Interview with former Tharg, Richard Burton (questions needed)

[dweezil2]

What did he think of Robocop?

And did he engage directly with any producers trying to get a Dredd film off the ground in the 80's?

[james newell]

Have you read Steve MacManus' The Mighty One? Thoughts?

am reading it now, only got to the launch of action and the move to new offices, already loving it, it is a great, in depth read so far of comic publishing in the 70's.

[james newell]

for the interview, I will keep going if you wan to use them as questions be my guest

Juudge Dredd The Megazine launch, how involved you you, was it a big risk or a no brainer?

The annuals ended in 92 and the year books began, which I thought ware very cool, nice big albums on quality paper that looks lovely to this day, was it a way to appealing to the aging readership or ware there other reasons behind the change of format?

the rogue trooper Annual came out of the blue in 91 was Richard involved, did it do well?

[sheridan]

for the interview, I will keep going if you wan to use them as questions be my guest

Judge Dredd The Megazine launch, how involved you you, was it a big risk or a no brainer?

The Meg wasn't the first attempt to get a Dreddworld spin-off off the ground - Bad Company and Anderson Psi Division were both strips which were originally going to be published in a different title.

The annuals ended in 92 and the year books began, which I thought ware very cool, nice big albums on quality paper that looks lovely to this day, was it a way to appealing to the aging readership or ware there other reasons behind the change of format?

Nice format, shame about the content!

the rogue trooper Annual came out of the blue in 91 was Richard involved, did it do well?

Pre-empting the answer, I'm guessing if it had done well there'd have been a 1992 annual.  Saying that, we did get a summer special a few years down the line.

[Dark Jimbo]

Sauchie/Butch/Frank asked me for a few Sonic-related questions to go into the mix:

STC acted very much like a bridge for me, between the outright kid's comics I had been reading, and the more grown-up fare like Marvel and 2000AD. Was this a deliberate intention or just a happy accident?

Mike McMahon, probably to the bafflement of die-hard Dredd fans, regularly cites Decap Attack as among his favourite ever stripwork. In retrospect he probably wasn't the obvious choice for a bizarre little horror sitcom, but it worked brilliantly. Whose idea was it to give him the gig?

Nigel Kitching and Richard Elson quickly established themselves as the Wagner and Ezquerra of STC. Did it help the comic to have such a strong creative vision driving it?

How did 2000AD, with its original creations, compare with working on licenced properties on Sonic?

[sheridan]

Mike McMahon, probably to the bafflement of die-hard Dredd fans, regularly cites Decap Attack as among his favourite ever stripwork.

That's because he dislikes all his best work!  Artists...

[Rackle]

Make sure you don't ask him about his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor.

  That tickled me.

[james newell]

...

[james newell]

what are you  (Richard Burton)  most proud of that you brought to 2000ad and is this still apart of what 2000ad is toady?

how would you (Richard Burton) have handled the 2000ad name when you hit the year 2000 if you ware still editor?

What did you (Richard Burton) work on after leaving 2000ad, what is he up to now, working, retired?

[Frank]

Mike McMahon, probably to the bafflement of die-hard Dredd fans, regularly cites Decap Attack as among his favourite ever stripwork. In retrospect he probably wasn't the obvious choice for a bizarre little horror sitcom, but it worked brilliantly. Whose idea was it to give him the gig?

I knew you'd come up with the goods, Jim Lad. Your affection and enthusiasm for the material will give the interview a dimension it would otherwise have lacked.

Speaking of which, Owen Watts of Somerset writes to propose the fascinating (and entertaining) idea that Sonic's 100th issue special may have inspired Dredd's Trifecta crossover. Bullet To Level Four!

[TordelBack]

Make sure you don't ask him about his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor.

Don't be silly, he's not that Richard Burton.  But do ask him what drove him to seek the source of the Nile.

[sheridan]

Make sure you don't ask him about his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor.

Don't be silly, he's not that Richard Burton.  But do ask him what drove him to seek the source of the Nile.

I loved his version of One Thousand and One Nights :-)

[AlexF]

I've jsut read in 'The Mighty One' that Burton was one of the founders of the Eagle Awards, and presumably helped vote 2000AD in as the original winner. Was he a superfan when he joined the comic, and did that affect how he approached the job?

Or was he more of a fan of US superhero comics, and saw 2000AD as a different kind of job?

Has he kept up with 2000AD since leaving, and does he like any of the newer series that we've had?

[Dash Decent]

Make sure you don't ask him about his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor.

Don't be silly, he's not that Richard Burton.  But do ask him what drove him to seek the source of the Nile.

I loved his version of One Thousand and One Nights :-)

It's good that Tharg's seen sense and made sure the current human assisting on editorial duties doesn't have any other confusing namesakes.  And it's even better now he's stopped making Doctor Who and turned all his attention to the prog.

[Frank]

It's good that Tharg's seen sense and made sure the current human assisting on editorial duties doesn't have any other confusing namesakes

Kelvin Gosnell is Brad Pitt's real name. Excellent stuff from the prolific James Newell and my board man-crush, Alex F. Burt's journey from fan to Tharg is one that interests me too.

The previous generation of comic legends - Wagner, Mills, Grant, and MacManus - all have the same origin story: heard there was a job going at a publisher, then just sort of fell assbackwards into the comic industry without ever specifically wanting to do that for a living.

Burton's story reads much more like the bio of everyone at Marvel and DC today: the nerdy kid at school who had every issue of Banana Squad committed to memory and always dreamed of following in the footsteps of Stan Liefeld or Junior Romita Sr.

The UK/US comics thing is fascinating too. Presumably Burton had enough knowledge of UK comics to advise Morrison he was able to use Robot Archie in Zenith Phase III because IPC owned the character, but not enough knowledge to know that they didn't and he couldn't.