The Man Who Searched For Fear by Bill Lacey. (Bear Alley Books) GN (2014) ISBN-13: 9781907081736
V For Vendetta novelisation by Steve Moore, based on the screenplay by The Wachowski Brothers. (Pocket Books; 2006) ISBN-13: 978-1416516996
Durham Red: Manticore Reborn by Peter J. Evans. (Black Flame; Jan 2006) ISBN-10: 1 84416 323 7
Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Double Zero by James Swallow. (Big Finish Productions; 2010)
Births:
Clive Hudson (1926); Grant Morrison (1960).
Deaths:
Morley Adams (1954)
Notable Events:
The Marvel Family #89 became the last Captain Marvel related title to be published by L. Miller & Son, Ltd. in 1954.
Showing posts with label Grant Morrison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grant Morrison. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Friday, November 23, 2018
On This Day: 23 Nov
First Appearances:
Dagger Man in Warlord (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #166 (26 Nov 1977).
Births:
Neville Main (1913); Charles Grigg (1916); Harley Lawrence Schwadron (1942); Sandra Marrs (1973)
Deaths:
Graham Laidler (Pont; 1940); Dorothy Craigie (1971); Dennis Mallet (1988); Lilli Ursula Barbara Victoria Davidson (Victoria; 1999)
Notable Events:
Eve newspaper strip began in The Daily Sketch in 1953.
Juvenile Publications were moved from 161–166 Fleet Street to the old Daily Herald building at 96 Longacre in 1963.
Alan McKenzie, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Sean Philips, John Smith and Steve Yeowell attended a joint 2000 A.D. / Judge Dredd The Megazine signing at Mike Conroy's The Edge of Forever, 82B Broadway, Bexley Heath, Kent, in 1991. Judge Dredd was also in attendance.
Alan Moore's Outbreaks of Violets, a set of 24 cards with art by a variety of European artists, was given away at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Thought Bubble Comic Con, the Leeds Sequential Art Festival, began at Clarence Dock, Leeds, in 2013.
Peter Firmin received a special lifetime honour at the BAFTA Children's Awards in 2014.
Dan Dare: A Brief History video uploaded to YouTube in 2016 to celebrate the launch of the B7 Media / Big Finish audio adventures.
Dagger Man in Warlord (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #166 (26 Nov 1977).
Births:
Neville Main (1913); Charles Grigg (1916); Harley Lawrence Schwadron (1942); Sandra Marrs (1973)
Deaths:
Graham Laidler (Pont; 1940); Dorothy Craigie (1971); Dennis Mallet (1988); Lilli Ursula Barbara Victoria Davidson (Victoria; 1999)
Notable Events:
Eve newspaper strip began in The Daily Sketch in 1953.
Juvenile Publications were moved from 161–166 Fleet Street to the old Daily Herald building at 96 Longacre in 1963.
Alan McKenzie, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Sean Philips, John Smith and Steve Yeowell attended a joint 2000 A.D. / Judge Dredd The Megazine signing at Mike Conroy's The Edge of Forever, 82B Broadway, Bexley Heath, Kent, in 1991. Judge Dredd was also in attendance.
Alan Moore's Outbreaks of Violets, a set of 24 cards with art by a variety of European artists, was given away at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Thought Bubble Comic Con, the Leeds Sequential Art Festival, began at Clarence Dock, Leeds, in 2013.
Peter Firmin received a special lifetime honour at the BAFTA Children's Awards in 2014.
Dan Dare: A Brief History video uploaded to YouTube in 2016 to celebrate the launch of the B7 Media / Big Finish audio adventures.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Shockwave #1
Feb 1991. Cover price 95p.
48 pages. Full colour contents.
London Editions Magazines / Egmont
Sophisticated Suspense for Mature Readers
Edited by Peter Nicholls.
Cover by .
Contents:
Opening with Neil Gaiman's Black Orchid, the reprint doesn't bother explaining the background to the strip. It isn't a brilliant reprint, with painted artwork reproducing slightly muddy in places, but attempts at something new must be congratulated. There's style enough in Dave McKean's work to rise above any disadvantages, though the text boxes are - in places - almost illegible.
Animal Man is extremely bright and gaudy, resembling The Tick cartoon in several places, which doesn't help the persistent sense that this is a half-hearted final stab at a market rapidly slipping from LEM's grasp. A ridiculous would-be supervillain and his little red robots don't immediately strike me as belonging to a truly mature title, but if it helped draw in readers from Batman...
Showing just how ill thought-out this title is, Hellblazer closes out the strip portion of material. It would have been the perfect way to open the issue, but is buried after a superhero reprint. It is a mistake which doesn't help the issue any, as is beginning with the twenty-fifth issue rather than the first. Expecting readers to accept picking up information from the previously published material in trades, or through the original comics in a comic store, is asking a lot from a national title.
