Messages

1

Film & TV / Re: Doom Patrol Cancelled.

« on: 28 January, 2023, 12:21:55 PM »

That’s a pity I liked Titans (& the one season of Doom patrol I watched).

Does this mean that it’s just not commercially viable to do multiple seasons (5+) of the Superhero genre?

In this case, per the article, it's about clearing the decks ahead of the James-Gunn-helmed reboot of the DC cinematic/TV universe, with DC/Warner desperately hoping to get it right this time…

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Film & TV / Re: Doom Patrol Cancelled.

« on: 28 January, 2023, 10:00:03 AM »

James Gunn gives Doom Patrol and Titans their marching orders.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/01/26/doom-patrol-and-titans-cancelled-ahead-of-the-new-dc-era/

I'm sad about Doom Patrol but, frankly, the fact that we got four seasons of this is minor miracle in itself. I was also a little heartened to learn that the showrunners were given enough advance notice to allow them to write an ending, rather than the series just getting cancelled on an end-of-season cliffhanger, as seems to be the norm with streaming shows.

3

Creative Common / Re: Does My Figure look big in this?

« on: 27 January, 2023, 06:25:53 PM »

I'd agree that if Book 1 isn't Colquhoun, it's somebody doing a damn fine impersonation, but also that Book 2 has some very un-Colqhoun-ish touches, that tree in particular. There's nothing about it that says Ian Gibson to me, though — the colour work is a lonnnng way from the line-and-wash technique that characterised his other colour work around this time and, other than that tree, the rest of the drawing lacks the angularity of his style. It's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma… &c. :-)

4

Prog / Re: Prog 2316 - Taking Liberties

« on: 27 January, 2023, 02:22:42 PM »

This is why they pay you the big bucks groats.

The Mighty One docked me two oil rations for, and I quote: "Pissing about when you should be working". Escaped the Rigellian Hotshot, though. :-)

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Prog / Re: Prog 2316 - Taking Liberties

« on: 27 January, 2023, 08:31:56 AM »

Deadlock sounds like John Malkovich.  I just can't get past that.

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General / Re: Which do you prefer?

« on: 25 January, 2023, 09:00:48 PM »

I bet Kev prefers the latter style, as it probably takes about a tenth of the time to achieve.

He was interviewed in the Meg a few years back, and he said that was his reason for trying the new style… but it really doesn't save much time because the time you save in the inks you spend getting right in the pencils, because there's no fudging stuff with fancy cross-hatching.

That's the thing that annoys me about the whole "more lines = better" segment of comic fandom — when you simplify your ink style, there's no way to hide bad drawing. What you're seeing in a less fancy ink style is more confidence and better drawing.

7

General / Re: Which do you prefer?

« on: 25 January, 2023, 01:10:45 PM »

Walker’s early contributions to the prog were nothing special at all

Interestingly, Steve MacManus identified Kev as a droid with a lot of potential, but not sufficiently grounded in the nuts-and-bolts of comic story-telling… so Steve got him inking Steve Dillon's pencils for a couple of years (Cinnabar, and a big chunk of the Harlem Heroes reboot), to which Kev directly attributes the improvement in his sequential work prior to flying solo again.

8

General / Re: Looking back

« on: 25 January, 2023, 10:28:02 AM »

Personally I would peg him as a highly over-rated writer who is nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is.

I don't think he thinks he's a particularly clever writer, he thinks he is (and actually is) a very canny businessman — I think he views his books as product and constructs them with great care (albeit cynically and with very little 'art'*) to hit his target market, both within the comic medium and as adaptable IP for film and TV.

He's very, very good at it, but I find the majority of his work soulless for that very reason.

(Worth noting, for all that sounds like —OK, is— criticism, I think it should also be noted that MM has a reputation for being one of the most equitable writers in the industry when it comes to sharing the proceeds of what is basically a one-man IP farm with his co-creators.)

*By which I mean, his writing is workmanlike, but feels like a careful arrangement of story beats, without any real flashes of inspiration. The art is usually great, because he understands the value of paying top dollar to get really good artists, and how to get the best out of them. (Paying well, basically.)

