, second and third, and - unlike the diligent Pete Wells - I'm not going to bother tallying up the votes and announcing winners - I'M NOT YOUR DAD!


Suggested Categories (for prog or Megazine):

BEST WRITER

BEST NEW WRITER

BEST ARTIST

BEST NEW ARTIST

BEST SERIES

BEST NEW SERIES

BEST SINGLE EPISODE (either of a continuing series or a standalone story)

FAVOURITE MOMENT

FAVOURITE LINE OF DIALOGUE

CHARACTER OR STRIP YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN 2015

3RILLER OR SUMMER/WINTER SPECIAL STORY YOU'D LIKE TO SEE RETURN AS ONGOING SERIES

No nominations for best cover or cover artist, because Pete Wells's dedicated poll will be along shortly to inform and entertain us with miscounted totals and wrongly sized thumbnails.

32

General / Disappearing 2000ad Creator Interviews

« on: 02 October, 2014, 10:45:51 PM »

Two of the most informative, useful, and entertaining interviews with John Wagner and Alan Grant - by WR Logan and Edward Berridge, respectively - appear to have fallen off the internet or been hidden behind a wall. Is this just a problem with my network provider, or have these treasures really been lost to future generations *?

Class of '79: http://www.2000ad.nu/classof79/jw_interview.htm

2000ad Review: http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2005/grant/grant1.shtml



* The Wagner interview is reproduced here, but that's not the point: http://homepage.eircom.net/~okku/scifi/jwagner.htm

33

General / PJ Holden's Dark Secret

« on: 05 August, 2014, 11:32:31 PM »

You'll never guess what his favourite Dredd story is. I'm with him regarding Cry of the Werewolf, but City of the Damned? Really?

http://www.irishcomicnews.com/2014/08/interview-pj-holden-on-drawing-judge-dredd/

34

Film & TV / Alan Moore: please boycott Hercules (The Rock's new film)

« on: 19 July, 2014, 10:19:03 PM »

Usual story - comic creator gets shafted by publisher/film company - but given added bite by the sad passing of Steve Moore, upon whose work the film is based. I don't need any persuading not to watch a fantasy film starring a half naked wrestler in a wig anyway:

Steve was saying that this film sounded like it was going to be a complete abortion, that they’d dumped characters such as Hylas. That’s understandable in that Hylas was Hercules’ boyfriend. And that’s perhaps not what The Rock wants to bring to his tale of his Hercules. So, Steve wouldn’t be getting any money from this. The only consolation was that his name wouldn’t be going on it.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/07/17/alan-moore-calls-for-boycott-of-wretched-film-hercules-on-behalf-of-friend-steve-moore/

35

Suggestions / Restore original Dredd logo to the strip

« on: 13 July, 2014, 09:34:40 PM »

I'm sure Rebellion aren't going to mess with their branding on the trade collections or wider publicity, but it would be a great mark of respect to restore the late Jan Shepheard's original Dredd logo design to pride of place in the prog.

36

Books & Comics / Pat Mills self publishes Psycho Killer (from Toxic)

« on: 02 July, 2014, 07:16:19 PM »

Ginger genius Pat Mills announces not just the release of his first self published digital comic, available for two and a half quid on Comixology right now, but plans to release more of his work digitally, in a project he's named The Millsverse, with characteristic humility and a reluctance to blow his own trumpet.

This first offering is Psycho Killer, from Toxic, the short lived nineties rival to 2000ad. It's alright, and £2.50 is good value for almost 60 pages, but - like most of the stories Mills worked on with Tony Skinner - it feels like they had more fun making it than I had reading it. The art isn't really my thing, but fans of Nick Percival and Clint Langley (or Dave Kendall, who actually drew the strip) should find a lot to like. The man himself gives it his usual soft sell via his blog:

http://patmills.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/are-you-ready-for-your-demonic-irrigation/

37

Books & Comics / Vietnamese comics, publishing under communism

« on: 22 June, 2014, 04:44:48 PM »

If you think Action attracted unwarranted scrutiny by the authorities, or that the popularity of US comics had an adverse effect on the ability of homegrown creators to find an audience, try drawing funny books in 'Nam. Guy's style reminds me of young Bagwell, D'Israeli, and Hewlett:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27338112

38

General / New 2000ad Logo?