The feature A Saucerful of Secrets highlights something which has muddied the market for a long time. Does this want to be a horror comic or a science fiction comic? They are two different markets, and the readership for one does not automatically transfer to the other - by having something which addresses readers of SF titles, it makes it difficult to see how this could have possibly managed to create a position from which it could expand and (in time) grow from the reprints into a more interesting proposition.
It's a real shame that there were no original strips.
48 pages. Full colour contents.
London Editions Magazines / Egmont
Sophisticated Suspense for Mature Readers
Edited by Peter Nicholls.
Cover by .
Contents:
2 Shockproof... Introduction text by Peter Nicholls (? uncredited). / Contents / Indicia
3 Black Orchid One Thing is Certain, part one, w: Neil Gaiman; a: Dave McKean, lettering by Todd Klein.
r: Black Orchid (DC Comics) #01 (1988).
19 Animal Man The Death of the Red Mask, part one, w: Grant Morrison; p: Chas Truog, i: Doug Hazlewood, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Tatjana Wood.
r: Animal Man (DC Comics) vol.1 #07 (Jan 1989).
32 Hellblazer Early Warning, part one, w: Grant Morrison. a: David Lloyd, lettering by Tom Frame.
r: Hellblazer (DC Comics) #25 (Jan 1990).
44 A Saucerful of Secrets? text feature by Jay Taylor.
47 DC Checklist other titles on sale. / Back Issues.
48 Remix 1991 in-house advertisement.
The closing months of 1990 was a grim time indeed for British comics aimed at a mature audience. Along with Fleetway's REVOLVER and Marvel's STRIP, London Editions' own DC ACTION! and ZONES succumbed to the bleak climate and were forced into premature cancellation. What could this hold for the future of 'adult' British Comics? Was the whole thing (gulp!) a lost cause?I'm not sure if the tacit admission of the utter failure of other "mature readers" titles was a self-fulfilling prophecy for this short-lived run, though it is clear that the lessons which could have been learned obviously weren't heeded. The main lesson, for those paying careful attention, was that reprint titles were largely irrelevant thanks to the ease of accessing original material.
This issue kicks off in fine style with BLACK ORCHID, HELLBLAZER and ANIMAL MAN, but keep your eyes skinned in the coming months for the likes of CATWOMAN, SWAMP THING and DOOM PATROL!This is a suicide note, not an introduction. The pointlessness of reprinting something so quickly after US origination is self-evident, and yet here is a title which is repackaging three acclaimed US series (which most readers will already have read) and promising more of the same. As much as I like the material chosen, I already had the US comics, and have subsequently picked up the trades (more than once), so I'm not sure who this title was aimed at. The lack of new material is but one of the problems this suffers.
Opening with Neil Gaiman's Black Orchid, the reprint doesn't bother explaining the background to the strip. It isn't a brilliant reprint, with painted artwork reproducing slightly muddy in places, but attempts at something new must be congratulated. There's style enough in Dave McKean's work to rise above any disadvantages, though the text boxes are - in places - almost illegible.
Animal Man is extremely bright and gaudy, resembling The Tick cartoon in several places, which doesn't help the persistent sense that this is a half-hearted final stab at a market rapidly slipping from LEM's grasp. A ridiculous would-be supervillain and his little red robots don't immediately strike me as belonging to a truly mature title, but if it helped draw in readers from Batman...
Showing just how ill thought-out this title is, Hellblazer closes out the strip portion of material. It would have been the perfect way to open the issue, but is buried after a superhero reprint. It is a mistake which doesn't help the issue any, as is beginning with the twenty-fifth issue rather than the first. Expecting readers to accept picking up information from the previously published material in trades, or through the original comics in a comic store, is asking a lot from a national title.
The feature A Saucerful of Secrets highlights something which has muddied the market for a long time. Does this want to be a horror comic or a science fiction comic? They are two different markets, and the readership for one does not automatically transfer to the other - by having something which addresses readers of SF titles, it makes it difficult to see how this could have possibly managed to create a position from which it could expand and (in time) grow from the reprints into a more interesting proposition.
It's a real shame that there were no original strips.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Revolver #1
Jul 1990; Cover price £1.65.
52 pages. Colour.
Fleetway Publications.
Edited by Peter K Hogan.
Cover by Rian Hughes.
Contents:
For a little while at the start of the nineties Revolver was regarded as the future of British comics. A shade more mainstream than Crisis, yet skewing more towards the audience cultivated by Deadline rather than those who had been reading Eagle or 2000 A.D.. The style of the title is dominated by Rian Hughes, whose iconic design style permeates the comic without overloading on unnecessary elements - the contents page is remarkably clean and simple though doesn't feel under-developed.
