Picking up the pieces
Picking up the pieces |
|
Page 8 of 38  Detail from 2000AD (1983). Art: Carlos Ezquerra. Yet, the new comic did not find its personality immediately. One major mistake was to try to revive Dan Dare: The Eagle had gone under in 1969, but IPC was keen to link their new comic with a science fiction past.8 The company announced its intention to revamp the character for the punk era thus: 'Dan Dare will have a leaner jaw, more piercing eyes, and a disposition rather less blandly goody-goody'. But Dare was already a period-piece in 1977, and after the radicalism of Action, there was no way that he could be brought back - 'leaner jaw' or not. He was a dismal failure, and was soon dropped. It was left to the new strips to make the running, which they did with great success. This was largely because of the quality of their creators: by the early 1980s, 2000AD was featuring a roster of excellent writers (notably Pat Mills, Alan Moore, John Wagner and Alan. Grant), and equally superb artists (including Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon, Ian Gibson, and Kevin O'Neill).9 Many of these had previously worked on underground comics, and all were intimate with American styles: although it is hard to generalize, they brought with them a sense not only of the potential for the medium to reach an adult audience, but also an ethic that shunned pandering to the lowest common denominator. As a result, 2000AD never talked down to its readership, and in the process the strips garnered a following aged anywhere between eight years old to the mid-twenties.  Panels from Judge Dredd Lawman of the Future (1995). Art: Jim Murray and Dondie Cox. Script: John Wagner. The latter was heavily influenced by the Dredd movie (1995), starring Sylvester Stallone. |