2000 AD Online Forum
2000 AD => General => : ming 09 January, 2012, 11:00:01 AM
: Things that went over your head...
: ming 09 January, 2012, 11:00:01 AM
I'm thinking of stuff like Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein (Rogers & Hammerstein), the Slavers of Drule and all those other puns and references that drifted gracefully over my head as a kid... (Some of 'em still do.)
Anyway, I just spotted a 1949 Schlitz advert in a Grauniad New York photo gallery (http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/jan/06/new-york-photography-in-pictures#/?picture=384053709&index=4) sporting the slogan: "The beer that made Milwaukee famous"...
I guess that's where the Dredd classic "The Fear that made Milwaukee famous" came from. I live and learn!
: Re: Things that went over your head...
: The Adventurer 09 January, 2012, 11:09:54 AM
Had one happen to me just yesterday. I was at work, working. And I got thinking about the Prog 2012 Sinister Dexter story. I started wondering what kind of pun 'Ms. Deeds' was suppose to be because I know Abnett loves his Sin-Dex puns.
There wasn't a face slap hard enough when it finally clicked.
: Spaceghost 09 January, 2012, 11:26:16 AM
Speaking of Sinister Dexter, my son has been learning about Rome at school recently and has been marching around the house pretending to be a Centurion, chanting "Sinister, dexter, sinister, dexter..."
Apparently it means 'Left, right' in Latin.
: SuperSurfer 09 January, 2012, 11:37:34 AM
"He ain't heavy, he's my brother!" in Return of Rico seemed to me a really odd thing for Dredd to say. It was many years later when the song was used in a beer advert that I realised it came from a Hollies song.
: SmallBlueThing 09 January, 2012, 11:47:57 AM
We had a thread about this a few years ago, but it's always nice to see if any new ones pop up. I'm duty bound to mention "Mach Zero" ("Macho") again, and to wonder if this time we'll get a conclusion to the "say Tharg's name five times rapidly" question...
: TordelBack 09 January, 2012, 11:51:54 AM
The big one for me was not realising that almost all the Nu-Earth locations were puns on regular-Earth places. Examples: the Ox-Arks, Dix-I and the Gasbah. I think the penny finally dropped during a re-read of 'The Phrisco Phog'*. Sigh.
*I didn't get out much**.
**Still don't.
: malkymac 09 January, 2012, 12:19:35 PM
I think I have only just realised the slavers of Drule one ::)
: Adrian Bamforth 09 January, 2012, 12:44:20 PM
i give up - what's the pun in Slavers of Drule?
: radiator 09 January, 2012, 12:55:37 PM
Drule = Drool, slaver.
: johnnystress 09 January, 2012, 01:22:01 PM
I would never have guessed that!
: Albion 09 January, 2012, 05:51:38 PM
I recently got some goldfish and named one of them Finnigan as I wanted a fish with a 2000AD name and Mrs Albion wasn't keen on naming one Judge Fish.
Anyway...... this got me thinking it was also appropriate as fish have fins. Then I realised sharks have fins too and FINNY is a gunSHARK! Clever name I never noticed before or just coincidence?
: Dash Decent 10 January, 2012, 10:30:25 AM
: Lee Bates 09 January, 2012, 11:26:16 AM
Yes, hence 'ambiDEXTERous' means "like having two right hands". And I seem to remember that 'sinister' got it's 'evil' connotations this way - left-handers being considered unnatural.
And I seem to remember that 'sinister' got it's 'evil' connotations this way - left-handers being considered unnatural.
And rightly so. Twisted freaks!
Out of curiosity, I just browsed Barney's collection of SinDex covers, and Finny might be left-handed (which would be fitting). Depends who's on art duties, but at least three Simon Davis covers give that impression, which is good enough for me.
(http://2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/hires/1563.jpg)
(Sure there are probably more covers there where he's using his right, or both hands, but without resorting to further research I'm sticking to him being a lefty. Facts be damned!)
: Proudhuff 10 January, 2012, 11:49:09 AM
hats and bunnets
: SpetsnaZ99 11 January, 2012, 09:03:32 AM
wasnt D.R. and Quinch a reference to the classic Quincy M.E.
I had thought it was just a copyright-dodging variation on O.C. and Stiggs,but you might well be on to something there... DR Quinch, E. E.?
: SuperSurfer 11 January, 2012, 02:05:09 PM
Venus Bluegenes didn't go over my head but I can't help thinking of her when I listen to 'Dirty Blue Gene' by the late great Captain Beefheart:
"She's not bad
She's just genetically mean"
: ICONIC_TM 11 January, 2012, 02:36:06 PM
Wasnt D.R. & Quinch
More A Play On Hitchhikers What With Planet Makers Getting Bored and using Land Masses
For Spelling Out Something Rude That Got Them The Sack From There Job In The First Place
Plus Very Very Very Loud Interstellar FunkRock Bit Like Daff Punk
Hitchhikers Is A Play On Asimov Foundation Stuff As Far As I UnderStand Anyway?
: Emperor 11 January, 2012, 04:07:04 PM
We had a thread about this a few years ago, but it's always nice to see if any new ones pop up.
Probably this one, in which Adrian Bamforth asks for an explanation of Slavers of Drule, proof that history is cyclical:
http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,22044.0.html
: SmallBlueThing 11 January, 2012, 04:10:44 PM
I was thinking of this one.
http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,25403.msg437632#msg437632
: Colin Zeal 11 January, 2012, 04:12:39 PM
The reason why Dry Run got printed went over my head.
Where would I be if my goofs weren't studiously recorded for the ages.
I never really made the connection between Kiss my Axe!/Kiss my a** - I guess because it just sounds so good as a catchphrase on it's own.
I was always amused by the Dredd story Down on Sausage Tree Farm (Down on Jollity Farm) - proof that the best punnery is not the most accurate, but the most tenuous.
: TordelBack 11 January, 2012, 06:36:00 PM
Brilliant! There's something I keep asking about on this forum, which I naturally can't remember at the moment (or ever), and every time I do someone reminds me that I've asked the same question n+1 times before, and had it answered each time... -sigh-
Irish Pies Are Smiling!
Bet Youll Find Some Gems In Cal Hab Also After Lessons In Rab C Nesbitt Speek!
Sadly, we all know what you are talking about but refuse to link to previous examples, as you'll forget, ask about it and we can then link back here where you've forgotten what it was the question always is.
I suppose the first stage of dealing with a problem is accepting that you have a problem.
"Dan Abnett on Puns and Triumff
People often come up to me and say, "Dan, do people really come up to you?" Also, they ask what it is with me and puns. Call me paranomasiac, but I love 'em, god help me. Homophonic puns, homonymic puns, homographic puns, Homer Simpson puns, I can't get enough. I love graphological puns and morphological puns, logical puns and illogical puns, polysemic puns and metonymic puns, old school puns and current puns and, at the risk of fracturing myself, I love compound puns. I can't have too many multiple puns and as for double entendres, woof! get a load of the double entendres on that, if you know what I mean. I enjoy a good feghoot and adore a fine eggcorn. Recursive puns have made me swear more than once. I like big loud puns like the Puns of Navarone, I like hard rocking puns like Puns and Roses, and I like quiet, relaxing puns like a late Punday afternoon in high summer."
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/08/guest_post_dan_abnett_on_puns_and_triumff/
He's a pun shark. Geddit? I'll get me coat.
: johnnystress 12 January, 2012, 09:33:30 AM
well done :D
I allways thought Venus Bluegenes was an amalgam of Velvet Underground and David Bowie
Venus in Furs and Blue Jean/The Jean Genie
'Venus in Blue Jeans', by Jimmy Clanton, shirely?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsfzLZl17QE
pants, over the head, not a comment on Jimmy Clanton.
: ICONIC_TM 12 January, 2012, 11:51:46 AM
HA! Stop Calling Me shirely! boom! boom! :lol:
: Proudhuff 12 January, 2012, 12:38:00 PM
: MARVELMAGPIE 12 January, 2012, 11:51:46 AM
Cigarette?
Smoke And A Pancake? :lol:
: The Legendary Shark 14 January, 2012, 01:13:24 AM
I'm ashamed to say that I only "got" the band name "The Beatles" about two or three months ago. Beatles. BEATLES. Ffs, how did I live so long and not notice that?
(http://www.deviantart.com/download/152359066/Idiot_Motivational_Poster_by_krawky398.jpg)
Youve lost me, who's Les? was he their first manager?
: The Legendary Shark 14 January, 2012, 02:04:35 PM
Beat Les was their very first drummer.
: Dash Decent 14 January, 2012, 11:54:57 PM
I love that John Lennon comment when he was asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world.
"He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles."
Back on topic, I suppose I would have realised that GI females were called 'dolls' because of "Guys [GI's] & Dolls" if I'd thought about it long enough at the time....
: Pete Wells 15 January, 2012, 11:54:02 AM
I can't believe I only sussed Kid Knee when reading Stronty Dog yesterday. What an idiot!
: Spikes 15 January, 2012, 12:55:03 PM
Dredd - Dread? ;)
: Goosegash 16 January, 2012, 12:18:12 AM
Somehow I've only just noticed one of the characters in The Red Seas is called Billy Mackenzie, which I assume is a nod to the late great Associates frontman. Probably.
: Gonk 16 January, 2012, 07:54:26 AM
Nemesis. Thanks to 2000ad I grew up thinking it was a masculine name, I found out much later that Nemesis was actually originally personified as a female goddess in Greek mythology.
: Dandontdare 16 January, 2012, 12:29:55 PM
Kid knee...? Oh yeah! Now I get it! ::)
: Gonk 16 January, 2012, 12:49:24 PM
could be both then... Big Eyed Beans From Venus/Bluejeans & Moonbeams by Don Van Vliet seem more likely though imho.
Oh.. Thats Why They Call Him Chopper..
: Noisybast 16 January, 2012, 03:13:51 PM
: wonkychop 16 January, 2012, 12:49:24 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_in_Blue_Jeans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_in_Blue_Jeans)
: Roger Godpleton 17 January, 2012, 01:43:56 AM
When your mom squirted it went over my head.
That's what you get for being such a shortarse, Roger.
Neil Diamond?
I didn't know that Harke & Burr was a play on Burke & Hare – because I'd never heard of the latter.
Oh, and it didn't click until I read it, that Frank Quitely is a play on "quite frankly".
: Cactus 18 January, 2012, 12:06:07 AM
Yup, I missed that one. :-[ I always thought it was just because they were artificial.
: Steve Green 26 January, 2012, 10:14:29 PM
There is actually a Schlitz sign in a panel as well...
It always went over my head the mythological references in Nemesis. For example Brother Hades the Pandemonium player who was a Mandrake. At the time I had no idea that Pandemonium or Hades were both the same or indeed that mandrakes were a type of plant that was meant to grow under the trees used for hanging criminals.
Ace Garp - Ace Card. ::)
: Colin YNWA 27 January, 2012, 11:19:25 AM
: wonkychop 27 January, 2012, 08:52:54 AM
Ace Garp - Ace Card.
Is it... if it is I'm letting myself off that one. Though looking at that logo...
...and his head is pointy like the Spades symbol, hence "Ace" of Spades???
I thought it was inspired by The World According to Garp. Or is that just too obvious
But why the ace?
