Ye Olde FAQ
andrew ness
I've tried to correct a few of the glaring anachronisms, but I think
ultimately it would be worth starting from scratch.
Original FAQ created by Steve Hammond.
Please feel free to send any updates or things you want to add and
eventually it will be done.
2000AD Frequently Asked Questions
[Note for alt.comics.2000AD readers: This is pretty much an early
draft of the FAQ and which hasn't been subjected to any form of
detailed scrutiny just yet. As such it will have gaps, omissions and will
contain - as the good book says - "Much that is apocryphal, or at least,
wildly inaccurate." But at least it's free! Sections which are undefined,
or which contain text known to be a stopgap or
whatever, including notes to myself are surrounded in square brackets, like
this paragraph and should not be taken terribly seriously.]
2000AD is an anthology comic published in the UK.
Frequently Asked Questions - and their answers! Mainly.
If you have a question that is not answered here then e-mail it to me
at 2000...@nite-flite.co.uk . If you have any corrections, flames,
suggestions or updates then these should go to the same address.
Answers - the important part - hinted at, alluded to, directly stated
and supplied by many (in no particular order), including:
David "Don't call me Dave!" Bishop
Andy Diggle
Steve McManus
W. R. Logan. lo...@classof79.freeserve.co.uk
James W Campbell
I K Dickson
Fr1day [email]
+ Gordon Rennie
Particular thanks go to David Bishop and Andy Diggle whose musings on
the group were ruthlessly cribbed for this document without me even
bothering to ask. Their tolerance of my inane questioning is
appreciated.
This Version : 0.2
Created : 24th July 1998
Last Revised : 17th July 2000AD
alt.comics.2000AD is a USENET discussion group dedicated to the
British science fiction anthology comic 2000AD.
Contents
1. ALT.COMICS.2000AD
2. 2000AD IN PRINT
3. 2000AD SERIES
4. 2000AD SPIN OFFS
5. JUDGE DREDD: THE STRIP
6. JUDGE DREDD: THE MOVIE
7. 2000AD ITSELF
8. FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
9. PUBLICATIONS LIST (THANKS TO W.R. LOGAN!)
10. LASTLY...
[Add in a 2000AD CULTURE section for all that Squaxx Dek Thargo
stuff?]
1. NEW FOR THIS REVISION
Diggle/Rebellion revolution
New submission guidelines
Prog 2000
The New Johnny Alpha
Whatwill2000ADbecalledintheyear2000???
Dredd's face
What, is that not enough?
alt.comics.2000ad was created in August 1995 by
Fri...@cobalt.demon.co.uk
1. alt.comics.2000AD
1.1 SO WHAT'S THIS GROUP ALL ABOUT
alt.comics.2000ad was created in August 1995 by Fri...@cobalt.demon.co.uk to
fill a gap in the USENET hierachy. After being proposed on alt.config, no
objections were raised. It was created for the discussion of the comic
2000AD. In the original group proposal, Friday correctly predicted that in
years to come it would be a sounding off point for campaigns to bring back
long-dead characters and discuss what the comic will be called in the year
2000. In general, all aspects of the comic are discussed, from art and
story to distribution and all kinds of minutia.
In Friday's words, from the Charter:
alt.comics.2000ad is a forum for discussion of the Fleetway Editions
comic "2000AD", its stories, characters past and present, and related
projects. Topical material includes, but is not necessarily limited
to, 2000AD, the Megazine, obviously related projects such as the
recent Judge Dredd film etc. Discussion of subjects not related to
characters or events in 2000AD will be discouraged, except where there is a
definite link of some kind - for example, Batman may not be discussed except
with reference to Dredd/Batman crossovers such as
"Judgement on Gotham".
'Fleetway Editions' (now Egmont Fleetway) have now sold 2000AD to Rebellion,
the computer game developers behind Aliens Versus Predator.
2. DO ANY OF THE CREATORS FREQUENT THE GROUP?
Andy Diggle, the current editor, is a regular contributor along with a
smattering of artists and writers. Now you don't need to travel to a comics
convention to talk with your heroes!
(Well, at least some of them!) It's entirely possible that more of
them will be waiting in the wings, listening to the discussion but not
commenting.
3. I'M NEW TO THIS, HOW ABOUT SOME ESSENTIALS?
Of course. Ever since the first issue referred to itself as
"Programme 1" individual issues have been known as "progs." Tharg is
the "alien" who edits the Prog - in reality this was originally Steve
McManus - and who occasionally has his own 5 or 6 page strip. In this
version of reality, Tharg commands a - sometimes loyal - band of
robots who are the art and script droids. Hence the references, for
example, to the Bisley Droid. The Progs are then printed via
electro-presses and distributed all over the solar system. As the
readership has slowly matured, this aspect of the Prog has been
de-emphasised. However some of us old-timers who've been reading
since the early days may still fondly ramble on about "thrill-power",
Squaxx dek Thargo and other esoterica.
In the reality which corresponds to the world outside the
window, the post of Tharg is filled by Andy Diggle.
4. NO, I MEANT THAT I'M NEW TO USENET!
That, as they are so fond of saying, is beyond the scope of this
article! Besides, you're reading this already, aintcha?
5. I WANT TO DISCUSS THIS AMAZING TWIST ENDING, LIKE RIGHT NOW!!!!
Here's where we wield the blunt instrument of the SPOILER POLICY. You must
have noticed that when your Mum watches Eastenders or Coronations Street,
she'll often nod sagely when something spectacular happens and say something
like: "Well, he's being written out the series anyway."
