'Concrete'

[bigjobs67]

anybody read any 'Concrete'? Just ordered first book offa Amazon. thought it was time I gave it a go. Think it may have a very 'Tree huggin' vibe to it?

[Lee Bates]

I've read a collection of Concrete stories, it was a few years ago now so my memory's a bit rusty, but I think it was from the start of the series.

It's excellent, I keep meaning to start collecting it myself. I wouldn't describe it as 'tree-huggy', it's more focused on how a normal, nice, intelligent man learns how to deal with being stuck in this indistructable (nearly) alien form. It's not your usual 'alien gives human extraordinary powers' story; don't expect a procession of alien baddies to turn up for a wrestling match. It's more thoughtful and interesting than that.

Right, I've talked myself into starting to collect it properly myself now. To Amazon!

[bigjobs67]

Cheers for that mate. I'm looking forward to reading it now. How are you on 'Flamin Carrot'. That looks a riot!

[Lee Bates]

Cheers for that mate. I'm looking forward to reading it now. How are you on 'Flamin Carrot'. That looks a riot!

UT! Big, big fan of Flaming Carrot. I've got most of the collected editions at home and I re-read them regularly. It's got a very unique flavour and a skewed sense of humour.

The art is scratchy and can be quite basic but I think it adds to the strange feel of the stories.

[Colin_YNWA]

The Flaming Carrot is one of the greatest things known to modern man.

[ming]

Iain (judge jack) is a BIG Concrete fan, with some great original art and commissions... He'll be along shortly, I imagine.

[Judge Jack]

anybody read any 'Concrete'? Just ordered first book offa Amazon. thought it was time I gave it a go. Think it may have a very 'Tree huggin' vibe to it?

Ah, Im a total Concrete fan, and i wouldnt hesitate recommending it to anyone. Paul Chadwicks art is constantly superb and his writing is always intelligent, and frequently moving. Im hooked for life, tbh.
Ive always thought there was a large dose of Paul Chadwick in the character of Concrete (thats how ive read it anyways), so his environmental concerns and green politics do filter through, though i certainly wouldnt call Concrete "tree hugging". If you get the chance, track down the collected edition for the Think like a Moutain series, which feature these views the greatest (also my personal fave) and youll see what i mean.
By and large, Concrete is about the everyday, and the almost mundane, its all the little details that will grab you. Certainly, for a man who had his brain transplanted into a rock body by Aliens, Concrete isnt about Biff!, Bang!, Pow!
If your new to Concrete and are wondering what is out there regarding trades etc, then this site will tell you all you need to know - http://www.weisshahn.de/concrete/conmap.htm

Iain (judge jack) is a BIG Concrete fan, with some great original art and commissions... He'll be along shortly, I imagine.

Ha! Hi Ming, I was half way through writng my reply, and also being called down to get the tea ready (cant tea wait!?!), when i saw youd posted as well.
Oh well, a bit of shameless self promotion is called for i guess,  - http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetailSearch.asp?Artist=Paul++Chadwick&GCat=50752
Yes, been very lucky to have gotten a couple of commissions directly from Paul.
Let us know how you get on Bigjobs67, and what you think of Concrete.

[TordelBack]

By strange coincidence I started a Concrete re-read last night (I think I have it all in various formats, bar the colour material), in between my forum ranting and the actual work I was supposed to be doing.  Having not read it for 5 years or more, I had been thinking of ebaying it (seeing as the spines don't match ), but it's just as brilliant as I remember, and I can't part with it now.

As suggested above any appearance of tree-huggery grows naturally out of the situation of an ordinary man with the unique perspective of one separated from his fellows by his bizarre new body, while simultaneously being exposed to far more of the physical world through its abilities. 

It's one of the most mature of the late-80s superhero deconstructions (in that its superman is neither a hero nor a villain, and his adventures are real-world ones), and certainly the most sustained and pleasant of the bunch.  Helps that the art is crisp and playful right from the start, and that there is no fall-off in the quality of the stories over the decades its been trickling out.  Highly recommended.

[bigjobs67]

Many thanks Ming, Jack,TB and Lee.
My order should be arriving in the next few days and when I'm done I'll let you know what I thought.
Lookin forward to reading what I hope will become a re discovered comic treasure.
 Have to get me some 'Flamin Carrot' as well.
That looks all kinds of 'knobbly'.
 Cheers again guys.

[The Adventurer]

I'm not overly familar with Paul Chadwick's Concrete. There were, I think, three new Concrete stories in the most recent relaunch of Dark Horse Presents (my second favorite serial anthology after 2000 AD. Second out of 2 in current existence). But they were really good and interesting. And really makes me want to go out and check out the trades of the previous runs of the series.


also, why is this in the 'Trailers' subforum? Should be in the Books & Comics subforum.

[bigjobs67]

I'm a newb.

[Judge Jack]

I'm not overly familar with Paul Chadwick's Concrete. There were, I think, three new Concrete stories in the most recent relaunch of Dark Horse Presents (my second favorite serial anthology after 2000 AD. Second out of 2 in current existence). But they were really good and interesting. And really makes me want to go out and check out the trades of the previous runs of the series.


also, why is this in the 'Trailers' subforum? Should be in the Books & Comics subforum.

Yes, Concrete featured in the first 3 issues of the 2011 re-launch of Dark Horse Presents, in fact Concrete made his comics debut in the pages of the first issue of DHPs back in 1986, and was a pretty regular feature thereafter. Those smaller stories are some of my alltime favourites, and were previously collected into two seperate collections.
The most recent reprint collections - Depths, Heights, Fragile creature, Killer Smile, Think like a Mountain, Strange Armor, and The Human Dilemma include all these stories plus more, so would seem to be the way to go for anyone discovering/re-discovering Concrete.

[TordelBack]

The most recent reprint collections - Depths, Heights, Fragile creature, Killer Smile, Think like a Mountain, Strange Armor, and The Human Dilemma include all these stories plus more, so would seem to be the way to go for anyone discovering/re-discovering Concrete.

I have some of the later stuff in those nice little digesty things (and the rest in floppies) and I recommend them highly, but I'm also lucky enough to have the first crop of shorts and the first 10-issue series in two gorgeous large-format collections (2000AD size), and the art really shines at that size.

As Judge Jack says, the shorter stories are very strong indeed.  One of the things we haven't touched on here is the show-within-the-show, A Sky Full of Heads.  This is Chadwick's vehicle for squeezing in unconnected short stories, dressed up as episodes of a bizarre late-night TV show that Concrete watches which presents the tales told to one another by a cloud of randomly drifting disembodied heads that are our souls in the afterlife.  The idea is that these immortal heads drift close enough to each other for maybe 5 minutes at a time, long enough to exchange a quick story with a stranger, before mving out of range never to meet again.  It's a great idea, and an image that has haunted me for years. Somebody should make the damn programme, I'd watch it!

I didn't know about the 2011 DHP stories, that's something to track down!

[Judge Jack]

This withdrawn BBC promo always reminded me of A Sky of Heads - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9yZxZSBeM8
Always like the 100 horrors as well, TordelBack. Though even Paul himself said, given his work rate, it was rather optimistically titled!
I havent got any of those newer "digest" format collections, but just had a look online and they really do collect everything Concrete related, so those 7 books are definitely the way to go.

[Michael V. Bramley]

I never read it, but a friend of mine who I think worked on it said that it was all good, with the exception of the origin (which was sort of silly). I've been meaning to pick it up myself ever since.