: SpetsnaZ99 27 January, 2012, 12:32:51 PM
Acc Garp
: Gonk 04 February, 2012, 11:44:38 AM
Ro - Busters, when something is tough it's called ROBUST/...(ers)
and it was also the name of a comic (Ro)... BUSTER...http://www.wackycomics.com/2011/07/buster-comic-library-29.html (http://www.wackycomics.com/2011/07/buster-comic-library-29.html)
Also I've only just noticed Devlin Waugh -- Evelyn Waugh was the author of Brideshead Revisted.
And "The Simping Detective" ---The Singing Detective a drama for television by Dennis Potter.
I'm sure others will turn up.
: Dark Jimbo 04 February, 2012, 02:06:11 PM
: wonkychop 04 February, 2012, 11:44:38 AM
D'oh! How did I miss that? And why do these things always seem so obvious in retrospect?
: radiator 04 February, 2012, 02:09:36 PM
I only very recently twigged the pun in 'Central Perk' - the coffee shop in Friends - always knew it was a play on Central Park, but the 'perk', as in 'perk you up' only just clicked.
: Noisybast 04 February, 2012, 02:15:50 PM
I always assumed it was "perk" as in percolated.
You're probably right, that makes more sense. :-[
: A.Cow 04 February, 2012, 02:31:55 PM
Don't rule out that it might have been used precisely because it worked on different levels.
Arthur Askey once had a gag: "My last cheque came back marked 'Insufficient Rubber'." I love the fact it works on the level of 'rubber' being slang for money, and also on the level that it was going to 'bounce' badly.
Girls Aloud is another nice example -- pun on "girls allowed"; identifying the mouthy ladette target audience they were aiming for; and also making reference to the fact they were a female singing act.
: Taryn Tailz 04 February, 2012, 03:33:48 PM
I only worked this out a couple of days ago when i noticed The Singing Detective was on TV. Although I must admit I'd never heard of it before so I have the excuse of ignorance. :lol:
: Dandontdare 04 February, 2012, 06:09:18 PM
can't beleive I missed Evelyn/Devlin Waugh!
: JOE SOAP 04 February, 2012, 06:10:35 PM
You're BANNED.
: SpetsnaZ99 06 February, 2012, 05:42:34 PM
In Red Dwarf, Dave Lister likes as sport called Zero G, i think it was an homage to the Harlem heroes in 2000ad which itself was also a pun on the Harlem Globetrotters
: Dash Decent 07 February, 2012, 10:37:42 AM
This thread is in danger of making me feel smart!
If you look at The Simping Detective, you'll see that even the way the title is written mimics that of The Singing Detective.
: Gonk 07 February, 2012, 04:28:37 PM
I'm thinking of stuff like Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein (Rogers & Hammerstein), the Slavers of Drule and all those other puns and references that drifted gracefully over my head as a kid... (Some of 'em still do.) I live and learn!
Try and top Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein for hidden puns then.
Well, I don't want to let the cat out of the bag or anything, but in 'Rogue Trooper' you could work out (if you were paying attention to the subtle clues*) which piece of equipment each character's biochip would end up in because it was hidden in their names.
* or if you read the first ever instalment.
: TordelBack 08 February, 2012, 08:06:19 AM
And did you know that the names of the Aux's in Kingdom... etc.
: Noisybast 08 February, 2012, 08:30:19 AM
Strontium Dog had its fair share of groaners, too. In addition to the aforementioned "Slavers of Drule" and "Kid Knee", I give you "Mm-mm-Mattezon's", "Dobie Zitch", "Planet Blas, way out in the Gallego System", "Carrington Crystal", "No Cure for Kansyr", "Rita Duckworth" "Stone Killers" and many, many more.
Plus the fact one whole story seems to be based solely on Dantes' Inferno. And let's not forget Stix.
: Ghastly McNasty 08 February, 2012, 10:20:52 AM
Not until last year did I twig that Diagon Alley from Harry Potter is the direction Diagonally. ::)
: CrazyFoxMachine 08 February, 2012, 10:26:13 AM
But...they even point that out in the story.
It obviously went over his head crazyfox...
Must have glazed over during that bit.
I've got to admit I love all that stuff - "Next prog: Dog-gone!", the Chums of Dennis singing "Chum-chum-cheree" etc, etc.
Strontium Dog had its fair share of groaners, too. In addition to the aforementioned .... I give you ...."Dobie Zitch" ..... "Planet Blas, way out in the Gallego System",
Nope - still don't get these two.
: ming 08 February, 2012, 12:19:53 PM
Blas Gallego (here there be scantily clad ladies, by the way):
http://www.blasgallego.com/illustration/illustra.htm
The other one - er, crotch rot, to you.
: I, Cosh 08 February, 2012, 12:28:34 PM
Strontium Dog had its fair share of groaners,..."Planet Blas, way out in the Gallego System"
Nope. I still don't get this one. Explanation?
: The Cosh 08 February, 2012, 12:28:34 PM
Blas... Gallego...
A reference to the artist linked to above.
(not that I'd heard of him at the time I started reading Strontium Dog, mind)
aha, you learn something new every day! Hadn't heard of this artist before.
Didnt he do the movie poster for Heavy Metal
(http://{http://www.cityonfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/17917_front.jpg})
: Hoagy 11 February, 2012, 11:25:26 AM
Do you know? K9 went over my head for years.
: ming 21 February, 2012, 11:08:56 AM
Sorry if this already got a mention...
Ace Trucking (according to the Wiki):
The title was lifted from a 1970s improvisational comedy group whose membership had included Fred Willard, Patti Deutsch and Bill Saluga.
Who knew? Not me.
: Proudhuff 21 February, 2012, 11:16:48 AM
Five years ago, my Dredd t-shirt: 30 years of hurt, not being an Football fan nor an Englander, this had to be explian to me very recently
: James Stacey 21 February, 2012, 11:21:42 AM
not being an Football fan nor an Englander can you explain ?
I was told it was the words to an English football team song recorded with that Baddel chap, could have been a wind up for all I know :-[
football mostly goes over my head so I'll just nod :)
so your a goalie?
David Baddiel and Frank Skinner's 3 lions
: Third Estate Ned 21 February, 2012, 05:49:32 PM
Back on topic, at the time I was too young to get the pun in "Gasbah" in Rogue Trooper. Later on I thought it was just a pun on the Clash song. Years later found out what a casbah was. I'm thick like that.
: M.I.K. 21 February, 2012, 06:08:51 PM
Might as well point this out again...
In Bad Company - bloke keeping a diary is Danny Franks.
oh for f,,, so it is. :-[
: Spikes 01 March, 2012, 07:18:57 PM
Talking of Bad Company, and as a massive Clash fan it never went over my head, but Joe Scummer - Joe Strummer.
: Greg M. 01 March, 2012, 07:23:23 PM
: Judge Jack 01 March, 2012, 07:18:57 PM
Huh. That never once occurred to me, and I'm really fond of that character (despite the fact we basically know nothing about him - he's got such a cool look.)
: JayzusB.Christ 01 March, 2012, 09:30:36 PM
Oh for fuck's sake, I can't believe I never copped that one.
: Onlyverysmall 01 March, 2012, 10:07:01 PM
In Prog 500 there were pages written and drawn by past masters with many in-jokes. One that for some reason always stuck with me was on the page drawn by Ian Gibson which I think was written by Alan Moore; one character says "Umberto what?". The only Umberto I know of is Eco, does anyone know the relevance of this?
: Emperor 08 March, 2012, 07:58:03 PM
The penny just dropped on Slabhead the Strontium Dog (slaphead). Of course, it is possible it occurred to me before and didn't stick, but I'd be just using that as a figleaf to try and preserve my modesty, when we know I'd need a dirty great big figleaf (to cover up my oblivious ignorance, not my winkle, as I'm hung like a mouse*).
* But I can still make Roger's mom squeak**
** Although that might be the cheese***
*** Or she just needs a good oiling****
**** Oh never mind, I could go on all night*****
***** Nope must leave it there
: maryanddavid 08 March, 2012, 10:55:18 PM
"Umberto what?".
Gibson used Q.Twerk 'cute work' and Umberto, (IIRC that was his mothers maiden name)as a pseudonym for his work.
: I, Cosh 08 March, 2012, 11:15:43 PM
Blakee Pentax.
I'm still not really sure what it's supposed to mean although I have a suspicion it's "break." I used to think it must be "black" because that's what colour cameras were.
: maryanddavid 09 March, 2012, 12:02:09 AM
Gibson used Q.Twerk 'cute work' and Umberto
Mayby Emberton.
: Onlyverysmall 09 March, 2012, 01:16:21 AM
Thank you SO much for scratching that itch, I appreciate it.
: Trout 09 March, 2012, 01:41:15 AM
: The Cosh 08 March, 2012, 11:15:43 PM
Yeah, it's break.
: ming 09 March, 2012, 11:18:04 AM
Well I used to think it was just going on about someone called 'Blake Pentax'... :-[
: SpetsnaZ99 09 March, 2012, 02:24:51 PM
Blakee Pentax
is not to do with 'On The Buses'?
wasn't there an episode where the inspector tried to photograph the staff when they weren't working
: SmallBlueThing 09 March, 2012, 02:55:22 PM
No, its just a very funny, borderline racist, gag of the sort you probably wouldnt do today- blakee= 'break' spoken in japanese accent, 'pentax'= type of camera. Japanese tourists were often depicted photographing everything that moved, and most things that didnt, at the time.
Its a seminal panel- i cant hold my own camera or watch someone else hold it, without thinking or saying 'aieeee, no blakey pentax' to this day.
: SpetsnaZ99 10 March, 2012, 09:04:42 AM
In Slaine, the quote 'He didn't think it too many'.
Was this linked to a hymn i used to sing in junior school. I cant remember the title but i think it was about Samson, a couple of lines went "with the jaw bone of an ass he slew a thousand men, and the next day he did it all again" (i think)...
Just been checking out the 2000ad art over on the CAF site, and i was reminded of the Cam Kennedy drawn story from Prog 440 - Magnificent Obsession, which i always thought was a play on Orson Welles The Magnificent Ambersons
: JOE SOAP 10 March, 2012, 12:52:21 PM
and I thought it was a play on Douglas Sirk's Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Oh dunno then. If it is from the Douglas Sirk film, then by copying exactly its not the best play on words is it.
Always thought it was a nod and a wink to Orson's film because they both dealt, to a degree, with family.
: Mardroid 10 March, 2012, 03:01:35 PM
I'm not sure this counts, but I often wondered why most of the Judges' armour seems to be in the shoulder area. Okay, I suppose it's possible the fibre of the main uniform itself might have protective qualities but all the thick stuff is on the shoulders rather than on the chest where.. you know... the majority of vital organs are stored. (Okay it partly covers the chest but not enough to constitute proper protection.)
Then one day it hit me. It's not so much to protect a judge from bullets, although it no doubt does help an off-centre shot. It's motorcycle gear to protect the judge if he/she goes flying over the handlebars! Obviously that's the best place for such armour in that eventuality.
Mind you, Johnny Alpha's gear seems to be primarily shoulder based too, and while he will often pilot a skimmer, it's not really his modus operandi, so maybe Mr Ezquerra just likes big shoulder pads. Then again Alpha's shoulder armour is a lot more extensive than the judges' covering more chest area, at least on one side.
