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Whatever happened to Death Monkey? Did he leave or was he kicked off? Is he, in fact, here under a different name? I only ask because he was the first person ever to reply to me on this board. Mind you, it was something along the lines of 'who the fuck are you? what have you written before?', and I soon ignored everything he ever wrote to anyone after I realised he never actually had anything to say.
If youre out there, Owen, the Lord Jayzus forgives you.

They're neither good nor bad. Most have been in the Megazine. Some seemed prepared for a long future before fizzling out into U.N.-like insignificance. Here's one or two to whet your appetite:

O'Rorke
Wynter
Inspectre (was that what it was called?)
Tracer
That red-haired chick hired to kill judges by the brit-cit justice dept.; can't remember the name of the story
Canned Heat (written by Wagner + painted by McNeill, no less!)

Are there any more?

Right, that's Zenith done. Now, me and my working colleague also had differening opinions on Judgement Day. Me, i thought it started well but became childish and boring, showing bad characterisation of both Dredd and Johnny Alpha. The nuking of the cities, in my opinion, was badly handled for such an apocalyptic event, and the assault on Sabbat's cave became almost farcical near the end. Also, Dredd's 'I'm a hard man' last speech bubble in the series did not befit a Mega City Judge, if I may say so. Also, it came far too soon after Necropolis, a really good epic that tied up plot-strands that had run for years (Judgement Day was gracelessly dropped into the Dredd timeline like a rock).
Oh sorry, i almost forgot, my friend thought it was excellent; a typically brilliant Judge Dredd mega-epic.

I had a difference of opinion with a work colleague recently about Zenith.  I thought it was great, and really enjoyed the pop culture references; a genuinely 'cool' story.  He thought it was 2000ad trying its best to be cool. Which of us is correct?

Why do threads turn into italics sometimes? Is it my fault? Sorry

Another Tony-related query. Whilst possibly the most publicly slated artist ever to work in the Megazine (I think he also did that Nemesis photo story in the legendary prog 534), he seemed to disappear without trace. Personally I think his full-page picture of Judge Death was excellent, as was his picture of the huge fiddle-playing devil, but with the vitriol he received I wouldn't blame him for running away from comics forever.

I was just re-reading a very dodgy 'Strontium Dogs' (with an 's', please note) story recently and I noticed the artist, Trevor Hairsine, had drawn in loads of thrill-suckers flying round outside the edges of the picture panels.
Never my favourite artist, but you have to respect a bloke who slags off a strip he is drawing himself (at least, I presume that's what he was doing).

Outside of 2000ad, I'm not a big fan of reading sci-fi, apart from one or two Philip K. Dick and Artur C. Clarke books.
However, I just finished reading a book called 'The Stars My Destination', aka 'Tyger, Tyger', by Alfred Bester (I think that was his name).  And it's bleeding good. It was written in the 50's, but is still a hell of a lot more original than a lot of the sci-fi films and comic strips we get these days. Why is that Blake poem quoted so much in science fiction, by the way?

Oh yeah, I also read an Iain M Banks book once, which was pulpy but very enjoyable.

Now I'm about to lower the tone of this site with another of those f.cking headwrecking pronunciation debates.
Is Hammerstein pronounced 'Hammersteen' or 'Hammerstine', bearing in mind that he got his name from someone who actually existed?

Personally I pronounce it 'Slawn-yeh'.

I just made myself an omelette full of bits of bacon, pepper and tomato. Sadly, it stuck to the frying pan, and became just a plate of fuzzy yellow egg.
Sigh. I don't know.

Does anybody know if the following art-droids are dead?
1: Eric Bradbury
2: Ron Smith

I'm only asking because poor old Massimo Belardinelli passed away with scarcely a mention in 2000ad.  Given that Jack Kirby's death was given a whole back cover tribute and a mention in the Input page, I think it would be nice if Tharg acknowledged the deaths of his own loyal contributors.
Yours morbidly,
JBC

Now then. John Smith's Rogue Trooper story, Cinnabar, has been mentioned quite a bit on this board (mostly by me, admittedly, but never mind).
The reason I've been making an issue of it is, I think, because it is quite a good example for the new 'retro' style to follow.

