.Thanks to the handsome and charismatic Roger Blake and Glyn Robinson-Byrne and their
2000ad Facebook Discussion Group (
click to join) we can add some footnotes to Steve MacManus's excellent
Mighty One tome (
still available in all good stores).
An abridged version of Steve's generously detailed, warm and personable replies:
The visual reference that accompanied the script in which Anderson first appears (actually written for the Dredd dummy) [1] showed a woman in a black leather catsuit with a zip pulled halfway down, revealing an ample sized bosom.
In the Robo-Hunter series Play It Again, Sam, Ian Gibson drew Maggie Thatcher with a truly supersized Gerald Scarfe type nose – it was like Concorde. But I cravenly had the art team scratch it down a peg or two. And this nose was everywhere.
The Summer Special with art by Casanovas was so late I forced his agent to fly to Spain and back in a day to wrench the pages from his grasp. I had to – there was no other material to take its place as the special was a different size from the weekly.
My proudest moment was when the printed copies of the First Judge Dredd annual arrived in the office. This was my baby from cover to cover, although I misread the colour page allocation, which is why one of the stories is split.
I regret not saving Zenith for Crisis, commissioning that unfunny back page strip whose title escapes me (the one by Chris Stevens), and selling the Bisley Batman Promo Page for £250.00
Original art came back from the printer in a big parcel and we just chucked it in a corner of the office. Eventually, it was taken over to the fabled Fleetway archive library, where it was unpacked and stored. When the artists began to have their art returned, Robin Smith would package it up nicely for them.
In the beginning, all work was commissioned on a work for hire basis, attracting single payment based on a page rate. No further payments, no royalties, reprint fees, etc.
When it came to creating Crisis I lobbied for, and got, an improvement on these terms, which was enshrined in a contract given to each contributor to Crisis.
The copyright remained with Fleetway, but in addition to the page rate royalties kicked in on sales above certain figure. 50,000 copies sold I believe. In this sense the page rate became a non-returnable advance on any future royalties falling due.
In addition, we made provision for a payment to be made if the work was reprinted in the UK or syndicated to Europe and the world. if there was a graphic novel compilation the royalties would be paid on every copy sold – just like a book.
Finally, provision was made for creators to share in any audio/visual exploitation of the work, such as television, film and radio.
Above all, provision was made for creators to share in merchandise revenues. I think the merchandise split was 50% to the publisher and 50% split between the writer/creator and artist/creator. The syndication revenue to the contributors was 35% of net receipts. Reprint fees were around £10-15 per page.
When the company decided to extend the deal to 2000 AD contributors, a whole new contract was written and it ran to several pages!
My role as Managing Editor of the 2000ad Group concerned hiring staff to work on the editorial team. In terms of creative input, I offered none. Richard and Alan commissioned 2000 AD’s content with design by Steve Cook. On the Megazine, Dave Bishop assembled a new creative crew, drawn from Scotland in the main and I applaud him for it.
I let both editorial teams get on with it! Later came Sonic and Red Dwarf and other titles following the merger with London Editions. To be fair, I don’t think there was much use in the role of Managing Editor, but what else could I do?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2000adDiscussion/permalink/1544855875675611/
[1] Steve might be conflating the visual reference Wagner supplied to Bolland for Anderson's
2000ad debut appearance - in the very first Judge Death story - and her first
solo strip -
The Four Dark Judges - which was originally scheduled to appear in the aborted 1985 Dredd monthly.
Obviously, the only visual reference Brett Ewins would have needed for
The Four Dark Judges was Bolland's previous strips.