After all, the plot has been telegraphed in all of the newspapers for
the previous few weeks. Being telegraphed in this way boosts the
ratings. Contrast this with a Babylon 5 viewer. If you had let slip
even a minor plot detail before he'd watched a particular episode,
there was a good chance that he'd physically attack you and raze your
house to the ground. You'd have spoiled it for him. A post which can spoil
the enjoyment of - in this case - the reader is called a
SPOILER.
Got that?
Now can you guess which of the two camps 2000AD falls into?
Science Fiction is the perfect genre for being surprised in. Although
2000AD is not nearly so reliant on the small details as Babylon 5 is, there
was recently a series whose ending was surprising to say the least. The
temptation to discuss this is overwhelming. But remember that even within
the UK, some people receive their progs a few days after the rest of us.
(I'm one of them as it happens.) In other parts of the world, it may be
weeks before they get to see what we've been raving about.
By all means discuss the twists and surprises. BUT CLEARLY
MARK YOUR SUBJECT LINE WITH THE WORD "SPOILER" Another USENET
convention is to separate the parts of your text with a couple of
dozen carriage returns, so that the reader has to scroll down to see
the spoiler, and thus prevent anyone from accidentally having their
enjoyment spoiled.
2. 2000AD IN PRINT
Although there are many sources of strips, some having been reprinted
in various forms, the definitive original source is the Prog itself
and Judge Dredd: The Megazine. Just to enhance confusion and promote
disorientation, the Megazine has been relaunched a number of times so
that there are now several distinct and unique issue ones.
As of this writing, the following have been printed:
2000AD progs 1-1201 (yes, well over a thousand issues!)
prog 1, 26th February 1977
<exhaustive list...>
>>The following list should definitely be cleaned up, with the
>>Meg, Crisis and Lawman of the Future listed below Tooth and
>>before the Titan books.
>Can anyone recommend (or compile) such a site?
>
My site does this:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/~p0071480/2000prog.htm
However, if people want story listings for the reprint books then
they will have to send me the info.
Wake
3. 2000AD SERIES
1. WHAT'S THE SITUATION WITH ZENITH REPRINTS?
Rights have now reverted to 2000AD. You'll have to ask Tharg...
2. IS CHARACTER X EVER COMING BACK? WHAT ABOUT SERIES Y?
The current editorial team are of the opinion that characters and
series should not be allowed to return unless the original creators of that
series are involved. Hopefully in this way we won't get a repeat of the
less-than-well-received Robohunter return. (Less than well received because
the original was a sparkling gem and the reinvented Robohunter -
charitably - wasn't.) Similar arguments apply to many other characters,
though they have their fans also. Even so, the consensus of the group is
that the originals are superior.
In fact this entire section can be dealt with by applying the
phrase "not impossible" to any case that you care to think of. Future
changes in editorial policy, for example, or changing circumstances can of
course conspire to bring back characters who were thought dead and buried
forever. Preferably it would be nice to use the original writer and artist
on a revived strip, but since the majority of strips are not creator-owned
and so do not require their permission, anything can happen. Naturally
"Anything can happen" isn't a very satisying answer and so some specific
cases are dealt with here because it gives an insight into what it would
entail.
CONFIRMATION OF NON-RETURN
--------------------------
OK, while that may be a strange little title, there have been
confirmations that characters will not return. This was prompted by
Prog 2000 which was a celebration of characters past and present. Some
were resurrected - in the case of Strontium Dog while others are definitely
not. The plan was to have new artwork in pin-up form, though no story, for
D.R & Quinch and Halo Jones by Alan Davies and Ian Gibson respectively.
Since Alan Moore has claimed that he will not write for 2000AD again, that
lets both of them out.
D.R. & Quinch
-------------
This was in the running as a question that genuinely was asked the
most frequently and incidentally with the most vehemence! When are
those dangerous, loveable ruffians with nuclear capability coming
back? Absolutely no-one in their right mind would wish to bring them
back without Alan Moore scripting their exploits and Alan Davis
committing the vision to paper. However, given this necessary
condition, Moore said that it was a socially irresponsible thing to
have written and as such he doesn't plan on doing any more. He had
this to say on the matter: (from the 10 Years of 2000AD video)
"DR & Quinch is something that I'll probably ask to have destroyed
upon my deathbed. I can offer no real defences for DR & Quinch it
was.... I'm sorry what can I say it was... there are no socially
redeeming features, what basically happened was that it was a short
story that got out of hand"
"I was asked to do a future shock, and so I basically did this short
story about a couple of alien juvenile delinquents who are responsible for
the creation of life upon Earth, and the destruction of Earth several
thousand years later."
"You know that in itself was not a terribly objectionable story, then
they said the readers really love this, do us a series, and I did. It
didn't last very long because basically there are only so many things
you can do where every episode ends with a huge explosion and limbs
flying everywhere."
"You know that was the point of DR & Quinch, it was like continuing
the tradition of Dennis the menace, but giving him a thermo-nuclear
capacity."
"I really couldn't justify it from a social viewpoint, I'm sorry that
I did it and I'll never do it again."
Quote posted to the group by W. R. Logan. (Thanks, saved me some
typing!) So as you can see, the return of D.R. & Quinch is highly
unlikely to ever happen at least in its most ideal form. (Comment for US
readers, Moore is probably referring to the British Dennis the
Menace, independently created at the same time as the US one in 1952
but who is far less of a wuss.)
Halo Jones
----------
This is an Alan Moore question and again a question that really does
crop up with some regularity, although not nearly as much as D.R. &
Quinch. In the introduction to the collected edition of Halo Jones
Book Three he writes that he has no problems with the notion of
returning for another outing with Halo, along with artists Ian Gibson,should
the circumstances change. Since this was written in 1986 and it's now over
ten years later - and given that few, if any, plot threads were left hanging
by Book 3's resolution - it would seem that Book 4 is an unlikely
proposition although - of course - not an
impossible one.
