The Niemand Tapes

[TordelBack]

Ken speaks!  A vocal unmasking of El Misterio on the Thrillcast.

Whither our theories now?  Suspicious 'technical difficulties' keep the conspiracy alive.

Good interview, interesting man (for a biochipped stooge).

[Colin YNWA]

Well if this isn't all an over elaborate hoax that's all very disappointing. Especially after the Gordon slip the other week.

Still I think there's enough mystery and enigma there to keep the rumours flying!

[TordelBack]

Unless of course Ken's real name is also Gordon...

[dweezil2]

Unless of course Ken's real name is also Gordon...

Maybe it's hyphenated?!! 

[Professor Bear]

Marvel having a long-standing policy of not hiring anyone who works in editorial to write or draw the comics, many years before becoming the company's CEO, then-editor CB Cebulski used a pen name to publish his own work, and even hired an actor to go into the office and pretend to be the made-up writer.

[Greg M.]

Alan McKenzie was a pioneer, I tell you.

[TordelBack]

The reference to PJ Maybe early in the interview could be significant. Any rich widows in the area should be on their guard.

[AlexF]

It was a great interview, he knows what he's doing, clearly.
Although he doesn't know his German!
Niemand would be pronounced Knee-mand, to make it Nye-mand you'd want to spell it 'ei'

(And I know there's variation in this around the world, but if you want that frisson of 'niemand' is German for 'no-one' it's def. pronounced knee not nye) So speaks the son of a German mother who can speak very little of it but for some reason that one rule has stuck.

Mind you, as long as he keeps cranking out high-quality Dredds he can do what he likes with his fake name.

[IndigoPrime]

I still find it astonishing that he’s come from out of the blue and into Dredd to this level. That he’s a writer elsewhere makes a lot of sense. But even so, we’ve seen other writers try and fail at Dredd before, including established comics writers. To my mind, his work is up there with the very best, which is astonishing given how rapidly that happened.

[JayzusB.Christ]

The fake name thing never did Frank Quitely any harm, or Jock for that matter.

[Colin YNWA]

I still find it astonishing that he’s come from out of the blue and into Dredd to this level. That he’s a writer elsewhere makes a lot of sense. But even so, we’ve seen other writers try and fail at Dredd before, including established comics writers. To my mind, his work is up there with the very best, which is astonishing given how rapidly that happened.

Yeah his work is astonishing. I wonder how much experience in radio plays into that as I imagine there's some very specific skills you learn writing for radio (not listened to all the interview yet so - whoops if he discusses that).

His Dredd has been exceptional and on top of that to co-create a character that seems to resinate with fans so much, in Chimpsky, so early on is testament to his talent.

I hope we get many more Dredds form him, but while Megatropolis is an interesting concept I'd really like to see what he'd come up with with an entirely new series outside of Dredd world. I mean look what Michael Carroll gave us with Proteus Vex.

[broodblik]

It was a great interview, he knows what he's doing, clearly.
Although he doesn't know his German!
Niemand would be pronounced Knee-mand, to make it Nye-mand you'd want to spell it 'ei'

(And I know there's variation in this around the world, but if you want that frisson of 'niemand' is German for 'no-one' it's def. pronounced knee not nye) So speaks the son of a German mother who can speak very little of it but for some reason that one rule has stuck.

Niemand is also a surname used by Afrikaans speaking people in South Africa as well. Niemand is from Dutch as well that is where the surname originated from a Afrikaans perspective. In Afrikaans/Dutch/German the pronunciation is very similar.

[Arkady]

Whatever it is that's happening here... that is NOT Gordon Rennie's voice, right!? Unless he can do amazing changes of accent and vocal tone.

[IndigoPrime]

It would also have required Rennie fashion an entirely different writing style for Niemand Dredds, of course.

[TordelBack]

As a great* man once said, if this is a mindfuck, it's the best one yet.

I like Niemand's Dredd strips so far, they have the kooky citcentric subject matter I crave (e.g. Block Buds) and a good ear for MC-1 dialogue. I do wonder if he can do Dredd-as-Hero dramatic stories too, but I don't get the impression that he's interested. While I've complained at length about others' attempts at this type of story (Ennis, Millar), I do feel that's the element missing from the current lineup. I have this confirmed to my satisfaction whenever Dredd takes an active role in a strip,  however briefly.

Williams gives us Dredd as a broken but immovable object, Carroll as a pole for others to orbit, Worley as a backdrop for a clever idea, and I haven't read much McConville Dredd.  When we get those rare Wagner Dredds it feels like Joe is in the driving seat again, and despite him being a wanker you're still rooting for him.

It'd be great if Niemand could combine his convincingly whimsical city with an active, centered Dredd.


*"Great" meaning large or immense; we use it in the pejorative** sense.
** Not really.