SPEED IT UP

[Paul faplad Finch]

Okay, I'm new here and I don't want to make everyone hate me on my first day but I figured, start as you mean to go on and get it out in the open. I hate Pat Mills. Not personally you understand, I don't know the man, but I find his work offensive. Not offensive in that I disagree with his politics or beliefs, just offensively bad. Badly concieved, bady plotted and above all badly written.
    Now having said that I'm not proposing he be banished from the comic never to return, although I wouldn't lose any sleep if it happened. No, I'm a firm believer in "to each his own" and "it takes all sorts". All I'm suggesting is that if he was encouraged to speed up his tales slightly and cut out the interminable flashbacks and splash pages it might not be necessary for his work to appear in every single Prog. As I said, I'm new to the forums- and the internet itself for that matter- but even a cursory glance at the input page tells us that Pat Mills divides the readership like no other writer so I surely can't be the only person who sees the logic in this.
    Anyway, I've said my piece. Please don't hate me.

[M.I.K.]

You hate someone else, but you don't want anybody hating you?

Well that's just hypocritical, even if you do have a point.

[+rufus+]

You know..I started to pen a serious reply..then thought..Life's too short.

[W. R. Logan]

wow, even Peterwolf did more than 3 posts before trying to piss people off. Im no big fan of Pats recent work but at least I word my dislike in a way that gives a reason.

[JOE SOAP]

I think Pat Mills is gorgeous.

[Kev Levell]

Me too, I don't understand 'Pat' hating... without him, none of us would be here.

[satchmo]

He's not just gorgeous, he's the Sexiest Man Alive. And he created 2000AD and I love him.

[JOE SOAP]

I had octuplets for him.

[TordelBack]

I just want his hair, circa 1980.  Lordy, those blond curls would look good atop my wrinkled brow.

Faplad, no-one's saying we can't have a debate about Mills' recent output (sometimes it seems we do little else), but just re-read this:

I hate Pat Mills. Not personally you understand, I don't know the man, but I find his work offensive. Not offensive in that I disagree with his politics or beliefs, just offensively bad. Badly concieved, bady plotted and above all badly written.

Does this sound like a well-worded starting point for a topic on the official forum of the comic the guy in question created?  I think you might be getting off on the wrong foot here.

[Buttonman]

I'm not his greatest fan but he has a body of work and a contribution to 2000ad that makes sweeping statements like those posted just seem ludicrous. The podcast that someone (Marbles?) posted recently where Pat gave a talk at the Imperial War Museum gave me new respect for him also. A clear and passionate orator whose knowledge was detailed and impressive.

[JOE SOAP]

I just want his hair, circa 1980.  Lordy, those blond curls would look good atop my wrinkled brow.

I preferred Wagner's dark pelt.

[Paul faplad Finch]

I seem to have hit a nerve. Sorry. To clarify though, I never dissed Pat as an editor and I am fully aware of the huge part he played in the creation and nurturing of 2000AD. I would even go so far as to say he was as good an editor as he is bad a writer. I just think that that legendary "Father of 2000AD"  stuff is trotted out all to often to excuse his more recent shoddy attempts at scripting.
   As for not giving reasons for my dislike, thats a fair point. I just didn't want to gt into a huge debate on my first day but here goes.

ABC Warriors : Characters die and come back to life for no reason that makes sense.
                       The villains use equipment called EYEPODS.
                       We are 27 books into the latest saga and all the leads have done is have a conversation were they tell each other things that the reader already knows. I could go on.

Greysuit : The hero is a total cypher.
                We're forcefed exposition in captions that in no way relate to the artwork
                 The villains are a kiddie fiddler and a man who shags sheep. We know this because Pat  tells us so every second page. I could go on.

Defoe :  The lead characters spend vast portions of the tory giving the reader History lessons thinly disguised as some of the clunkiest dialogue I think I've ever heard and I've seen every episode of Smallville.
           Pats much vaunted research, which he forces down our throat one minute - see prev. point - doesn't stop him making glaring historical errors the next minute. I could go on.

[satchmo]

You misunderstand me if you think I was saying leave him alone because he created 2000AD. I love most of his current work, like any writer he has his ups and downs, but Defoe in particular is one of my favourite thrills du jour. And Charley's War is one of the greatest comics in the history of the medium.
He is a divisive writer, and believe it or not we've had this conversation once or twice on this board. Clearly you dislike him and nothing anyone says will change that, but did you really just join up to slag stuff off? 2000AD is quite good sometimes.
Welcome to the board by the way.

[Buttonman]

I could go on.

Probably best not.

[Paul faplad Finch]

At the risk of sounding like I'm backpedalling - I'm not - I actually enjoyed Charlies War. It was thought provoking, provocative and very obviously based on a ubject close to Pat Mills heart. It was one of the standout strips in the old reprint section of the Meg - I was too young to read it first time around. However I don't think one great story make a great writer. As to changing my mind, you're right up to a point. No-one will convince me that any of his recent stuff is any good but I go into every new script with an open mind and hope one day to hacve my mind changed by Pat himself. I just don't think - and this was my original point -that there should be so many of those new scripts each year.

As for joining just to slag stuff off, thats not the case at all. I joined out of a genuine love of all things Thargian and a desire to take part in that in some way. There are a lot of series I don't like but far more  that I do and I hope to have many more, hopefully not so controversial , nights in front of my screen chatting with fellow fans. I'm sorry if I gave the wrong idea.