JUDGE DREDD: will the colour weeklies ever be reprinted?
Moderator: AndyB
JUDGE DREDD: will the colour weeklies ever be reprinted?
I think you'll find plenty of interest, just not enough for yet another forum
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ISPYSHHHGUY
- Posts: 4275
- Joined: 14 Oct 2007, 13:05
- Location: BLITZVILLE, USA
JUDGE DREDD: will the colour weeklies ever be reprinted?
DREDD-FREE ZONE: '2000 A.D' prog ONE:
--------THE CELEBRATED PROG ONE of '2000 A.D.' [FEB 26, 1977] is best-known for two factors: the free 'space-spinner' gift, also the fact that 'JUDGE DREDD' doesn't appear, due to last-minute upheavels.
----I am not the best person qualified to discuss PROG ONE, as I haven't actually seen it, [not even the shrunken-down repro version that has sometimes resurfaced]---nor for that matter, PROG 2!---[that's 300 quid down the tubes for a start!]
---I do, however, have PROG 3, and the majority of 1977 issues, so I have a decent grasp of the comic's contents in the early days. Writer PAT MILLS, having delivered the goods on 'BATTLE' and the early strips on 'ACTION', was given the green light to develop ideas for a ground-breaking SCI-FI comic, partly inspired by a significant, recent boom in cinematic sci-fi.
-----Having done his dirty washing in public with the high-profile controversy surrounding the celebrated/slated 'ACTION',MILLS and his team had a better concept of what was [and wasn't] acceptable in terms of graphic imagery, though a decision was kept to keep it pretty 'edgy' by the standards of the day.
The highest-profile early strip was in all probability the return of 'DAN DARE', revamped for the more cynical 70s, with often luxurious artwork from DAVE GIBBONS among others.....this featured some very imaginitive visuals [I especially remember a far-future depiction of LONDON,with the HOUSES of PARLIAMENT dwarfed by surrounding futuristic structures]-----but for me, this strip succeeded neither as an effective recreation of the original, nor as a vital '2000 A.D.'creation in it's own right, falling between two stools.
---still, the publicity-factor alone on DD must have seemed worthwhile at the time.
-----A good early strip was the gung-ho but likeable 'INVASION 1999' with the freedom-fighting BILL SAVAGE rebelling against the fascistic VOLGS [a then-futiristic axis of evil, perhaps?] who have breached the UK in totally typical ALL-OUT WAR mode-------the VOLGS were originally to be depicted as those naughty RUSSKIES, but steps were taken [late on in the game] to 'whiten-out' the hammer-and-sickle for the more 'user-friendly' VOLGAN emblem.
TWO stories I especially remember from 'INVASION' are those in which SCOTLAND is invaded by a foreign nation in the first time in it's history [even the ROMANS had the tact and decency to erect HADRIAN'S WALL, rather than invade Scotland!]------and another tale in which our BILL encounters the destitute BEATLES in wartorn BRITAIN circa 1999, -----they are depicted as old, grey-haired men, and in 1977 the prospect of JOHN LENNON reaching the age of 60 was a distinct possibility.........
-------next: 'M.A.C.H. ONE';---this was a bit too derivative of T.V. import the 'SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN', with hero JOHN PROBE resembling STEVE AUSTIN a bit too closely for comfort........PROBE'S 'compu-puncture hyperpower' afforded him superhuman abilities in stories that often eclipsed the low-budget theatrics of the LEE MAJORS show on telly.
----I seem to remember a powerful scene in this involving a sympathetic alien being hounded [as ever] by the military, in a tableaux inspired by 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of the THIRD KIND'.
I can't stand sport, so I will pass on 'HARLEM HEROES',----however, 'FLESH', a very good fantasy-drama, was much more my meat [sorry!]
-----this involved the theme of 23rd-CENTURY man travelling back to prehistoric times in order to satisfy the future dearth of REAL meat-------this was a brutal, dynamic, --and to me-----extremely effective, original time-travelling action-fantasy that made the 1993 'JURASSIC PARK' film look lacklustre in comparison...this was comics like I had not experienced before!
'2000 A.D.' threw up some odd images, but even by their own eccentric standards, the most bizarre imagery I ever witnessed involved a T.-REX and 3 time-travellers in the teleporting bay who are transmitted together, to reappear as a fused hybrid in the 23rd CENTURY---------they emerge as an outrageously-depicted single entity of vast DINO-body, with three human forms attached----VERY stange, unforgettable stuff..........
---'FLESH' overall was a brilliant new angle in comics which returned [equally effectively] in 1978 for 'BOOK TWO'.
I was 15 in 1977, and '2000 A.D.' [though with some minor flaws which are easily forgivable] for me represented new, hithero-unseen dimensions in comics-reading pleasures......
------yep, I KNOW we are a long time in getting to DREDD, but next time, I promise!
--------THE CELEBRATED PROG ONE of '2000 A.D.' [FEB 26, 1977] is best-known for two factors: the free 'space-spinner' gift, also the fact that 'JUDGE DREDD' doesn't appear, due to last-minute upheavels.
