Messages

Jesus thats awful. Thats not from an actual published story is it?!?

I'm very much afraid that it is.

Worse yet, that sample is not unrepresentative.

Where and when? I don't recognise it at all. You'd have thought something like that would have stuck in my mind, but I seem to have blocked out the memory of it.

Regards

Robin

Since everyone is bouncing up and down on space hoppers now that Peter is back, I feel obliged to call him a freaky old weirdo and poke him with a stick.

No, he likes it, really.

I hereby propose that this thread is retitled the Furry Fish Fanciers Station as a modest tribute to Trout and Wolf alike.

(Oh, a word of advice, don't use beige as it's vitually invisible. Yellow's almost as bad, and the pink's a bit dodgy too. And yes, I promise that I won't be posting like that again in a hurry.)

Regards

Robin

The Judge Dredd stuff is the Games Workshop edition from the 80s. I'm not sure what it's worth, but I imagine it's worth more if you have the box and sheet of little cardboard characters. However, the two books are all you need to run the game (apart from dice, of course)

Regards

Robin

one of whom is Chuckles Hardwidge

Yes, he's still a bit of an odd one, too.

I should count myself lucky that I managed to get out myself, I suppose.

Regards

Robin

See ... that's the kind of emotionally defective little skidmark we're dealing with, here.

In some ways, though, he is quite fascinating. I genuinely do want to know what's actually wrong with him.

Regards

Robin

I'm obviously not reading this forum with sufficient thoroughness these days, because I missed all this too!

It prompted me to pop over to alt.comics.2000ad - I was surprised to discover there are people posting there other then Scojo. I thought he was the lone Lord of the Spam there now.

Regards

Robin

Robin beat me to that nugget.  All I'll say is that Vendetta in Gotham was the only Dredd/Batman tale missing from that collection DC/Rebellion put out a few years ago - which was daft as the last story "Die Laughing" actually referenced it.  A shame as Cam Kennedy's art is always amazing - a masterclass in clear, exciting storytelling.

"The Ultimate Riddle" was a complete embarrassment - awful.  Beautiful to look at though.  Presumably it was included because, like Judgement & Die Laughing, it was painted.  Silly and short-sighted in my view.

Pretty much agree with both those points, although CC's painted art isn't really that good. Vendetta is probably the best of all the cross-overs in terms of art, story and getting the right feel of the characters interacting. Die Laughing has some moments - notably Dredd in hand-to-hand combat with Death - but by and large there's not much there.

To drag this back on topic, I don't mind CC's art, but I far prefer his Thrud from White Dwarf days. The move from curved line to jagged scratch is not a step forward in my book (see also Kevin Walker).

Regards

Robin

Just thought I'd mention, CC didn't do Vendetta in Gotham. That was Cam Kennedy. CC did The Ultimate Riddle.

Regards

Robin

Ted Kennedy

Did he die of nature causes?

Yeah, I know what that could mean.

It doesn't say why on his wikipedia entry. I'm assumming he went quietly. I got a hunch thats what happened. That doesn't appaer to be any news of Federal investigatros being dispatched.

It was a brain tumour. It was diagnosed last year.

Regards

Robin

The distinction, I think is that, aside from dialogue, none of the text that a comic writer writes will be seen be the reader; it will all pass through the filter of the artist - and THAT is something that has to be born in mind when you're writing.

(BTW: I'm not arguing right or wrong here, and I'm pretty sure there's enough exceptions that the "rule" if it exists, is only a rule of thumb; I'm not a writer of prose or comics, but I can see there's a difference...)

I agree with both those points - I can see that writing novels and writing comics are very different things. I suppose that what I was really objecting to was the idea that novelists are "only using one one part of [their] brain", as though comic writing is somehow inherently more demanding.


Regards

Robin

In a novel the sentence "he walked away from me, smiling" would probably be (a bit rubbish) but ok. In a comic panel description the sentence "he walks away from the readers, smiling" is useless and stupid and will inspire your artist to hate you (and is a sign that the writer hasn't really thought through what they're asking for from the artist.

If I was the artist, I'd have the character slightly turned and looking over his shoulder (probably a sod to draw), but I take your point.

However, I do think that nuts and bolts descriptions are part and parcel of what many novelists do. Some novelists are more focused on dialogue or what's going on characters' heads, but I'm not convinced that comic writers think more about the nuts and bolts. In fact, I'm sure that over the years I've heard a number of comic writers advise newbies to keep such description sparse and give the artists freedom.

I'm guessing something was garbled in translation here.

Regards

Robin

[Writing John Constantine!]

I've cut and pasted this snippet regarding Ian Rankin writing John Constatine from the new news page:

Writing John Constantine!
'You always like a new challenge, you like to try to do something in a new genre or something that stretches your brain a bit. But when I met Alan Grant a few times, he told me over and over again: "When you write a novel, you're only using one part of your brain because the reader is doing all the hard work for you, but when you're writing descriptions to let the artist know what you think this looks like, you need to know all the visuals." Learn more about the new range of Vertigo Crime graphic novels in Judge Dredd Megazine 288, on sale 19 August 09!

Now, this is Rankin quoting Grant, and it may well be completely out of context, but is Grant really suggesting that comic writers do description and novel writers don't? Having read one or two novels over the years, and looked at a few professional comic scripts, I can't help feeling that it's Alan Grant who's only using part of his brain.

Or have I missed something?

Regards

Robin

Do you want to risk it?

In these circumstances, I follow the WWPDD rule:   What Would Professor Dibworthy Do?  

Even I'm not going to try to bring Future Shocks into the continuity! That way lies madness...

(And I've no idea what Dibworthy did anyway - I had to Google the blighter.)

Regards

Robin

Regarding the Dredd and Alpha universes...

It's interesting how Dredd has become a little more pro-mutant in recent years. Prior to Origins, Dredd took an active dislike of Johnny Alpha. He tolerated him at best, disliked him at worst. But now? They could be friends. Perhaps Dredd would invite Johnny round for a game of put the tail on Walter the wobot.  

I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of Dredd's dislike of Alpha. In Top Dog Dredd just had a problem with Alpha for breaking the law; his being a mutant in the city was just an additional law broken. In Judgement Day Dredd objected to Alpha because he was a bounty hunter. I don't think Dredd ever had a problem with Alpha or mutants unless they were breaking the law. Over the years, he's been happy enough to come to their aid or team-up with them.

However, with regards to being friends, well, I think Dredd could easily come to understand the predicament that Alpha was in and respect and like him as much as he respects and likes anyone else. In fact, from Dredd's point of view, Alpha would probably make a damn good Judge.

Anyway, Alpha is techinically Dredd's great-grandson by way of the illegitimate child Vienna had in Brit-Cit...

Regards

Robin

On the contrary, they absolutely have to ensure it happens. Alpha was an essential part of ending Judgement Day. Without him, the world dies.

Not so!  The events of City of the Damned show that's not how time paradoxes work in the Dreddverse.  Zombie Dredd's corpse still lay in the Black Museum/rampaged across the Moon even when the 2120 timeline was changed.  Ergo elements from alternate futures can still affect the past, even when those futures are no longer 'our' future.  

Arguing with Robin about continuity!  Now, about that land war in Asia...

The lives of every living creature on the planet are in your hands. Do you want to risk it?


Regards

Robin