9

General / Re: Looking back

« on: 24 January, 2023, 10:58:58 AM »

I appreciate that Garth was a very young man at the time, but I just can't understand why Tharg would give near-exclusive writing rights of the flagship character to an inexperienced writer whose only prog-work to date had been Time Flies.

Ennis was the breakout find of Crisis, and was very clearly a rising star. I have some vague recollection that John Wagner wanted to step back from the grind of the weekly and suggested Garth as his successor.

I mean, Garth says himself that he was too young and inexperienced to carry Dredd week in and week out, but as an upcoming writer in the early stages of your career, if John Wagner puts you forward for 2000AD's flagship strip…? Who's going to say "Nah, I'm all right, thanks" to that?

10

General / Re: Looking back

« on: 23 January, 2023, 05:34:15 PM »

The Megazine was the worst thing ever to happen to the prog. Wagner only wrote Dredd stories for the Megazine for the next four years. I think more highly of Ennis's work in this period than most -- for every bad story there was a good one, e.g. Raider -- and you have to remember he was in his early twenties when he was given the comic's flagship character. The quality really declined after he left and was replaced by Mark Millar, Grant Morrison (who should have been really good but wasn't) and "Sonny Steelgrave".

You may have the cart before the horse to an extent, there. A lot of beloved creators appeared almost exclusively in the Megazine during this period because they couldn't get into the prog — Alan McKenzie was writing a chunk of it himself under assorted pseudonyms, for a start, which limited the number of available slots for other writers.

There was certainly a feeling amongst the UK comic freelancers, writers and artists, that if you weren't part of the 'in crowd' then you couldn't even get your 2000AD pitches looked at*. By contrast, David Bishop over at the Meg was a hard man to please, but judged pitches on their merits, so people gravitated towards the Meg.

*Think of how many pages were being taken up in the prog by Michael Fleischer material… who was a personal friend of Richard Burton.

11

Announcements / Re: 2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

« on: 23 January, 2023, 02:54:29 PM »

Worth pointing out that Mean Team will also contain Bad City Blue, and - given that Hilary Robinson is credited on the cover - possibly also Chronos Carnival.

I'd be very surprised — ISTR that Hilary made a bit of a fuss about the lack of contracts (which editorial were a bit lax about sending out) and got the rights back to all the strips she (co) created for 2000AD. I think the management at the time didn't consider Chronos Carnival or Medivac 318 top tier material and were prepared to let them go just to settle the matter.

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General / Re: Which do you prefer?

« on: 23 January, 2023, 11:31:26 AM »

That is a pity but I think both John and Alan owns the rights.

I thought Doomlord was one of the New Eagle strips whose rights (for reasons that escape me) are still tied up with the Dan Dare Corp, which is notoriously obtuse and difficult to deal with where licensing arrangements are concerned…?

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Off Topic / Re: Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

« on: 17 January, 2023, 07:55:53 AM »

I'm smoking a rollie as I type this - and that's nobody's fault but my own.

Heh. Given that smoking killed both my mum's parents and, although it wasn't what saw my mum off in the end*, it obviously didn't turn out well for her, either… the fact that I'm currently in the process of stopping smoking again should give you a clue that I'm well aware that this is a thing easier said than done.

*Dementia hit early (somewhere before her mid-60s… as with all progressive diseases, it's hard to know exactly when) and she literally forgot she smoked, almost overnight — sixty a day to none. I can't recommend it as solution to quitting, though. ;-)

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Off Topic / Re: Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

« on: 16 January, 2023, 07:54:14 PM »

I've been having pains in my legs for six months or so. The sawbones reckons it's acute thrombosis - which isn't the same as dvt - so now blood tests and ultrasound scans beckon.

If you haven't sworn off the fags already, you really, really should — my mum ended up losing both her legs at the knee to smoking-related thrombosis.

(You'd have thought losing the first one might have tipped her off to the risks, not to mention the fact that the exact same thing happened to her dad, but, nooooooo…)

15

Help! / Re: Current Population of Mega City One...?

« on: 13 January, 2023, 11:34:51 PM »

And those who remember Thread Zero are few and far between. Not that it ever existed...

There is no Thread Zero. There never was. There are no black helicopters. Please remain in your home, Dr X — no one will be calling.