It's here! And a fine meg too.
Dredd was a superb James Bond spoof with Liam Sharp and Al Ewing now on MI6's double oh/ most wanted list.
The accuracy of the Bonds was astounding even [spoiler]Craigs [/spoiler] craggy ugly face was recognisable.
The new stuff was fine 2000ad vintage Samizdat Squad with b&w art by Paul Marshall makes it a win,a good interview with Liam Sharp and Lilly Mckenzie still going strong.
best of all at last Insurrection 2- a unusual start but I can see why they did it and the best illo of a sjs prison over a gas giant you're ever likely to see.
Nice One Dan Abnett and Colin Macneil.
A Bryan Talbot piece on Grandville as well which I haven't read as yet.
Toast the revolution indeed.
Jealosy levels rising!
Was that a subbie or an Asda-grab Meg? and more to the point who got their letters in?
I got my subs yesterday. Haven't read most of the Meg yet but the Dredd is fun. AMAZING art from Liam Sharpe.
There are no Proudfeet on the letters page I'm afraid.
Cheers, any Watsons from Paisley? :o
Quote from: Proudhuff on 07 December, 2010, 02:55:30 PM
Cheers, any Watsons from Paisley? :o
Just had a glance and yes, there's a Paisley Watson. Lucky for you I brought my Meg to work which I almost never do.
Cheers again Lee, Butt'man will be pleased that makes it a draw for this year :D
Ohhhh yes. No Meg in Paisley but we got the Prog today. Nice to know the path will be cleared tomorrow by a stream of Proudfoot tears as the postie trudges his way to the door.
Quote from: Buttonman on 07 December, 2010, 03:16:32 PM
Ohhhh yes. No Meg in Paisley but we got the Prog today. Nice to know the path will be cleared tomorrow by a stream of Proudfoot tears as the postie trudges his way to the door.
Don't count yer chickens. I got my Meg yesterday and I'm still Progless today. Normally that's the sort of thing that gets me down, but this was a tip-top Meg with Dredd probably the weakest thing in it.
Good issue this month. I enjoyed all of the strips and the interviews were excellent. My only query is about the last page of Lily Mckenzie; who was that strapped in the bed? I thought it might be Cosmo, but the person seemed too tall to be him. Anyone know who it is?
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 08 December, 2010, 10:47:03 AM
Good issue this month. I enjoyed all of the strips and the interviews were excellent. My only query is about the last page of Lily Mckenzie; who was that strapped in the bed? I thought it might be Cosmo, but the person seemed too tall to be him. Anyone know who it is?
Lilly's dad I think. That's just a guess though, might be completely wrong.
The old man in the bed is indeed Lilly's father. He features in the 12 page Lilly story "When Lilly Met Cosmo" in the ACT-I-VATE Primer. His story will a major part of 'Lilly Mackenzie & the Treasure of Paros" which will start appearing on ACT-I-VATE.com next Wednesday.
Simon.
Cheers Simon, will the Treasure of Paros be in the Meg soon?
Cool. I was guessing he was Lil's dad, who's appearance was to whet the appetite for the Treasure, story.
Quote from: Simon Fraser on 08 December, 2010, 12:57:52 PM
The old man in the bed is indeed Lilly's father. He features in the 12 page Lilly story "When Lilly Met Cosmo" in the ACT-I-VATE Primer. His story will a major part of 'Lilly Mackenzie & the Treasure of Paros" which will start appearing on ACT-I-VATE.com next Wednesday.
Simon.
Can't wait.
Will it eventually transfer to The Meg at some point?
And it looks like me getting my handbag out has resulted in another letter printed.
Quote
And it looks like me getting my handbag out has resulted in another letter printed.
Hmmm your first sice Meg 300 if the Beast is to believed. And it should!
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 December, 2010, 03:54:46 PM
Quote
And it looks like me getting my handbag out has resulted in another letter printed.
Hmmm your first sice Meg 300 if the Beast is to believed. And it should!
Sir! You are correct! :)
As a newcomer to the Gronk tales, I was warming to the idea of the convoluted story of the Strontium Dog. And having not been there at the time, it would be an advantage to have the benefit of seeing it on a broader scan.
I got to chapter 2 in the free floppy. I'll see how it goes. I do like N. Dobbyn's art too.
No Meg yet...
Why not gamble? Buy one from the shop shelf. Maybe get the post-card, maybe get the poster. Then wait with baited breath to see if you get the alternative in your subscription!
Hennywhey.
Sooo gooood to see Insurrection back in the MEG! THAT I GOT AND I"M READING NOOOWWWW!!! Colin McNeil is one of the most under-rated artists evah! It is like floating over another world. And the story? Furthering the Megacity Justice department as the bad guys, this opens out into a challenging second phase.
