Comics Britannia

[davidbishop]

The Burton/Mackenzie years actually introduced far more new series than previous eras in 2000 AD's history. The early 80s period many call the comic's golden age is notable for the stability of its line-up, with Dredd, Stront and Rogue in nearly every week, accompanied by long runs of other strips. [When was the last time a strip ran for 52 consecutive issues, like Meltdown Man?]

One of the big challenges faces by Burt and Mackenzie was the switch to full colour, as it became impossible for artists to produce an episode a week. You can debate the quality of the new strips they introduced, but it's not fair to accuse that editorial team of failing to try new things.

Dredd's been the backbone of 2000 AD for 30 years, just as Dennis the Menace has been for the Beano, but I'd like to believe other strips have done their bit, such as Nikolai Dante, Sinister Dexter, Caballistics Inc., etc

[TordelBack]

Faskinating programme - I really loved the Beano (and to a lesser extent the Dandy) as a nipper, and the insight into their creators and internal politicking was appreciated.  

The focus on racism was, for once, thoughtful and accepting of the fact that these were attitudes that pervaded all media at the time, not that comics were somehow spearheading a junior race-hate movement.  In my day, Little Plum seemed to be the last bastion of racially-motivated humour, and I always found it um crashing bore.  Homophobia, class-war and child-battery still abounded, and I loved it all.

I thought the parallels (not drawn) between MC-1 and Cactusville were interesting - both supposed to be in America, but very obviously British in content and character.  

Also good to finally see the Man at the Crossroads, after so many years of reading/about him.

[Bad Andy]

I thought the Nazi propaganda stuff was fascinating and was amazed that I'd not seen anything about it before.

And as for Steve Bell... did he not come across as one of those people who talks to himself in the park? Was he genuinely laughing at Little Plum as he described what was going on?

I thought having the Talking Heads read/describe events in a strip really didn't work. Comics are an internal, personal medium and wouldn't work on Jackanory.

[Rio De Fideldo]

Things I didn't think worked were the talking heads superimposed on the strips. I'd have prefered to have seen a technique used in a film called Comic Book Confidential which filled the screen with each panel so you could in fact follow the narrative. The panels from Watchmen in this looked amazing.  

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Book_Confidential" target="_blank">Comic Book Confidential

[House of Usher]

We enjoyed this programme in our house, too. Felt it was a bit of a pity that the IPC humour comics were given such short shrift, as these were a familiar sight to me when I was a kid, and I enjoyed reading the adventures of Frankie Stein, FaceAche, Jasper the Grasper, Sweeny Toddler, Sid's Snake, Oddball, 'Orrible 'Ole, and Fiends and Neighbours in annuals borrowed from friends. They were a lot more contemporary than the Topper, Beano and Beezer comics and annuals that were bought for me.

I too was perplexed by the DC Thompson characters' delight at large bowlfuls of tomato soup, fish and chip suppers and plates of bangers and mash, so I was glad to have it explained to me by Kevin O'Neill in Comics Britannia.

I wish it could have had another half an hour to cover recent developments, like redesigning Dennis the Menace in a shell suit and headphones, the ghastly makeover of The Dandy, and the translation of Dennis into a TV cartoon. Just to show how diluted everything has become, and to make the connection with what today's kids have become accustomed to seeing.

[johnnystress]

"like redesigning Dennis the Menace in a shell suit and headphones"


< icy monotone > what? < /icy monotone >

[Noisybast]

Don't worry - it didn't last long. It was another "Death of Superman" style marketing ploy.
The redesign was touted long before it happened. Cue  predictable media rumpus. It even made the 10 O'Clock News.
As it happened, Dennis started the strip in his flashy new "modern" outfit, which ended up getting torn to shreds during his misadventures. By the end of that week's episode, he was back to his familiar stripey jumper & black shorts ensemble.

[Mikey]

I thought it was an excellent programme - it neither dwelled excessively or skimped on anything.

Looking at some of the work was great - some absolute geniuses worked on them there funny papers.

I,for some reason,found it strange looking at Kev O'Neil talking about the 'fun factory' whilst constantly thinking "this man drew Nemesis the Warlock".I mean that in a good way, mind.What I mean is,I never considered what comics the creators grew up reading - stupid really.I bet Kev would draw a great pile of mash with sausages stuck in it.

Looking forward to the next one.

M.

[COMMANDO FORCES]

If you have Virgin Cable you can watch this episode on the TV On Demand bit anytime you like over the next 7 days.

P.S. This bit of the On Demand is free.

Enjoy!

[Funt Solo]

You're right - they did introduce a lot of new strips.  I was thinking more of the terminal case of neverending Robo-Hunter.  On reflection - that was more the exception than the rule.

[TordelBack]

Faskinating programme - I really loved the Beano (and to a lesser extent the Dandy) as a nipper, and the insight into their creators and internal politicking was appreciated.  

The focus on racism was, for once, thoughtful and accepting of the fact that these were attitudes that pervaded all media at the time, not that comics were somehow spearheading a junior race-hate movement.  In my day, Little Plum seemed to be the last bastion of racially-motivated humour, and I always found it um crashing bore.  Homophobia, class-war and child-battery still abounded, and I loved it all.

I thought the parallels (not drawn) between MC-1 and Cactusville were interesting - both supposed to be in America, but very obviously British in content and character.  

Also good to finally see the Man at the Crossroads, after so many years of reading/about him.

[Rio De Fideldo]

De Ja Vu

[TordelBack]

WTF happened there?  It appears I'm now posting from five minutes into your future, only more like 3 hours and with less monkey-house shoot-outs.

[Adrian Bamforth]

"And the dismissal of every IPC comic as a lame corporate knockoff was also slightly unfair(some good material was produced for these comics, such as Reid's "Faceache")."

Agreed, I read Whizzer & Chips as a kid and it had some very inventive strips while I found even then the Beano and Dandy to be hopelessly outdated. For all it's genius, Roger The Dodger, Minnie The Minx and Dennis The Menace were pretty much the same strip - overly energetic kid getting into trouble.  

[Bolt-01]

Thought that was good fun, looking forward to the rest.

Bolt-01