Alan Moore is reportedly not best friends with Fleetway.
We don't know how he feels about Rebellion, but it seems unlikely that he'll
want to come back.
Strontium Dogs/Johnny Alpha
---------------------------
He's dead and he's planned to stay that way, or at least that was the
case until very recently. Issues up until 1998 had distanced
themselves from the original Strontium Dog universe with only one
character from that era - Durham Red - apparently surviving. Even
then she was in suspended animation for 1200 years. That in itself
would have seemed to make Johnny Alpha's return pretty unlikely; not
only was he gone but so was his entire world.
Or at least so it seemed.
Prog 2000 launched the new Strontium Dog series starring Johnny
Alpha with a 12-page first episode, written by John Wagner and drawn
by Carlos Ezquerra.
*Note that Prog 2000 is the first prog of the year 2000 and not issue
number 2000, which many have been a source of some confusion.
But is Johnny back from the dead?
David Bishop, Editor:
The more popular the historical figure - the more they have become
part of modern human folklore - the greater the degree of fantasy,
distortion and outright invention...
and:
When constructing any historical account the first and major task is
to sift all available evidence in an effort to separate truth from
fiction, known fact from mere speculation...
STRONTIUM DOG Part 1 - Prog 2000, published 15/12/99
Further discussion on the newsgroup made it quite plain that the
intention was to ditch the entirety of the continuity and set the old
stories as being mythical tales told of Johhny Alpha. Possibly the
new stories could still be set in the accepted continuity, but this is by no
means settled if the latest word is anything to go by.
The current line is that the new story is the 'definitive' version. That's
not to say that any of the other plots didn't happen (including the Final
Solution in which Johnny dies.)
On a more political note, he was originally killed by the creators as
a means of protesting against the treatment of creators by the
publishers of the time. In those bad old days, it was a rate per
page, no royalties and the creators never saw a penny from any of the
merchandising. Ezquerra supposedly quit Strontium Dog because he
didn't want alpha killed.
Nemesis the Warlock
-------------------
Made his absolutely final appearance in Prog 2000, ending the ten part Book
X.
The ABC Warriors
----------------
Appeared in Prog 2000. Deadlock is appearing in a new solo series soon. The
Mills droid is also working on bringing the whole team back for a major new
series.
The Space Girls
---------------
The Space Girls were reportedly amongst the victims of the Angels of
Mercy. Fitting.
3. OK THEN, WHAT ABOUT CONTRIBUTOR X?
Less often heard than about characters, but a valid question anyway.
Sometimes the great artists and writers of old are sorely missed,
having been tempted onto other things. Their return to 2000AD is a
question of cash, opportunity and naturally the right project...
Alan Moore
----------
Seems unlikely at the moment. For one thing, he's a _very_ busy guy. For
another, his reasons for not returning to 2000AD in the past have,
apparently, had something to do with him wanting the rights to his creations
to revert to him.
Since Rebellion have now bought 2000AD with the express purpose of utilising
and exploiting characters, they would be unwise to risk the potential
avalanche of creators demanding their characters back.
Cam Kennedy
-----------
What you on about? Now regularly drawing Dredd again.
Ian Gibson
----------
Will be doing a Halo Jones pin-up as well as a Robohunter one for the
millennium prog.
4. COULD SO AND SO KICK SO AND SO'S ASS?
This is a question that is never asked, because we are a mature bunch
and such schoolyard matters are thoroughly beneath us.... well, OK
then. When John Alpha met Dredd, it was Alpha who got thrashed to a
pulp. Dredd had under his belt fifteen years of the toughest academy
on Earth, you see. And now that very question has indeed cropped up!
For the definitive guide to this check out Prog 2000's deathmatch. Proof
positive that the editorial staff are lying when they say they have no spare
time to read your submissions...
5. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE 2000AD ANNUALS?
They are no longer being produced. Why? In the succinct words of Andy
Diggle: "Because nobody bought them."
6. WHAT'S THE WORST PROG EVER TO APPEAR?
Such a judgement is obviously open to a great deal of interpretation.
Often cited as the worst story in history is Ant Wars - which was a
very early story - and Soul Sisters, which wasn't even a 2000AD story
but appeared in the Megazine. Dave Stone wrote to the newsgroup to
explain this. Soul Sisters suffered from the two writers having
different senses of humour and unluckily this translated into editing
out each other's jokes.
W.R. Logan - in response to this very question - and amidst
discussion about the Prog's low points, highlighted a ratings system
whereby the tru awfulness of the week's issue can be ascertained.
This is the Millar System and here he's quoted:
1 Millar. Poor but a couple of good points.
2 Millar's, Poor but with one redeeming feature.
3 Millars, bad but with a nice cover, or crap story by good artist.
4 Millars. Complete tosh, no redeming qualities at all.
5 Millars, Refund time not even Tharg managed to inject any thrill
power in to this one. The Prog you read only when nothing else is at
hand.
Mark Millar, apparently, is none too highly regarded for his work on
the Prog.
7. OK - <SHUDDER> - LET'S CONCENTRATE ON SOMETHING POSITIVE THEN.
That would be the best stories ever to appear. As we've seen, when
the Prog is bad it can really stink. When it's shining at its very
best, however, there is nothing on the planet can touch it! Here we
can't ever reach a consensus. There have been numerous top tens of
characters and stories. Some crop up regularly.
[examples, huh?]
8. WHAT IS PROG 2000? IS THE PROG ENDING?
No, it's not ending and it's not Prog number 2000. Prog 2000 was the
very last prog to be published in 1999 and had a star-studded line up.
