h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A nice piece, though I think I ought to point out that John Wagner would be suprised to hear he was American-he lives up near Colchester and is a regular customer at what was ACE Comics, and is now something else.

It's some time since I read any Dredd, having moved onto American and more recently Japanese comics, but I have to admit that although Carlos Ezquerra was the first, my feeling was always that Mike MacMahon was the definitive Dredd artist, and it was certainly he who gave the character his very exaggerated chin, boots and hands.

And as to the influence of Dredd, well, it's incalculable. An entire generation of British writers and artists have cut their teeth on Dredd or strips in 2000AD, and the likes of Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill, Alan Moore,Garth Ennis and a host of others have gone onto have very successful and influential careers in American comics, most notably Alan Moore who revolutionised comics with his series Watchmen.

Oh, and if you want a really good laugh, it's worth digging out Pat Mills' own take on the futuristic lawman thing, Marshall Law. Hilarious.

John Wagner originally came from America - he's just lived here for ages.

Glad you liked it! I know of Marshall Law, but never actually read any...

Have you ever read 'Hardboiled'? The Geof Darrow graphic novel? It kinda makes the excess of Dredd seem tame in comparison.

Ooh, giving some thought to Dredd artists, mention must be made of Brian Bolland, who drew Dredd so well and so often that he actually vowed never to draw him again , plus he was the artistic creator of Judge Death, Anderson etc. Cool.

On another note entirely, did you know that Rebellion software (the computer games team who did Aliens vs Predator and bought 2000AD and rights to all the characters recently) are producing a First Person shooter called (provisionally) Dredd vs Death? I want that game *so much*! Shame my computer won't be good enough to run it though.

Have to admit to no particular love for Bolland's work, it seems a little sterile to me.

Rebellion of course now own 2000AD so i guess it was a natural...

Hard Boiled was outrageous, and very deliberately so but yet again Miller let the idea get the better of him. Neither his best work nor Daroow's, imho...Sin City rocks tho...

Probably a good thing that we didn't know we both read comics before we met last time-I don't think Mina would have been happy...

A couple of recommendations for you:

-Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Fantastic book, this; it really does offer the best insight into why comics are a valid art form in themselves. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever read comics, and even more so if they haven't.

-Writers on Comics Scriptwriting / Artists on Comics Art by Mark Salisbury
Quite simply, these books have motivated me more than anything to try my hand at writing comics again. They comprise interviews with all the great and the good in their respective fields, how they got started and how they work. The only notable omission is Alan Moore, but he was apparently too busy to contribute. Still, excellent stuff, if only for the realisation that Todd McFarlane can't spell for toffee.

Bless him, Todd can't write for toffee either..., and I can't say I'm a great fan of his artwork either.

McCloud's book has long been recognized as one of the standard works on comics-and his own comic, "Zot!", was very good too, I understand.

My own favourite work is Will Eisner's seminal "Comics and Sequential Art". Eisner practically invented the "language" of modern comics in the forties, with his newspaper strip "The Spirit", and judging by last years masterly "Last day In Vietnam", is still as good if not better than anyone else in the field.

And as for Alan Moore, I think that's a polite euphemism for him saying that he had nothing to say. He shut up shop sometime very shortly after "Watchmen" as far as interviews are concerned, and has given none since.