War comics – not just AAARRRRGGGHH!!!s and derring-do
‘Price of War’ by Kenny McBride, Wirral
I was flicking through some old issues of Battle and came across this on the letters page of issue #429…
CAPTAIN’S BLOG: Mea culpa – on a not-so-exclusive ‘exclusive’ Judge Dredd strip
So, a quick catch-up blog – and an apology – on a post from last month.
I posted up a scan of a Judge Dredd strip from a 1990 issue of Sinclair User magazine, which I believed (based on Sinclair User‘s own claims) to be an ‘exclusive’ strip. By ‘exclusive’ strip, I took that to mean it had not previously been published. Oh, how wrong I was.
Reader Rodrigo Boeza commented that…
…this story had appeared before in Judge Dredd’s Crime File #1 (August 1989), published by Quality Comics. This was a short-lived Prestige Format series that consisted of reprints from various 2000AD/Judge Dredd annuals and specials, so I’m guessing that this particular story may have had an earlier appearance before.
Compounding my error, I actually remember the Judge Dredd: Crime Files series. I think I bought #2 and #3 (subsequently giving them away as a birthday present to a friend). They were rather nice editions – smaller than the Titan albums, but pretty decent colour printing and perfect-bound.
Anyway, the MCS link above also provides info on the contents:
6 page Judge Dredd story “none (Meanwhile?)”
Genre Science Fiction
Script John Wagner [as T. B. Grover]
Pencils Ian Gibson
Inks Ian Gibson
Colors Ian Gibson
Letters Tom Frame
Notes This reprint is untitled, but I’m thinking it may be “Meanwhile” from the 1987 Dredd Annual; the artist matches, the title could work, and the Seven Dwarves story is also from there.
Reprinted from 2000 AD (IPC Magazines Ltd, 1977 series) #? [possibly the 1987 Judge Dredd Annual]
Based on that, I went and bid on an eBay auction for a copy of Judge Dredd Annual 1987 – a gap in my collection – and lo, there’s the ‘Meanwhile’ strip.
Again, my apologies to you all for misrepresenting the strip; and my thanks to Rodrigo for setting me straight.
WONDROUS WEBSITES: The unsung engineer of British comics, Pat Mills – welcome to the blogosphere!
So, Pat Mills – probably the comic writer who most inspired, influenced and guided me – has taken up blogging!
A while back he got into social media, first with a couple of Facebook pages (Pat Mills Comics and Pat Mills Political Comics), and then Twitter, where he’s @PatMillsComics.
I imagine that the response from readers, and the opportunity for dialogue, has been somewhat positive, as now he has launched a Pat Mills WordPress blog. Here he is posting all sorts of fascinating stuff about comics and characters he has been involved in, starting with the genesis of 2000AD and the creation of ‘Judge Dredd’ – and given the recent release of the Dredd movie, it’s most timely!
So why does Pat Mills matter? Well, consider his involvement in…
- Girls’ comics – long overlooked by too many comic historians
- Battle, Action & 2000AD – three ground-breaking, gritty comics born in the belly of the IPC beast through the midwifery of crazed freelances and subversive staff members
- ‘Charley’s War’ – the best comic strip about war bar none, threaded through with humanism and righteous rage
- Creators’ rights – behind the scenes, artists and writers are treated like indentured labour by massive publishing corporations
- Pushing for recognition for unsung or unfashionable talent – like Gerry Finley-Day and Angela Kincaid
- Diceman, Crisis & Toxic! – three great stabs at pushing UK comics into fresh directions
There was a great two-part interview with Pat last year by Matt Badham on the Forbidden Planet blog, which dealt with his thoughts on a wide range of topics. It’s rather long but I heartily encourage you to read through the whole thing… (1) (2)
Anyway, back to Pat and his new blog…
- Dredd – The Killing Machine
- Dredd – The Lawman Of The Future
- Dredd – Better Dredd Than Dead
- Dredd – Judgement Day
- Dredd – Exit Wounds
- Dredd – In The Shadow Of The Judge
- Dredd – Dredd & Darkie’s Mob
- Torquemada – The Swinging Monk
- Dredd – He Is The Law!
Edited 27 & 29 September and 1, 3, 4 & 6 October 2012 to add links to new excerpts
CAPTAIN’S BLOG: Hello, chums!
Well, after thirty-six summers on this Earth it was about time… So finally here is my eagerly unanticipated crack at doing a site devoted solely to comics!
No more will I submit readers on my other blog to enthusiastic ramblings on my fascination for les bandes desinées, nor my love for ragged-edged newsprint rag, nor my bias for the anthology weekly. No, dear reader, that shall be your fate…
But why now?
Well, there’s a story there, but one I cannot yet share… All in good time, chums, all in good time!
Welcome aboard!
Oh lawks, it's... 