Purple Days is a rich, textured and intelligent script, ably illustrated by Floyd Hughes, without relying on the any of the iconography associated with Jimi Hendrix. There's a warmth and humanity which draws the reader into the life of the musician, and certain panels still manage to punch above their weight, such as when Hendrix states that he has completely given up all drugs forever. The connected narratives spread across his life pull every ounce of drama to the fore, and there are moments which come as a surprise.
The end is, frustratingly, abrupt. One of the problems when dealing with serialised material which is intended to be collected is that it can often feel like the installments aren't sympathetically tailored to the anthology format. A minor quibble, all things considered.
Unfortunately I have to address Dare again.
It's an smart, well-put-together script, and Dan isn't wildly out of character, but there's something about the handling which feels off. It isn't necessarily that melancholy doesn't feel appropriate (being set at the end of his life), though that is partly responsible for the sense that this isn't so much a sequel as an alternate version entirely. The links with the original stories are maintained through Rian Hughes' art, which combines retro-futurism with simplified extrapolations of the design type which Hampson would likely approve.
While Dare works as a narrative, it is one which isn't in the spirit of the original, and feels more exploitative than nostalgic. I wanted to enjoy the story for what it was, but the beautiful Eagle stories loom large in the imagination. Without recognising the strengths of the moral certainty which made the character so appealing leaves a hollow centre to the story.
Pinhead Nation isn't really a story, per se, as it is a moment in the lives of the characters. Delightfully silly, and a palate cleanser after the hand-wringing of that strip. Shaky Kane's work is always entertaining, and this is one of the better introductions to his style.
Happenstance and Kismet is the best strip in the comic, with inventive language, clever plotting, and thoroughly unlikeable characters. Paul Neary is as accomplished at writing comics as drawing them so it shouldn't be surprising that he steals the show, but the writing here is mad. Lucius Kismet translates juicy stories for a French tabloid, and has a drinking problem who claims drunken ramblings are merely a sign of his loquacious lyricality, while Monty Happenstace is an inveterate gambler. Every panel is a delight.
The relatively sedate opening to Rogan Gosh suggests that a character study of Rudyard Kipling is on offer, but rapidly escalates into a series of surreal visuals and non-sequiters which culmitates in Rogan Gosh, a karmanaut sought out by Kipling, appearing in a present-day curry house rather than accepting death. It is incredibly difficult to judge the story from the first installment, as things aren't spelled out in a manner which enables complete comprehension of events.
Milligan is a writer who often surprises with concepts which are difficult to summarise properly, and who seems to take delight in being odd. With Rogan Gosh he pushes further against the structure and form of comics than at any other point, and most of the joy is to be had seeing how he manages to present his ideas. Brendan McCarthy does a superb job in maintaining a solidity to the fluid and free-wheeling plot, and provides some startlingly good illustrations,
Revolver doesn't rest on the madness Happenstance and Kismet or Rogan Gosh throws at the reader, as Dire Streets is a kitchen-sink drama with all the socially-relevant content required of the genre. There's a nice twist to the tale, but it feels rather lightweight after the previous material. Had the story appeared elsewhere, it is likely that it would have been lauded as a modern classic, showered with awards, and adapted for television.
Nine Inches to the Mile is back to being weird for the sake of being weird, but does so with such aplomb that it would be churlish to criticise it. The tongue-in-cheek script rattles along at a quick lick, and the art contains enough humourous elements to rise above similar non-stories which attempt something approaching philosophy.
The reference in Outro to a resurgence of British comics is, in retrospect, hopelessly optimistic, and the comparison to the sixties hangs too much hope on the thinnest of premises. As with most anthologies there is a disconnect between the strips which no amount of editorialising can brush over - there was never going to be a happy compromise among the readership for trippy, psychedelic material and the more grounded strips.
Would it have been better to launch two titles for the different audiences? Maybe. But brought together, the contents strangely work in unison to present a notion of the possibilities a full-colour mainstream title could accomplish. While uneven, and in places self-indulgent, Revolver is a remarkably likable comic. It is also a beautifully-designed comic, with enough small touches to retain interest even on the driest of text pages.
52 pages. Colour.
Fleetway Publications.
Edited by Peter K Hogan.
Cover by Rian Hughes.
Contents:
.2 We've Got the Thrill Power! in-house advertisement.
.3 Hello, This is Revolver Contents page / indicia.
.4 Purple Days UNTITLED part one, w: Charles Shaar Murray; a: Floyd Hughes, lettering by Gordon Robson.
15 Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future Dare part one, w: Grant Morrison; a: Rian Hughes, lettering by Ellie De Ville.