: BPP 10 March, 2012, 03:04:43 PM
"Judge Mandroid, the good news is your armour saved you from the crash's impact. The bad news is that you now have an Eagle embedded two inches into your shoulder blade.'
Heh. I've often thought that eagle was a bit too pointy too, although it looks good. That's one thing I'm glad they changed in the new film.
: vzzbux 11 March, 2012, 08:13:06 PM
If it welds itself to your nervous system perhaps it could help you fly, Controling you, making your muscles twitch in all sorts of ways to enable you to soar through the air. They could call you Eagle Angel.
: Richmond Clements 11 March, 2012, 08:20:16 PM
it's not really his modus operandi, so maybe Mr Ezquerra just likes big shoulder pads.
Artists don't like drawing shoulders and elbows and knees.
: Jedit 12 March, 2012, 12:15:05 AM
Nope. It's straight out of Celtic legends, where the hero engaged on a slaying spree will kill X people and never think it too many.
My personal favourite Celtic death count belongs to a guy who called for his harp in a battle. It promptly flew to his hand, killing seven men as it came.
Was that in the Mabinogion, Jedit (I leant my copy and didn't get it back, grr)?
I lent it too...
: Pete Wells 29 July, 2012, 02:07:05 PM
Oh Drokking hell! Futsie = Foostsie!!!
How on earth did I miss that!?!
: TordelBack 29 July, 2012, 02:29:39 PM
I have no idea what a Foostsie is, and Google is being absolutely no help. If, perchance, you meant Footsie, I still don't get it.
Futsie = Future Shock Sufferer, no?
: JOE SOAP 29 July, 2012, 02:30:11 PM
I can only ask, what the hell did you think it was?
Futsie = Future Shock or FTSE (footsie): the UK share index futures.
Never made that connection. Indeed, I'm very dubious that there is (an intentional) one.
Christ, I even spelt that wrong!
Right, so futsie = footsie (like playing saucily with your feet.) However, from some reason I always read it as Fustie and have only read it correctly today. Whodathunk?
: hippynumber1 29 July, 2012, 04:51:01 PM
Isn't a 'Fustie' just a very old man?! :lol:
I always read it as footsie but I don't think there was ever a correct phonetic put forth and I see nothing wrong with fu-tsie since that's how it's spelt.
: Frank 29 July, 2012, 09:11:18 PM
Christ, I even spelt that wrong! Right, so futsie = footsie (like playing saucily with your feet.) However, from some reason I always read it as Fustie and have only read it correctly today. Whodathunk?
Stallone and Cannon thought MC1 was surrounded on three sides by The Curs't Earth (rather than Curs-ed), which made me question whether I'd been reading that wrongly all those years- for all I know I have. Pat Mills is the cause of much confusion: a childhood pal used to make reference to Hammer-steen and Mee-Quake, and I've never felt the need to call Shlawn-ye by his 'proper' name.
It took me ages to realise that Pat Wagons were so-named in reference to the supposedly inveterate criminality of the Irish.
: Trout 29 July, 2012, 09:14:46 PM
I thought Pat Wagons was a reference to Paddy Wagons, themselves reflecting that so many Irishmen joined police forces in the US.
: ming 29 July, 2012, 09:15:11 PM
: bikini kill 29 July, 2012, 09:11:18 PM
I'd always assumed that the Pat in 'Pat Wagon' was short for 'Patrol', but there y'go.
Both are true and correct.
: I, Cosh 29 July, 2012, 09:23:31 PM
Stallone and Cannon thought MC1 was surrounded on three sides by The Curs't Earth (rather than Curs-ed), which made me question whether I'd been reading that wrongly all those years- for all I know I have.
It is and you have.
I always went with Curs-ed.
I always read it as cursed, rather than curs-ed!
: The Adventurer 29 July, 2012, 09:59:29 PM
I started reading it at Curs't. But now pronounce it Curs-ed.
I've always pronounce Futsie as 'fff-you-tsie'. As in the first syllable of 'Future'
: Spikes 29 July, 2012, 10:04:06 PM
Same here, though 30 odd years of doing it one way is a hard habit to break.
Progue.
Forgot to mention that in my recent reading of The Treasures of Britain I finally got to see the bit where Pat lays down the law on pronounciation of Sláine. In his musical interlude. Ukko rhymes 'Sláine' with 'pain', then Nest points out that it should be pronounced 'slauncher', rhyming it with 'torture'. Ukko then observes that this a matter for future generations to ponder. That's us told!
: QuickQuag 30 July, 2012, 11:02:52 AM
It was a few years before I understood the Helltrekkers 'next week' caption that inspired my username.
"Slow, Slow, Quick-Quag, Slow"
: radiator 30 July, 2012, 11:20:05 AM
Never saw the little Dredd face hidden in the J of the old school Dredd logo until someone pointed it out on this board.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_49Qd6oXQ1t0/TSKJUfvUmbI/AAAAAAAAAP4/vWIH8DQgcQU/s1600/DSC_3383.JPG)
: Mardroid 30 July, 2012, 03:21:29 PM
For some reason, when I first saw that 'J' it actually reminded me of Hammerstein. I'm not sure why, as it doesn't look much like him at all.
: The Cosh 29 July, 2012, 09:23:31 PM
You've got to think Alan Grant and John Wagner used the same pronunciation- unless that's why they couldn't keep working together- so you'd also think the audio on the clip below would settle the matter ... but it doesn't. Grant opts for Curst, but incorporates a glottal stop between the 's' and the 't' that gives it the same rhythm as Curse-ed. Because Cursd just sounds wrong (see the 1995 film).
Unless I'm mistaken, it was Mills who named the previously anonymous 'radiation desert' that had been mentioned (and shown in a limited form) in earlier issues. If anyone can be bothered trawling through that 3 hour ECBT2000ad podcast to find mention of Mills's protean Dredd epic they can claim the glory as their own.
GLOTTAL STOP YER CARRY ON (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UrWxWGFH8w) (2m 05s)
: Skullmo 31 July, 2012, 03:01:34 PM
The Garth Ennis story Death Aid, is a pun on Live aid but also on the old name for a hearing aid as a 'deaf aid'.
I don't get this?!
: QuickQuag 01 August, 2012, 11:34:57 AM
It's a dance move (the Tango, I think) "Slow, slow, quick - quick slow".
In my defence m'lud I was only a kid, and I still can't dance for toffee! ;)
: Skullmo 01 August, 2012, 01:49:21 PM
Ahhhhh ! Now i get it!
: glassstanley 01 August, 2012, 11:15:46 PM
Only just realised that Blackblood is named after the robot oil he drinks.
: Hoagy 04 August, 2012, 10:49:27 PM
It has to be said; When Jessop Hammer is assembling hisc Iron Man drones at the Stark Expo and makes the comment that press have a real big problem that day, that they'd run out of ink, got me wondering what the fuck he was talking about. It gets me every time. But it's rewarding working it out just before the audience in the Expo theatre. But, it gets me every time hehe.
: QuickQuag 10 November, 2012, 01:26:03 AM
Good lord I have a new one.
Twenty years after the ABC Warriors enter a pub called The Piston Broke (Khronicles of Khaos) the penny finally drops as to why Pat insisted on drawing attention to the establishment's name.
I always thought it an odd name, but I should have worked it out at the time - I was a student after all!
: o1s1n 10 November, 2012, 03:51:51 AM
Holy shit! I've been looking at that logo for 20 years and have never noticed that.
Mind=blown :o
If you're going by the Irish Gaelic pronunciation, Sláine is 'slawn-ye' (that's as anglicised as I can make the phonetics! Press the play button on this page to hear someone say it.
http://www.forvo.com/word/sl%C3%A1ine/
Always called him 'Slain' myself though. And this is coming from an Irish person living in Clontarf :D
: ming 29 November, 2012, 10:26:59 AM
Could the famous trousers of Yess have been inspired by John Lennon? You decide...
(http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2012/11/28/1354126744480/Yoko-Ono-Collection-for-O-011.jpg)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/nov/28/yoko-ono-fashion-line-john-lennon
: SmallBlueThing 09 December, 2012, 01:19:14 AM
Unsure if im in the right thread here, as i think we used to have one for things we'd always assumed were one thing but really were another. Besides, im narked because im reduced to checking the board on my phone meaning i can read the advent calender comments thread, but havent been able to see the actual advent thread for DAYS. Fuckabollocks!
Reading H P lovecraft's 'The Colour Out Of Space' this evening, one of the characters refers to poison as "pizen". So, I ask you: aside from wondering if this is where Wagner and Grant lifted Fink's preferred description of his killing method from, have you like me been pronouncing it "pizzen" your whole life, and not a New England accented "pie-zen"?
: Dash Decent 09 December, 2012, 02:58:55 AM
I've always read it in my head as 'pizzen', though I knew it was a dang local accent pronunication of poison.
: Frank 09 December, 2012, 10:23:55 AM
Given that the Angel family are much more likely to root for the Cowboys and the Longhorns than the Patriots, I think we can all carry on reading Fink's dialogue as a redneck Pizzen. rather than a Southie PAAAIII-z'n. The West Country and Cornwall might have shaped New England voices. but most hicks South of the 40th parallel follow the pronunciation models of their Scots-Irish forebears, and Wagner and Grant were presumably referring to the speech patterns of the older generation of Scots who brought them up as much as they were to Gabby Hayes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7koigiUq7GE) and Walter Brennan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuLC07TbQTw).
It always cracked me up when John Wayne went on about his Paw as if he was in an episode of The Broons (http://).
'pizzen' though, would have two 'z's, no matter where you were from.
Nouns like Quiz, which end in a z, take on an extra z when functioning as a verb, but the word poison (for example) takes on neither an extra n nor an extra s as part of its transformation into gerund form. The closest analogue I can think of in formal English for a bit of patois such as pizen/pizening is wizen/wizening.
: Re: Re: Things that went over your head...
: Noisybast 09 December, 2012, 12:11:14 PM
Always read it as "pie-zen".
: FinH 10 December, 2012, 04:23:17 AM
I always read it as "pie-zen" too, because some regional US dialects pronounce it like that, whereas nobody says "pizzen".
I always had a pretty clear voice in my head for what Fink sounded like - possibly more so than any other character. Kind of raspy and harsh but at the same time purring and soft
: WhitBloke 11 December, 2012, 03:53:23 PM
Worryingly, all of my rereads of Fink stories in recent years have been vocal-acted by The Crack Fox from The Mighty Boosh. Not so much an 'over my head' thing as a 'get the drokk out of my mind!' thing.
: M.I.K. 11 December, 2012, 04:50:57 PM
I'd say it's a bit more like 'puy-zin' than 'pie-zen'. I don't think anybody in the history of anything anywhere has ever called poison 'pizzen', (and I've heard a number of folk use the puyzin/piezen pronunciation in this neck of the South East Scottish woods).
: sauchie 09 December, 2012, 11:33:10 AM
You should not attempt to apply correct grammatical form to accents/dialect. That way lies madness.
: radiator 11 December, 2012, 05:06:05 PM
The 'Barry Penge' thing. Is that from something I should know?
: Dandontdare 11 December, 2012, 05:34:29 PM
It's Mr Overdrive's real name from Low Life, which Dirty Frank taunts him with - "Big Barry Penge! Big Barry Penge!""
Cool. I knew it was from Lowlife, but thought it was a reference to something else!