Why is it necessary to have a Christmas rhyme every year on Dredd? I haven't bothered reading it. I'm just not in the mood for it. Art's good, but I'd be more interested if the lettering were more traditional or at least made more in ceremony of the piece as well.
Lilly, I've already said is finished with the barn gate wide open and I have no objections.
I'm liking the Soviet version of the Champions by Wyatt and Marshal too.
Movie reviewer seems to only respect anything from halfarsed budget and grindhouse era. One of dem cool stalwarts of cult reviewing film. Cool. Now we know where we stand.
Interrogation is a look forward too and the features, which have really, become part of the furniture for me this year are going to be a good mainstay.
What a wonderful issue! Yeah, the christmas poem is a bit of a tradition, but this has to be one of the most creative, funniest yet, and the art is b-e-a-yootiful. Ties in nicely with an intervesting Liam Sharp interview, and I LOVE the full page illustration he's done for it.
Samizdat Squad looks interesting so far, a good start.
Lily Mackenzie went out with a bit of a whimper, but I've enjoyed it all, and will now read it as a continuous piece.
Insurrection... Colin MacNeil once again totally knocks it out of the park, with Abnett dragging us right back in with ease. What a great strip.
I was very happy with teh film reviews this week as well, as I now want to pick up that video nasty DVD (£15 on Amazon) as I can be a bit of a cinephile at times. Also the Tournament look sinteresting. Two things I was otherwise unaware of, which is why I don't want them to drop the pages!
Return Of The Gronk... let's just not get into that at the moment.
Fine cover and fine festive Dredd, will be passing this on to a Bond Fan I know,
Sovsquad: looks fine so far only one clunky infodump, the rest Meg worthy.
Ad for 2011 prog: four strips I love four I not keen on
Interrrogation: great to get more background, always enjoy when the creators work is next to this makes it more relevant.
Lilly Savage Mackenzie the best thing that's happened to the Meg for ages, more thargy more!
Letters Page: as Mr watson points out this cover is dated Jan 2011...so his letter don't count! That's four three to me But'Man, so no tears here 2010 is mine!
Moive review, gory horror not my subject, but that Buttonman movie will be added to my lorvefilm list, so job done
Insurrection II looking great loving this, (we can all forgive the Justice Dept can't get helmets on the streets but the SJS has a space fleet, can't we? ;))
Numbercruncher ad: Looks like Vinnie Jones meets Big Ben from Marvelman, no bad thing!!
Trade Floppie: The gunk, never liked comic side kicks, even when they turn violent, will glance over this in the post xmas fug.
Great Meg, Merry Grudmaz Megpeeps!
I had a text earlier, mine is in, so I'm off to get it once Sam is home from school :D
Quote from: Proudhuff on 10 December, 2010, 02:26:09 PM
Letters Page: as Mr watson points out this cover is dated Jan 2011...so his letter don't count! That's four three to me But'Man, so no tears here 2010 is mine!
Really Tom, back on the smack again? Really?
Was this post and care fully constructed table in vain? Was it?
http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,30857.msg560535.html#msg560535 (http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,30857.msg560535.html#msg560535)
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/button71/MEGLETTERS2010.jpg)
Quote from: Krombasher on 08 December, 2010, 05:47:10 PM
As a newcomer to the Gronk tales, I was warming to the idea of the convoluted story of the Strontium Dog. And having not been there at the time, it would be an advantage to have the benefit of seeing it on a broader scan.
I got to chapter 2 in the free floppy. I'll see how it goes. I do like N. Dobbyn's art too.
Probably the best thing in the Meg, and that's with very stiff competition from Insurrection and the non-Dredd Dredd story.
I know many don't like it, but Return of the Gronk has more old-fashioned fun and action in it than numberous other series we've seen in 2000AD and the Meg over the last few years.
Regards
Robin
Quote from: Robin Low on 11 December, 2010, 01:32:50 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 08 December, 2010, 05:47:10 PM
As a newcomer to the Gronk tales, I was warming to the idea of the convoluted story of the Strontium Dog. And having not been there at the time, it would be an advantage to have the benefit of seeing it on a broader scan.
I got to chapter 2 in the free floppy. I'll see how it goes. I do like N. Dobbyn's art too.
Probably the best thing in the Meg, and that's with very stiff competition from Insurrection and the non-Dredd Dredd story.
I know many don't like it, but Return of the Gronk has more old-fashioned fun and action in it than numberous other series we've seen in 2000AD and the Meg over the last few years.
Regards
Robin
I like how I saw it more as a continuing saga from the benefit of fresh eyes. The story itself has the feel of a writer full of fresh ideas barely off the small press, with a fantastic artist who gives those ideas more credibility. Of course that's not the case but it is the way it reads to me. Like Ennis comes at it as a fan writer.