Speculation, perhaps, but maybe this will be the very last prog to bear the
name 2000AD?
Such speculation proved fruitless...
9. IF IT LOOKS LIKE A GI, WALKS LIKE A GI AND IS BRIGHT BLUE LIKE A
GI...
Then it must be Rogue Trooper, right? Or it could be Cyan Tor. Many
suspect that they are both Genetic Infantrymen with some voicing the
suspicions that Cyan Tor is actually Rogue himself. Although this
would appear not to be the case, there is a definite link between
them. This link will be explored in a forthcoming story, to be
published in Prog 2000. (The last prog of 1999.)
Or even Tor Cyan.
In the now legendary Prog 2000 story, which climaxed in one of the most
moving images in the history of 2000AD, Tor claimed to be a 'descendant' of
Rogue. Exactly what this means has yet to be clarified. Stay tuned...
4. 2000AD SPIN OFFS
There have been a number of flirtations with the computer games
industry in the mid-eighties, with Judge Dredd as you might expect
appearing in nearly as many different games as all other characters
put together! The most recent of these was [Judge Dredd] for the
Playstation and published by Gremlin Interactive.
1. ARE WE GOING TO SEE OUR FAVOURITE CHARACTERS ON THE BIG SCREEN?
Rebellion are apparently comitted to just that.
2. WHAT COULD I BE WATCHING RIGHT NOW?
Judge Dredd: The Movie
----------------------
But then I guess you all knew about this. Judge Dredd was released in the
summer of 1995 followed later by the video edition, laserdisc and most
recently DVD. I can't vouch for any of the other versions but the DVD
release was disappointing in terms of additional material such as behind the
scenes stuff. All that was included was the original cinema trailer. The
DVD as far as I know was a US import and as such unplayable on the majority
of DVD machines in the UK which of course are set to play only Region 2
software.
Hardware
--------
Controversial by way of being entirely unconnected with the Prog but
which saw fit to have its entire plot based on a 2000AD Future Shock
called "Shok!" by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. A credit was later
added to releases of the movie after legal moves. As a movie I found
it thoroughly enjoyable but opinions on the watchability of Hardware
tend to be more subjective than most. (i.e. all my friends, except
one, thought it was crap.) Dust Devil was mooted as a sequel, I
remember reading in a Science Fiction magazine, but I never heard any
more about it. In fact it was made as I've since found out, having
nothing to do with any 2000AD property and indeed nothing to do with
Hardware either. Jim Campbell was kind enough to provide the details
for me:
Dust Devil was actually made and _was_ unrelated to any 2000ad
material (it wasn't even SF). It actually wasn't bad although Richard
Stanley had to finance its distribution himself when Palace Pictures
went bust.
There _was_ some talk of a sequel to Hardware, but as a comic strip. I know
this because Hardware: Acid Reign was one of my many
almost-made-it projects.
Acid Reign was proposed (originally) as a 4-issue American style
mini-series with me as scripter, Peter Doherty on board as series
artist and Duncan Fegredo signed up as cover artist. The series was a
direct sequel to the film, using all the same (surviving) characters
and had Richard Stanley onboard as a script consultant (basically, he
gave me license to use three or four elements from his original
screenplay which had to be dropped because they were too expensive to
film).
Mike Richardson at Dark Horse was very keen on the idea but, sadly, at the
same time DC published an entirely unrelated comic also called
Hardware. Since no-one in their right mind wanted to take on
Time-Warner's lawyers, the project was essentially dead in the US. It
was then touted to Fleetway (who hold the comic rights anyway), but of
course Steve MacManus said he'd sooner stick pins in his eyes (or
something similar) than have anything to with that particular movie.
Movies with a 2000AD Feel
-------------------------
Yeah, yeah, I know. Clutching at straws here. The classic example of this
would be Robocop. Indeed the release of Rococop was indirectly responsible
for the Judge Dredd movie being pushed further back in its development.
3. ANY OTHER MOVIES IN THE PIPELINE?
Not at the moment, but watch this space...
4. WHAT ABOUT COMPUTER GAMES?
There were a surprising number of games in the eighties, or perhaps
that's not so surprising because back then it was a lot easier and
less time-intensive to make a computer game. Currently most of the
crop are therefore for the old Spectrum and C64 computers. Better
yet, you can download them for emulators and once again experience
digital thrill power! A full list of web sites where you can get
these games is beyond the scope of this document, but a good starting
point might be:
[Speccy games, C64 games etc.]
For a full list of 2000AD derived software titles, visit:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/~p0071480/2000ad.htm
For the C64, many of the muscial scores from games are downloadable,
which naturally includes the 2000AD ones, for example Nemesis the
Warlock. Playing these tunes is possible via PlaySID (for the Amiga)
along achives of tunes, both available for the Amiga from Aminet which can
be linked to from http://www.cucug.org (and follow the appropriate links!)
(List supplied by Wakefield L Carter <wa...@2000ad.nu>)
Game Publisher/Developer
Platform
---- ------------------- --------
Nemesis the Warlock Martech Games Spectrum, 1987
Rogue Trooper Piranha Spectrum, 1986
Strontium Dog: The Killing Quicksilva
Spectrum, 1985
Judge Dredd Melbourne House
Spectrum, 1986
Judge Dredd Tiger Games
LCD game, 1995
Judge Dredd Gremlin Interactive
Playstation, 1997
Judge Dredd, the video game Acclaim PC, Mac, SNES,
Genesis/Mega-Drive,
Game Boy, Game Gear,
1995
Piranha were in the process of developing Halo Jones and Judge Death
for the Spectrum but to my knowledge, nothing else was heard from them
although I am in possession of a reputed screenshot of Halo Jones from a
magazine at the time.
