https://tripwiremagazine.co.uk/headlines/tripwire-talks-to-2000ad-and-vertigo-writer-john-smith/
I may as well come out and say it: I had previously thought that Kenneth Niemand was John Smith writing under a pseudonym. I won't go into my reasons for thinking that, let's just say that I had put 2 and 2 together and made 5. From this interview, it doesn't look like Smith is keen to return to the prog any time soon. Contrary to popular belief, he seems quite happy for Kek-W to have taken over Indigo Prime after his departure, but he's clearly not a fan of Ales Kot's work on Devlin Waugh.
I don't think I'd have ever considered Smith for Niemand. If nothing else, he's too ordered in his storytelling. There's no weird language stuff.
As for Waugh, I recall Smith being annoyed at Rory McConville wrapping up ideas that were intentionally left in the background, and so those might be the toys he was referring to. Hard to say really.
Good to know he's writing again. Here's hoping something will end up in the Prog or elsewhere.
I've only skimmed the interview, but my first reaction is I'm really glad he's still out there and he's still writing, and mostly that he's OK. He's been through a lot and seemed to have disappeared into the wilderness for a bit, but he's one of my absolute favourite writers in all of comics and it's great to hear from him again. Not that I know him or anything, but we had a couple of exchanges on Facebook after I talked about Cradlegrave on Eamonn's podcast, and I don't use FB much any more and was worried about him.
It never occurred to me that Ken Niemand might be him, but I believe John is up there with the best Dredd writers. He also nailed Rogue Trooper and Strontium Dogs (a text story, that one - I loved his ones), and I really hope he comes back to the prog some time, even though he does seem a bit effed off with the house of Tharg in that interview.
I never rated his Dredd. Cinnabar was good, but all his Rogues were in a weirder and far more violent universe than other writers went with. (Not necessarily a bad thing. His stories were interesting.)
Hard to tell with 2000 AD. I can see why he'd be annoyed about strips being given to others, with the exception of Indigo Prime. After all, no-one else is writing Slaine. Still, I think Kot has done wonders with Waugh. It's superb stuff.
So glad that he seems to be getting back into it.
I thought it was interesting that it seems like the door is still at least slightly ajar for him at 2000AD - when he was talking about his new ideas he seemed to have the prog in mind, even if only as a guide as to what kind of readers he was aiming at.
Smith is brilliant and one of my all time favourite 2000AD writers, but it's difficult to imagine where he would fit in today's comic scene outside of the prog. Fingers crossed he can come back to write something there at some stage.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 07 April, 2023, 10:07:48 PMI don't think I'd have ever considered Smith for Niemand. If nothing else, he's too ordered in his storytelling. There's no weird language stuff.
But it's been, what, 15 years since he last wrote for the prog? His writing style could have changed in that time. It's like saying that
From Hell couldn't be Alan Moore because there are no florid captions, or scene transitions where a sentence starts at the end of one scene and is completed by a different character in the next scene.
Fair point in that the writing style could have changed, but it would have changed... a lot. And it didn't shift that significantly during his time on the Prog. I suppose my point is that I'd never have though Niemand's work was Smith on the basis it's quite conventional in nature. It totally lacks 'Smithisms'.
Quote from: 13school on 08 April, 2023, 09:46:44 AMI thought it was interesting that it seems like the door is still at least slightly ajar for him at 2000AD
I think that'll entirely be down to John Smith himself. Assuming he pitches something that works for 2000 AD and can hit deadlines to a reasonable degree, there's no reason we wouldn't see him in the Prog again. Matt Smith has been explicit in public on multiple occasions that he'd happily see John back in the comic. As John says in the interview, it's ultimately down to whether he wants that to happen. (Of course, we don't know anything about private comms, but I don't see why either of the Smiths would have any reason to lie.)
Personally, I hope he does return to 2000 AD (or the Meg) in some capacity. John Smith is the main reason I stuck with the comic. Had his work not been threaded through the Prog's dark days, I'd almost certainly have ditched it. There's also plenty of scope for Tyranny Rex, although with John saying he thinks the Waugh writers have broken all the toys, didn't Kek-W weave Tyranny into the most recent Indigo Prime? (Although I suppose something something clones something could easily enough deal with that.)
He could easily do a Wagner and ignore anything he doesn't like.
I'd love him to come back to 2000AD, but it seems a bit unlikely given that he says he has written a presumably copyright-infringing Tyranny Rex story for a third party because (in his words) "It's a kind of 'fuck you!' to 2000AD" .
