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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjO5jQy0wDI]

"A boisterous braggart is given a TV show, where his unfiltered coarseness soon makes him a star. His audience regard him as a straight-shooter and man of the people, even as he looks down on them from his penthouse. Soon, his popularity is such that he begins to entertain political ambitions"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjO5jQy0wDI

MA-A-A-A-TLOCK!

Cheers, SOAP. Read about that, never seen it before.

Great movie; up there with Network and Ace In The Hole. The Trump parallels break down at the end, when [spoiler]his audience discover what he's like when the cameras aren't rolling[/spoiler]. Trump got over that one by acting like it never happened.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjO5jQy0wDI]

"A boisterous braggart is given a TV show, where his unfiltered coarseness soon makes him a star. His audience, primarily hovering around the poverty line and predisposed to mistrust, regard him as a straight-shooter and man of the people, even as he looks down on them from his penthouse, where his personal wealth and circle of aristocratic supporters grows. Soon, his popularity is such that he begins to entertain political ambitions. At first, he's just a tough-talking mouthpiece for an establishment candidate—the guy who says what the "responsible elite" aren't able to say, but surely would if they could. But his ego cannot be contained. Soon he's no longer under their control, believing that his is the true power behind the power. And nothing—not his own inexperience, his spotty personal record, nor his own scandalous dealings with women—will stand in his way."[/i][/url]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjO5jQy0wDI

MA-A-A-A-TLOCK!

Cheers, SOAP. Read about that, never seen it before.

Al Gore (as PotUS) shoots himself in Maniac 5, succeeded by NY Governer Mario Cuomo, himself succeeded by Hillary Clinton in the sequel

Wasn't H Ross Perot PotUS in Maniac 5, or am I thinking of SlaughterBowl?

The Summer Offensive is fecund territory. Big Dave's first adventure saw him meet John Major in number 10; South African premiere Nelson Mandela helped Dave win the 1994 world cup*; and Saddam Hussein tried to take Dave up the Road To Basra.

Hussein was underrated as a politician; while GW Bush could only sneak into office with the help of a judge, the Iraqi leader he deposed was returned to office on 100% of the vote on a turnout of 100% of electors.


* Prog 905. Adolf Hitler pops up next prog, cheering on the Nazi team from his Latin American villa.

The very first ones Invasion! in Prog 1 ... Lady Shirley Brown (obviously Margaret Thatcher)

Wouldn't 'Lady Shirley Brown' more likely be Shirley Williams?

That's obviously where Mills got the name from, but the character is drawn in such a way she could be Williams or Thatcher or just a woman shaped thing*.

Hilda Roberts makes an uncredited cameo in Zenith: Phase II (prog 604), asking St John to assassinate Ted Heath. I'm sure Tam Dalyell gets a mention in Phase I, but I can't find the reference.

The Chancellor of Germany (1933-1945) turns up in Phase I too, being initiated into the Order Of The Golden Dawn. The same character featured in many Future Shocks, most recently when time travellers tried to kill him as a baby.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy must have been the subject of Vector 13. Jimmy Carter features in The Cursed Earth, alongside the other Rushmore heads. Burger boy John Gummer featured in the Megazine's early, unfunny tabloid parody feature.


* The newsreader in the same episode seems identifiable as Angela Rippon, even though the Spanish artist, Jesus Blasco, had presumably never watched the Nine O'Clock News. Maybe he was sent reference material, maybe the image was subbed by Doug Church, maybe it's just a generic pretty lady and your brain makes the connection with Rippon. Same goes for Williams/Thatcher.

I must have missed that.

I also said it might take five years ... unless something I write has a citation attached, it's opinion. PM sent to Rob1971.

[likes]

He's going to get in, isn't he...

Doesn't matter whether he does or not; his aim was to destroy the system. If Clinton wins, she won't be able to govern*.

Once the principles of cooperation and common interest are abandoned, everything is fucked. And as Prince Metternich said, when the US gets fucked, the UK catches Chlamydia.


* Look at the shutdowns Congress pulled on Obama, who (unlike Clinton) was at least popular with his own supporters. Nobody likes Clinton.

Nemesis of course continues to be devine

The Arches deviant:

Ever wondered what a fight between Jim Parsons and Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons would look like?

[at all]

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Even if it means the convergence of the Trifecta/Titan storylines trickles out in three or four part runs over the next five years, it's worth letting Henry Flint loose with the crayons*.

It makes these stories feel distinct and something special; Staples and Ezquerra are the only other artists who've been allowed to self-colour significant runs of Dredd recently**.

Williams's farewell opus will be packaged as a Dark Justice-style hardback when it's finished, so it's only fair that Henry Flint's allowed to show off his incredible art to its best advantage.


* No disrespect to Chris Blythe's excellent work at all, but comparing Act Of Grud to The Cold Deck exposes the limitations of computer colouring as a medium. It's just a bit sore on the eyes.

** D'Israeli, Burns, Elson, Taylor, Harrison and Cook all kept inside the lines on shorter stories.  And yes, I know Flint uses a variety of traditional and digital techniques to produce his colour strip work.

Can you whistle it, so I can get the tune?

I like that this was obviously the first time Richard had heard the idea that Grant killed Alpha because he and Wagner were leaving the comic and didn't want anyone else playing with the characters ... despite Wagner and Grant saying that was the case for years.

I'm not sure if Stephen and Richard have already completed the second part of their conversation, but I'll make sure they see those questions.

While we're asking questions, how many of us know Richard Burton wrote the bridge story that explained how old Dan Dare turned into new Dan Dare, or where that story appeared? I do, but only because I listened to the podcast.

Can't realistically see Brexit not happening

Yeah, it just means the Fortress Britain fantasy version is impossible. Neither side gets what they wanted.

[IPC try to buy DC comics]

This is your chance to ask the Tharg who doesn't do interviews anything you want to know about his time on the Galaxy's Greatest, first as sub-editor (1980-1984), and again as editor (1987-1993). They were the best of times, they were the worst of times.

Burton poached schoolboy Steve Dillon from Marvel UK and coached Morrison through all 4 phases of Zenith, so whether your question is a nerdish 'whose idea were the Horned God intro pages?' or a controversial 'what on Earth happened to 2000ad in the 90s?', there's plenty to ask him about.

I'll let y'all know the deadline for questions, and I'll post a link to the ECBT site when the podcast goes up online.

An interview so great it had to be split in two.

Your incisive queries are addressed in episode two, so part one is an entertaining overview of Burton's progress from fan press to his current gig writing about Marvel for the Eaglemoss partworks.

Along the way, Robin Smith almost drives Burt out of comics, Kev O'Neill screams that he'll never work for 2000ad again, Alan Moore learns he wasn't cut out for fame, IPC try to buy DC comics (!), Hilary Robinson walks off with episodes of her strips that will never be seen, and we learn who killed Johnny Alpha (the reason given may not ring true ...) :

ECBT2000ad site

Libsyn (click on mp3 link to listen direct)

PlayerFM

iTunes (episode 283)

why aren't Sov Badges written in Cyrillic?  Z

They are, which is probably why the various artists go to great lengths to avoid drawing them.

I never made the Johnny Red connection before. Do you think that's one of the reasons Cooper (not a natural Dredd artist) got the Last Invader gig?

The young Coleby fudges it with long shots that obscure detail and close ups that crop out the chest. That kid will never get anywhere.