I found it very interesting to read the early Gronk again stuff in one go - I appreciated it much more than I did at the time, but I've found that to be true of Garth's Dredd work too. 'Return of the Gronk' is very much of its era... the skate-boarding, the cute-creature-behaving-violently vibe, but it's plenty of fun. It's interesting how much of a bastard the Gronk comes across as, killing people left, right and centre (I'm sure this gets toned down a lot in subsequent stories.) Dobbyn's art is great fun too (but wait till 'The Darkest Star', he has some phenomenal pages in that.) I reckon the exact moment it all really starts to work is Part 2 of 'How The Gronk Got His Heartses' - the idea of the Gronk protagonist suddenly gains an extra level, and the last two pages are wonderful. (I may be biased 'cos I own the last page though... and the cover to the collection.)
On a side note... first time I've picked up the Meg in about 6 years, not for the Gronk stuff, but just to see what's it like these days.
Quote from: Buttonman on 10 December, 2010, 04:52:23 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 10 December, 2010, 02:26:09 PM
Letters Page: as Mr watson points out this cover is dated Jan 2011...so his letter don't count! That's four three to me But'Man, so no tears here 2010 is mine!
Really Tom, back on the smack again? Really?
Was this post and care fully constructed table in vain? Was it?
http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,30857.msg560535.html#msg560535 (http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,30857.msg560535.html#msg560535)
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/button71/MEGLETTERS2010.jpg)
Ha! I didn't realize these details were still being collated, it's good to know. All praise your efforts in the field of letter recognition! I must have slacked off this year.
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 11 December, 2010, 02:44:42 PM
I must have slacked off this year.
You certainly did with a piffling one in Meg 299 leaving your tally at a lowly 9.
Quote from: Greg M. on 11 December, 2010, 02:25:44 PM
I found it very interesting to read the early Gronk again stuff in one go - I appreciated it much more than I did at the time,
I was pleased to find that I still like it - it's not just nostalgia.
QuoteIt's interesting how much of a bastard the Gronk comes across as, killing people left, right and centre (I'm sure this gets toned down a lot in subsequent stories.)
I think that's true. The Gronk is certainly more relaxed once Hogan takes over, but I suppose that is after the Gronk has had his revenge.
QuoteDobbyn's art is great fun too (but wait till 'The Darkest Star', he has some phenomenal pages in that.)
It's just stuffed full of action, humour and creativity, working very well with a script from Ennis who manages to make it funny without being scatalogical, and violent without just trying to shock. I love the scene where the ship's crew decide the Gronk is probably just sleeping with his eyes open. There might be a few two many "number fours cartridges!", but spread over several issues you probably wouldn't notice, only in a collection.
QuoteI reckon the exact moment it all really starts to work is Part 2 of 'How The Gronk Got His Heartses' - the idea of the Gronk protagonist suddenly gains an extra level, and the last two pages are wonderful. (I may be biased 'cos I own the last page though... and the cover to the collection.)
This still has to be Ennis's best story in 2000AD - I'd say his best ever, but I've not read anything by him for years now. It feels like he's just telling an honest story - no cheap dirty jokes, no gratuitous sadism, no point-making, just a bitter-sweet interlude in a tale of vengeance.
Regards
Robin
Quote from: Robin Low on 11 December, 2010, 03:43:22 PM
This still has to be Ennis's best story in 2000AD - I'd say his best ever, but I've not read anything by him for years now. It feels like he's just telling an honest story - no cheap dirty jokes, no gratuitous sadism, no point-making, just a bitter-sweet interlude in a tale of vengeance.
The closing narration actually reminds me enormously of one particular chapter in 'Watership Down', or more correctly the film adaptation – the rabbit creation myth section, where Frith (God, also depicted as a stylised sun just as in the Gronk story) tells the ur-rabbit "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies...." Irrespective, it's a wonderful moment in 'Heartses'. I find that I do agree with you on the honesty of the story – what I dislike about much of Ennis's non-2000AD work is the contrived effort to get in something crude for, as you rightly say, a cheap laugh. Not that I'm opposed to good dirty joke, of course, but it gets a bit tiresome when you want a solid narrative instead of an endless series of gags about someone getting bummed.
Quote from: Greg M. on 11 December, 2010, 04:18:31 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 11 December, 2010, 03:43:22 PM
This still has to be Ennis's best story in 2000AD - I'd say his best ever, but I've not read anything by him for years now. It feels like he's just telling an honest story - no cheap dirty jokes, no gratuitous sadism, no point-making, just a bitter-sweet interlude in a tale of vengeance.
The closing narration actually reminds me enormously of one particular chapter in 'Watership Down', or more correctly the film adaptation – the rabbit creation myth section, where Frith (God, also depicted as a stylised sun just as in the Gronk story) tells the ur-rabbit "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies...."
