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Strontium Dog Without Wagner or Ezquerra

Started by Frank, 15 May, 2019, 07:58:17 AM

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Frank


John Wagner and Alan Hebden panel at Enniskillen Comic Convention

Wagner wants editorial to continue Strontium Dog without his involvement*. He says Carlos's family should receive royalties from future stories - if Tharg's prepared to bend his rules and pay creators royalties when others use company-owned characters, he gets major Good Guy points.

More interesting, to me, is Wagner's desire to continue Ezquerra's Spector character with either Colin MacNeil or Simon Coleby.


* It's interesting that, in this case, it's editorial who were reluctant to carry on making cash by passing the character on to another creator. It's a Bizarro World version of how things usually play out in the comic industry

Dark Jimbo

Hmm. So conflicted. Obviously I want more Strontium Dog; obviously I want Carlos done right by; do I want Stront without Ezquerra or Wagner? Really not sure.
@jamesfeistdraws

Frank

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2019, 08:10:37 AM
Hmm. So conflicted. Obviously I want more Strontium Dog; obviously I want Carlos done right by; do I want Stront without Ezquerra or Wagner? Really not sure.

To be honest, I wouldn't really have been interested in more Stronty Dog without Ezquerra - it was his strip much more than Wagner's*. It's difficult to think of a strip more defined by the personality and idiosyncrasies of a creator outside the world of US indie comix.

It'd take a special kind of dick to argue that the Ezquerra family shouldn't continue to benefit from his creation, just to protect his Special Feelings, though.


* or Grant, who always seems to get written out of discussion of Strontium Dog, for some reason

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Frank on 15 May, 2019, 08:24:58 AM
It'd take a special kind of dick to argue that the Ezquerra family shouldn't continue to benefit from his creation, just to protect his Special Feelings, though.

:lol: True.
@jamesfeistdraws

broodblik

Without Ezquerra or Wagner Strontium Dog cannot exists. As Frank said Ezquerra art was what made the strip
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SIP

I actually think that it could carry on with a different artist, but I wouldn't want to see it continue without John Wagner.

ZenArcade

Ed is dead, baby Ed is...Ed is dead

Frank

Quote from: broodblik on 15 May, 2019, 10:20:08 AM
Without Ezquerra or Wagner Strontium Dog cannot exists. As Frank said Ezquerra art was what made the strip

There are lots of fans, who love Ezquerra and the strip as much as you and me, who feel differently. I tried to get a discussion going about it here and here.

Like I say, I won't be moaning if Casa Ezquerra gets a new conservatory out of it.



SIP

Carlos is the definitive visualisation of the character, no argument frin me. It's my all time favourite comic character and strip, but there have been other fantastic depictions of him, from Bolland to Colin Macneil, Kev Walker to Chris Weston. You could tell further significant Johnny Alpha tales, with recognition, financial or otherwise, to the mighty Carlos.

SIP

Kev Walker, Colin Macneil or Henry Flint would do a killer job of it I bet.

Or how about Phil Winslade, the lawless artwork is incredible.

Frank


The argument isn't that no other artist (or writer) could do a decent job of taking up the reins. I liked Harrison, MacNeil and McCarthy's turns holding Carlos's beer.

As brave US publishers have proven time and time again, no creator is irreplaceable. How you feel about that probably depends on your history as a reader - mine is 90% 2000ad* or creator-owned comics, which means I'm coming at this burdened with preconceptions like a Mexican burro.


* Even Tharg's general habit of ending strips when writers, if not artists, moved on had notable exceptions over the years, although few worked out well for the creators or the readers. Poor Rogue Trooper.

IAMTHESYSTEM

It's up to John Wagner and Rebellion I guess if they want to produce another Strontium Dog strip. I can live with a new artist or even a new writer since I believe in different creators producing their vision of the same character. That's not to everyone's tastes mind, but if it is the end of SD then that's okay there are tons of Ezquerra episodes for us to re-read or encounter for the first time.
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SIP

It's a moot point for me really, as the death of Carlos signalled the final blow to me reading the prog (after a protracted decline in my passion), with the Wagner/Ezquerra strontium dog resurgence being my reason for continuing.

I think if Wagner is making a clean break from Strontium Dog too, it would mark the end of that era and it might be interesting, with Wagner and the Ezquerra family blessing, for readers to see a different creative team work on new stories.

I imagine that the end of strontium dog would not make as significant impact on 2000ad as say the end of Dredd would.

IndigoPrime

I think if Wagner's OK with it – even enthusiastic about it – AND Matt Smith changes his mind because of that AND they get the right creative teams on board, fine. The issue is how you subsequently handle the property. Dredd was mostly Wagner's, but never about one artist – and now it's not really Wagner's any more. Strontium Dog was Wagner and/or Grant+Ezquerra for the vast majority of its run. I wouldn't want another artist to ape Ezquerra, but you'd need artists who can nail the character (not just the people – but of the strip as a whole).

Would it become a house character with a rota of creators, or would 2000 AD seek to get regulars on board? And if the latter (which would seem a smarter move with such an important strip), how enduring could that be? All tough questions, and I don't think there are any obvious nor easy answers.

Steve Green

I don't have an easy answer on this - I guess if you're going to do it, it would be preferable to have a single artist on a run at least if not for the new creative team, at least to make their mark. Rather than ABC Warriors it with an artist here, and an artist there.

The record on new creative teams taking over characters is patchy to say the least though.

Up until now, and for those reasons it seemed best to leave it be, but if it doesn't work out it's not going to erase what I've enjoyed over the decades, and considering I've worked on fanfic at John's request and with Carlos' blessing, I'd be a bit hypocritical to object to someone else doing the same, even if they are getting paid to do it.