« on: 05 June, 2014, 06:18:50 PM »

Art Editor extraordinaire, Simon Pye Parr, announced he's thinking of having a tinker with the 2000ad logo (the type one, rather than Steve Cook's red and white badge ident on the left hand side), and that the version of the logo seen on the latest Sci-fi Special was a kind of try out for the sort of thing he had in mind. What do y'all think (current logo below for comparison):

39

Website and Forum / Forum Intrigue

« on: 09 May, 2014, 05:41:40 PM »

A recent episode of ECBT2000ad (1h 11m 30s) yielded the information that former forum member and comic art Belloq Fatboy Dale (holding sign, centre) had been ejected from this happiest of places for cussing someone in a completely different corner of the internet. Is this official policy? If so, I might have to make a few changes to my new blog, COLIN YNWA SMELLS LIKE SOUP.com.

Flint Lockjaw: Getting kicked out of the 2000ad forum is like getting kicked out of Special Ed - you've graduated! There are some good people on the forum, but overall it's too much of a niche group and it seems to be the same guys who bully everyone else.

40

General / GQ: How 2000ad Predicted The Future

« on: 27 April, 2014, 08:15:03 PM »

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2014-04/23/2000-ad-the-comic-that-foretold-the-future

Wagner and Grant foresaw TOWIE and Banksie, apparently. I share the author's disappointment that Dave The Orangutan has neither been elected nor assassinated as yet, but feel he may have missed the point Wagner and Grant were making about all elected office if he thinks we don't already live in a world of Dave The Orangutans.

41

Books & Comics / THE KEY: Grant Morrison & Rian Hughes

« on: 31 March, 2014, 12:52:54 PM »

An exclusive comic created by Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes for the BBC's freedom2014 season. The award-winning creators tell a story of freedom, which, apart from the title, has no words. Find out more about the story behind The Key, in an interview with the creators.

42

Books & Comics / Alan Moore thinks you're a prick!

« on: 11 September, 2013, 09:05:35 AM »

"I have written these things. I'm not proud of it. I have nothing but abhorrence for the superhero as a figure. I think that there is something wrong with our culture. These are responsible adults, and they are thrilling to concepts and characters and stories that were written to entertain the 12 year old boys of 50 years ago.

I think that it says something a little bit disturbing if we just want to regurgitate the culture that we grew up with and which takes us back to our happy place. I really thought comics was about something more than that."


Moore's got new product to promote! Radio Four's Today Programme brought him in from the field, made him wipe his unshod feet on the doormat, and sit up straight like a real author, before asking him every single question he's asked whenever he does an interview for the mainstream media. As well as the playground taunt reproduced above, he manages to perform the Stan Lee trick of forgetting that there was some guy called David Lloyd hanging around while he "created" the look adopted by the Occupy movement - he neglects the Wachowskis, for that matter.

It's actually an interesting interview, which seems to reveal the formative influence collaborating with Malcolm McLaren had on Moore's approach to storytelling - he compares McLaren to William Blake! Moore's promoting the comic adaptation of his script for McLaren's unfilmed Fashion Beast - which I had no idea was even coming out - and mentions that he's having another prose novel published next year, called Jerusalem.  Endearingly, Moore upbraids the interviewer for referring to his new work as a graphic novel, "lets just call them very expensive comics". Classic Alan:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24032641
 

43

Off Topic / Radio 3: Home of The Nerd

« on: 16 June, 2013, 05:18:37 PM »

Hoighty-toighty Radio 3 went into a geek frenzy this week, devoting prestigious interview slots to the lusciously coiffured Neil Gaiman and the round and shiny Joss Whedon. The Gaiman one features him talking about his childhood as a Jewish Scientologist and reveals the formative influence of both GK Chesterton and his hit biography of Duran Duran on his career as a writer. Whedon talks about his radical feminist Mom. Brigadoon (!) and attending Winchester boarding school in England. Whedon did Kermode's show this week too, talking about his anti-Avengers home made version of Much Ado About Nothing.

Truly, we are pandered to.

44

Off Topic / The New Does anybody want to look at womens underware? Thread

« on: 18 May, 2013, 04:15:54 PM »

Only kidding; I agree with the sentiments expressed in your final post, Rich. I couldn't believe that thread was real (or unironic) when I first looked at the forum.

45

General / Mark Millar at Glasgow's Aye Right Book Festival Tonight

« on: 15 April, 2013, 06:08:01 PM »

Mark Millar's appearing at Glasgow's Mitchell Library tonight (Monday 15th of April) as part of the Aye Right book festival. According to this laudatory and uncritical article in today's Daily Record, Millar relies on hearing the unvarnished opinions of the ordinary down-home folks (among whom he feels most at home) regarding his work, rather than those phoney, gladhanding Hollywood fat cats (p-too!). If you can make it along, be sure to tell him exactly what we all thought of his Robohunter stories - he hates folk who mince their words.


The festival, which runs until Saturday, is held at the Mitchell Library. For more information, call 0141 287 2999 or email ayewrite@glasgowlife.org.uk