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#1

Help! / Re: Rebellion and Rights to Ea...

Last post by Colin YNWA - Today at 01:17:21 PM

Thanks!

I can't for the life of me remember where I heard it, might have been other strips - have a vague memory of someone who later became famous being a bit embarrassed about their photostrip work

Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet?  Appeared in a My Guy photostrip - presumably before being lead singer of the band.

Now this is a very VERY good fact!

#2

Books & Comics / Re: Completely Self-absorbed T...

Last post by Colin YNWA - Today at 01:16:06 PM

Really good writeup and analysis there Colin. I've not read this for a long, long time - it's a book that at it's core has a heart of stone and as I've become older I've looked for a more comfortable read, I admit. I must revisit it, and soon.

Its defo one I think will grow with you. Certainly I love it for very different reasons now than I did when it first came out. Interestingly though maybe not any more (by which I mean I love it the same quantity, say 12 loves out of 14 hearts - ahem - but for very different reason. Which in itself is very impressive!

The movie adapts a couple of the book's key moments quite faithfully and kind of has its heart in the right place — I like it, but as an 'interesting failure'. There's a lot to like in it, but I don't think it quite works, either as an adaptation or a successful film in its own right.

I'd be kinder to the film as I like it as a film in its own right but for me doesn't get close to how good the comic is. Though to be fair that is normally the case with adaptions, particularly movies adapting comics, movies just can't get the depth that reading a comic does... or at least are very rarely able to do so.

This, and his run on Swamp Thing, are probably my favourite (long form) bits of Moore's work from his 'mainstream' phase.

Arh just wait until Monday - you'll pity me even more!

It looks like I will have to get my hands on this then

Yep! One of those one I feel very self recommending to just about anyone.

I also echo that I'd much prefer a B+W version of the book, but I suspect that's either impossible (in the sense no B+W art survives) or DC just isn't interested (perhaps due to the mess that was created when it took on the series, which has subsequently denied Moore the rights to his work back).

Arh yeah good point I wonder if its just not available in black white form to reproduce from with the quality to justify it.

I think one key reason why I like V for Vendetta mroe than Watchmen is that it fels VERY British. Not just because the story is set in Britain, mostly because the comics style it uses is very British - you can tell it was written in short chunks, and that the creators put effort into making each small chunk feel like a satisfying mini-story.

Yeah its pacing and structure do feel very British. Which is of course doubled down on with the way its so Leopard of Lime Street compared to Watchmen's Spider-man!

#3

Books & Comics / Re: Completely Self-absorbed T...

Last post by Colin YNWA - Today at 01:07:32 PM

...Essex County (which is by a margin Lemires best work imho).

Black Hammer I loved also until Dean Ormiston stopped on art duties (I have the first 2 OHC), then not so much and I dropped off.

There's a couple of Jeff Lemire stories still to come on the list, so therefore that I think I prefer BUT I do wonder when I next read Essex County with where my reading is at these days that will get to the head of the list. its another one that the act of writing about it made me readly appreciate it more than my memory had it!

#4

Help! / Re: Rebellion and Rights to Ea...

Last post by sheridan - Today at 01:05:00 PM

Thanks!

I can't for the life of me remember where I heard it, might have been other strips - have a vague memory of someone who later became famous being a bit embarrassed about their photostrip work

Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet?  Appeared in a My Guy photostrip - presumably before being lead singer of the band.

#5

Books & Comics / Re: Completely Self-absorbed T...

Last post by AlexF - Today at 11:54:37 AM

I think one key reason why I like V for Vendetta mroe than Watchmen is that it fels VERY British. Not just because the story is set in Britain, mostly because the comics style it uses is very British - you can tell it was written in short chunks, and that the creators put effort into making each small chunk feel like a satisfying mini-story. This does make it pretty dense when read in collection (which is the only way I've read it, mind), but it's definitely one to savour, not one to binge. Occasionally Moore's showing off with how much V/5/Evey wordplay he can get into the text gets a bit much biut dammit he's just so clever, isn't he.

The film is almost excellent.

#6

Prog / Re: Prog 2382: Beware Iron Tee...

Last post by norton canes - Today at 11:20:57 AM

I like the idea of ending on a deliberate high note

Absolutely, and also that we didn't have lengthy waits between chapters. The light which burns twice as bright...

#7

General / Re: Top 3 single episode Dredd...

Last post by pauljholden - Today at 10:59:38 AM

Blobs has definitely stayed with me. I can picture the Ron Smith art. Crazed brilliance.

Indeed. Horrible, haunting eyes.

The dude with the glasses looks like it might be based on Alan Grant.

#8

Books & Comics / Re: Completely Self-absorbed T...

Last post by IndigoPrime - Today at 10:48:34 AM

The film largely filters the book through a US lens. It doesn't do so heavily, but that does twist it away from the book's anarchist tendencies. (I also never felt the lurch in the film made any sense. The scandal wasn't big enough and the voting patterns were nonsensical. But then I guess those details don't really matter too much!) 

As for the comic, I agree with Colin. It's been a while since I read it, but the story for me was more solid and more interesting than almost everything else I've read by Moore. It has heart. It's also brutal. Like Colin says, even the antagonists aren't cyphers and feel human, albeit ones that are on the wrong side of history. I also echo that I'd much prefer a B+W version of the book, but I suspect that's either impossible (in the sense no B+W art survives) or DC just isn't interested (perhaps due to the mess that was created when it took on the series, which has subsequently denied Moore the rights to his work back).

#9

Books & Comics / Re: Completely Self-absorbed T...

Last post by Barrington Boots - Today at 10:41:18 AM

I think Jim has the film review nailed there. It's got some very good adaptations of a couple of bits, but it displays little of the skill or subtlety of the comic. Definitely seek it out!

#10

Books & Comics / Re: SPACEWARP - New Venture fr...

Last post by IndigoPrime - Today at 10:39:09 AM

I witnessed possibly the first shift here when the latest Phoenix lay unopened and unread for two days. That said, mini-G is now part of the Beano fan club and loves her Gnasher badge. She never clicked with Monster Fun, though. Those early issues felt very "lots of boys and naff-all girls" and it for her never really recovered from that.

It'll be interesting to see where things head next. Although I suspect she may well continue to pick up Jamie Smart books for some time, even when The Phoenix is but a memory.