----I am not the best person qualified to discuss PROG ONE, as I haven't actually seen it, [not even the shrunken-down repro version that has sometimes resurfaced]---nor for that matter, PROG 2!---[that's 300 quid down the tubes for a start!]
---I do, however, have PROG 3, and the majority of 1977 issues, so I have a decent grasp of the comic's contents in the early days. Writer PAT MILLS, having delivered the goods on 'BATTLE' and the early strips on 'ACTION', was given the green light to develop ideas for a ground-breaking SCI-FI comic, partly inspired by a significant, recent boom in cinematic sci-fi.
-----Having done his dirty washing in public with the high-profile controversy surrounding the celebrated/slated 'ACTION',MILLS and his team had a better concept of what was [and wasn't] acceptable in terms of graphic imagery, though a decision was kept to keep it pretty 'edgy' by the standards of the day.
The highest-profile early strip was in all probability the return of 'DAN DARE', revamped for the more cynical 70s, with often luxurious artwork from DAVE GIBBONS among others.....this featured some very imaginitive visuals [I especially remember a far-future depiction of LONDON,with the HOUSES of PARLIAMENT dwarfed by surrounding futuristic structures]-----but for me, this strip succeeded neither as an effective recreation of the original, nor as a vital '2000 A.D.'creation in it's own right, falling between two stools.
---still, the publicity-factor alone on DD must have seemed worthwhile at the time.
-----A good early strip was the gung-ho but likeable 'INVASION 1999' with the freedom-fighting BILL SAVAGE rebelling against the fascistic VOLGS [a then-futiristic axis of evil, perhaps?] who have breached the UK in totally typical ALL-OUT WAR mode-------the VOLGS were originally to be depicted as those naughty RUSSKIES, but steps were taken [late on in the game] to 'whiten-out' the hammer-and-sickle for the more 'user-friendly' VOLGAN emblem.
TWO stories I especially remember from 'INVASION' are those in which SCOTLAND is invaded by a foreign nation in the first time in it's history [even the ROMANS had the tact and decency to erect HADRIAN'S WALL, rather than invade Scotland!]------and another tale in which our BILL encounters the destitute BEATLES in wartorn BRITAIN circa 1999, -----they are depicted as old, grey-haired men, and in 1977 the prospect of JOHN LENNON reaching the age of 60 was a distinct possibility.........
-------next: 'M.A.C.H. ONE';---this was a bit too derivative of T.V. import the 'SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN', with hero JOHN PROBE resembling STEVE AUSTIN a bit too closely for comfort........PROBE'S 'compu-puncture hyperpower' afforded him superhuman abilities in stories that often eclipsed the low-budget theatrics of the LEE MAJORS show on telly.
----I seem to remember a powerful scene in this involving a sympathetic alien being hounded [as ever] by the military, in a tableaux inspired by 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of the THIRD KIND'.
I can't stand sport, so I will pass on 'HARLEM HEROES',----however, 'FLESH', a very good fantasy-drama, was much more my meat [sorry!]
-----this involved the theme of 23rd-CENTURY man travelling back to prehistoric times in order to satisfy the future dearth of REAL meat-------this was a brutal, dynamic, --and to me-----extremely effective, original time-travelling action-fantasy that made the 1993 'JURASSIC PARK' film look lacklustre in comparison...this was comics like I had not experienced before!
'2000 A.D.' threw up some odd images, but even by their own eccentric standards, the most bizarre imagery I ever witnessed involved a T.-REX and 3 time-travellers in the teleporting bay who are transmitted together, to reappear as a fused hybrid in the 23rd CENTURY---------they emerge as an outrageously-depicted single entity of vast DINO-body, with three human forms attached----VERY stange, unforgettable stuff..........
---'FLESH' overall was a brilliant new angle in comics which returned [equally effectively] in 1978 for 'BOOK TWO'.
I was 15 in 1977, and '2000 A.D.' [though with some minor flaws which are easily forgivable] for me represented new, hithero-unseen dimensions in comics-reading pleasures......
------yep, I KNOW we are a long time in getting to DREDD, but next time, I promise!
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ISPYSHHHGUY
- Posts: 4275
- Joined: 14 Oct 2007, 13:05
- Location: BLITZVILLE, USA
JUDGE DREDD: will the colour weeklies ever be reprinted?
DREDD on ARRIVAL: the first [unpublished] strip........
-----2000 A.D. prog ONE is, of course, notable for the total absence of a DREDD story, though apparantly one was sheduled for appearance.....for whatever reason, this failed to materialize, but the strip turned up much later, and has been printed in full a couple of times.
-----the character of DREDD was visualized by SPANISH artist CARLOS EZQUERRA, who was instrumental in many very early strips, [returning to the art duties a lot later]-----and the look of the very early lawman is fairly fully-formed [elaborate, baroque uniform], but the overall concept is not yet streamlined [other artists would contribute to the definitive 'DREDD' look...more on this later]------DREDD in this early phase also displays full, almost AFRICAN lips, though he is definately portrayed as a white man.