"Ta gits that Nazi man Dredd, ah'm gonna need mah paralyzin' poison an' mah squishy boots!"
: WhitBloke 12 December, 2012, 03:06:30 AM
That's it. My Fink-reading brain is now officially bended. But I am certain I know what his pizens are made from. Blood from a cat's face and shit... lots and lots of shit.
Oh. Wait. Wrong forum. :-\
Should we get in early and point out the "Arab Spring" connection to "Mutant Spring"?
Pat wagon = patrol wagon.
Dumb, I know.
Only clicked few days ago when I was catching up on reading backlog of stuff such ad Case Files 2!
: Buttonman 03 January, 2013, 06:24:26 PM
A newcomer to 'Breaking Bad' explained to me the meaning of bent lawyer Saul Goodman's name.
Seemingly 'It's all good, man'.
: JayzusB.Christ 03 January, 2013, 07:50:07 PM
Halo's mate Toy was a lesbian. Seems so obvious now. Did I mention this before?
: Skullmo 09 January, 2013, 03:09:15 PM
That America was satire.
Bash those dirty domeocrats Dredd!
: mididoctors 09 January, 2013, 04:49:15 PM
In The Robohunter story Verdus there is a pastiche of bilbo baggins meeting gollom
: Dandontdare 09 February, 2013, 12:06:49 AM
thanks to a BBC4 doc, I only just found out that "Mr Mojo Rising" from LA woman is an anagram of Jim Morison.
This followed a superb Pink Floyd doc, so I'm wallowing in old cool music right now.
: Frank 19 March, 2013, 06:06:05 PM
In Mandroid, the name of the wife who ends up as an automaton with no mind of her own is called Katherine Rosson.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fe/Stepfordwivesposter.jpg/225px-Stepfordwivesposter.jpg)
: Hoagy 22 March, 2013, 12:47:31 PM
It is good to know 2000ad remains deep down, subversive and readers still notice.
: Proudhuff 22 March, 2013, 01:04:02 PM
New Rose by the Damned ::)
What's that about again Huffster? I got illuminated on it once and it clicked, but for the life off me I can't remember what it is.
its a really,really cunning word play that went over my young head.. until years later when it finally clicked!!
: WhizzBang 22 March, 2013, 03:19:29 PM
No it isn't. There is no 'G' in 'Jim Morison' and there is only 1 'r'.
: James Stacey 22 March, 2013, 03:25:11 PM
There is if its spelt Mr. Mojo Risin as he spelt it and you also spell his surname with 2 r's like he did.
: hippynumber1 22 March, 2013, 03:34:49 PM
It is if you spell it 'Mr. Mojo Risin' ;)
: radiator 25 March, 2013, 03:26:28 PM
Judge Ocks = Ox.
Only twigged that recently!
: Ghastly McNasty 25 March, 2013, 05:10:49 PM
After first reading of it a couple of years ago, I only recently got the Lou Scannon gag.
Some judge's comment at the end of Dredd in Cardboard City - 'Guess that's how you solve a problem like Maria.' Funny how judges have a casual knowledge of 120-year-old musicals, but it was a great line now that I understand it.
I just got that right now.
: Colin YNWA 25 March, 2013, 09:23:06 PM
God really I've known that for like forever... or well... at least since you posted that and I just read it.
Glad I'm not the only one.
: Skullmo 26 March, 2013, 08:09:10 PM
Make that three
: Trout 26 March, 2013, 09:34:54 PM
Oh, fuck. I just got "Deadlock". :-[
: radiator 10 April, 2013, 11:27:19 AM
Erm, is 'Hot Dog Run' a (nonsensical) pun on 'Hot Dog Bun'?
: James Stacey 10 April, 2013, 11:30:46 AM
It occurs to me know I have no idea why it should be called the Hot Dog Run. It's always just been a given that that is what it is. It doesn't even make sense in context with Hotties apparently being the MC1 term for hotdogs.
: Sideshow Bob 10 April, 2013, 01:42:11 PM
In Devlin Waugh : Swimming in blood....
Aquatraz...Undersea prison...obviously based on Alcatraz...( Got that one ! ).
Murray Koenig : The pest control 'exterminator' brought in to clear the infestation.....Missed this one as an amalgamation of Bill Murray from Ghostbusters and Walter Koenig as Chekov from Star Trek.
: Bubba Zebill 10 April, 2013, 01:55:28 PM
Perhaps a double meaning. In old NYC they refer to police vans as 'Paddy Wagons'. I'm not clear on the reason, either coined first when used in predominantly Irish areas of the city, or, more likely, because they were manned by a predominantly Irish police force.
: I, Cosh 10 April, 2013, 02:01:21 PM
Dunno. If I've ever thought about it I'd reckon it was something to do with "hotdogging" in the sense of driving or riding in a deliberately extreme fashion.
Maybe I'm being thick but I don't get the joke here.
: Greg M. 10 April, 2013, 02:07:57 PM
: The Cosh 10 April, 2013, 02:01:21 PM
Judge Ocks was very powerfully built and noted for his strength - i.e, as strong as an ox.
This may be obvious but the JD story about the release of Casey Steech, a perp that turned evidence against the mob, ran around the time of the release of actor Stacey Keach...who had just done time in a prison in the UK for smuggling drugs in...I think a small amount for personal use.
: Cactus 10 April, 2013, 03:18:20 PM
Venus Bluegenes - I got the blue genes bit easily enough but at the weekend I discovered a song called... Venus In Blue Jeans!
: radiator 10 April, 2013, 03:26:49 PM
Anyone else find that when you get all these references it kind of takes something away from those old stories?
It all seemed so strange and mysterious when I was a kid and it all went over my head!
: Mikey 10 April, 2013, 03:59:26 PM
It was Irish cops - they were essentially given the jobs in exchange for voting for the Democrats.
: JayzusB.Christ 11 April, 2013, 08:20:01 AM
That Zenith was actually pretty smart, and managed to talk Scott Wallace out of nuking London without St John's help.
I also thought for a long, long time that Berlin was a-bombed in reality.
: Bubba Zebill 11 April, 2013, 09:09:15 AM
Explain...
Well... I thought for a long time that Peter Saint John was speaking through Zenith using telepathy when Zenith convinced Wallace not to nuke London. Later I realised that Saint John's plan was to telepathically cause Wallace to go into a coma, or possibly have a brain haemorrhage. Zenith took the more humane approach of simply talking him out of it, while Saint John, being a bit of a bastard, later locked the door and let him suffocate or starve. I thought it was Zenith who locked him in until I re-read it years later.
Unless you're talking about the a-bomb part - in which case I didn't realise, as a child, that the a-bombing of Berlin was just something that happened in Zenith's universe. I thought it really happened.
: Frank 11 April, 2013, 09:02:15 PM
I didn't realise, as a child, that the a-bombing of Berlin was just something that happened in Zenith's universe. I thought it really happened.
Do you remember Tharg's snotty reply to the guy who wrote in at that time to point out that only two nuclear devices were dropped on civilian populations during WWII, and that neither of them detonated over Berlin? Way to patronise a readership who grew up in a culture of war comics which at least gestured towards historical and technical accuracy.
This presumption of familiarity with the paradigm of alternate universes common in US comics came not very long after Tharg berated another reader for assuming that Anderson's psychic abilities and Johnny Alpha's mutant traits would conform to the depiction of those phenomena in the pages of X-Men. I don't think Tharg's even real.
: hippynumber1 12 April, 2013, 07:15:50 PM
I remember that reply; it amused me at the time but thinking back on it, I have to agree with you...
On page five of the Dredd story The Satanist (Brothers of the blood TPB) - the page where Dredd looks through Vienna's personal possessions and mementos - there's a framed photograph of Rico sans helmet. The image isn't much more than a thumbnail, but the family's trademark shock of black hair is being worn in the bedhead fashion of a young Charlie Sheen. That would explain why the helmet sometimes sits a little high on Dredd's head.
(http://www.flix66.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Charlie-Sheen-11.jpg)
: JOE SOAP 17 April, 2013, 07:14:07 PM
He has Urbanised hair:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img688/6625/ricoc.png)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img585/1756/ricoii.png)
Someone needs to write a flashback story explaining why Rico's hair goes from Christopher Walken to George Clooney between that framed photograph and his arrival on Titan. The expanded version of The Return of Rico (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/hires/951.jpg) Pat Mills wrote around the time of the Stallone film wasn't much less substantial.
: sauchie 17 April, 2013, 07:34:08 PM
His appearance in issue 4 of Year One will be fleeting, but if we're lucky, it'll be an end-scene with Joe & Rico and a 126 year-old Walter White instructing them both on the merits of the close-crop.
: Steve Green 17 April, 2013, 07:54:48 PM
Although I knew McGruder was a Thatcher analogue, I never connected her referring to herself as 'we' and Thatcher's 'we are a grandmother'.
Does that make Dredd Geoffrey Howe?
Excellent catch, and topical - use of first person plural is grounds for sectioning. Shurely Shojan's the Howe analogue; making Dredd the Hesseltine figure who delivers the coup de grâce.
We're back to haircuts again.
: darnmarr 17 April, 2013, 08:14:48 PM
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YmwhhLNvaFg/UW70TqO1G-I/AAAAAAAACHY/XUwAqz5s5rM/s320/ricosauve.JPG)
: I, Cosh 09 May, 2013, 12:11:31 AM
"Hi Brinna, what're you watching?"
- "John Cage: Atonal Avenger."
This only a few short weeks after the same writer had a character called Cornelius Cardew save the day. Don't worry, I didn't get that reference until much later either.
: JayzusB.Christ 09 May, 2013, 09:09:03 PM
: The Cosh 09 May, 2013, 12:11:31 AM
Sorry, I'm thick. Could you explain it? I remember it alright.
: I, Cosh 09 May, 2013, 10:11:00 PM
Cage and Cardew were both avant garde composers. In later life, Cardew became more interested in left wing politics than music and seems a pretty interesting character (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Cardew). I wonder if Alan ever met him.
Anyway, I've just been rereading Halo Jones for the first time in many years. It's pretty good stuff.
: Dash Decent 09 May, 2013, 11:26:16 PM
Cage was the bloke who composed a three minute piece of silence, wasn't he?
: Dandontdare 10 May, 2013, 07:54:15 AM
4'33" actually!
That's the one!
: TordelBack 10 May, 2013, 01:59:21 PM
I do hate the way DJs always talk over the intro to that one.
: Pete Wells 10 May, 2013, 02:05:44 PM
Only when I was doing the art comp last month did I sus that Krool was a play on 'Cruel'. I teach people's bairns me!
: Richmond Clements 10 May, 2013, 02:39:30 PM
: Ghastly McNasty 16 May, 2013, 07:24:40 PM
Pfffft. Looking at the Clint magazine thread I've just realised why It's called CLiNT.
: Trout 16 May, 2013, 11:05:28 PM
Are you a fan of the Droid Life character Flick?
: Ghastly McNasty 17 May, 2013, 07:18:10 AM
*Sounds of another penny dropping*
: JayzusB.Christ 17 May, 2013, 07:24:04 AM
Isn't his name Crumbs, though...?
Now I can't remember. I was sure it was Flick.
: Noisybast 18 May, 2013, 09:39:06 AM
Pretty sure he started life as Flicker (because his job was to flick eraser crumbs off the pages), and the name got changed somewhere along the line.
