New 2000 AD creators blog

[CalHab]

For the three-strips-in-a-prog, I’m going for Wagner, Grant, Mills and Abnett, but there must be more?

[Greg M.]

Both Grant Morrison (Judge Dredd / Big Dave / Really and Truly) and Mark Millar (Grudgefather / Robo-Hunter / Babe Race 2000 - the infamous Prog 883) have achieved the dubious honour.

[AlexF]

Si Spurrier's definitely done it, Prog 1482.
Steve Dillon's done it, if you count Prog 588 in which he both writes and draws Hap Hazzard, as well as drawing a Future Shock.
I'd imagine Gordon Rennie's on that list, too, surely.

[AlexF]

Another long delay, but I hope this one's worth the wait - partly slow because I had a lot to say, and wanted to get it right, inasmuch as that's possible with no less a legend than...

John Hicklenton

https://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.com/2019/05/no-129-john-hicklenton-rip.html

[AlexF]

I'm not giving up just yet!
Another hero, another blogpost:
Bryan Talbot

https://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.com/2019/07/no-130-bryan-talbot.html

[Frank]

Another long delay, but I hope this one's worth the wait - partly slow because I had a lot to say, and wanted to get it right, inasmuch as that's possible with no less a legend than...  John Hicklenton

https://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.com/2019/05/no-129-john-hicklenton-rip.html

I'm not giving up just yet!
Another hero, another blogpost:  Bryan Talbot

https://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.com/2019/07/no-130-bryan-talbot.html

'We never do find out who it is that Blackblood fears so much' - Because I read Nemesis/ABC Warriors backwards, I assumed that was Brother Mills setting up the revelation that Nemesis and Deadlock were, somehow, the same thing.

Interesting to read those two posts together and the virtues of one Nemesis artist (clear storytelling, accessibility) contrasted with those of their successor and polar opposite. Because he was my first Nemesis artist, I'll always prefer the sensation and repulsion of the Hickster.

An interesting mental exercise is imagining if Talbot had drawn The Two Torquemadas. I think his OG Torque would have come across as more of an RKO villain, whereas Hicklenton's warped features and anatomy utterly convinced me he was the most evil man who had ever lived.

I'd never noticed Dredd's man-meat before. I assume this to be the source of the 'sex feelings' the Black Widow story aroused in you and will never be convinced otherwise.

[broodblik]

Thanks for rebooting to old memory circuits for me AlexF, I miss mister Talbot's work in the prog. He will always be my ultimate Nemesis artist.

[norton canes]

"Talbot didn’t design the overall look of Judge Fear, but he was the first – in Diceman 1 – to dare to draw a face so horrific it would send a man mad"

Er, didn't Bolland draw Fear with an open face-gate and a head full of eyes at the end of Judge Death Lives?

[Hawkmumbler]

As much as I love Kev's work on Nemesis, who couldn't, Brians work on Goth Empire is for me the definative look and high point of the series. Love it.

[Greg M.]

Although the blog implies a certain disapproval of Hitaki as a character (I presume AlexF is critical of the 'honourable samurai' stereotype?), he's my favourite ABC Warrior. He's a great bit of Talbot design - those spindly limbs contrasted with his chunky ornamented armour make him really stand out.

[AlexF]

Frank: I didn't notice it at the time either (and I've got to imagine Bish-Op missed it too), but I'm sure it fed into my erotic nightmares.

Norton Canes: dammit, you're right. But Talbot's version is scarier!

Greg M.: to be fair, the 'noble samurai archetype' as problematic is Mills's fault rather than Talbot's, who simply draws an excellent version of that stock character. I certainly loved Hitaki at the time (as with all things Japanese), and as far as I understand it (not very far), the reason why people like me are sniffy about characters like Hitaki these days is that he was created by British people based on a stereotype rather than an actual nuanced understanding of samurai and their place in Japanese culture, and his purpose here is to make us say 'coooool!' when he charges into the fray with a sword while yelling Banzai! - which is absolutely NOT cool in the proper historical context.

-which probably makes me a wet pinko Social Justice Warrior.
-which I am a) proud to be, and b) curious why Mr Mills hasn't yet putted the mighty ABCs against a team of robotic and non-violent SJWs...

[Greg M.]

I suppose the counter-argument here is that Hitaki is not a Japanese man - he's a robot built by a future society with a romanticised (and by that token, not necessarily historically accurate or nuanced) take on the samurai archetype and the concept of Imperial Japan.  Whilst I'm not going to pretend I share your sensibilities on this one, I'm equally not going to try and suggest Hitaki was designed by Mills as some kind of satire on the representation of Japanese warriors in popular culture - we both know he was designed to make 10-year-old boys think he was super-cool, and in that context, I feel he's a raging success.

[Dark Jimbo]

Hitaki's problem is that his tenure was so brief - he was never given a chance to be anything more than a one-dimensional archetype.

[Link Prime]

he was designed to make 10-year-old boys think he was super-cool, and in that context, I feel he's a raging success.

That he was.

Always disappointed that Mills never resurrected Hitaki or Ronn after their initial short lived tenure - both were a million times more appealing in the Mek-Nificent 7 line-up than Zippo, Steelhorn or the recently returned Happy Shrapnel.

[AlexF]

When one is guesting on two podcasts that happen to pop up in the same weekend, both times touting a still-ongoing blog project, one had better have new content ready to show for it!

And so, on to the next hero, cover artist of today, strip star of yesterday Alex Ronald:
https://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.com/2019/07/no-131-alex-ronald.html