Worst strips 1990 - 1994

[jamesedwards]

700 to 889, shall we say, or if you want to think of it in Dredd terms just after Necropolis until just before Wilderlands.

Wagner did a runner to the Megazine, Ennis gave way to Millar, the Gregg Staples clones came forth and multiplied (it's weird to think that Chris Cunningham - acclaimed music video creator - was one of them as "Chris Halls"). It wasn't much fun to read (I mean I liked it as a kid but looking back it's positively embarrasing).

Everyone shits on this period in very general terms - Mark Millar, the art, etc (and - spit - Mother Earth) but let's get in depth - let's list the toss.

I'll start with Flesh book III - generally dull plot, awful artwork and disinteresting characters. One of the first rebooted 2000ad franchises and I'm assuming it was to cash in on Jurassic Park? It looks like sick on a page!

Wait a fucking second... this was by Pat Mills and Carl Critchlow? I literally just looked up the artist while I was typing this. He really should never have painted it - his linework is amazing. Sean Phillips (who does Dredd in a few of the same issues) was in much the same position - his stuff just doesn't look great painted but he's an incredible line artist.

[Colin YNWA]

I'll start with Flesh book III - generally dull plot, awful artwork and disinteresting characters. One of the first rebooted 2000ad franchises and I'm assuming it was to cash in on Jurassic Park? It looks like sick on a page!

The Flesh reboot thingie is such a weird case it was discussed here

http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,24742.0.html

a wee while ago. It baffles me to this day. Everything about it was so wrong and yet I found it endlessly entertaining. Go figure. Still talking about Flesh gives me another excuse to say how excited I am that its coming back.

[TordelBack]

Sean Phillips (who does Dredd in a few of the same issues) was in much the same position - his stuff just doesn't look great painted but he's an incredible line artist.

This wouldn't include the Sean Philips painted work from roughly the same period that graced Swimming in Blood, New Statesmen, Armitage (in the Meg, admittedly), Danzig's Inferno etc.?  I'm not a big fan of the painted stuff, but that's an incredible body of work.  Carl Critchlow on the other hand... give the man a pen or a fine brush and I'll read anything he draws, I've loved him since Thrud, but hand him a palette knife and some tubes of gouache and I run for the hills (although Legend of Shamana does feature some awesome feathers).  

[SmallBlueThing]

Yep, Legend of Shamana, and that gary erskine (was it?) drawn one are top of my list of things id love to see in the meg floppies. I know they remain unloved, but remember them giving much pleasure at the time.

Basically Flesh is such a simple, pure, idea that youd have to work pretty damn hard to fuck it up too badly, and i dont think these did.
Mind you, ive not read them since my heady university days, so...
And again, yes, the news that we're due to get more Flesh in the near future (along with more Slaine, Defoe and Savage... and new volumes of Requiem out next week) leaves this Mills fan in a state of priaptic, onanistic, glee.
SBT

[Colin YNWA]

Some of Sean Phillips painted work, particularly 'Swimming in Blood' is glorious.

As for Carl Critchlow's painted work I've heard tell he that he hated it himself, so much so he burnt a load of it? Don't know how true that is but now he's picked up the pen who cares!

[House of Usher]

Wasn't there a series of Flesh set in the paleolithic era, featuring time-travelling terrorists and a tribe of early humans living in North America of all places, at a time (100,000 years ago, I think) when America hadn't even been settled by humans?

EDIT: Barney to the rescue!

Flesh

Chronocide 7 episodes (Progs 973 to 979) 42 pages
Script: Steve White/Dan Abnett, Artist: Gary Erskine, Colour: Simon Jacob, Letters: Annie Parkhouse

[SmallBlueThing]

Yes Ush, and you might find i mentioned it earlier...
Sigh. The 'ignore' function is great, but it doesn't show people who just dont bother to read your posts...

SBT

[House of Usher]

Yes Ush, and you might find i mentioned it earlier...
Sigh. The 'ignore' function is great, but it doesn't show people who just dont bother to read your posts...

SBT

Oh yes. 'That Gary Erskine drawn one.' I do apologise! I thought they did fuck that one up. Maybe I need to back and re-read it.

[SmallBlueThing]

If you join my campaign to get them reprinted in the meg floppie, you may not need to dig em out.
note: it may just be us two. Or possibly just me.
SBT

[Paul faplad Finch]

I'd buy a meg that came with chronocide attached. I loved it back when.  Never read that Shamana one so can't comment.

[Greg M.]

I remember really enjoying Chronocide, it looked great and had Earl Regan in it. It was a Steve White / Dan Abnett job, wasn't it? I was really fond of Steve White's stuff. I particularly liked the bit where Regan has to return to the surface slowly enough so as not to give himself the bends, whilst a vicious tylosaurus (or whatever it was) is after him. That was inspired.

[TordelBack]

I remember really enjoying Chronocide, it looked great and had Earl Regan in it.

Did it by 'eck!  I must never have seen it so, but I confess amazement that there was a non-Mills Flesh at all, given the later fuss over the excellent Satanus Unchained!  Yes, I'd go for a Meg GN of that, certainly ahead of the imminent Chiaroscuro reprint, which seems to have appeared in the Prog five minutes ago (some bright spark is about to tell me it was five years).