5. ANY OTHER GAMES COMING ALONG?
Of course there are! You can expect to see many more titles in the
future as 2000AD comes to dominate the world. The current situation
is as follows:
Slaine
------
In production is "a slaine video game" from the makers of Quake.
Although this is all the information handed out so far, we can expect
that in classic Quake fashion, it will be a 3D first person
perspective hack 'em up running on the PC. Not stated is whether it
is iD software itself producing the game or whether "the makers of
Quake" in fact refers to the original founders of iD who later left to set
up another company.
It might be of interest to some gamers that "skins" - in other words a
hi-tech way of dressing up your Quake characters - are available to
make your guy look like Judge Dredd. [Seek out a link for this.]
Devlin Waugh
------------
Some 3D renderings were recently posted to the newsgroup. I have
since spoken to the guy behind it - Russell Murray - and... well, if I knew
anything more I wouldn't be able to say would I? :)
Other Stuff
-----------
With 2000AD having been bought out by computer game developers Rebellion,
it's only a matter of time...
6. WHAT ABOUT RADIO PLAYS?
(Turbo-powered thanks to W.R. Logan for the details.) There have been two
BBC Radio productions based on - can you guess - Judge Dredd. These were
originally serialised on Radio One in three-minute
installments and appeared as part of the Radio One Drive Time Show.
The Day the Law Died
--------------------
Based on the early epic where Judge Cal takes control of Mega City 1,
the radio adaptation was dramatised by Paul Powell. Total playing
time was 2 hours and 10 minutes.
ISBN: 1 85849 573 3
CD Cat No: 528 661 2
Cassette Cat No: 528 661 4
Original Music: Wilfred Acosta
Technical Realisation: Wilfred Acosta, Ian Harker, Rebecca
Kirby, Ros Mason & Anita Wilcox
Production Co-ordinators: Maureen Trotman and Julie Drummond
Production and Direction: Dirk Maggs.
The Cast:
Judge Dredd: Gary Martin
Judge Caligula: William Dufris
Judge Hershey: Lorelei King
Judge Griffin, Walter The Wobot, Grampus & The Kleggs and Fergee:
William Roberts
The Apocalypse War
------------------
Based on the dramatic events which lead to the eventual des... well
you'll have to listen to it, won't you? Again, dramatised by Paul
Powell, the source stories were Block Mania and of course The
Apocalypse War by John Wagner and Alan Grant. Total playing time 2
hours 10 minutes.
ISBN: 1 85849 583 0
CD Cat No: 528 665 2
Cassette Cat No: 528 665 4
Original Music: Wilfred Acosta
Technical realisation: Wilfred Acosta, Ian Harker, Paul
Arnold & Anita Wilcox
Production Co-ordinators: Maureen Trotman and Julie Drummond
Production & Direction: Dirk Maggs.
The Cast:
Judge Dredd: Gary Martin
Judge Hershey, Maria: Lorelei King
War Marshall Kazan: William Dufris
Supreme Judge Bulgarin,
Walter The Wobot,
Sov-Judge Izaaks: William Roberts.
Recently (late 1998) in a poll taken on the group, this was voted the
best Judge Dredd story ever, so it is fitting that it has made to a
different medium.
7. ANYTHING ELSE? (I SOUND LIKE A COMPUTER GAME MYSELF!)
A range of action figures are available now. Some of them don't even fall
apart!
One other potential development is for a tabletop Role Playing Game.
In the eighties there was one created by Games Workshop, but this is
"out of print" so to speak. The licence to produce a Judge Dredd game has
since expired and is now back with Fleetway.
Talks at an early stage are underway between Mindshift Game
Design Studios and Fleetway to create an entirely new Judge Dredd RPG
with entirely different set of rules to those employed by the Games
Workshop version.
[About Collectable Card Game here.]
5. JUDGE DREDD: THE STRIP
1. WHO IS THIS DREDD GUY?
He is the Law! Cloned from the Father of Justice, Dredd is a
dedicated lawman. Judge, jury and executioner - to coin a phrase -
even amongst other Judges who have all had 15 years of intensive
training, he is the toughest of the lot!
2. SOUNDS LIKE HE'S A BIT OF FASCIST?
Sometimes that aspect of his character is played up very heavily. At
other times we get to see a more considered version of him. Sometimes he's
quite definitely the bad guy, sometimes he's a true hero. All of the time
is stature is immense. The very issue of Dredd's fascism was addressed in
an article printed in the Megazine. [Recount arguments if I can find the
damn thing!] The conclusion was that since in Dredd's conviction,
*everyone* is equal in the eyes of the law, he can't be a fascist, at least
in the dictionary sense.
3. WHAT'S WITH THE HELMET? WHY DO WE NEVER GET TO SEE HIS FACE?
It's one of the defining parts of the Dredd mythology that his face is never
seen, yet there have been several occasions when it has (almost)been
revealed.
? In the Dead Man story, burnt by the horrors of the Cursed Earth and so we
don't get to see what he's really like although there are several
interesting clues. From a cover we get to see that Dredd has pale blue eyes
with square irises. His real eyes were replaced by bionics after an
encounter with the Mutant in The City of the Damned.
? Judge Kraken shares the same DNA as Dredd since they are clones. Kraken's
eyes are blue.
? Judge Fargo. As Dredd is a clone of Fargo and Fargo's face has been seen
a number of time, some think that this is what Dredd looks like. This point
kicked off a tremendous discussion. Official word from the editors hasn't
been forthcoming, so this topic will run and run! The clearest example of
this is in Destiny's Angels, Prog 377 (4 Aug 84).