: strontium71 20 May, 2013, 01:26:00 PM
Reading the new Dan Brown novel , Inferno , I've just twigged that the Grice series was called Purgatory , and the Dredd follow-up was called Inferno. Both were parts of the Divine Comedy by Dante. Should there have been a third part called Paradise...
: Dandontdare 20 May, 2013, 02:16:37 PM
yes, that was when Wagner came back :D
: strontium_dog_90 23 May, 2013, 05:34:44 PM
Speaking of that era . . .
The satire of Big Dave really went over my head, as a younger chap. As someone who's grown up to love stuff like South Park and Brass Eye, I really wish I was reading it for the first time now. I think I'd probably laugh quite a lot.
Reading the new Dan Brown novel, Inferno....
I hear Dan Brown novels are the only books actually allowed in Hell. Even as the ice-entombed Satan chews forever on his head and flays his back, Judas Iscariot has to listen to the audiobook of The DaVinci Code for all eternity. That'll learn 'im.
: Cactus 23 May, 2013, 07:52:08 PM
With a story named 'The Pit'. Unintentional irony or subtle dig?
: I, Cosh 12 June, 2013, 08:05:44 PM
Suppose I might as well share my humiliation here for those unable to read about it elsewhere. It was only on seeing the trailer at the pictures this afternoon that I realised the title of World War Z is supposed to be a pun.
: Frank 12 June, 2013, 08:58:04 PM
: The Cosh 12 June, 2013, 08:05:44 PM
You're not American, so stop beating yourself up. Bobcat Goldthwaite's character in Police Academy 2 and the handle of Ving Rhames's rapist in Pulp Fiction prove the fuckers can't agree on the pronunciation themselves.
: malkymac 13 June, 2013, 09:46:21 AM
Err I feel really thick now for asking this but could you tell me what the pun is? :-[
: radiator 13 June, 2013, 09:52:00 AM
World War Zee
World War Three
I still can't bring myself to pronounce it as 'Zee' out loud though.
: TordelBack 13 June, 2013, 10:01:27 AM
I need a razor to go over my head. I look like Johnny Alpha from the eyebrows up.
: The Doctor Alt 8 13 June, 2013, 10:26:19 AM
And what is wrong with that? :D
: optimusjamie 17 June, 2013, 10:27:37 PM
Some of the more recent Dredd stuff went pretty much over my head before reading The Apocalypse War- after all, as I said here (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,38688.msg768179.html#msg768179), it is one of the defining moments in Dredd's entire run.
Same thing with ABC Warriors- Back to Earth made a lot more sense after reading some of the older stuff.
: radiator 17 June, 2013, 10:31:15 PM
So something struck me earlier - is 'kneel before Zod' a pun on 'kneel before God"?
I wouldn't like THIS hanging over my head...
https://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/10/31/_88NhKDvOkeZd_rgJlEdrg2.jpg
: James Stacey 26 June, 2013, 07:53:46 AM
Zod makes that joke in the film when near the beginning someone says 'dear God' and he replies, 'No, Zod'
Zenith's name was Robert Neal Cassady (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Cassady) McDowell. Come on, I was only wee.
Watching Spaced for the umpteenth time, the penny finally dropped regarding the name of that nice psychic girl Tim met (and who gave him his own phone number): Cassandra. Yeah, it could be a coincidink but let's face it, it's not.
: radiator 18 July, 2013, 07:10:12 PM
Doesn't 'Cassandra' refer to a Greek or Roman myth about a woman who could tell the future?
Probably more a reference to that (as is Anderson's name in the first place).
I get the original reference, but given that Spaced is about as crammed full of nods to 2000AD as you could wish for, I think 'mindreading chick' probably refers to Cass Anderson...
: Proudhuff 18 July, 2013, 07:51:32 PM
I don't believe it.
: Jim_Campbell 18 July, 2013, 08:03:11 PM
Of course, Anderson isn't the only blonde woman with psychic abilities (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ruf9JBv9V4U/SDWE82mHo_I/AAAAAAAAApo/N-jcKBo4xJ0/s1600-h/scan0001.jpg) on whom Wagner & Grant bestowed that moniker.
I haven't seen the episode in question, but if the joke of the character is that no-one believes her predictions, then it's probably a reference to the myth. The way some artists sometimes depict Anderson with reddish hair (Bisley and whoever coloured the Eagle covers are the two that spring to mind) is probably a reference to the daughter of Priam, King of Troy.
: johnnystress 19 July, 2013, 10:09:21 AM
I like the look of this; Ortiz, demony stuff.... Probably expecting to much to ask if it was ever collected/
: Jim_Campbell 19 July, 2013, 10:44:30 AM
Not as far as I know, but there's a massive chunk of it scanned here (http://theyellowedpages.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20House%20Of%20Daemon), although the oldest episode is at the bottom so, counter-intuitively, you have to start at the bottom and scroll up.
: Woolly 19 July, 2013, 12:15:13 PM
Arsom! Never read this before - thanks for linking that Jim :thumbsup:
: JayzusB.Christ 20 July, 2013, 12:41:21 PM
Ro-Busters.
Only occurred to me now.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Paris_Tuileries_Garden_Facepalm_statue.jpg/300px-Paris_Tuileries_Garden_Facepalm_statue.jpg)
: glassstanley 30 July, 2013, 09:31:19 PM
Not a play on words, just something I've missed in 35 years of re-reading: Walter waving Dredd on his way on the last page of Ch 2 of The Cursed Earth.
: Skullmo 01 August, 2013, 12:55:59 AM
THINGS THAT WENT OVER YOUR HEAD...
: judgerufian 01 August, 2013, 01:34:32 PM
Great!! Always wanted to read the end of this after having read some random episodes back in my yoof.
: Spikes 01 August, 2013, 05:40:30 PM
You and me both. Didnt notice Walter either, until fairly recently - and that's me pouring over every line of that particular story, for the passed 35 years as well.
: Mister Pops 18 August, 2013, 02:38:38 AM
Dredd's gun has six types of ammunition, so it's a six shooter.
: Bubba Zebill 26 August, 2013, 01:29:21 PM
Anderson topless in The Apocalypse War. (as they blast a tunnel under the east-meg silo's)
I mentioned it on another thread and thought it might be of interest here too.
: JayzusB.Christ 08 September, 2013, 06:46:49 PM
Anderson topless is always of interest.
Anyway, I've just re-read The Art of Kenny Who and realised that the boss of American comics giant Big 1 has a very familiar turn of phrase: 'Okay, 'nuff said. It's truth-tellin' time, tiger'.
: Pete Wells 08 September, 2013, 07:07:56 PM
The Krool, are like, 'Cruel.'
I only sussed that during the Bad Company Art comp, sheesh!
: Bubba Zebill 09 September, 2013, 12:41:33 PM
'Okay, 'nuff said. It's truth-tellin' time, tiger'.
Ok...that did go over my head... Probably exposing a terrible ignorance of popular culcha ...but what's the reference?
: Dandontdare 09 September, 2013, 02:01:45 PM
those sound like pulsatingly powerful proclamations from the Might Marvel Bullpen - Excelsior!
...and has the same name as a certain assassin...now I get it! (never did read Marvel TBH)
: Dragonfly 10 September, 2013, 11:45:25 AM
Over on the thread for the new Nemesis colour collection I mentioned that the DJ at the very beginning of the book was based on Kenny Everett and that this fact went unnoticed by me for thirty three years. Well here's something else.
Was looking through the same volume and was having fun trying to see where O'Neil provided new art for Eagle Comics. Got to the 'Origin Of Excessus' story and for the life of me I couldn't see where the new art was inserted. So I got the Nemesis The Warlock Vol1 out to compare and was surprised to see that the pages were the same. This got me to thinking that for that volume they had also used the Eagle version and that I had just discovered something new.
Almost came on here to ask if anyone could compare the original version to these and was there a problem with losing the original artwork when they compiled the b&w collection.
It was only then, when I was trying to find what prog the story was originally published in that I realised it had never been published in the prog but was an annual story, and as such was already the correct dimensions and didn't need adjusting.
Sometimes things take a while to sink in!
: SuperSurfer 10 September, 2013, 07:15:51 PM
I've wondered about characters based on tv personalities being unrecognisable to younger readers in reprints. I think Robin Day has been used a few times in Dredd and Walter the Wobot strips.
As a kid I was baffled by Hammerstein's: "And if ya can't stand the heat… ya shouldn't be in the kitchen!" I had no idea it was a saying. I just thought – why is he talking about kitchens?
: ming 16 September, 2013, 10:06:34 AM
Dear Tharg,
It has come to my attention that certain similarities exist between the Cursed Earth Maurader Scabby Hayes and the talented jazzman Tubby Hayes. Are they, by any chance, related?
Edna Scrotes, Aged 12
Tubby
(http://i.imgur.com/wPWE7iT.jpg)
Scabby
(http://i.imgur.com/PPlLV1x.jpg)
: Theblazeuk 16 September, 2013, 02:03:37 PM
I know this is old, but to be fair Britain and Germany didn't (to my knowledge) deploy superhuman soldiers bred via knowledge from evil gods from a closed timeloop either.
: JayzusB.Christ 24 September, 2013, 07:59:00 AM
Could be twaddle, now, but did Hester Hyman's surname have some kind of metaphorical significance? Her death bringing the mature world of politics to Dredd - breaking the, er, Hyman to signify the city's growing up, etc. Or am I talking a load of gubbins?
: Dash Decent 24 September, 2013, 01:25:04 PM
My umbrella.
Until some creep stole it? Call a judge citizen!
: Frank 24 September, 2013, 07:11:07 PM
I thought it was alluding to the idea of blood being shed - even though the spelling's different (Hyman/hymen) - but your version's more poetic. Hymen (capital H) was part of the Greek pantheon; associated with the siege of Troy, disguised himself under a hood to infiltrate and resist those who were holding his loved ones captive ... and that's about as much as I know about that. Except that he wears a jaggy bunnet and carries a torch - kinda like a symbol (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Wenceslas_Hollar_-_The_Greek_gods._Hymen.jpg).
: Proudhuff 24 September, 2013, 07:29:28 PM
That synth noise during Pop Master, makes the words...
: sauchie 24 September, 2013, 07:11:07 PM
Ah, I see! You make a lot of sense, as always, and this seems to hold more water than my theory. I didn't know Hymen was a character from mythology. I love this board!
this seems to hold more water than my theory.
No, I think there's a lot of mileage in thinking of that incident as a loss of innocence - that's certainly the effect it had on readers' perceptions of the role of the judges and Dredd as a character. That makes it all the more difficult to get your head round Alan Grant's claim (http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2005/grant/grant3.shtml) that the story was originally about nudism.
That makes it all the more difficult to get your head round Alan Grant's claim (http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2005/grant/grant3.shtml) that the story was originally about nudism.
Yeah, it was a weird one, that. If it was true, it's odd to think that editorial censorship led to what was then the most grown-up Dredd storyline to date. Have to admit I hated the Democracy stuff at the time, but I was only 11 at the time. I later realised it was the best bit of Dreddness that had ever been published.
: Spikes 25 September, 2013, 08:56:24 PM
Yes it does. That '3 in 10' is a right bitch, isnt it. Never manage that part.
: A.Cow 05 November, 2013, 11:21:55 PM
Just re-reading part 1 of The Life & Death of Johnny Alpha and noticed that the reporter is a mutant. Then I realised what her mutation is... she has 3 breasts! How did I miss that first time round?
