Messages

1

General / Re: Things that went over your head...

« on: 21 April, 2022, 01:22:16 AM »

Others are undoubtedly already aware of it, but I just came across the term "Black Atlantic" outside the world of Dredd for the first time.

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/b/black-atlantic

Seems that this meaning originates in 1983, 4 years after Wagner's Battle of the Black Atlantic storyline introduced us to the polluted ocean.

Is the historical term influenced by Dredd? Or did Wagner pick up on nascent use and create his own witty play-on-words?  Would be interesting to know either way.

2

General / Re: Things that went over your head...

« on: 22 December, 2021, 01:36:40 AM »

TIL that in 1970 the US Govt enacted the RICO act: the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Could this have been an influence in naming a certain clone?

More likely Wagner was influenced by the relationship between Rico and Joe in Little Caesar (1931).

You’re barking up the wrong tree.  These are Pat Mills names.

Death Game 1999 - the Rollerball rip-off from the Mills-edited Action comic. The protagonist was called Joe….and his antagonist (a very proto-2000AD unkillable cyborg) was called Rico.

Fair point; well made.

3

General / Re: Things that went over your head...

« on: 22 December, 2021, 12:27:13 AM »

TIL that in 1970 the US Govt enacted the RICO act: the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Could this have been an influence in naming a certain clone?

More likely Wagner was influenced by the relationship between Rico and Joe in Little Caesar (1931).

4

Film & TV / Re: Accident Man 2

« on: 06 December, 2021, 01:29:03 AM »

But what precisely was Emond's contribution (as a creator)?  If it was purely the visual appearance then it must be noted that the characters in the movie look significantly different to those in Toxic!, which would certainly explain the apparent snub.

You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, do you?

That's totally true -- I make no claim whatsoever to know anything about the practicalities or politics of the comics industry.  Just seemed a logical suggestion.

Apologies if offence was caused; it's just that as a layperson I find creator rights a little perplexing at times (e.g. can someone please explain why Dave Gibbons gets the credit for Harlem Heroes instead of Carlos Trigo?)

5

Film & TV / Re: Accident Man 2

« on: 02 December, 2021, 12:46:28 AM »

Great. Will Martin Emond be getting his rightful credit on this one, or will Accident Man again uniquely be a comic character created by two writers without the involvement of a comic artist?

But what precisely was Emond's contribution (as a creator)?  If it was purely the visual appearance then it must be noted that the characters in the movie look significantly different to those in Toxic!, which would certainly explain the apparent snub.

6

News / Re: Pat Mills in The Times

« on: 04 November, 2021, 01:03:11 PM »

it shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to devise a contract that safeguards the publisher's investment but is more equitable to the creator(s).

True, but such injustices are not unique to comics.  In music, although a writer and a performer will get royalties, the arranger gets none.  As an example, Andy Sumner got £0 from 10 million sales when Puff Daddy replicated Sumner's distinctive guitar part from Every Breath You Take, yet "creator" Sting reportedly made $2000 per day from Daddy's track.

Copyright laws are practically medieval and need a firm overhaul for the modern age.  (Preferably without Disney flexing their muscle like they did with the DMCA.)  I'm with Jimmy Wales on this.

7

Off Topic / Re: Jokes you've made up...

« on: 02 June, 2021, 11:21:15 AM »

Came up with this a few years back, but I'm sure others have come up with similar independently:

"I did a job recently for some dolphins: they want me to make a video showing how to get rid of a bunch of troublesome seals.  Apparently, my cull will be recorded for training porpoises."

8

Prog / Re: Prog 2216 - High Noon!

« on: 24 January, 2021, 12:57:15 PM »

Th Dredd is utterly inpenetrable, and its not just the art -who, what, where? I have no real clue - I did try to decipher the first part on those scores and just failed to make out who was doing what , for what reason, to whom.

Agreed.  A name and brief backstory are not proper characterisation, and we had half a dozen of these to wade through.  And, much as I normally like Will Simpson's art, it started to get too hard to tell who was who.

