Wagner love

[stacey]

I know how late I am to the party, I really do. But I'm just seeing it first hand for the first time, sure I have read past arcs all together in trades and they're awesome, but to read a new Dredd/Wagner arc "live" as it were, week by week living it. Oh My God, I can barely wait for the next prog, I get it now, I really do. And I am so excited about it, I am boring people innit great?

[eggonlegs]

be excited!!!!!
tharg demands it

[JOE SOAP]

Welcome to the group hug.

[Pete Wells]

Amazing, innit Stace? He said hello to me on Facebook the other week and I honestly felt like one of those screaming girls you see on old Beatles footage, and I'm a git boring 37 year old northern blurke!

I've read 2000AD since prog 1 but I think I only matured and appreciated it fully during the Necropolis epic. The skillful way that Wagner tied together elements of Oz, Judge Death, the Warlord, the democracy and doubts stuff, and with that amazing build up, just frazzled my young brain and hooked me on tooth forever.

The guy is a legend.

[satchmo]

Following Necropolis from week to week was one of the greatest experiences of my life, there were times I could barely sleep at night!
Similar feelings during The Pit, and now it's happening again. John Wagner's Judge Dredd is the greatest work in the history of the medium as far as I'm concerned.

[Mike Gloady]

Welcome to the shortbus!  Pick a window.

[Cthulouis]

You know what I really like about Wagner?

He follows all those rule that people tell you to follow when you try to learn to write. He shows, rather than tells. He keeps it sparse, doesn't over write things. He gives each character their own voice, yet makes each one seem so natural.

And all these rules ensure that he produces work that is a pleasure to read. There are other writers out there where you think "Gharg! How does this person manage to get published while still breaking those rules!" and there is the temptation to think the rules are just guidelines, that maybe you don't need to follow them at all, cause these other people didn't, yet they still get published.

Then along comes Wagner, follows all the rules, and you sit there thinking, "Yes, the pros advise amateurs to do these things for a reason. And that reason is that they make your writing visibly, measurably, better."

One of the first times I realised just how much I like Wagner was during Total War. Roffman had just spewed off a load of techno-babble/megacity judge slang or whatever, and I not only realised that I understood what he was saying, but also that it seemed perfectly natural and just the thing he should be saying. Character building, world building, and he tells one thrill powered story while he's at it.

And that's before you even turn to the quantity of stuff he has put out over several decades of work for comics that actually manage to come out on time, even when they come out weekly!

[Trout]

I think I owe John Wagner a pint. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Yes, he writes the best Dredd. He is Dredd's voice and Dredd is his. I'm very glad he didn't retire, as he said he would a few years ago.

- Trout

[Mikey]

Welcome to the club Stacey!

The skill is writing a weekly strip and keeping the momentum - Wagner is the master plotter IMHO and it pays to pay attention to what he's doing.

M

[Dandontdare]

I can't think of another writer who has consistently been so good for so long. Even the 'greats' like Alan Moore and Frank Miller have had some quality control issues from time to time.

And when faced with arrest, Wagner can escape in his flying bathtub (though I sometimes wonder if I dreamed that particular dredd strip!)

[Mike Gloady]

Old Pal's Club, prog 2000 unless I'm very much mistaken. 

One of my favourite one-offs and, if it's a little self-indulgent, I can make allowances because it's the only time I can recall Wagner being guilty of that sin.

[Pete Wells]

Not self indulgent at all Mike as I'm fairly certain it was written by Alan Grant without Wagner knowing.

[Mike Gloady]

Ha ha! 

Well in THAT case, it stands as one of his finest Dredd efforts ever.  And there are a lot of those.

[stacey]

Cthulouis, that's exactly it, it's so tightly written and the amazing thing is how much plot he manages to get accross without it feeling exposition heavy.  It's amazing.  I thought he was a fabulous writer when I was reading the trades but to read a big arc "live" as it were, is such a different and exciting experience. 


I got a lot of words with X's in that paragraph eh?

[Noisybast]

One of us... One of us...