: judgerufian 06 November, 2013, 12:47:58 PM
It was subtle, noticed it on the second prog she was in....or did I have Total Recall? ;)
: Dash Decent 15 November, 2013, 04:10:59 PM
Some of the guys on another thread just worked out what a fetish is... ::)
Though having said that, I can remember being in high school and finding out my brother thought a gazebo was some kind of animal!
: JayzusB.Christ 15 November, 2013, 05:46:43 PM
Which thread? Also, it was that Devlin Waugh / Dredd story that taught me what the original meaning of 'fetish' was.
Anyway, Thrill - power - a play on willpower? It just occurred to be the other day
: TordelBack 15 November, 2013, 05:55:07 PM
An oldie but a goldie:
(http://www.kenzerco.com/Operiodicals/kodt/kodt%20webstrips/WS_Gazebo_p1.jpg)
That's quite appropriate as it came up when he was playing one of the Infocom Zork adventures at the time.
: hippynumber1 16 November, 2013, 08:24:57 PM
It's taken me until episode 6 of 'Masters of Sex' to realise it's a play on his surname! :-[
: Cactus 25 November, 2013, 06:52:54 PM
I've only just got the joke in the title of the 'Cheap Thrills' thread. :-[
: A.Cow 22 December, 2013, 10:33:21 PM
I loved the references to Skelmersdale (a.k.a. Skem) in this year's Strontium Dog stories.
It got me wondering whether John Wagner threw it in as a bit of a hidden gag for those-in-the-know. (Skem is frequently compared with Milton Keynes -- the main ghetto in SD -- due to an excessive number of roundabouts & copious concrete. Also, although rather more tenuous, some of the surrounding communities consider Skem to be a yer-sister-is-also-yer-mother kind of place, i.e. full of genetic mutations.)
: Frank 15 February, 2014, 01:59:24 PM
The Second Robot War heats up in The Doomsday Scenario, and Dredd's creator provides the definitive in-story statement of authorial purpose:
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/60c29da6-ddef-44d0-ac65-6b9655d71f12.jpg?t=1392472292)
As far as Dredd epics are concerned, it does have to be Wagner. He did the same thing, with only slightly more subtlety, in Strontium Dog the other week. Editorial made a similar gag with the cover for the Dredd story where The Flying Dutchman (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/hires/459.jpg) showed up in MC1.
: Frank 01 March, 2014, 09:12:52 AM
Incidental details like this (The Switch, prog 369) are the reason why everyone now has to think very carefully about plot contrivances which may add any new information about Justice Department and the city, or contradict the established mythos:
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/ac02ae11-9db9-41e5-81a4-eabc75c23b75.jpg?t=1393664194)
It must have been great in the old days, when you could just type stuff like all judges enter the Academy at age five, or write yourself out of a corner by inventing something like the above, and not have to worry about the repercussions that might have for stories you or someone else might want to tell in 30 years time. Has some clever bugger - most likely Michael Carroll - ever used this incidental detail as a plot point in a story?
: M.I.K. 01 March, 2014, 05:48:59 PM
He probably will now.
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/bcab9916-f7b3-4564-b539-242479b8ba4d.jpg?t=1394266678)
No, Castillo, that really doesn't make much sense at all. Vitus implanted thoughts in the lawgiver's mind? No wonder McGruder gave you such a hard time.
: TordelBack 08 March, 2014, 08:44:11 AM
Tut! Plenty of Psis in Dredd's world have been shown to have the specific ability to fool or fog sensors and computers, including Dance. Castillo's just showing interdepartmental awareness.
As to me, I've just this morning realised that Moore's old pen name Curt Vile is a pun on magus-approved composer Kurt Weill, of LoEG: Century fame. Given that I've read a half-dozen biographies of Moore where it was almost certainly mentioned, that's a bit sad.
Plenty of Psis in Dredd's world have been shown to have the specific ability to fool or fog sensors and computers, including Dance.
Oh aye, but psychic abilities in Dredd World are usually very specific indeed; judges specialise as empaths and precogs, and if a perp they encounter is a telekinetic (for example) they aren't usually depicted as being able to predict the future (for another example) as well. Anderson does a whole lot of new age crap, but that's mostly an extension of her abilities as a telepath.
I don't doubt that telekinesis can encompass the ability to change zeros to ones, but Vitus Dance has a particularly broad skill set (pyrokinesis, telepathy, telekinesis, and precognition) which puts Anderson to shame. No wonder he thought he was the Messiah. It's certainly not a deal-breaker, but if Dance's abilities had been a little better defined and more specific, I think Doomsday and the stories leading up to it would have felt like more of a coherent piece.
Doomsday and The Cal Files are both concerned with the manipulation of information and people, and if there had been an explicit equivalence drawn between the way Dance rearranges the sequences of the DNA in his victims' bodies, and the sensors of the gun, it would have supported the themes of a story about an entirely digital villain. A hitman with the ability to influence information systems and technology would be a better fit for Narcos than a Cursed Earth mutie and his scorpions *.
* my idea that the compound Narcos's cyber-assassin would use to enhance his abilities should be digitalis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_glycoside#Examples), rather than scorpion venom, is probably best kept between us
: The Corinthian 08 March, 2014, 08:32:10 PM
The end of Revere Book II. By the time this came around, I'd largely forgotten all the stuff about leaps of faith and ritual rebirth in the original series. So I assumed that when Revere chucked himself off the car park roof then he was definitely dead and the story was over for good.
I was pretty surprised when it came back for Book Three.
: Tombo 08 March, 2014, 08:38:23 PM
Something I've only just (i.e. this afternoon) realised: Armoured Gideon - Armageddon
The name badge of CJ Volt's personal protection officer in Mark Millar's voodoo assassin nonsense, The Big Hit (prog 1030):
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/0654ccdf-90fb-4b9f-81cd-f3104820f8b6.jpg?t=1394385402)
: JayzusB.Christ 10 March, 2014, 06:37:16 AM
I don't remember that one at all. Probably for the best. There was a Judge Gordon Rennie in Millar's Anderson text story, though
Decent gag that, but who is the artist? Craddock on colours, sure, but I can't figure out the linework...
I was long gone by then, mind.
: radiator 10 March, 2014, 08:23:18 AM
I would guess Lee Sullivan.
Maybe, but I'm not sure. And now I realise I should just have looked it up (such a child of the 20th C, me):
Barney says "G. Stoddart, other artists also involved". Huh, who he/she/they? More googling suggests maybe Graham Stoddart of FQP/Dogbreath fame?
(http://www.futurequake.co.uk/imagebucket/DB28/Search&DestroyBlog.jpg)
: glassstanley 16 March, 2014, 02:39:45 PM
Here's one that's still going over my head. Not because of a double-meaning, but because it's only ever been printed and not said out loud. Did the Sovs have Strato-'vees' or Strato-'fives'?
: ming 16 March, 2014, 03:02:07 PM
I always assumed 'Strato-vee' due to the V-shape of the craft...
: TordelBack 16 March, 2014, 03:16:39 PM
Did the Sovs have Strato-'vees' or Strato-'fives'?
Either way, they were certainly things that went over your head.
I suspect Ming is correct, and this thinking can also be applied to Kim Raymond's H-Wagons. ;)
Might be, but it's a very different style of art; Jack Covvella's is the other hand involved. The art on the strip has pleasant echoes of the great Steve Dillon's easy command of figure work and character, and the inking technique is similar too. There are some direct lifts from Dillon Rogue Trooper panels, and the uniform and bike are explicitly Dillon's too. Some panels go off the Dillon model, and the competency of the figure work and composition in these are much more shaky.
The art's what would have happened if it was Steve Who?, rather than Kenny, who had his style appropriated by the replicator machines of BIG1 comics:
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/d585ec1f-0046-49eb-b213-3b395998b8ff.jpg?t=1394896474)
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/93735679-2655-44a3-8051-7d14d03a39f8.jpg?t=1394982744)
Great question! And a great answer for anyone without a stubb gun.
I've alwayssaid vee but, now you've brought it up, it's hard to avoid the comparison with. The Saturn V which would've been known to any schoolboy.
A third interpretation might be that, like the AK47, it's named after its inventor : Sergei Stratov.
: Dash Decent 16 March, 2014, 09:29:54 PM
...or Sergei Stratov the fifth?
: Hap Hazzard 17 March, 2014, 06:44:50 PM
Resyk pronunciation went completely over my head for 35 years until the Dredd movie put it onscreen. I was always mentally pronouncing it as "Reesk". I was like "OH! Re-cyc!" out loud in the first showing. Not a proud moment unveiling my own dumbassery for so long.
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/JudgeDreddTheMegazine345-Page49BentN.jpg?t=1395078788)
Bent N/Ben 10 ... no? Look, it's really clever - the N of the logo is actually bent.
A listen to the BBC's Apocalypse War suggests it probably is 'Vee', but has now thrown up 'Sove' for Sov, when I have always pronounced the 'o' as in 'dog'. Oh, the challenges of life :)
: Theblazeuk 19 March, 2014, 04:03:06 PM
Its definitely Sovv rather than Sove.... definitely. Definitely I tell you!
Isn't the first syllable of 'Soviet' pronounced 'Sovv'?
Aye, but not if you're American.
: sauchie 19 March, 2014, 04:53:55 PM
Nor indeed if you're Russian, where it's apparently something like 'sah-vee-eht-skeek'.
Just noticed that the other Judge who arrests the eponymous 'Bat Mugger' is "Judge Robin". 25 years it took me to spot that!
Hah! That's great (and had completely passed me by as well).
I'm not sure it went over my head, exactly, but I don't think I realised that the November print date of John Wagner's (broad) satire of the Northern Ireland peace process meant it was probably written around marching season. Shouldn't both sides be Simps?
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/e4aa7b5a-4e13-4f86-a7fc-231f8b5318c9.jpg?t=1396782045)
Just a few months ahead of the Good Friday Agreement, I'm glad Mo Mowlam didn't take her cue from Dredd's two-fisted solution to that Gordian Knot. Actually, I'm sure the BLAIR-1 strip meant the prog was banned from Whitehall.
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/3c5e86d1-402e-4b34-baf8-0895b503aacc.jpg?t=1396782170)
: Dash Decent 23 April, 2014, 02:20:14 AM
Are the flashbacks in Trifecta tied back to a tea-and-biscuits meeting as a nod to Proust and his madeleines? Or is it something from the George Smiley stories?
: Frank 23 April, 2014, 07:01:48 AM
To make Frank and Jack convincing double agents, Smiley zaps 'em so they can't recherché the temps perdu. I'll eat my hat if the biscuit dunking breaking through that fog of memory isn't a la-de-da reference to poncey French books about sod all. Smiley's name and nature (and the fact he literally brings Frank In From The Cold) make the Le Carre connection clear, but he looks much more like Alan Bennet than Alec Guiness, and the Hilda Ogden décor of Smiley's lair are much more A Cream Cracker Under The Sofa than Tinker Tailor.
: I, Cosh 23 April, 2014, 07:34:13 AM
What the common in "common or garden" meant. As we don't have commons north of Clapham, I just thought it was a really redundant phrase.