? Judge Rico. As his clone brother, he ought to be expected to be identical
to Dredd. Sneakily, we only see Rico after he has returned from Titan after
spending 20 years paying for his crimes. To survive on Titan, certain
surgical alterations have to be made to the face...
? In "The Return of Rico", Prog 30, him and Dredd are seen as cadets without
helmets although they are indistinct.
? In "Blood Cadets", Prog 1187, Rico and Joe are both shown as cadets,
unhelmeted. Apparently this was not what John Wagner intended, but was what
it said in the script and so Simon Fraser got the chance to make a bit of
history.
? After being in a face-change machine, so it isn't what he's really like.
David Bishop wrote:
"In his original pencils for Judgement on Gotham, Bisley actually drew Dredd
full face, sans helmet. Obviously, that panel never got out of the office
but we still have a photocopy of it somewhere.
Dredd looked like a cross between the Punisher and
Reed Richards of the Fantastic 4."
4. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MEGA CITY 2?
Initially it was nuked off the face of the planet by none other than
Dredd himself. Having saved MC-2 in "The Cursed Earth" he only goes
and wastes it again in "Judgment Day." That's Dreddy fer ya!
David Bishop:
"Ah yes, the 'Japanese are rebuilding MC-2' plotline. This was
conceived by the then-2000 AD editorial team as the thread for a new
Dredd mega-epic, at a time when Dredd was lapsing into (perhaps) its
worst phase as a strip in 2000 AD i.e. the latter days of Garth
Ennis's tenure on the series and long before the return of John
Wagner.
The MC-2 plot was introduced in a handful of one-offs, strips in
specials and the like but never got a chance to get going because the
editorial team on 2000 AD was changed. Afterwards, the new team
quietly and unceremoniously dumped the MC-2 plot."
This, incidentally, was what the story War Games was leading to.
5. THE LAWGIVER & LAWMASTER LOOK DIFFERENT TO HOW I REMEMBER THEM...
You aren't mistaken! The Judges are getting updated equipment which
will be in testing at the moment. The new Lawmaster was designed by
Jim Murray, Jason Brashill and "and friend of theirs" on computer.
The updated equipment has been making cameo appearances for some time
now (as of late 1998) and will be the subject of a story in the prog
shortly.
6. JUDGE DREDD: THE MOVIE
Judge Dredd: The Movie
1. IS THERE GOING TO BE A DIRECTOR'S CUT?
Whilst there aren't any plans for a director's cut, the potential is
definitely there as much of the movie was cut from the final release.
This includes much in the way of character building material (anyone
surprised?) and, astonishingly, twenty minutes from the climactic
scenes at the end. Stills from this sequence were printed in 2000AD.
For anyone wondering what happened to the clones, this is the answer.
2. THE MOVIE...ER...WASN'T GREAT. I WANT BLOOD!!
Some people enjoyed the movie. Some bought the laserdisc. For those
who didn't like it, the reasons for this are numerous and varied,
sometimes even contradictory. Many put the blame squarely on the
shoulders of Stallone who has a habit of taking a hand on the
scripting of the movies he's in. Many couldn't stomach the thought of
Stallone as Dredd even though Ezquerra based Dredd's chin on Stallone as he
appeared in the film Death race 2000! Still others blame Stallone's
performance. While it's easy to make him a scapegoat for all the ills, the
reality is that many factors subtle and not-so-subtle, behind and in front
of the camera resulted in the
experience you see today. Moviemaking is far from being a science and
sometimes even all the "right" ingredients fail to make a "right"
product.
3. WE NEVER SEE DREDD'S FACE IN THE COMIC, BUT WE DO IN THE FILM.
WHY?
Simple answer: Hollywood. [About spending money on a famous actor with an
established fan base.]
4. WHAT HAPPENED TO [THINGY AND ALAN SILVESTRI]?
[Thingy] was scheduled to score the soundtrack [...] Alan Silvestri
scored the movie at the end of the day.
5. WHO HAS THE RIGHTS TO THE DREDD MOVIE FRANCHISE
Franchise. Right. <Sigh>. [Currently Disney holds the rights to
Judge Dredd. [About when the rights expire?]Cinergi Pictures
Entertainment, who are owned by Disney.] Five year option and then
all rights revert.
Which by my calculations should be any time... now!
6. WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL?
The box office is king. Dredd's returns at the box office have
ensured that a sequel is not going to happen. I am unaware of anyone
who is discussing even the possibility.
7. THAT'S NOT THE DREDD THAT I KNOW! WHY DIDN'T 2000AD KEEP HIM THE
SAME?
The power of veto wasn't something that they had in the armoury. This was
given away when the option for the movie was signed by the (then)IPC
management sometimes in the early 1980s. As a result a number of the
features that we take for granted in Dredd's world, from the existence of
Iso-Cubes and the shape of the Lawgiver, to say nothing of overall
continuity changed dramatically. (If you wish to be _really_ frightened at
what might have transpired, you should see some variations of Dredd's
uniform as designed by Gianni Versace! - The Art of Judge Dredd)
8. WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY 2000AD SCRIBES?
A script by them does apparently exist! John Wagner and Alan Grant
wrote a script but the situation was that they wouldn't get any money
unless the script was used. Hollywood being Hollywood, it wasn't used as it
would have been too expensive to film and the script is
supposedly locked away someplace, never having seen the light of day.
Oh, and Alan Grant reportedly hated the movie with a passion - even a
year before it was finished!
