Wrap It Up

[Le Fink]

I feel like the McMahon Dredd pose is referencing something. It's an odd pose, yet familiar. Someone taking an oath, perhaps. While shooting a gun.

[M.I.K.]

Now you mention it, there are a lot of old paintings of folk leading troops into battle with one arm raised. Maybe just more of a general trope than referencing anything specific.

[JayzusB.Christ]

So good. I had the mug, but it went the way of all things.

Hadn't really noticed Siouxsie Sioux before - aside from the fact that she's a stunner, the expression is perfect. Obviously taking a quick break from the wanton murder of her neighbours, but the demented chemical rage clearly hasn't gone anywhere just yet. 

[Swerty]

link=msg=1109011 date=1703919906]

Interesting the picture from Close Encounters is by John Burns (or presumed so). I assume that's based on the Barney credits (or similar source). I wonder how the work was split it's hard to tell from the rendering as it so tight to the photo.

I d

Entirely based on the Barney credit, yes. That doesn't tell us much. I suppose for a lot of the early years, it's never entirely clear who's doing the coloring (either on the covers or on the center-spreads). I assumed that the Barney credit was referring to a splitting up of the line art.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Would be fascinating to know for sure.

I dug out Prog 144 and inside is a competition to win a poster of the cover signed by artist Bolland and colourist John Burns

[JayzusB.Christ]

Would that be the late, great Dante artist John Burns? Or a different one?

[Proudhuff]

02 - Under Pressure

1980's prog 169 provides our second wraparound, and it's an odd fish. Tagged as "A Scene From the Civil War in Post-Atomic America", it's got nothing to do with anything inside the comic, but is instead depicting a scene from an only hinted at past conflict.




Inside the prog we're in the middle of The Judge Child saga, in the middle of an unconnected conflict on a far distant world.




At the time, though, this cover was compelling because it spoke to a history and a depth that other comics didn't have. It's as if you bought the original Star Wars movie on VHS but the box had a scene from the clone wars. It doesn't hurt that it's a McMahon, either, with Dredd standing up in the middle of a hail of bullets, as if they can't touch him.




---

So, was Robin Smith thinking of the McMahon cover when he created the layout sketch for Bolland's classic prog 236 cover from 1981? This layout was presented in the floppy with Megazine 448:




This scan is missing a sliver of the left side, and the crease is clearly visible:




This one fills in the missing part from the previous one, and has a less noticeable crease. Notice the detail on the Block Mania lettering, and the texture visible in the group of perps on the left - especially Siouxsie Sioux's hair.




This tidied up version looks clean and neat, but loses a lot of the detail mentioned in the previous image. Also, the price is in the wrong place. It's such a surreal image, which marks it out as iconic. Why is Dredd standing on top of a block? The flying saucer things are great, but don't actually feature inside (like, ever).






---

Next: slippery shenanigans...

Two of my favs there!!!

[Swerty]

Would that be the late, great Dante artist John Burns? Or a different one?

I would assume so.

[Funt Solo]

I dug out Prog 144 and inside is a competition to win a poster of the cover signed by artist Bolland and colourist John Burns

Thanks, Swerty - I had (wrongly) assumed the art was split, because the lower part looks non-Bollandy - I guess that's just due to it being such a direct rendition of the source photo.

[Funt Solo]

03 - Stainless Steel Staples

Three of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels were adapted into comics by Kelvin Gosnell and Carlos Ezquerra. We got three wraparounds...


Prog 171 (1980):

I dunno - that guy on the left looks like maybe he shouldn't be trusted.


Prog 393 (1984):





Prog 400 (1985):




---

Next: he knows, you know...

[Colin YNWA]

The cover to Prog 400 should of course be labelled 'After Irv Novick' very promanently.

[Funt Solo]

The cover to Prog 400 should of course be labelled 'After Irv Novick' very promanently.

Ah - I didn't know! Dave Gibbons has some fun with that over here.

[Colin YNWA]

The cover to Prog 400 should of course be labelled 'After Irv Novick' very promanently.

Ah - I didn't know! Dave Gibbons has some fun with that over here.

Yeah Dave Gibbons has always been very vocal about this and rightly so. All of Lichtenstein's famous 'pop art' pieces using comics are plagiarised from some original creator or other.

[Swerty]

Those Stainless steel rat covers are simply glorious

[Jim_Campbell]

Those Stainless steel rat covers are simply glorious

TBH, most attempts to shoehorn another IP into the Prog (which, to the best of my recollection, only consists of 'A Life Less Ordinary' and 'Urban Strike') were not terribly successful, but the 'Stainless Steel Rat' stories were properly great.

[Funt Solo]

TBH, most attempts to shoehorn another IP into the Prog (which, to the best of my recollection, only consists of 'A Life Less Ordinary' and 'Urban Strike') were not terribly successful, but the 'Stainless Steel Rat' stories were properly great.

In general agreement, but then I remembered that Shaun of the Dead (There's Something About Mary) - from prog 1834 -  wasn't bad as these things go. Not on the same scale and joy-of-reading as the Rat, though.