For me, though, the ultimate crime was a writer of Carroll's calibre throwing in trite Hollywood crap dialogue like the "You've read my file" line.

9

Prog / Prog 2213 - Blood Cell!

« on: 02 January, 2021, 02:47:18 PM »

A unexpected treat -- the first prog of the New Year arriving in a timely manner.

Cover: hmm ... a bit less striking than the usual Cliff Robinson covers.

Dredd: a pretty typical Michael Carroll scene-setter with the usual (slightly irritating) machine-gun-style introduction of new characters.  Anyway, nice to see it building on a half-forgotten plot device from long ago.   What is the significance of Cadet Odessa?  Could this link back to Carroll's Dredd tale The Forsaken from roughly 8 years ago?  Lovely to see Will Simpson back.

Durham Red: sorry, not doing it for me.

Slaine: I've long felt that Slaine ran out of steam decades ago.  However, there's no denying that the artwork is terrific and Mills' writing is great here.

Proteus Vex: Jake Lynch has done such a good job that I hadn't even noticed the change of artist until someone pointed it out.  Enjoyable techno-gibberish!

Hershey: as so many have already stated, this really should have used new characters (leaving Hershey gracefully dead).  Beautiful art but not sure where this is going.

10

Megazine / Re: Meg 425 - The God of Death

« on: 26 November, 2020, 12:53:15 PM »

That's one hell of a lot of top comics pages for less than €5 digital. I don't think the Meg has been this strong in years: maybe ever.

Seconded.  It's phenomenal at the moment.

11

Prog / Re: Prog 2206: Regened - Five Roarsome Thrills

« on: 09 November, 2020, 12:21:40 AM »

If they are placed just before the jumping on prog, there is no interruption and those who buy the Regened progs might just buy the jumping on prog and then boom, [you're] into a fresh set of stories...

... erm, which are not aimed at the same age group.

The logic only works if we have at least one Regened-level strip running permanently in regular progs.  Best option would be carrying one strip forward in a separate story starting in the jumping-on prog.  That way they can keep the youngsters reading and wean them onto the harder stuff over time.

And if that story is something like the quality of Pandora Perfect then I can't see the older readers complaining.  (Heck, I didn't understand or enjoy Full Tilt Boogie but it's clear that lots of other old fogies did. )

12

Prog / Re: Prog 2197 - Saints & Sinners

« on: 30 August, 2020, 11:46:46 AM »

Diaboliks cover by Dom Reardon.

And it's a poor cover, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong: Reardon's artwork is usually very stylish but the combination of the random composition and rough linework just makes it look like a GCSE Art project to me.  I'm sure there are others who'll love it.  Not my cup of tea.

Future Shocks - Steam M For Murder. Was enjoying this right up until the last page and then it became sort of non shocking, with the interesting aspects of the story, no murder/sentient robots that cannot kill but one with an injury might have the potential to do so, being sidelined for a person who will do anything for money.

What NapalmKev said.

13

Prog / Re: Prog 2191 - Let's Boogie!

« on: 25 July, 2020, 05:44:26 AM »

MC1 citizens must breed like rabbits during the tiny periods of peace to keep the numbers up.

Have you seen MC1 unemployment rates?  Watching holovid, bat-gliding, or committing / being a victim of crime can only take up so much of a day.  They have plenty of time to engage in conjugal unpleasantness.

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Prog / Re: Prog 2191 - Let's Boogie!

« on: 22 July, 2020, 02:46:53 AM »

Dredd - I enjoyed the panic onboard Justice 2 and escalating situation back in the Big Meg. Also, have got QUITE the crush on the Judge stood with Logan at the bottom of page 2. What's her name?

Judge Patrick, I think?

Patrick is on Justice 2 with Dredd.
The judge stood with Logan is (presumably) Han. If so, Flint draws her quite differently to MacNeil.

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Prog / Re: Prog 2188: Chronoclysm!

« on: 29 June, 2020, 05:42:45 AM »

The Order
Surely the worst named story ever?

Could be worse.  They could have called the story Dire Bollocks.  Oh, hang on ....