7. 2000AD ITSELF
1. SO WHO'S BEHIND IT ALL ANYWAY?
A partial bestiary of writers and artists are included here, not so
much to make this a comprehensive directory, but so that when they are
referenced elsewhere in the FAQ, it is understod who they are. Of course
long term readers and fanboys will already know all this to the nth degree!
Since I'm doing this from memory I fully expect to be flamed along the lines
of: "How could you even CONSIDER X when you
didn't include Y."
Writers
Sonny Steelgrave is a psudonym for Alan MacKenzie, himself an
ex-editor.
Artists
Carlos Ezquerra
One of the original creators of none other than Judge Dredd. Famed
for his ability to sustain a massive output and maintain his quality
as witnessed by unbroken runs of 25 progs or more.
[This would be an ideal section to get others involved, i.e. loving
bios of their favourite artists and writers.]
2. What's 2000AD going to be called in the year 2000?
2000AD. Has a certain ring to it, don't you think?
[Requests for artwork. Up to 25% of a strip may be scanned. For
creator-owned series, ask them first. You may be surprised as long as your
site or whatever isn't for commercial purposes.]
3. WHO HAS TAKEN ON THE PERSONA OF THARG?
In other words, who have the editors of 2000AD been? Well as far as
us mere mortals have been able to find out, it goes something like
this. Anyone who still believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy
should perhaps skip this list in order to keep their illusions intact!
[In no particular order! Perhaps we can do a bubble-sort on the list
so that the earliest Thargs rise to the top!]
Pat Mills
Kelvin Gosnell
Nick Landau
Steve Macmanus (MAC-1) circa Prog 100 - 520
Richard Burton Prog 520 - approx 800
Alan McKenzie
John Tomlinson
David Bishop (BISH-OP)
And now...
Andy Diggle
4. WHAT THE HELL WAS PROG 500 ALL ABOUT???
The creators strike back! In a never-to-be-repeated experiment, half
a dozen pages at the back of this prog were given to the writers and
artists to do whatever they wished with them. Not part of the regular
comics contunuity, they were primarily a means to blow off steam at the
injustices that they were subjected to. Even so, Mike McMahon's strip was
deemed to much even for this new liberal attitude and so a vastly tamed down
version was printed. The original with its full complement of vitriol
eventually saw the light of day in Judge Dredd:The Mega History.
A page by page explanation where known.
[About the G-FD script?]
5. STUFF ALL THIS, I'M A MERCENARY! HOW MUCH IS MY PROG WORTH?
Your mileage may vary. A lot may depend on the condition of your prog as
well as whether any free gifts were included and are still
attached. Some individuals progs may be worth more than those printed
immediately before or after, because of a rare appearance by a writer or
artist and so on. Some individuals, operating on principles that will be
forever unknown to the universe at large, may be desperate for a particular
issue and hence pay more for it. Generally, however, the value of the prog
is not high except those from the early days.
Bucking the trend are the controversial issues 71, 72, 77 and 78 where some
rather well known food chains were dissed mercilessly. The bottom line is
that back progs are just not that valuable.
Asking on the newsgroup is likely to elicit a number of bids in the 1p-99p
bracket. Be prepared...
6. LOVELY FONTS, WHERE CAN I GET THEM?
This is one of those opportunistic things that no-one really asks
about, but which just happened to crop up on the group. For those of
you who are intrigued by typefaces (not, technically fonts, he says,
his DTP background coming through) here is how to make your printouts
look like the prog.
The fonts used in 2000AD [from x to y dates?] were specially
commissioned by 2000AD from Rian Hughes, who retains the copyright.
Although 2000AD had exclusive rights for several years, Hughs now
sells licences for them to be used elsewhere and one weight of, for
example, the Judgement typeface will cost in the region of 40 pounds.
If you wish to use the Judgement font in your own website you can try
asking him, but the rules are strict and only the Class of '79 and the
2000AD Covers site] have been allowed to use it so far without the normal
costs. The Scrotnig font was spotted being used on MTV.
http://www.fontshop.com.au/designers/hughes180/hughes180.html
http://www.devicefonts.co.uk
7. IS BISLEY OVERRATED OR THE BEST THING IN ART?
You don't really want to be asking this. Please adopt flameproof
personality and then wade in with your opinions on alt.comics.2000ad.
8. ANY PLANS FOR ANOTHER, Y'KNOW, ANOTHER ESS E EX THEMED PROG?
Nope. Even though it did put 4500 onto the sales for the week...
9. SO HOW DO I BECOME A SCRIPT DROID?
From the keyboard of Neo-Tharg Andy Diggle...
I'm looking for short stories with a twist ending, with some element of
sci-fi, fantasy or horror.
I want a 1-page synopsis PLUS a full script... but I'll only read the script
if I like the synopsis. This seems more fair to me than rejecting a
potential writer on the basis of a synopsis alone.
The secret to making a 2000 AD short story work is the ending. Anyone can
write a lame surprise ("... and then the world suddenly exploded!"). The
secret is to make give that twist a POINT. A degree of irony, a comment upon
the subject of the story. Otherwise it's just a bunch of stuff that
happens... What I call
a "So What? Story". Pointless.
And hints from Gordon Rennie…
You should send a short covering letter telling them who you are and what
other work, if any, you've done, with examples of any published work
enclosed. Tell them what kind of thing you're sending them - Pulp Sci Fi or
Future Shock ideas, a new series proposal etc - but save the details for the
story proposal itself, and don't give them the dazzling hard-sell about you
and your work, because it won't impress them. Your story ideas should be on
a separate sheet(s) but clearly marked with your name and number/contact
address.
You're best to start off submitting short Future Shock ideas, because
they'll want to see if you can actually write before they'll let you loose
on that 26-part epic you've always dreamed of doing. These should be short -
certainly no more than a page long each, and hopefully shorter than that.