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 April, 2023, 12:04:13 PMFair point in that the writing style could have changed, but it would have changed... a lot. And it didn't shift that significantly during his time on the Prog. I suppose my point is that I'd never have though Niemand's work was Smith on the basis it's quite conventional in nature. It totally lacks 'Smithisms'.
Yeah, my "deduction" was not based on any sort of stylometric analysis, it was more along the lines of "he's written Dredd before, and might have reasons for wanting to write under a pseudonym if he came back".
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 April, 2023, 12:04:13 PMPersonally, I hope he does return to 2000 AD (or the Meg) in some capacity. John Smith is the main reason I stuck with the comic. Had his work not been threaded through the Prog's dark days, I'd almost certainly have ditched it. There's also plenty of scope for Tyranny Rex, although with John saying he thinks the Waugh writers have broken all the toys, didn't Kek-W weave Tyranny into the most recent Indigo Prime? (Although I suppose something something clones something could easily enough deal with that.)
He pretty much single-handedly kept me reading through the lowest troughs of the 90s too. Dredd may have been fighting mutant teddy bears, but meanwhile Revere, Firekind and Killing Time were some of the best Tharg has to offer.
Wasn't Tyranny Rex always part of the Indigo Prime universe(s) though? As far as I remember the latter was a spin-off 9f the former,albeit one that was planned from the start. Or did you just mean that her story has developed since John left?
Indigo Prime began as a Future Shock in prog 490. Tyranny Rex first appeared in prog 566. Indigo Prime stories started appearing under that title in prog 642.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 08 April, 2023, 02:50:55 PMOr did you just mean that her story has developed since John left?
That one. Smith clearly feels Waugh has gone places that would make it not interesting for him to continue. I've no idea if that would be the case with Tyranny Rex.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 08 April, 2023, 02:50:55 PMWasn't Tyranny Rex always part of the Indigo Prime universe(s) though? As far as I remember the latter was a spin-off 9f the former,albeit one that was planned from the start.
- The Future Shock "A Change of Scenery" (prog 490) had the organization under the name Void Indiga (https://2kstages.github.io/stages/progs/stage16.html).
- Tyranny Rex (https://2kstages.github.io/AtoZ/TyrannyRex/data.html)'s first story was "In His Image" (566-568), with no mention of Indigo Prime (https://2kstages.github.io/AtoZ/IndigoPrime/data.html).
- Very soon after that we got an untitled T-Rex story in the 1988 Sci-Fi Special (the one with Woody Allen on the cover - circa prog 576) that has the first explicit mention of Indigo Prime (as opposed to Void Indiga).
Maybe fun to propose that Void Indiga is an alternate reality, given the milieu?
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/specials/hires/SCIFI88.jpg)
It seems like Tyranny is fairly central to Kek's plans for the IP IP, as this exposition from prog 2270 foreshadows:
(https://i.imgur.com/cZFE2hV.png)
Having Smith in the prog kept me reading the prog on more than one occasion when pretty much everything else was no longer to my tastes. Variety compared to the rest of mainstream anglophone comics - both in the art and the scripting - has always been a big, big part of why 2000AD has often seemed so essential, and Smith has been a major part of that.
I'll be picking up anything he does anywhere it appears, but it always felt like the prog was a near-perfect fit for him (and vice versa). Here's firmly hoping he'll be back.
Likewise, I really hope he can get some new stuff published in the prog or elsewhere. I'll be seeking it out.
John Smith wrote some of my favorite stories for 2000ad. It's a pity if he doesn't write more for them. Perhaps a collection or two of his past works in print might sway him back into the fold!
It was always nice to hear from John back when I had FB, hope he's doing well and continues writing whatever the hell it is that takes his fancy at any given moment, for the prog or otherwise.
I'm totally reading this as 'John Smith is actively writing a bunch of comics, and is imagining pitching at least some of them to 2000AD'.
Great news for all readers :D
Quote from: AlexF on 12 April, 2023, 03:25:00 PMI'm totally reading this as 'John Smith is actively writing a bunch of comics, and is imagining pitching at least some of them to 2000AD'.
Great news for all readers :D
But it sounds to me like he's undecided about the latter part.
Quote from: AlexF on 12 April, 2023, 03:25:00 PMI'm totally reading this as 'John Smith is actively writing a bunch of comics, and is imagining pitching at least some of them to 2000AD'.
He's sounding like he's had his fingers burned a bit, but... where else is there? Unless he goes back to the US, or does a self-published/Kickstarter type thing (an original John Smith hardback GN would be
amazing), it's hard to think of another Smith-friendly comic outlet besides Tooth...?
Pity Hellblazer is no more. He only wrote one issue but I believe if he'd stuck at it he could have been one of Vertigo's top writers. Still, the yanks' loss was our gain.