That's an interesting point. I haven't seen Watership Down in years, but now you mention it I do remember the stylised sun and those words. Not sure what to think about that - do we see it as homage or simple plagiarism? Not that my feelings are going to change about the story itself - if you are going to nick ideas, at least do something good with them (and for all I know Richard Adams might easily have nicked those same words from some other folk tale or animal fable).
On an artistic note, I find my self constantly looking at the Gronk's feet and arms and hands. The feet are, well, just fascinating to look at in their own right, and the arms and hands are weird, but Dobbyn makes them look entirely natural and believable. Just look at the way they hold the gun on the cover, or that bucket of water he throws over Feral at the start of part 6.
Regards
Robin
Quote from: Robin Low on 11 December, 2010, 05:21:41 PM
That's an interesting point. I haven't seen Watership Down in years, but now you mention it I do remember the stylised sun and those words. Not sure what to think about that - do we see it as homage or simple plagiarism? Not that my feelings are going to change about the story itself - if you are going to nick ideas, at least do something good with them (and for all I know Richard Adams might easily have nicked those same words from some other folk tale or animal fable).
If it's intentional, I'm happy to think of it as a charming little nod of the head to a great children's novel. After all, folk tales are an oral tradition: the inclusion of words or elements from a previous tale of small, furry heroism creates a kind of line of continuity stretching back through the ages and emphasising the telling and re-telling of such tales and their mythic power.
QuoteOn an artistic note, I find my self constantly looking at the Gronk's feet and arms and hands. The feet are, well, just fascinating to look at in their own right, and the arms and hands are weird, but Dobbyn makes them look entirely natural and believable. Just look at the way they hold the gun on the cover, or that bucket of water he throws over Feral at the start of part 6.
As for the Gronk's arms... I think the trick to their naturalistic quality is that they seem to work in conjunction as two sets of pairs, so that at any time two of the arms are usually doing something similar. This seems realistic to me, in that they're not depicted as weird tentacles operating entirely independently of each other (think about the trouble most of us have rubbing our stomachs and patting our heads at the same time.) The pairing seems to alternate between both the left arms doing something similar and both the right, or both the top two and both the bottom two. There's obviously a lot of thought gone into them.
What I've just noticed (and it may just be the print quality of the reprint or the light I'm reading this in) but after the Gronk is resurrected, he changes colour. He's depicted as quite pale pre-heart attack, but afterwards he's painted in much redder tones, as if to symbolise his rage. Nice touch.
Quote from: Greg M. on 11 December, 2010, 06:03:42 PMWhat I've just noticed (and it may just be the print quality of the reprint or the light I'm reading this in) but after the Gronk is resurrected, he changes colour. He's depicted as quite pale pre-heart attack, but afterwards he's painted in much redder tones, as if to symbolise his rage. Nice touch.
Clever. I'd not spotted that.
Just been looking at your art collection and thought I ought draw everyone's attention to this beauty:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=665844&GSub=102213
Regardless of what each of us thinks of the story, art as good as this is deserving of a large format book with expensive glossy paper. It is simply magnificent.
Regards
Robin
It's a crime that Nigel Dobbyn's work hasn't received the full acclaim it deserves.
Even if he does like the I.T. Crowd.
Quote from: Robin Low on 11 December, 2010, 08:14:57 PM
Just been looking at your art collection and thought I ought draw everyone's attention to this beauty:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=665844&GSub=102213
Regardless of what each of us thinks of the story, art as good as this is deserving of a large format book with expensive glossy paper. It is simply magnificent.
Some of 'The Darkest Star' artwork is truly stunning, especially when you see the original - there's a lot of fine detail there. That piece was definitely one occasion where seeing it in the prog didn't quite prepare me for how lovely it would look "in person" - it's really gorgeous work. Paul Brown on CAF has a particularly superb piece that I'm suitably enamoured with:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=632598&GSub=97852
So evocative and atmospheric - Lovecraftian in its delicious horribleness!
For those interested, Fatboydale has several Dobbyn pieces on ebay right now - I'd heartily recommend a page or two of Dobbyn for anyone's collection.
brilliant brilliant meg
Haven't allowed myself to read Insurrection 2 yet until I reread the first part - any of you lads recall which Megs the first series ran in?
Quote from: locustsofdeath! on 12 December, 2010, 09:50:42 AM
Haven't allowed myself to read Insurrection 2 yet until I reread the first part - any of you lads recall which Megs the first series ran in?
Barney says : Insurrection 6 episodes (Megs 279 to 284)
It's one of those rare occasions when i buy the Meg 'cos it's a mini 2000ad graphic novel - that I've wanted to reread for a while - with a free magazine attached.
Good stuff.
Keep it up and I'll probably get next months too.