: The Cosh 23 April, 2014, 07:34:13 AM
Well feck me pink with a lead balloon. You learn something new every day
: TordelBack 23 April, 2014, 09:09:52 AM
: sauchie 23 April, 2014, 07:01:48 AM
.. I'll eat my hat if the biscuit dunking breaking through that fog of memory isn't a la-de-da reference to poncey French books about sod all.
Or The Transporter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNQd2plVpw) version of same...
: glassstanley 24 April, 2014, 05:39:55 AM
PSI Division - is that meant to read as P.S.I. Division? In which case the CSI link has gone over my head since the first Judge Death story until now. Always read it as 'Sigh Division'...
: Colin YNWA 24 April, 2014, 06:17:44 AM
Yeah I've always read it as 'sigh' division. As in Psychic, guess it works either way.
: amines2058 24 April, 2014, 06:23:51 AM
Same here with 'Sigh' division for me, but I took it as a shortening of Psionics due to the spelling, plus the fact psionics is an umbrella term covering all manner of psychic abilities (telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokenesis etc - thanks Wikipedia! ;)) which would also make sense.
I used to call it 'P.S.I.', until I saw the coverline that said 'Bridge of Psis'. Also, it would be horribly jarring to read it as Anderson saying something like 'The kid - She's a Pee Ess Eye!'
It's "sigh", as in psychic or psionic. Although a recent cover used the CSI pun and it had to be explained to me.
: Jim_Campbell 24 April, 2014, 09:01:34 AM
It's "sigh", as in psychic or psionic.
Of course it is — there's never been any suggestion that it's an acronym, has there? If so, what does it stand for?
Also, the Greek letter Psi (the sound 'ps', and pronounced 'sigh' in English) is used as the Dept's symbol, and is associated with paranormal wotsits.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Greek_psi.png/800px-Greek_psi.png)
: Hawkmumbler 24 April, 2014, 09:10:02 AM
(http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131211131718/mk_/images/4/40/WWWWPSIOCT-758.jpg)
Psychic Scene Investigation?
The idea that it might *not* be pronounced 'sigh' only occured when I saw a video with Book Cook referring to the strip as Anderson P.S.I.
: JayzusB.Christ 24 April, 2014, 05:35:12 PM
I think the Sighs have it.
What we need is Tharg* to visit us all individually and read our progs aloud for us. Mind you, this message board would probably shrink by about 80%.
*And a droid who speaks Irish.
EDIT: Tordels, old boy, I never noticed that. It reminds me of this article: http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_875_25-symbols-you-never-noticed-in-everyday-life/ (http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_875_25-symbols-you-never-noticed-in-everyday-life/). The one about binary blew my mind (though not as much as cracked.com thinks things blow people's minds).
EDIT EDIT: That's doubly weird, Hawkmonger. I use those things in my martial arts class; never realised they looked like the letter they sound like.
Literally only just realised that 'Comixology' is a pun on 'Mixology' - ie, the preparation and mixing of Cocktails.
Also, the Greek letter Psi (the sound 'ps', and pronounced 'sigh' in English) is used as the Dept's symbol, and is associated with paranormal wotsits
Not only did I not know that, I hadn't even noticed that Psi Division had a symbol. (deep shame)
: TordelBack 24 April, 2014, 06:04:04 PM
Yes, well, that may be because I'm probably talking out of my posterior as usual. I was absolutely sure there were loads of examples, from Shamballa in particular, but a quick flick through the bookshelf reveals precisely none.
Maybe it's.... [adjusts sunglasses]... all in the mind.
EDIT: Occurs to me it may actually appear in the Anderson-in-Space stories, and thus not Psi-Div at all.
:lol: This is why I love this forum.
: Fungus 24 April, 2014, 07:19:43 PM
Like most, it's 'sigh' for me.
Not least because otherwise, EVERY punning 'Next Prog' and cover tagline falls flat.
Anderson is one of the worst punning offenders, I'd say.
: Dandontdare 24 April, 2014, 09:35:32 PM
The P is silent, as in "swimming pool"
: Dash Decent 24 April, 2014, 10:52:25 PM
We are all guilty!
(http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x418/Dash_Decent/DonMartin4_zps2d7d6efd.jpg)
: judgerufian 25 April, 2014, 02:26:17 PM
dont think that P is silent but we know what you mean!
: Link Prime 25 April, 2014, 02:37:32 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH1XGdu-hzQ&noredirect=1
: 8-Ball 25 April, 2014, 07:42:00 PM
When Deadlock and Nemesis are looking straight ahead it's (blindingly) obvious that they are connected to one another. Or it is now, but before I just didn't see the resemblance.
: Eightball 25 April, 2014, 07:42:00 PM
There's always been a passable similarity back in the day, even if it was just Deadlock's 'maw'.
Bisley's stint on the ABC Warriors in the late 80's was the first time I became acutely aware of it, and Deadlock's similarity to Nemesis has never been more pronounced (or cool looking) when drawn by Henry Flint.
I've been watching that creator video of Kevin O'Neill discussing the origins of Nemesis and how he based the (previously unseen) character's head on the Blitzspear after discarding other concepts. It's an amazing coincidence that two characters seemingly created independently of each other should end up looking so similar. Either that or Kevin O'Neill has some weird recurring shit going on in his head.
Kevin O'Neill has some weird recurring shit going on in his head
Understatement of the year, neebs.
: maryanddavid 25 April, 2014, 10:52:46 PM
Deadlock was originally meant to be the occupant of the Blitzspear.
I demand an explanation, (S)He-Who-Is-Named-Twice.
: maryanddavid 26 April, 2014, 12:32:14 AM
2000AD annual 1983 page 68.
David will suffice, I suppose I really should change the name, totally greenhorn I thought username was email back when and used the current one, so I couldn't be arsed. I hate when someone changes their user and pic, I have no idea of who is posting with 5000 posts to their name, except Trout who always keeps it marine.
: A.Cow 26 April, 2014, 01:51:54 AM
Back in 1978 at the tender age of 9, my family went on holiday -- my very first time -- to the exotic land of Weston Super Mare. So many things were different, including ITV. For the first time in my life I experienced a different TV region first-hand!
When I went to try to find my beloved 2000 AD in a newsagent I found this:
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/78.jpg)
For months afterwards I was convinced that they just had their own regional version of 2000 AD, just like ITV. It was ages before I finally twigged that it was a one-off cover and a total coincidence.
: Fungus 26 April, 2014, 02:07:31 AM
Haha Cow :) Victim of a top cover.
:lol: It took me ages to find that Big Dave one during the Summer Offensive. I loved the cover but according to Viz it really doesn't help sales.
Also, thanks for the reference, David, I'll check it out when I get a chance
: Frank 01 May, 2014, 09:18:41 PM
Wig dude in Alan Bennett's The Madness Of King George III responds to someone pointing out that he has acted illegally by quipping I AM THE LAW!
just wondering: Did anyone fail to realise that Frank Quitely was a pseudonym? I copped it straight away; but I'm only curious. I won't judge you for it. I'm on your side.
: Fungus 03 May, 2014, 02:23:59 AM
No way on this good Earth is Quitely a real surname. That much was obvious.
Beyond that, it wasn't a thrusting pun of a pseudonym, so I always assumed it was just a bit lame.
: A.Cow 03 May, 2014, 02:25:42 AM
Eh? I presumed it was a real name. If there's a gag in there I don't get it.
EDIT: Ah. Just looked it up -- hadn't realised it was a spoonerism.
: Jim_Campbell 03 May, 2014, 08:53:25 AM
Well, yes, but Warren Pleece is Warren's real name, I believe, so stranger things have happened…
: Frank 03 May, 2014, 10:05:23 AM
I often wondered if his brother Gary was just playing along with the joke, or whether the name Gary Pleece was a clever pun or reference I didn't understand.
I first saw Quitely's work on The Greens (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cBb8Ud0Loz0/Tyr0X8Ch8II/AAAAAAAAA3A/CrgYQnYydXM/s1600/Quitely_3.jpg) in Electric Soup, where the allusions to classic cartoonist of old made it seem much more obvious he was working under a pen name (the initials reminded me of Fred Quimby too). I'm not sure I would have twigged so readily if I'd been introduced to him in the world of action-adventure comics, where pseudonyms are much more rare. Shaky Kane and Smudge spring to mind, but I'm not sure Chris Halls/Cunningham or the occasional, temporary LJ Silver or Q Twerk count. Anyone want to inform me that Todd Macfarlane is actually Chaim Abrahamovitch?
I never copped the pun in Warren Pleece (even though there isn't one, but you know what I mean). I remember Frank Quitely in Electric Soup; clearly a big fish in a small pond. I seriously doubt if the Rocky McBlaw artist ever made it to DC.
: Skullmo 06 May, 2014, 11:03:36 AM
: sauchie 03 May, 2014, 10:05:23 AM
Not forgetting Jock of course!
: Bubba Zebill 06 May, 2014, 12:45:36 PM
Not sure I would have caught it 'Quite Frankly'...a mate of mine, a big fan of The Greens (as was I), pointed it out to me. Always liked it as a pseudonym.
I remember Frank Quitely in Electric Soup; clearly a big fish in a small pond. I seriously doubt if the Rocky McBlaw artist ever made it to DC
I bet Electric Soup sold more copies in the nineties than most DC comics do now.
: ming 12 May, 2014, 10:59:16 AM
Not something that went over my head but rather went into my head and stayed there... Rather than start a thread for 'Ways that 2000AD warped your brain' (actually, not such a bad idea) I'll dump it here:
I find it impossible to hear Kenny Everett's voice without picturing him as drawn by Kevin O'Neill in Terror Tube.
(http://i.imgur.com/7jLUGZY.jpg)
: A.Cow 13 May, 2014, 11:56:12 PM
Using Kenny Everett to make a tenuous (non-2000 AD) link to Top of the Pops, I've only just realised that TOTP dancers Lipps, Inc. is a pun on "lip-sync".
How the hell did I miss that for 35 years?
: M.I.K. 14 May, 2014, 02:07:29 AM
Probably the same way you've managed to confuse Legs & Co. with the folk who performed Funky Town.
D'Oh! I'll get me coat...
: TordelBack 14 May, 2014, 08:59:20 AM
Just think, after a long roller-coaster of a career which included hosting daytime quiz shows, breakfast TV and helming some fondly-remembered but loss-making slapstick comedy films based on his old characters, Kenny would by now have a knighthood and a much-loved late night radio slot where he mixed his esoteric record collection with surreal links in a slower version of his clipped delivery, with regular guest appearances on Graham Norton where he would mortify Hollywood types like an old pro. :'(
Prog 1226 features a Dredd story (Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser's Something Over My Shoulder Is Drooling ...) about a psychic kid called Kelvin who kills folk with his powers. Prog 1227 features Wagner and Duncan Fegredo's The Bad Juve ... which is about a psychic kid called Kelvin who uses his abilities to murder people. They're not clearly not supposed to be the same character either.
: Steve Green 31 May, 2014, 06:55:11 PM
I can't remember the second one, but I do remember the first Calvin and Hobbes homage.
The kid in the Wagner story (http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/AD1227-Page3BadJuve.jpg)'s called Kelvin, but his nickname is Spook.
Ah, yeah I remember that now. Was more along the lines of Primo(?) the Pyrokinetic.
I seem to remember the Robbie Morrison one was explicitly Calvin and Hobbes with a psychically manifested mutant tiger?
