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Rebellion to reprint One-Eyed Jack

Started by 13school, 16 November, 2016, 09:56:26 AM

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Arkwright99

Quote from: Trent on 19 November, 2016, 06:37:56 PM
Try getting anyone under the age of 16 to look at ANYTHING in black and white.
Are you counting books in that "ANYTHING" because last I looked they tended to consist of black ink printed on white paper, which I assume meets your criteria for a black & white medium and I understand that hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of under-16s still read books, even if their choice of reading material is a little thin for 'sophisticated' palettes.

FWIW, my daughter watched Casablanca and A Matter of Life and Death (which is only half-b&w to be fair) when she was 13 or 14; she even watched - and said she enjoyed - Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera, which is 'silent' as well as 'black and white' so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.

To be honest, I don't share your complaint with the OEJ strip; it does a perfectly good job of introducing the character, explaining his origin and delivering a thrilling story all in three pages. How much more sophisticated does it have to be? Sure it was aimed at a much younger audience than I presume frequent these forums but I don't think we should kid ourselves that Rebellion-era 2000AD is somehow (idk) Philip Roth-calibre literature for grown-ups, is it?  ;)
'Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel ... with a bit of pornography if you're lucky.' - Alan Moore

Trent

Arkwright, I actually agree with much of what you say and even got my then 17 year old son to watch It's a Wonderful Life - he even shed a tear at the end. That said, comics are not the force they once were much as I would love for kids to read some of this reprint material.
Truth is most buyers will be older readers on a nostalgia wave which is fine. If they can get their kids to read it then brilliant.
I agree that current Rebellion output is hardly highbrow literature but it is aimed at an older audience than 70s comics because that is who reads it. It is no less sophisticated than TV and film sci fi.
I have a great deal of affection for these stories but I find reading them now hard work. Just my view.
I am pleased others disagree or these stories would never see the light of day again.

13school

A year or two ago I bought up a bunch of late-era Valiants purely to read One-Eyed Jack and I have to say that, as a big fan of 70s cop / vigilante films, I definitely got a lot out of it. It wasn't quite up there with Action in terms of being (hilariously) over-the-top, but Jack's extremely brutal approach to crime-solving remains highly entertaining.

I wouldn't say it's nostalgia with me - I never read it as a child - it's more the rapid-fire pulp energy that appeals. They're basic trashy cop stories well-told with a sly sense of humour, and Rebellion will definitely be getting my money this time around.

Trent

Thanks 13school. I might be tempted to give it a go after all.
Have to agree about the trashy pulp energy of some strips of the time. In fact that is part of what made Invasion entertaining at the time, moreso than the more adult approach to Savage these days imho.
I guess you just have to approach them with the right mindset to get the most out of them.

Trent

And on the subject of classic pulp are we going to get a deluxe hardback of Hookjaw with colour centrespreads etc?
I would have thought these would sell in droves as well as generating a little, welcome publicity from some morally outraged corners.

Tony Angelino

The One-Eyed Jack reprint will also need a cover by John Cooper. I'm not aware that he did a lot of covers for Jack but I can think of at least one (plus a pin-up)

I know Carlos drew a few Jack covers back in the Valiant/Battle days but the collection should have a cover by the guy who drew the strip.

Hawkmumbler

Oh man, yes! I'll be buying this thank you very much!

AlexF

Having bought, read and enjoyed both Monster and the Misty collection recently, I am defintely going to be buying OEJ - but I expect it to be a dip in and out kind of read, not a bang through all in one go job, as the more recent 2000AD collections tend to be. Each episode of Monster, for example, is tremendous fun, but it does get very samey.

While I agree that I'm interested as much out of fascination for the history of Briths comic, I do hold out hopoe that by getting this material out there, it will inspire new creators to do more of this kind of thing - mainstream genre comics. You know, the sort of stuff that is on TV, but in comics - aimed at children or adults or indeed both. But I don't really expect today's 8-11 year olds to lap up reprinted from Valiant or whatever.

I'll be honest, I've never had much interest in War comics. I enjoyed Darkie's Mob in the Meg but not enough to buy a collection; Charley's War I admire but in all honesty found it quite hard going to read. And these are far and away cited as the best, no? I'm on the lookout for more Girls comics stuff and some obscure surreal humour comics like Sweeney Toddler (which I know nothing about). Cannibalistic babies has to be amazing, surely? I also remember seeing a couple of strips about a child would had a magic whisk that could belnd peopole/objects together to create insane chimerae. That's my bag.

maryanddavid

The One Eyed Jack tales start to move away from the usual episodic formula, there is several multipart stories and even some character development!

AlexF that's Minnie's Mixer you are probably thinking of.





Dash Decent

Quote from: AlexF on 21 November, 2016, 11:45:08 AM
I'm on the lookout for more Girls comics stuff and some obscure surreal humour comics like Sweeney Toddler (which I know nothing about). Cannibalistic babies has to be amazing, surely?

I'm sorry to disappoint you AlexF but Sweeny is just an extremely naughty baby.  At it's best however it's a hilarious strip.  I love the Baxendale style and the background gags and signs add to it all.  Sweeny was also seen to dress up as Judge Dredd in one instalment.  I hope he's still reading the prog... maybe he's here with us on the board!

EXCERPT - COPYRIGHT OWNED BY REBELLION (Yay!)



EXCERPT - COPYRIGHT OWNED BY REBELLION (Yay!)
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.

Dash Decent

I love the timing of Sweeny's Mum opening the door at just the moment Mrs Jones skids out of control down the path and splats Mum with the cake!  As an editorial speech bubble intruding from off-panel might exclaim, "Ho, ho, ho, readers!"
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.

AlexF

On the basis of these two excerpts, sign me up for the collected editions of Sweeney and Minnie's Mixer!
(And when he's done with Counterfeit Girl and Dredd, can we get Peter Milligan to revive the mixer for 2000AD?)

mattb

My son loved Monster, and was disappointed to discover that there was not any more!(He's 13) He is not too into 2000ad strips, but has enjoyed Rogue, Strontium Dog and some early Slaine. He laps up the Battle reprint s we have, and often retreads Charley's War. All are B&W. My daughter reads tons of manga, also B & W. So colour not an issue! Looking BT forward to OEJ as I'm not familiar with it. Reckon the boy will love it!

O Lucky Stevie!

Bundle up Sweeney Toddler with some Clever Dick & Rebellion have a bonafide, guaranteed third squazz waving a fistful of galactic groats in their direction.

Quote from: Trent on 19 November, 2016, 06:37:56 PM
Try getting anyone under the age of 16 to look at ANYTHING in black and white.

*ahem* Manga.
"We'll send all these nasty words to Aunt Jane. Don't you think that would be fun?"

Dash Decent

Yes, Clever Dick is another brilliant strip with the same style of illustration plus the crazy inventor angle.  I'd certainly go for a collection of CD strips too.
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.