Superb Meg, with a Dredd that used the rhyming thing to the best advantage since that iso block 666 story, all those years ago. Nice art too. Lily, I want to see more of, Insurrection was groovy and the new thing was splendid. Good interviews, liam shap seems very grounded and pleasant- and having just enjoyed Grandville Mon Amour, the bryan talbot thing was most welcome. Pleasing to note there will be more.
Having appalling memories of stronts, i wasnt even going to bother with this... but the good things said here, and a spare half hour, resulted in me reading it, and blimey, it's a corker. Hugely enjoyable, and quite touching in parts. Looking forward to next month's now.
SBT
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 December, 2010, 03:04:30 PMHaving appalling memories of stronts, i wasnt even going to bother with this... but the good things said here, and a spare half hour, resulted in me reading it, and blimey, it's a corker. Hugely enjoyable, and quite touching in parts. Looking forward to next month's now.
SBT
Thanks for that - make me feel much better about banging on and on about it!
I suppose I should comment more on the rest of the Meg.
I quite enjoyed the Dredd story, even though it wasn't really a Dredd story. I have to admit that I wasn't interested in seeing Liam Sharp return, despite his fine line in busty women. In fact I think my original dislike of P.J.Maybe stemmed from his art. On the whole, though, I did like this, despite it being a bit a mish-mash of the photo-realistic and the oddly spongey, and perhaps a little lacking in movement.
Insurrection is the obvious other contender for best story. I have a long-standing problem with seeing MC1 Judges presented as villains (I prefer old-school tough-but-fair), but I'd have to force myself to dislike this stuff. It's a good romp that moves along at a good pace, with great art. I just find myself wanting to see Dredd arrive to sort everything out in a tough, but fair, manner.
Lilly Mac is a bit of any odd one. Nicely drawn, nicely told and very readable, but I'm left thinking, so what? Lilly goes to planet. Lilly meets brother. Lilly escapes planet. Cosmo is shown to be one decent lil dude. This might work better as a collection, and I suspect it deserves a second reading.
Too early to say much about Samizdat Squad, but the set-up is interesting. It does, however, suffer from a problem that has affected many strips in 2000AD for years now, namely that the central characters are not distinctive enough. Look at Dredd, Alpha, Rogue Trooper, the ABC Warriors, Slaine, Dante, Durham Red, Kano, Lobster Random, Sam Slade, Zombo - these characters all have very distinctive, striking images. They've been designed to stand out on a page or a cover. A mole and a sulky expression are just not enough for a lead character. True, there is Halo Jones, but I think she got away with it because female characters were rarer back them (and Ian Gibson was drawing her). It might be an unfair criticism, but I prefer comic characters to really catch my eye.
Regards
Robin
Quoteoddly spongey
Art review of the year!
Me, I really liked most of the Meg this month, which is unusual for me these days.
The Dredd made me laugh out loud, something that hasn't happened in the Meg or 2000ad since that faulty lawyer droid.
The Sov squad thing looks interesting. And me, I don't mind the film reviews - especially when they're about that video nasty thing for example, which I will watch and wouldn't have heard of otherwise.
But the Gronk... I hated it then and I hate it now, I'm afraid. And next month more of the same, with the wanton demystification of the Lyran race thrown in. :( Not Garth's finest hour, in my book.
But all in all, a huge improvement in the Megazine. (Could do with one more strip, though - four isn't enough to wait a month for.)
Like the first Strontium Dogs GN, I believe this is all for the return of SD in the prog. Seriously looking like the Gronk will feature in the upcoming continuation of Alpha's resurrection.
V
Great Meg, it's firing on all cylinders at the moment and well out-shining 2000AD at the moment. All the stories were great, and the articles were well-written, informative pieces. Even the movie reviews, which I haven't always been a fan of, were great (and have been a worthy inclusion in the last few Megs). I enjoy this writers'/critics' style much more, offering context and background rather than just straight up good/bad reviews.
I am genuinely looking forward to the next issue, to the continuation of the rather good Samizdat Squad (surely how Stalag 666 should have been done!?), the debut of the very interesting looking Numbercruncher and more from the excellent, brilliant, can't believe-it's-not-longer Insurrection II. Oh, and then there's Dredd!
Forgot to add that I like the second Gronk story in the reprint, the one about how the Gronk got his heartses. A pleasant, friendly little story - barely recognisable as the same writer as the other Gronk one.
QuoteLike the first Strontium Dogs GN, I believe this is all for the return of SD in the prog. Seriously looking like the Gronk will feature in the upcoming continuation of Alpha's resurrection.
I doubt it. Wagner pretty much ignored and contradicted everything post-
The Final Solution when he wrote
The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, so I don't see that changing in the next Strontium Dog story.
