Prog 2121 - One Man's Stand

[metcalfecarr]

- didn't David Bishop once save 1,000s by pulling a similar slicing trick?

I dunno, I remember him trying to save a couple of quid by trying to convince people he could letter comics when he definitely couldn't. 

He tried th same trick trying to convince people he could write on several occasions too and was equally as bad at that

[Jim_Campbell]

I think that's unnecessarily rude and combative for literally no good reason.

(And whilst no one, least of all David, is going to hold up Soul Sisters as a timeless classic, I thought the Fiends of the Eastern Front follow-ups were really pretty good.)

[IndigoPrime]

What Jim said. Please be respectful of creators, who do frequent this forum. Constructive criticism is welcome; insults are not.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I thought Colin did a fine job on Johnny Alpha; he really really looked like Carlos' version (and I can't think of another creator who has managed that successfully).  However,  i also liked the Final Solution and kind of wished they hadn't retconned Johnny's messianic death.

Only read Dredd so far in the new prog. God, it's amazing. Wagner stays off Dredd for months and then casually breezes in and steals the show. I've missed him.

[broodblik]

I think that's unnecessarily rude and combative for literally no good reason.

(And whilst no one, least of all David, is going to hold up Soul Sisters as a timeless classic, I thought the Fiends of the Eastern Front follow-ups were really pretty good.)

I also enjoyed his take on Fiends when it was in the Meg.

[norton canes]

Good cover.

As mentioned, Machine Law was a bit faster-paced than usual so missing a little subtlety, but the sequence with Beeny and the kid was a delight, as was the expansive opening image. Disappointed that Jaegir is again only a six-episode run - the stories need longer to bed in, it seems like they're over before they've properly begun. Good conclusion to the Grey Area chapter and Skip Tracer is holding my attention. Nicest surprise though was Tooth And Nail - I'm really getting into it! I like the fact that it's told with economy, as opposed to some recent 3rillers and F-Shocks which have tried to pack way too much into their short running time. It's not overstretching itself. And the artwork is just great, especially the checkerboard page. Excellent stuff!

[metcalfecarr]

I think that's unnecessarily rude and combative for literally no good reason.

(And whilst no one, least of all David, is going to hold up Soul Sisters as a timeless classic, I thought the Fiends of the Eastern Front follow-ups were really pretty good.)

I also enjoyed his take on Fiends when it was in the Meg.

It's not combative Jim, it's my opinion of his writing. And I actually quite enjoyed Soul Sisters for what it was, a showcase for Shaky's art

His lettering on the Michael Gaydos drawn Devlin Waugh was bloody atrocious.  It just showed little respect for letterers that any unskilled type could do it to a high enough standard to print just to save a few quid

[Bolt-01]

His lettering on the Michael Gaydos drawn Devlin Waugh was bloody atrocious.  It just showed little respect for letterers that any unskilled type could do it to a high enough standard to print just to save a few quid

Has David Bishop confirmed that he did the lettering because he thought he could save a few quid? Or is it more likely that the letterer droids were not ably to fit the pages into the schedule so Bishop took on the job himself as a way of making sure the strip was ready to see print?

[metcalfecarr]

Has David Bishop confirmed that he did the lettering because he thought he could save a few quid? Or is it more likely that the letterer droids were not ably to fit the pages into the schedule so Bishop took on the job himself as a way of making sure the strip was ready to see print?

A Devlin two parter would be able to be knocked back an issue in the schedule if the letterers couldn't fit in the schedule.  It's not like Devlin had a regular letterer, but went through a few different ones

[Bolt-01]

A Devlin two parter would be able to be knocked back an issue in the schedule if the letterers couldn't fit in the schedule.  It's not like Devlin had a regular letterer, but went through a few different ones

So you are basing this on your intimate knowledge of the workings of the Nerve Centre at the time, then?

Did David Bishop have drawers of fully lettered and finished strips, of the required page length, to hand?

I can imagine scenarios whereby the lettering would need to be done last-minute and in-house and while the end result would not necessarily be to the standard usually presented it would enable the issue to see print.

[metcalfecarr]

A Devlin two parter would be able to be knocked back an issue in the schedule if the letterers couldn't fit in the schedule.  It's not like Devlin had a regular letterer, but went through a few different ones

So you are basing this on your intimate knowledge of the workings of the Nerve Centre at the time, then?

obviously I'm not, but then we don't have insider knowledge of why the prog is a centimetre shorter than normal this week but it hasn't stopped us filling three pages with speculation, but any professional publisher will have stock material they cam use to fill a slot at short notice rather than run late and get charged by the distributor, that's just common sense and one of the reasons for one off stories or review/interview material being commissioned.

[Jim_Campbell]

but any professional publisher will have stock material they cam use to fill a slot at short notice rather than run late and get charged by the distributor, that's just common sense and one of the reasons for one off stories or review/interview material being commissioned.

Egmont didn't like inventory at all, hence the instruction to both Tomlinson and Bishop to run everything that had been commissioned prior to their editoral tenure, regardless of the actual quality, so I don't think the explanation, speculative as it is, is as outlandish as you suggest.

[Bolt-01]

And whilst there may well be three pages full of speculation as to why the prog is a little shorter those thoughts don't refer to Tharg's work as 'atrocious' or belittling of his skills. That's all you.

[Jim_Campbell]

And whilst there may well be three pages full of speculation as to why the prog is a little shorter those thoughts don't refer to Tharg's work as 'atrocious' or belittling of his skills. That's all you.

To be fair, I don't think David would defend his lettering skills — I don't remember this specific strip, but I do recall a couple of his attempts and they weren't great. That said, budgets were very much squeezed during this period — it may be that they wanted Gaydos but couldn't get a sign off on his page rate and this was a budget-neutral way of adding a few quid to his rate.

[Tiplodocus]

Another enjoyable prog. Jaegir and 3hiller worked best for me this time round. Just popping Grey Area because I can't remember why the badge thing worked.