Plotwise, it was complex and twisting, but still accessible and not full of jargon / weirdness for weirdness sake (despite being by John Smith).
It managed to keep the action and violence and even the spirit of the old Rogue, never getting too bogged down in introspectiveness (introspection?) but also having enough depth to escape being mere read-it-once testosterone-fuelled brain-candy.  It rescued Rogue as a character from the dull monotony of 'the Hit' and so on, without actually copying the earlier episodes.

It used wisely 2000ad's then-new more adult slant, putting in only enough sex and ultraviolence as was necessary to the plot (not to mention one of the filthiest jokes ever in 2000ad, with Gunnar alluding to a Souther deserter's 'kid sister'. I won't go into it, but let's face it, war is no time for niceties).

In short, Cinnabar was an interesting and exciting new slant on an old concept, which is in my opinion what 'retro' should be all about.  Not copying the past, but keeping it in mind. What do yous all think, eh?

The question stands. How do I do it?

Dear Dave,
I didnt get a chance to post messages over the last two weeks (bit of a hectic time for me), but a sincere thank you for answering my questions about the 'New Lad' syndrome in 2000ad, and for answering them in such an honest, concise and bullshit-free way.  In all seriousness, cheers: much appreciated.
Jayzus  
 
P.S. Sorry to bring this up again, but up until then I always blamed you for the 'Women Just Don't Get It' ads. You have become a better person in my eyes.

Alright, Dave.

Now before I start, don't get me wrong: you were a very good editor for both the Megazine and 2000ad, and commissioned some excellent stories. I even enjoyed The Straitjacket thingy you wote. But when you were editing 2000ad, was there ever a conscious, spoken decision to follow the 'new lad' trend? THis was, after all, when Nikolai Dante started out, and when the Sex Prog was commissioned. I also recall the Loaded interview (heavy emphasis on the nudity / sex elements of 2000ad from yourself, Dave), and the full-page ad in same lads' mag: '2000ad - women just don't get it'.
Anyway, if this was a conscious approach, did it improve sales? I have to admit, 2000ad has been vastly improved in quality since the early 90's, and your time as Tharg's minion (for whatever reasons, I don't know if it was the 'laddization' of the comic) marked the start of the improvement period.

What's best?
Wordy, deep and thoughtful strips of the 80's such as Watchmen, Bad Company and Dark Knight Returns,
OR
Stylish, sexy and fast-moving strips of recent times such as Nikolai Dante, Preacher and The Invisibles?

Personally, I'd go for the 80's style, but i'm stuck in the past anyway.

Right, my last question: 2000ad has been skirting on the sidelines of being an 'adult' comic for years. and often does not seem to know what its readership actually wants. Should it simply declare itself 'for mature readers', pull no punches in adult content and hope for the success of adult comics such as, say, Preacher or even Viz? Or should it stay the way it is, now and again breaking the odd taboo? Or should it drop all 'adults-only' themes and become a kids comic?
I would for keeping ot the way it is, but I believe we do have to put up with a lot of childish stories because of it.

Not having visiting this board in a while, and having just checked the polls, I've noticed that something is hugely conspicuous by its absence.
Where's Scojo? What did he do wrong to get banned from the message board?

First we had riot foam and palm-print coded guns being developed in the states. Now, it has been reported in the Meath Chronicle that just up the road from me, in Ballyjamesduff, County Meath, four undead creatures from another dimension have begun killing off the locals in their droves and controlling the minds of the local police force.

It seems that the era of the judges is coming closer every day!



sorry

I read a back issue yesterday with the Dredd story Revolution, back then a beacon of excellence in a sea of bollocks (Mean Team 2 etc.).  I got me to thinkin': I liked those huge, double-page spreads the Dredd stories used to start with. Very cinematic, and gave Dredd's world the grandiose and dramatic feel it should have. Why don't they still do them? I know they're probably a bastard to reprint in graphic novels, but it has been done. Any views on this?