Can we get reprints of this going?
I mean just those back issue they were awesome and I never got to the end. My brother stopped buying the comics cos mony was tight and I couldn't affor it asI was too youngnd I never read past the beginning of Book Two.
I really miss the series and now the back isues are gone from the house and I can't even find them. In theUS its only the first three issues thatare printed.
I want to see the full 3 book series re-published.
Who would I contact?
It seems like a bit of long shot, not least because it's pretty uneven in look and tone. I'd certainly like to see the last chunk of material, which I only caught in dribs and dabs as Crisis' cost outweighed its benefits.
Check out our very own Hipster Dad's thoughts on the subject:
http://hipsterdad.livejournal.com/648172.html
Welcome aboard omarinbox!
I'd have to agree with TordelBack almost entirely - as I seem to very often (the only other boarder I have this degree of embarrassing "YES, WHAT HE SAID" is Locustsofdeath - if we go on holiday, I reckon we could stand in for each other).
Of course, if you're going to do Third World War, the next logical step would be a complete Finn collection. And I'm not sure how well it'd stand up after all this time.
It's probably harder in the US, but over here you can pick up back issues of Crisis pretty cheaply. I reread the first Book of Third World War recently and the "issue of the week" format makes it pretty cringeworthy. Decent art from Ezquerra though and I'll probably get round to reading the later ones eventually.
The other option to purchasing the Crisis comics (as I would imagine the shipping costs to the USA would be high)is to buy the six part Third World War graphic novels off EBay. You find them on there quite often and they normally only sell for £1 a copy. Just ask the seller if they are prepared to ship to the States before bidding.
Good luck
They weren't graphic novels - they were cardboard covered US format comics each collecting two episodes (so that's the first 12 episodes and, as such, incomplete). They only sold for something like 2 quid to begin with. While it's certainly an option, I wouldn't want anyone to think they'd be getting some kind of massive GN only to find it's 30 odd pages or something.
They did the same thing with New Statesmen, which personally I think stands head and shoulders about 3rd World War. As I recall, and I've not read it for an age (though it is slowly working up my to be read pile) it was ok but suffered from being Pat Mills at his preachiest (nice word there!). Mind a lot of the issues he tackled were well worth knowing about it has to be said.
I remember 'Sticky Fingers' very fondly must get around to reading that again.
Yeah, I remember that too (didn't GET it though as I didn't like New Statesmen at all). They were thinking outside of the UK/Europe market from the start and both launch stories got that US repackage treatment to hopefully make the transition across the Atlantic.
*splash*
It doesn't matter that it didn't work, I'm just pleased they TRIED something like that. Crisis was very hit and miss for me, a little to right-on, yeah, a little more-ethical-than-thou mmmm, yeah? to quite set my thrill circuits on fire. There were good BITS though. Admittedly sometimes you'd wait several issues for one.
I attempted a massive reread of all of Third World War fairly recently- and found it marvellously entertaining, well-written, and curiously affecting. Yes, it's a polemic, yes it's ranty and shouty and the politics could be seen as being a little out of date... but it's nearly twenty years old! I'm sure if Mills were to write it now, it'd be considerably different (and intuition tells me, even more angry).
However, even I gave up once Ezquerra had left the strip. Some of the John Hicklenton stuff is lovely, yes, but theres an awful lot of stuff from around that time that seems- without insulting various artists whose names I cant remember- "inexperienced" to say the least. But, on the whole, Mills was telling a worthwhile story and one that I would have liked to have followed to the end. A shame the art beat me, really.
I was going to go on and read all of Finn too. But I forgot.
But yeah, I'd love a reprint of this- and Crisis stuff in general- in the Megs floppies. Anything rather than early-to-mid nineties Megazine rubbish.
SBT
The floppies are being used to reprint stuff Rebellion owns the copyright for but which, realistically, wouldn't sell in a Trade (or has already appeared partically, like the excellent John Higgins collection) so, given that Crisis was creator owned, there might not be a huge chance of that.
Shame though, I'd like some of that stuff too.
I've got all the original (well most of them) Crisis and I had my Son cataloging them and others over the Summer Hols - an excuse to read back issues and TBH Crisis is like a time capsule, reading back over TWW at the time what felt radical is a bit, well, Mhur, really - patronising, self gratifying and pretentious...
If I where you I'd try and track down some old copies.
I liked Third World War and I wish John Smith had finished it.
One more time, since he's posted here: I liked Third World War and I wish John Smith had finished it.
I even own a couple of pages of the Baikie art.
- Trout
Baikie & Smith? Thinking of New Statesmen rather than Third World War perhaps?
Cradlegrave is the first Smith-penned thing I've even remotely gotten on with I'm afraid. But he's one of those writers, like Mills, that totally divides readers and that's no bad thing. Who'd have thought the most controversial thing about Crisis all these years later is the Mills/Smith "marmite" angle?
Oh, ploppies. I meant that. New Statesmen. Sorry - mind melting down these days.
- Trout
Quote from: King Trout on 06 October, 2009, 04:08:13 PM
I liked Third World War and I wish John Smith had finished it.
One more time, since he's posted here: I liked Third World War and I wish John Smith had finished it.
I even own a couple of pages of the Baikie art.