(Any time I've been pitching for Vector 13/PSF etc, I usually send in at
least three ideas and they usually all fit onto one A4 page. Other people's
mileage may vary, however, but if in doubt keep it short and snappy.)
Longer stories are much trickier for newcomers to successfully submit, but
again should be as short and concise as possible. Three pages should
probably be your max and give you enough space to detail your story's
setting, the characters involved and a plot run-through. Do give an
indication of how long your story is supposed to be (you don't have to be
too precise - 6-8 episodes, 10-12 episodes etc will do here and the editor
will then often negotiate the final length with you.) Don't sweat blood over
breaking it down into individual episodes at this stage. (Although I tend to
describe the opening episode in some detail, since that's the one that's
going to hook the readers' interest. Again, that's just my preference and
other people do things differently.) If the editor likes the basic idea
they'll then probably ask you to produce a detailed episode-by-episode
synopsis, and that's when you have to sweat the real details that you've
blithely skated over in your original story proposal.
Editors don't have enough time to plough through unsolicited scripts, not
when they have a weekly comic to produce as well. I'm sure they'd like to be
able to go through these scripts and give people detailed pointers on where
they're going wrong and what can be improved, but it simply isn't possible,
and that's been true for every editor at every company I've ever worked for.
They want something they can read through quickly and concisely and which
will be able to give them a good idea of the writer's ability and the
story's potential. If an unsolicited story idea shows promise they'll ask
for a script, and that's when they'll hopefully be able to have the time to
go through the nuts and bolts of script-writing with a potential new
contributor.
8. FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
1. BOOKS
Judge Dredd: The Mega-History ISBN 1-85291-128-X
Note: This book is essential reading. I mean it. You're reading this
FAQ? Enjoying it, even? Then you _will_ like this book!
The Art of Judge Dredd The Movie ISBN 0-7522-0666-4
The Making of Judge Dredd ISBN 0-7522-0641-9
2. FANZINES
Class of '79
Referring to the date of Dredd's graduation (2079), this is a rather
well-recieved fanzine. For more information contact
lo...@classof79.freeserve.co.uk.
Sadly, it was announced that owing to less free time and the
difficulty of recouping costs, the Class of '79 Fanzine was unable to
continue. I haven't just merely deleted the reference above because
that would seem... wrong.... somehow.
DogsBreath
For those who love Strontium Dogs and everything connected with them.
eMail Dr. Bob at Amand...@bbc.co.uk and you should "tell her the
'Class Of '79' sent ya."
3. WEB SITES
At last!
The Official Web Site is up!
Those chaps at Rebellion really mean business. In the hot seat for a matter
of days, and already they have a web-site in position.
http://www.rebellion.co.uk/2000/Index.asp
The Unofficial 2000AD Web Page
------------------------------
The Unofficial 2000AD web page at http://www.cybergoth.net/tuws (and
follow the links) Contact Ross Hendry ( ross_...@bigfoot.com ) for
more information about the site. Articles are welcomed, but ask first so as
to avoid duplication of effort.
Class of 79
-----------
http://www.cybergoth.net/classof79
The 2000AD Links Project
------------------------
This is the most comprehensive directory of 2000AD material that you
are likely to find on the web with links to as many other sites as the
electro-sensors can pick up!
http://www.cybergoth.net/2000ad-l/
Grant Goggans 2000AD Index
--------------------------
http://ggoggans.home.mindspring.com/comicra.html
The Cover Story
---------------
Created by Barny Shergold, this site contains - the last count - over
700 covers from 2000AD and the Megazine.
http://www.2000ad.nu
4. OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES
2000AD Mailing List
-------------------
To join the 2000AD Mailing List send a message to:
2000AD-s...@egroups.com
IRC Channels
------------
Each Wednesday evening around 10pm (GMT) there is a discussion about
2000AD. The channel is #2000AD with the network being ChatNet.
9. LASTLY...
1. WHAT IF THE DISCUSSION ON THE GROUP IS MINIMAL?
Post a message stating: "I just watched the Judge Dredd Movie and I
thought Stallone was excellent and the catch-phrase was wonderful and
it everything about it was just great."
Now stand back and watch "discussion" erupt.
Alternatively start a post with "Hi, I'm Alan McKenzie..."
Ross Hendry
"andrew ness" <andre...@supanet.com> wrote:
>
> As of this writing, the following have been printed:
> 2000AD progs 1-1201 (yes, well over a thousand issues!)
> prog 1, 26th February 1977
>
Would it not be better to just say something like "2000AD has been
published just about every week since 26th of February 1977 and has
passed the 1200 issue mark."? That way you wouldn't need to update
this line with every subsequent posting.
> The Unofficial 2000AD Web Page
> ------------------------------
> The Unofficial 2000AD web page at http://www.cybergoth.net/tuws (and
> follow the links) Contact Ross Hendry ( ross_...@bigfoot.com ) for
> more information about the site. Articles are welcomed, but ask first
> so as to avoid duplication of effort.
>
Hehehe, that makes it sound like duplication of submissions is a
problem! Cheers for the mention.
Ross
andrew ness
Ross Hendry wrote in message <900rvc$13d$1...@neptunium.btinternet.com>...
>>
>Would it not be better to just say something like "2000AD has been
>published just about every week since 26th of February 1977 and has
>passed the 1200 issue mark."? That way you wouldn't need to update
>this line with every subsequent posting.
This is not the new version.
This is the slightly touched up modification of the old one (largely
untouched for several months). The new one will be brimming with seamless
prose. Probably along the lines of what you suggest...
NSY