Cheers all for the warm welcome back to Dredd (21 years! That's half a lifetime!) and the kind words about the art, even the description of my art as 'spongy' made me smile. (Robin, if you read my interview my constantly varying art might make a little more sense to you, but I don't expect everybody to like what I do. Bear in mind, though, I was just a kid when I was drawing that stuff all those years ago. I think it's hats off to Tharg for giving a young upstart a chance! :-))
So great to be back - very much enjoying returning to UK comics after so long (Event Horizon aside.)
All my very best, and Merry Christmas!
Liam.
Cool! Look everybody! Its Liam Sharp! :) Merry Christmas Liam. Your PJ Maybe is inextricably evil. :)
Thanks Krombasher, and Merry Christmas to you too! :)
Incidentally you guys might enjoy the fact that the guy in panel 3 is Mr. Kidd from Diamonds Are Forever, as requested by Chris Weston. He and his special friend Mr.Wint are Chris's favourite Bond villains. I also built the gun-barrel motif into a couple of the pages, and the fembots are also reffed from Bond movies. The cars are based on Aston Martins too! I loaded it with nods for anybody really into Bond. Al's script was extremely clever, and funny. I thought the rhyming verse was a great old-school technique you will almost never see in comics these days - a real tribute to Alan and John.
Cheers all!
L.
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 14 December, 2010, 02:06:36 PM
Incidentally you guys might enjoy the fact that the guy in panel 3 is Mr. Kidd from Diamonds Are Forever, as requested by Chris Weston. He and his special friend Mr.Wint are Chris's favourite Bond villains.
Certainly gave me a giggle. Great to see you back on Dredd, don't leave it so long next time please. As the definitive PJ artist, it would be good to see your take on his Ambrose persona.
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 14 December, 2010, 11:39:28 AM
Cheers all for the warm welcome back to Dredd (21 years! That's half a lifetime!) and the kind words about the art, even the description of my art as 'spongy' made me smile. (Robin, if you read my interview my constantly varying art might make a little more sense to you, but I don't expect everybody to like what I do. Bear in mind, though, I was just a kid when I was drawing that stuff all those years ago. I think it's hats off to Tharg for giving a young upstart a chance! :-))
So great to be back - very much enjoying returning to UK comics after so long (Event Horizon aside.)
All my very best, and Merry Christmas!
Liam.
Great work on that Dredd tale!
Don't make it another 21 years until your back in The Meg or 2000ad please Liam!
Aw, you guys! Appreciated, seriously. You'll be glad to know, then, that I'm working on another Dredd right now, and I also did a Hammerstein pin-up (see it in my gallery: http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/) and a wraparound cover for 2000ad. :)
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 14 December, 2010, 05:02:32 PM
Aw, you guys! Appreciated, seriously. You'll be glad to know, then, that I'm working on another Dredd right now, and I also did a Hammerstein pin-up (see it in my gallery: http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/) and a wraparound cover for 2000ad. :)
Frikkin' gorgeous!
Cheers! I did it just for fun (and I NEVER do comic-related art outside of work usually, so that tells you something!) and Thard waved his mighty hand and decreed it would be a Star-scan. And so it shall be. :)
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 14 December, 2010, 05:15:03 PM
Cheers! I did it just for fun (and I NEVER do comic-related art outside of work usually, so that tells you something!) and Thard waved his mighty hand and decreed it would be a Star-scan. And so it shall be. :)
Christmas has just come early!
Nice one Liam! Keep up the amazing work!
Will do my best. :)
(Sorry, Tharg oh mighty one, for the typo there...)
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 14 December, 2010, 11:39:28 AMeven the description of my art as 'spongy' made me smile.
I wanted to make a loose comparison with, I think, Jim Murray for some of the pictures, but at the time I couldn't remember his name!
Quote(Robin, if you read my interview my constantly varying art might make a little more sense to you, but I don't expect everybody to like what I do. Bear in mind, though, I was just a kid when I was drawing that stuff all those years ago.
Yes, it's a depressingly long time ago... and you're right, art can change a lot (I can name a few who I used to love, but who have since become so polished that they've lost much of the roughness and originality that made them exciting in the first place).
But on the basis on your latest story, my only real criticism is the one about it being a bit static, a little too photographic in places. But then I did quite like the picture of the shark and the legs!
And while I think about, do you remember doing a starscan or something of Nemesis and Purity Brown? I remember liking that because it wasn't just a copy of someone else's Nemesis.
Regards
Robin
Quote from: Robin Low on 14 December, 2010, 06:50:13 PM
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 14 December, 2010, 11:39:28 AMeven the description of my art as 'spongy' made me smile.
I wanted to make a loose comparison with, I think, Jim Murray for some of the pictures, but at the time I couldn't remember his name!
Quote(Robin, if you read my interview my constantly varying art might make a little more sense to you, but I don't expect everybody to like what I do. Bear in mind, though, I was just a kid when I was drawing that stuff all those years ago.