-------this embryonic first story begins with tiny frames depicting a brutal bank-robbery: arriving via hover-car [establishing the futuristic scenario] they torch and shoot their victims mercilessly. DREDD makes his debut appearance atop his fat-tyred 'LAWMASTER 5000 BI-MOBILE' motorbike, smashing through a PLASTEEN wall; 'no-one can escape justice!' are the first -ever words we hear. next is: 'This city's a jungle-crawling with crime!'-----JUSTICE is dispensed ruthlessly and efficiently: jack-booted force and emptying of the old LAWGIVER being the order of the day.
DREDD'S notoriety/fame is clearly known to the criminals, and they seek refuge in a vault which is a metre of steel thick. DREDD responds with the first conciously-futuristic device: a'rubber titanium ricochet shell' which flushes out the baddies. Outside, DREDD carries out his sentence of instant justice on the do-badders; they are 'hereby terminated' [a full 7 years before the first SCHWARZENNEGER movie] in full view of of the MEGA-CITY ONE populace.
---a bloodthirsty onlooker yells triumphantly but makes the fatal error of stepping his foot outside of the 'sidewalk limits'---which is noticed by DREDD.-----the sentence is 400 days! -----the poor 'lawbreaker' resorts to trying to bribe the lawman with wads of creds which result in DREDD reaching for his gun.........................fleeing, the victim is neutralized with a 'heat-seeking shell' [option no.6 on his pistol] and the JAYWALKER experiences this most NAZI form of 'justice'.
----DREDD leaves the cleaning-up operations to some bewildered jobsworth, and the final [single-page] frame in this 5-page set really establishes the tone of the strip; the lawman is seen on his LAWMASTER, dwarfed by distant, multi-level cityblocks and towering structures far in advance of our own time, making it absolutely clear that this is a far-future, totally alien [to us, even if human traits and failings have not evolved noticably] technologically radically-advanced city that could only be depicted [certainly in 1977] in comic-strip form.
DREDD'S closing utterance in this early, but crudely effective story: 'I AM THE LAW AND YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT!'
-----2000 A.D. prog ONE is, of course, notable for the total absence of a DREDD story, though apparantly one was sheduled for appearance.....for whatever reason, this failed to materialize, but the strip turned up much later, and has been printed in full a couple of times.
-----the character of DREDD was visualized by SPANISH artist CARLOS EZQUERRA, who was instrumental in many very early strips, [returning to the art duties a lot later]-----and the look of the very early lawman is fairly fully-formed [elaborate, baroque uniform], but the overall concept is not yet streamlined [other artists would contribute to the definitive 'DREDD' look...more on this later]------DREDD in this early phase also displays full, almost AFRICAN lips, though he is definately portrayed as a white man.
-------this embryonic first story begins with tiny frames depicting a brutal bank-robbery: arriving via hover-car [establishing the futuristic scenario] they torch and shoot their victims mercilessly. DREDD makes his debut appearance atop his fat-tyred 'LAWMASTER 5000 BI-MOBILE' motorbike, smashing through a PLASTEEN wall; 'no-one can escape justice!' are the first -ever words we hear. next is: 'This city's a jungle-crawling with crime!'-----JUSTICE is dispensed ruthlessly and efficiently: jack-booted force and emptying of the old LAWGIVER being the order of the day.
DREDD'S notoriety/fame is clearly known to the criminals, and they seek refuge in a vault which is a metre of steel thick. DREDD responds with the first conciously-futuristic device: a'rubber titanium ricochet shell' which flushes out the baddies. Outside, DREDD carries out his sentence of instant justice on the do-badders; they are 'hereby terminated' [a full 7 years before the first SCHWARZENNEGER movie] in full view of of the MEGA-CITY ONE populace.
---a bloodthirsty onlooker yells triumphantly but makes the fatal error of stepping his foot outside of the 'sidewalk limits'---which is noticed by DREDD.-----the sentence is 400 days! -----the poor 'lawbreaker' resorts to trying to bribe the lawman with wads of creds which result in DREDD reaching for his gun.........................fleeing, the victim is neutralized with a 'heat-seeking shell' [option no.6 on his pistol] and the JAYWALKER experiences this most NAZI form of 'justice'.
----DREDD leaves the cleaning-up operations to some bewildered jobsworth, and the final [single-page] frame in this 5-page set really establishes the tone of the strip; the lawman is seen on his LAWMASTER, dwarfed by distant, multi-level cityblocks and towering structures far in advance of our own time, making it absolutely clear that this is a far-future, totally alien [to us, even if human traits and failings have not evolved noticably] technologically radically-advanced city that could only be depicted [certainly in 1977] in comic-strip form.
DREDD'S closing utterance in this early, but crudely effective story: 'I AM THE LAW AND YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT!'
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Lew Stringer
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Re: JUDGE DREDD: will the colour weeklies ever be reprint
I think that was because he was based in part on David Carradine in the film Death Race 2000.ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:--DREDD in this early phase also displays full, almost AFRICAN lips, though he is definately portrayed as a white man.
[IMG:456:350]http://i16.tinypic.com/85olh8z.jpg[/img]
Lew
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/