- Trout
Didn't he finish it? There certainly was a conclusion and indeed and epilogue or two... or was there meant to be more???
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 06 October, 2009, 04:24:36 PM
Quote from: King Trout on 06 October, 2009, 04:08:13 PM
One more time, since he's posted here: I liked New Statesmen and I wish John Smith had finished it.
I even own a couple of pages of the Baikie art.
Didn't he finish it? There certainly was a conclusion and indeed and epilogue or two... or was there meant to be more???
The first story was finished but it was clearly set up for further explorations. I've reread the first flush of Crisis recently and it's made pretty explicit in the editorial that there would be more. Not that that means JS ever sat down to write it of course.
New Statesmen was far superior to 3WW. Even the satire, while hardly subtle, holds up far better today.
Quote from: The Cosh on 06 October, 2009, 08:21:09 PM
New Statesmen was far superior to 3WW. Even the satire, while hardly subtle, holds up far better today.
First pro strip work from Duncan Fegredo, I believe. Certainly the first I'd seen, although I think I'd seen some spot illos in SF mags before (Interzone seems to be suggesting itself). It was also the first time I encountered Sean Phillips' work, too.
I think it's from the last episode, but I've never been able to shake that verse, that went something like:
I think I know, I think I am,
I think I saw the Burning Man
And on the rocks and out to sea
I think the Burning Man saw me.Turns a neat phrase that Smith droid, even if I have horribly misremembered it.
Cheers!
Jim
Quote from: The Cosh on 06 October, 2009, 08:21:09 PM
The first story was finished but it was clearly set up for further explorations. I've reread the first flush of Crisis recently and it's made pretty explicit in the editorial that there would be more. Not that that means JS ever sat down to write it of course.
New Statesmen was far superior to 3WW. Even the satire, while hardly subtle, holds up far better today.
Looking forward to getting around to reading this again. In my mind it was all done in this story - funny how memory plays tricks with you like that. I've always remembered it as a self contained classic which didn't really need anymore. I'm encouraged that it would seem to hold up to the passage of time as well.
I liked NEW STATESMEN too.
Ooh and I liked about the first dozen episodes of THIRD WORLD WAR. But detested it pretty much after that and FINN just made me want to tear up my prog in rage at the bollcksness of it all.
The problem I had with CRISIS was that -- after a while -- I just got tired of being made to feel guilty for being a white, heterosexual, middle class, English man. That's not to make light of British imperialism, or all the parts of our national history of which we should quite rightly be ashamed, but I was politically smart enough to know that without having to pay for the privilege of having CRISIS tell me what a piece of shit I was.
It was so bad, I dropped the title in the middle of the New Adventures of Hitler, and I loved that strip!
Cheers
Jim
Oh yes indeed. It just got PAINFUL. Like having to share a bathroom with sting and listen to his moaning every morning while you shave. Only sting is a bully and charges admission to the bathroom. I'd dropped it by the time The New Adventures of Hitler had started. Any danger of that, Big Dave etc being collected?
To be honest, other than the --ahem-- slightly controversial nature of its content, I'm not aware of any specific issues relating to 'Hitler' that would preclude its reprinting.
Cheers!
Jim
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 October, 2009, 12:10:22 AM
To be honest, other than the --ahem-- slightly controversial nature of its content, I'm not aware of any specific issues relating to 'Hitler' that would preclude its reprinting.
Cheers!
Jim
The colouring on Hitler is one of the very few examples of Steve Yeowell's art not being compromised by having more than just black. Something to do with the mighty D'Israeli I believe.
Crisis taught me a few things at the time and I won't fault it for that - there's no reason comics shouldn't be a polemic rather than yet another retread of a revenge tale or a high-concept movie pitch done on the cheap as a GN or War Is Hell And Only Men Can Fight It for the fiftieth fucking time except with aliens/robots, unless - as Jim points out - it gets to the point where you aren't enjoying it. Although it goes without saying, Jim, that you are a big girl.
Perhaps it should come back as a download what with the cost of printing etc and would be more eco friendly.
Me, I hate politics. They really are all the same since power is always about control not about anything else and as the horrible Melian Dialogue, a Greek text on the 'merits' of Imperialism mentioned 'men rule where they can'.
One group dispossess another in the name of progress,democracy the revolution. Even the supposed 'rebels' are merely after authority for themselves and their own followers. :(
I'm pretty sure New Adventures of Hitler is creator-owned - when it appeared in Crisis, it was as a reprint, having first appeared in a magazine called Cut as twelve 4-page episodes. It's only 48 pages, but so is St. Swithin's Day. I wish Morrison would find somebody to assemble a nice little omnibus of both. ;)
Knockabout's Rian Hughes collection had a fair chunk of early Grantage in there. It is lovely and a collection of his early stuff would be lovely too.
Quote from: The Cosh on 06 October, 2009, 08:21:09 PM
New Statesmen was far superior to 3WW. Even the satire, while hardly subtle, holds up far better today.
Not a chance! WW3 is one of the best comics I've ever read. A friend that was staying over once couldn't get to sleep, so asked if I had something for him to read. He read all six issues in one go (he never read comics before that), then asked if I had any more. An absolute masterpiece IMHO.