Yes, it's a depressingly long time ago... and you're right, art can change a lot (I can name a few who I used to love, but who have since become so polished that they've lost much of the roughness and originality that made them exciting in the first place).
But on the basis on your latest story, my only real criticism is the one about it being a bit static, a little too photographic in places. But then I did quite like the picture of the shark and the legs!
And while I think about, do you remember doing a starscan or something of Nemesis and Purity Brown? I remember liking that because it wasn't just a copy of someone else's Nemesis.
Regards
Robin
Cheers Robin. Let's not get into how long we've been looking at 2000ad... We go back a ways don't we? :)
And I agree, my story was a little static because of the subject matter. To me the key thing was the likenesses - hence the photorealistic thing! - and getting some neat Bond references in there (The robogirls are based on Bond girls, there's also the gun barrel and a famous bond villain.) I think the pages where it wasn't so Bond were less static (Dredd being attacked/Dredd taking out the robogirls.) And as for the Jim Murray comparison - I'm delighted you think so! Makes a change from Jim Less or Simon Bisley!
Here's the Nemesis image you were talking about. It remains a piece I'm very proud of, especially given how young I was. Sometimes things just work, but back then I was much better at single images than strips. Strips are so bloody hard - even now! It's something I have to really work at to get right.
Thanks for the reply, and Merry Christmas!
Liam.
P.S. That should have been Jim Lee, not Jim Less! Lord knows how that happened! :D
P.P.S Robin, sorry, here's that image... (I'm all fingers and thumbs tonight!)
http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=120#/d1amfjs
That's a wonderful pin-up - Nemesis looks really horrible, frightening and sordid in that. (That's a compliment, honest!)
1987. Bloody hell. Can't you tell by the clothing? I remember coming up with that design for arm suspenders and thinking - that's cool and sexy! Wonder if it'll catch on? Nemesis looks particularly equine here I think. :)
Yes, there is something of Henry Fuseli's 'The Nightmare' in his depiction, something oddly predatory, which the differential in scale between him and Purity only serves to emphasise.
Uhm... slightly phallic too don't you think? :o
Her badge reads Credo, naturally!
What, you mean with his bulbous glistening veiny neck? Just slightly, Mr. Sharp. Ever so slightly. ;)
Nice to have you on the board, Liam! And yeah, great work on Dredd (I always liked it - Killkraze the Bear rocked!).
Continuing the thread drift... you know, it occurs to me just now Liam that you drew one of my favourite ever Dredd one-offs – 'Playaday', the Playschool parody. At the time, I thought it was the funniest Dredd story I'd ever read, but more so than that, the image of the buxom female tv presenter in her stockings made a powerful impact on my twelve-year-old brain! Not easily forgotten... nor was Lianna in PJ Maybe.... :)
Quotenor was Lianna in PJ Maybe....
I'll second that. She was only 16 or something, but it's probably best not to think about that.
And yeah, Playaday was cool too - very sexual stuff for what was then pretty much a kids' comic. Worked for me, anyway
Thanks!
That Killkraze job was a nightmare actually. I lost all the pages at UKCAC, possibly in a cab. Regardless, they didn't show up despite frantic ringing round. I guess somebody must still have the originals! Anyway thankfully I had (Some) bits that were photocopied, and myself and Andy Lanning pasted it all together and filled in the holes. The deadline was the next day after the con! I'm pretty sure that Tharg thought I hadn't done them and was making an excuse - it being con weekend - but Steve Dillon will vouch for me! We caught a cab back to Finsbury Park together as we both lived there at the time. Perhaps my number one deadline nightmare of all time that one! :D
Re. Playaday - It seems my female characters were pretty popular! It's probably because I was only in my late teens myself - full of raging hormones! Chris Weston actually helped me with a couple of panels on that job. I never seemed to have quite enough time back then! It was a fun story.
Cheers!
L.
Going slightly off-topic, but this biomechanical Hammerstein was interesting:
http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d333kgv
Rather like the light on the snow contrasting with the shadow on this one:
http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2bvkj8
Background detail is sorely neglected by many comic artists, so this appealed to me - I think the coloured version works better to separate Conan from the background:
http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2khugr
I could defintitely handle a series full of this:
http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2a0t17
...and this one too. Definitely giving Glen Fabry more than a run for his money! You should have been offered some Slaine after this:
http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=192#/d1b0yzr
And quite a bit more besides...
Regards
Robin
Cheers Robin. I did do a full Manthing series - one of my happiest times. It was VERY experimental, lots of Sienkewicz inks and Jeff Jones romance. J.M.DeMatteis wrote it and we had a fantastic time on the book.
The Hammerstein is shortly to be a Starscan after Tharg saw it and liked it. One of the very few times I did a comic character purely for my own entertainment.
Thanks for taking a look Robin. Appreciated.
Very best,
Liam.