24 Pinhead Nation UNTITLED part one, w:/a: Shaky Kane.
26 Happenstance and Kismet UNTITLED part one, w: Paul Neary; a: Steve Parkhouse, colouring by Bernie Jaye.
32 Rogan Gosh UNTITLED part one, w: Pete Milligan; a: Brendan McCarthy, lettering by Tom Frame.
40 Dire Streets UNTITLED part one, w:/a: Julie Hollings, lettering by Eliza.
47 Nine Inches to the Mile w: Igor Goldkind; a: Phil Winslade, lettering by Bambos.
50 Outro text feature.
51 Marlboro Classics advertisement.
52 Into the Past With the Future advertisement.
For a little while at the start of the nineties Revolver was regarded as the future of British comics. A shade more mainstream than Crisis, yet skewing more towards the audience cultivated by Deadline rather than those who had been reading Eagle or 2000 A.D.. The style of the title is dominated by Rian Hughes, whose iconic design style permeates the comic without overloading on unnecessary elements - the contents page is remarkably clean and simple though doesn't feel under-developed.
Purple Days is a rich, textured and intelligent script, ably illustrated by Floyd Hughes, without relying on the any of the iconography associated with Jimi Hendrix. There's a warmth and humanity which draws the reader into the life of the musician, and certain panels still manage to punch above their weight, such as when Hendrix states that he has completely given up all drugs forever. The connected narratives spread across his life pull every ounce of drama to the fore, and there are moments which come as a surprise.
The end is, frustratingly, abrupt. One of the problems when dealing with serialised material which is intended to be collected is that it can often feel like the installments aren't sympathetically tailored to the anthology format. A minor quibble, all things considered.
Unfortunately I have to address Dare again.
It's an smart, well-put-together script, and Dan isn't wildly out of character, but there's something about the handling which feels off. It isn't necessarily that melancholy doesn't feel appropriate (being set at the end of his life), though that is partly responsible for the sense that this isn't so much a sequel as an alternate version entirely. The links with the original stories are maintained through Rian Hughes' art, which combines retro-futurism with simplified extrapolations of the design type which Hampson would likely approve.
While Dare works as a narrative, it is one which isn't in the spirit of the original, and feels more exploitative than nostalgic. I wanted to enjoy the story for what it was, but the beautiful Eagle stories loom large in the imagination. Without recognising the strengths of the moral certainty which made the character so appealing leaves a hollow centre to the story.
Pinhead Nation isn't really a story, per se, as it is a moment in the lives of the characters. Delightfully silly, and a palate cleanser after the hand-wringing of that strip. Shaky Kane's work is always entertaining, and this is one of the better introductions to his style.
Happenstance and Kismet is the best strip in the comic, with inventive language, clever plotting, and thoroughly unlikeable characters. Paul Neary is as accomplished at writing comics as drawing them so it shouldn't be surprising that he steals the show, but the writing here is mad. Lucius Kismet translates juicy stories for a French tabloid, and has a drinking problem who claims drunken ramblings are merely a sign of his loquacious lyricality, while Monty Happenstace is an inveterate gambler. Every panel is a delight.
The relatively sedate opening to Rogan Gosh suggests that a character study of Rudyard Kipling is on offer, but rapidly escalates into a series of surreal visuals and non-sequiters which culmitates in Rogan Gosh, a karmanaut sought out by Kipling, appearing in a present-day curry house rather than accepting death. It is incredibly difficult to judge the story from the first installment, as things aren't spelled out in a manner which enables complete comprehension of events.
Milligan is a writer who often surprises with concepts which are difficult to summarise properly, and who seems to take delight in being odd. With Rogan Gosh he pushes further against the structure and form of comics than at any other point, and most of the joy is to be had seeing how he manages to present his ideas. Brendan McCarthy does a superb job in maintaining a solidity to the fluid and free-wheeling plot, and provides some startlingly good illustrations,
Revolver doesn't rest on the madness Happenstance and Kismet or Rogan Gosh throws at the reader, as Dire Streets is a kitchen-sink drama with all the socially-relevant content required of the genre. There's a nice twist to the tale, but it feels rather lightweight after the previous material. Had the story appeared elsewhere, it is likely that it would have been lauded as a modern classic, showered with awards, and adapted for television.
Nine Inches to the Mile is back to being weird for the sake of being weird, but does so with such aplomb that it would be churlish to criticise it. The tongue-in-cheek script rattles along at a quick lick, and the art contains enough humourous elements to rise above similar non-stories which attempt something approaching philosophy.
The reference in Outro to a resurgence of British comics is, in retrospect, hopelessly optimistic, and the comparison to the sixties hangs too much hope on the thinnest of premises. As with most anthologies there is a disconnect between the strips which no amount of editorialising can brush over - there was never going to be a happy compromise among the readership for trippy, psychedelic material and the more grounded strips.
Would it have been better to launch two titles for the different audiences? Maybe. But brought together, the contents strangely work in unison to present a notion of the possibilities a full-colour mainstream title could accomplish. While uneven, and in places self-indulgent, Revolver is a remarkably likable comic. It is also a beautifully-designed comic, with enough small touches to retain interest even on the driest of text pages.
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