i jus finished my subscription

Matt Timson · 22 January, 2003, 07:31:48 PM

"Oh god, I remember that. The poor guy on the receiving end of it posted Pat's comments to him yo (I think) the Zarjaz group."

I'll have to take your word for that one- I've been a "pending" member at Zarjaz for about as long as I've been a member here...

Art · 22 January, 2003, 07:58:21 PM

The last message posted on the Zarjaz group was on September 16th, so you're not missing much action.

Devons Daddy · 22 January, 2003, 08:06:57 PM

i think in fairness.
real genuis in creative types tends to go hand in hand with slight quirkyness, for want of a better word.
i really enjoy pat mills stuff.if this is his quirk ok. we dont have to be his buddy.ignore his rants,but enjoy his work.

sad about the slaine in tescos idea though that woudl have been right up there with slaine as robin hood.

Art · 22 January, 2003, 08:13:31 PM

I have just re read the letter in question and i can honetsly say that Mills inadvertantly makes the best argument against creators rights that I've ever seen. He totally sounds like a two year old whos outraged that someone might touch one of his toys.

GordonR · 22 January, 2003, 08:22:11 PM

No comment, but what you've got to remember was that the guy was just a well-meaning fan who wanted loved Pat's work and wanted to do a Slaine strip for a 2000AD fanzine and, out of politeness and fairness (remember, Pat doesn't actually own Slaine, and Andy Diggle had already given the Zarjaz guys the unofficial wink that it would be okay to use 2000AD-copyrighted characters in the 'zine) wanted to get Pat's blessing for it.

Other creators - most nobably Official Most Decent Man In Comics Alan Grant - had been extremely helpful and encouraging to other people doing Zarjaz strips based on characters they created/wrote, but this poor guy really was walking into the lion's den here...

paulvonscott · 22 January, 2003, 08:28:41 PM

I read it and I thought Pat had a good point to make, though not everyone feels the same way, I thought his viewpoint was fair enough.

However he really should have probably had a cold shower and slipped a few moggadon before deciding to press the button and go nuclear.

Dear me, diplomacy before war old chap.

Art · 22 January, 2003, 08:28:56 PM

Why, its almost as if he's afraid that someones dodgy fanfic might be *better* than his own efforts...

Oh dear.

Devons Daddy · 22 January, 2003, 08:41:28 PM

now i have not read the letter
but havent we all
written the email form hell. hit send and thought.there got you .
only to re read it an hour later and think
WHAT HAVE I DONE.
was this that kind of thing?

Oddboy · 22 January, 2003, 08:48:52 PM

Wake, how "official" is this?
Are you taking down fanfic Sl?ine stuff etc?
Will you have to refuse any future drawings of Satanus from being hosted on the site?

Or is it up to the artists/writers if they're brave enough to go against the Mills?

El Spurioso · 22 January, 2003, 08:51:31 PM

In all fairness, there probably *is* a case for Mr Mills to reasonably be edgy about someone else writing a character which he feels very strongly is 'his'. I know for a fact he's not the only long-standing 2000AD creator who's pulled the plug on fan-written stuff based upon one of 'their' characters (because I was the cheeky git trying to write it), so I can't really condemn him there.

He *did* do it in a spectacularly 'chuck-the-toys-outta-the-pram' fashion, mind you, which didn't really do him any favours as a Friend of the Fans.

GordonR · 22 January, 2003, 09:10:59 PM

Hey, if you wanna see real 'throwing the toys out the pram' stuff, wait for the final TPO article.

Pat and a former Tharg apparently completely tear into each other in print. Vicious no-holds-barred stuff, I gather.

You have been warned, so subscribe or reserve your copy now. This one's gonna be a classic!

Devons Daddy · 22 January, 2003, 09:12:59 PM

you could always finish a fan script with the foot note
see you in court mr mills.

if he wants to be like that, enjoy winding him up at least.fan fiction is the highest form of flattery. at the end of the day we are the customers.
pity though it kind of pours a little laughter over an iconic figure in our collective world.

garry_bodsworth · 22 January, 2003, 10:15:37 PM

I was drawing a Joe Pineapples strip for Zarjaz 2 as well, but that got canned after the letter from Pat Mills. I only pencilled one or two pages but I was enjoying it, the whole situation did leave me feeling very deflated but it is just one of those things.

Garry

Wils · 23 January, 2003, 02:55:48 AM

I'm guessing that Tweak is another no-go as well. Which is a damn shame as lots of people are calling for his return, and the most likely place for that to happen is probably in a fanzine.

JimBob · 23 January, 2003, 03:40:40 AM

Mills has always been a huge comic icon for almost all of us which is why it's so dissapointing to read of his attitude toward the Zarjaz chaps. I can understand him being protective of Nemesis and the ABCs but Satanus? Its a big dinosaur no different in execution from any other big Dinosaur and it features in Dredd (surely a house Character?).