Not strictly 305, but i greatly enjoyed part one of Numbercruncher- printed (possibly in its entirety) in the freebie comics sampler given away with the latest Comic Heroes magazine. Looking forward to reading that again next month.
SBT
Absolutely wonderful review of the Dredd story here - perhaps the best of my career! :)
http://comicrelated.com/news/9955/judge-dredd-magazine
I got the meg. I love liam's dredd, Anderson and death pin-up. But why didn't they issue it as poster? I was annoyed it had type on it.
Liam - any chance you'll do prints of it?
Hi Matty. I didn't have any plans to. In fact I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to! But you can download a high-res copy from my DA gallery: http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/ :)
Hope that does the job!
Best,
L.
BTW, the PoD book mentioned in the Meg 'Reluctant Barbarian' can be viewed for free here:
http://www.blurb.com/books/1619961
I highly recommend the dust jacket version if anybody fancies ordering a copy. It prints up an absolute treat, really good quality paper, etc.
"Original quote by Robin Low"
I quite enjoyed the Dredd story, even though it wasn't really a Dredd story. I have to admit that I wasn't interested in seeing Liam Sharp return, despite his fine line in busty women. In fact I think my original dislike of P.J.Maybe stemmed from his art. On the whole, though, I did like this, despite it being a bit a mish-mash of the photo-realistic and the oddly spongey, and perhaps a little lacking in movement.
[/quote]
I didn't realise until recently that the artwork of P J Maybe (that I had read ages ago and throughly enjoyed) was drawn by Liam Sharp but upon seeing pic's recently of his work on his site brought it all back to me what great work it was. There is no doubt the script was 1st Class but Liam's art was what made that story stand out for me. Seeing one of his recent Dredd panels (featured in the current 305 prog) has revived my love of 2000AD and Dredd again and in doing so started my need to buy progs of 2000AD and Dredd Megazine after many absent years of being without thrill power :)
Quality Meg this month. Dredd story was brilliant, put a smile on my face whilst @ work :lol:. Samizdat squad is new to me but seems interesting, so we'll see how that unfolds. Liam Sharp interview was an excellent read, he seems a pretty decent bloke :thumbsup: I never knew he drew P J Maybe, something new every Meg, and the pin-up was sweet! Insurrection is another new one to me but starts off with a bang and well, I'm already waiting for next months Meg!
Good stuff!
Surprisingly enjoyed the Gronk tale, silly stuff but not as objectionable as I remember :D
Regarding the Gronk reprint.
Micro-bolt has not long read all the S/D trades, and even the Life and Deadth of Johnny- and absolutely loved them all.
So he was very keen to get his hands on the reprint this month- even going so far as to suggest that he should read it before me (LOL!) He really enjoyed it- though he did wonder why John Wagner hadn't written it.
Cheers Tharg, and please don't stop at the end of the gronk strips. I'd love a reprint of all of the SD's now please.
the ending of the gronk tale is AWESOME
just lovely
the image of dredd as he tells control to cut the power was ARSOM!!! best dredd image i've seen obviously the colour one works better....wanting a no bubble version for my icon?
Again, thanks all for the further great comments. I'm doing another Dredd right now and it's tough making it as good as the Bond one! Still, hope you'll enjoy it!
Best,
L.
Quote from: Liam Sharp on 30 December, 2010, 01:07:57 PM
Again, thanks all for the further great comments. I'm doing another Dredd right now and it's tough making it as good as the Bond one! Still, hope you'll enjoy it!
Best,
L.
Can't wait! :thumbsup:
Still playing catch up with my progs and megs, but what a good read Meg 305 was. Not one step out of place. Even the text stuff was entertaining enough. Well done to all involved!
What a good Meg that was! :D Great thrills and genuinely interesting interviews too.
Re the Gronk. I was "away" from the prog in the nineties and so haven't read this before. I'm in two minds. Either:
A) I regard it as canon, in which case I can't quite buy it tbh. In my worldview, the gronk just doesn't do that!
B) I don't regard it as canon in which case it's actually quite fun!
The dialogue has dated a bit but the art and colouring is good stuff. I'm intrigued now to read the next instalment which comes bundled with 306. Just a matter of waiting till it comes onto clickwheel for that.
Ah, nearly forgot. That Dredd/Anderson/Death pic was GORGEOUS!!!
Quote from: matty_ae on 16 December, 2010, 01:59:32 PM
Liam - any chance you'll do prints of it?
Still got a few A2 prints of it left, yes. :)
[Liam - any chance you'll do prints of it?
Still got a few A2 prints of it left, yes. :)
Hi Liam,
Yeh i loved your poster art of Dredd, Anderson and Death do you sell prints of that?
all the best
Joff
sorry, a bit new to this, i've just read the links above, please ignore my last post.
Cheers