It's exactly as great as that premise suggests (http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/AD1226-Page4CCalvinampHobbes.jpg)!
: Frank 01 June, 2014, 10:52:00 AM
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/36cc5402-8dde-4576-92fa-306871dab77a.jpg?t=1401615691http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/36cc5402-8dde-4576-92fa-306871dab77a.jpg?t=1401615691)
Wagner and Will Simpson's Chief Judge's Man (1244-1248) - The Public Deception Unit is a throwaway line someone should have gotten an entire series out of. Chief Judge's Man isn't a story I remember particularly fondly, but it contains another great line illustrating the cynicism and artifice of MC1, where a talk show host describes his guest's inflammatory rhetoric as having drawn gasps of astonishment from the show's audience simulator.
You make a great point, Sauchie. Prog 1874, the Terror Tale by Alec Worley and Mark Harrison features a spooky abandoned amusement park being explored by Daphne and Velma. The park is called Kitsuneland, presumably after its founder, 2000ad art genius Edmund Bagwell (nee Kitsune (http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=28597)):
(http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/sauchieboy/a4070d59-81da-450a-bf8e-1f050a7e28a8.jpg?t=1402258191)
: ZenArcade 08 June, 2014, 09:36:21 PM
Jeepers dirk/sauchie, cool solo dialogue thing you've got going there. :lol:
: Theblazeuk 09 June, 2014, 10:29:10 AM
That went over my head, I assumed it was a mythology thing but then it's a cat and not a fox so you're probably on the money.
That went over my head, I assumed it was a mythology thing but then it's a cat and not a fox so you're probably on the money
No, I think you're probably right. Can you believe I never thought to google the word Kitsune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune)?
: Dash Decent 11 June, 2014, 12:54:58 PM
It only clicked this morning that the "four cred freezy whip" thread is named after an early moment in Block Mania.
: JayzusB.Christ 26 June, 2014, 06:49:35 PM
It's only occurred to me now that 'dogchips' that G.I.s' personalities were stored on were so-called because real G.I.s' identities were engraved on dogtags. Christ, I'm thick.
Lucky they changed the name to biochips.
: 8-Ball 26 June, 2014, 11:05:20 PM
It wasn't until a recent purchase of The Art Of Kenny Who that it dawned on me that Scotland would have been bombed back into the stone age (becoming Cal Hab) due the fact that we have nukes at Faslane and therefore we would be a first strike target by the Sovs.
: Fungus 27 June, 2014, 01:51:03 AM
due the fact that we have nukes at Faslane
Not after 2014... food for thought.
: glassstanley 07 September, 2014, 08:20:15 AM
The planet Zed in Strontium Dog's 'The Killing' is so-called because the planet's real name is the unpronounceable ZDWHKKRSWRLD.
The planet-namers could just as easily have reinstated the missing vowels to give Whicker's World.
: The Enigmatic Dr X 07 September, 2014, 09:58:20 AM
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/Batman-TheDarkKnightReturns-192.jpg)
: Hawkmumbler 07 September, 2014, 10:01:13 AM
Isn't it fairly obvious? :lol:
: Frank 07 September, 2014, 10:17:02 AM
Guia para iniciantes que se interessam em ler o Juiz Dredd, feito pelo 2000 AD Brasil para o Grupo HQs S/A. Vale lembrar que a Juiz Dredd Megazine pode ser lida fora da ordem, a qualquer momento, por isso foi posicionada no final.
(https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/s720x720/1540492_338641236312068_4188980322905666297_o.png)
No Day The Law Died, and the Death Fist stories come before Blockmania? ¡Ay, caramba!
: Bubba Zebill 08 September, 2014, 09:23:59 AM
(http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130315213325/judgedredd/images/3/3e/DreddAnnual19890018.jpg)
Maybe this is the most obvious thing in the world (it certainly seems to be now) but it went right over my head until last night.
The Judge Dredd story 'Father Earth' printed in 1979 was obviously a dig at flower-power hippies and cultists but I don't think I ever knew how closely it was based on a real group.
Father Earth is almost identical to 'Father Yod' of the Source Family. Not only that but the Dredd story perfectly captures Yod's contradictions, messianic behaviour, increasing insanity, anti-science, apocalypticism and criminal origins.
(http://progressive.homestead.com/yahowa/webYAHOWABW.jpg)
In addition something happens in the Father Earth story that I thought ludicrously funny when I first read it. I won't spoil either the Dredd story or the documentary but there is a similarly ludicrous event in the history of Father Yod. Again, I found myself laughing.
Also, they move to new territory and are hounded by local police...anyway, several comparisons can be made.
It also gives me a new appreciation for the kind of writing (for impressionable young minds) that tears apart this kind of 'cultist' nonsense...and kicks dust in its face.
Check it out, this documentary is available on Netflix and it's (IMHO) mind blowing. Enjoy!
Trailer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3f4aleOAxo
: Steve Green 08 September, 2014, 05:30:34 PM
I did wonder if this dated back to Garth Ennis' run, and Murphyville being turned into a theme park.
But it seems to be a more recent thing.
http://www.taytocrisps.ie/park/ (http://www.taytocrisps.ie/park/)
"Spudgun to chips"
: TordelBack 08 September, 2014, 05:40:13 PM
Don't knock Tayto Park, it's surprisingly good fun - and in the process of expanding (much like its client base). However, despite the most elevated expectations, you will still be shocked by the quantity of crisps you will consume/acquire during your visit. Some stereotypes are just oft-repeated facts.
Good catch on Yod there, Bubba - never knew that.
Me neither. Douglas Wolk points out the frequent mentions of Lobsang Rampa (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_Rampa) in the work of Wagner and Grant too, suggesting that obscure, semi-comic, mystical figures occupied a significant place in their imaginative lives. Grant says Wagner went through a phase where he wore a kaftan - maybe they had the same flirtation with alternative lifestyles and quackery as the rest of the ME generation.
: Dandontdare 09 September, 2014, 11:33:09 AM
I was re-reading The Restricted Files last night, and the story "Mega Miami" where illegally smuggled robots from Mexico were referred to as wustbacks, sorry, rustbacks. I remember reading this as a kid but it wasn't until much much later that I first heard the term 'wetback' and the penny dropped.
: AlexF 09 September, 2014, 04:12:14 PM
Ace Trucking Co's 'The Doppelgarp' involves a planetful of chickens and fowl-based puns, from 'Rooster Cogburn' to the 'Dave Cluck Five' - two of the jokes I did get as a child. Local scar-faced gang boss, Al Capon, flew right over my head until a recent re-read, now armed with the knowledge that a 'capon' happens to be a small variant of chicken.
: sauchie karate club 08 September, 2014, 06:08:49 PM
Cheers, a big surprise to me too as I read that story forever ago. I missed references to Lobsang Rampa...are there any links to the Wolk mentions? ...well, if handy, much appreciated.
I'd never heard of Rampa or noticed the recurrence of the name until I read Wolk's blog - I'm sure I just thought it was a funny MC1 name, and it strikes me that might be just as likely an explanation of the apparent fascination as any possible Grant/Wagner interest in mysticism. One mention I did notice after reading Wolk's blog was a road sign reading Lobsang Ramp in the Wagner/Burns Megazine Dredd story Sleaze:
"Satan" has a brief sequence involving one Lobsang Gump. That first name has shown up a few times over the years in Dredd-universe stories (including one of the Branch Moronians, and the more recent "Lobsang Rampage"); it has to be a reference to the dubious British mysticist Lobsang Rampa
http://dreddreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/judge-anderson-psi-division-shamballa.html
As for the other new-to-this-survey material here: "Lobsang Rampage"--another Lobsang Rampa joke!--isn't great, but it's the only Andy Clarke-drawn episode that's not part of a longer arc (although it calls on the Nero Narcos stuff for context)
http://dreddreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/mega-city-masters-03.html
: I, Cosh 09 September, 2014, 11:36:30 PM
Got to be deliberate then. Isn't Sleaze part of the lead in to Doomsday and Lobsang Rampage during the aftermath? Is that what those links actually say?
Kind of assumed the latter was a reference I was missing but thought it was maybe an MC1 thing which my lack of Megs had cost me.
At some point they may have had an interest in these alternative lifestyles...if you can call it that...but Father Earth really takes the mickey out of guru's...as do these Lobsang Rampa references. A youthful dalliance turned sour with the wisdom of maturity maybe perhaps. Good for them - and good for us :)
: James Stacey 10 September, 2014, 10:58:48 AM
Is it possibly the source of Lobster Random too ?
Maybe we need an "Annotated 2000AD" thread to point things out as they come through?
Aux Drift = Rorke's Drift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rorke's_Drift).
Though the burning issue remains why none of the Aux has been called Ronnie Barker.
: I, Cosh 11 September, 2014, 12:03:13 AM
Good one. Hopefully you can get a royalty on that if Abnett tries to sneak it in.
Sadly, I am old enough to remember (and have built the cutouts from) the old Warhammer scenario Bllodbath at Orc's Drift (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29902/blood-bath-orcs-drift) so you wont catch me like that.
: Staz Johnson 11 September, 2014, 10:24:10 AM
I read an interview with art droid Bolland in (fanzine) Arkensword back in the early 80's, & if I remember correctly, he says he modelled Father Earth on himself, since he sympathised with the 'green' point of view rather than Dredd's world view.
: The Cosh 11 September, 2014, 12:03:13 AM
Maybe I should come up with a huge list so no matter what Mr Abnett does I can claim I thought of it first. Okay, go!
1. Edward Woofwoof.
2. Er....
: ming 11 September, 2014, 12:31:42 PM
On a slightly related note, it was only recently that I learned why Edward Woodward has so many Ds in his name...
Because otherwise he'd be called Ewar Woowar. :D
: Skullmo 11 September, 2014, 12:41:15 PM
what do you call a man with 3 wooden heads?
Or even, do you know what you call a man balancing four planks on his head?
No? Well Edward Woodward would!
: radiator 12 September, 2014, 06:20:31 PM
Only very recently twigged that the record shop in High Fidelity - Championship Vinyl - is a pun on 'Championship Final'.
In my defence I've only ever seen the (Americanised) film. And I hate football.
Also, obligatory:
Nothing goes over my head.
My reflexes are too fast.
I would catch them.
: Devons Daddy 16 September, 2014, 04:03:04 PM
I operated on my own BRAIN,
to me was always BRIAN, as i read it as such, due to dyslexia and the utter inability to spell.
i only realised i may have been wrong years later when reading the Thrill power Overload story on it.
: Theblazeuk 17 September, 2014, 10:06:51 AM
They saved Hitler's Brian!
: Magnetica 17 September, 2014, 08:15:10 PM
Here's one I noticed today.
So there is an Austrian football team called "Sturm Graz".
You know that stuff the Judge's use to control riots? Not riot foam, the other one, Stumm Gas.
Is that close enough?
This joke, and the one in the previous post, went straight over my head... till I finally realised that it doesn't work in an Irish accent. Which is a pity, as I'd really like to tell it to people.
Sorry JBC. Maybe you can use this one instead:
What do you call a woman with a boat tied to her?
Maude.
Failing that, how good are you at putting on other accents?
: glassstanley 20 September, 2014, 12:55:53 PM
Just discovered that Steely Dan's 3rd album was called Pretzel Logic. The Dredd variant appeared I. prog 304.
So prog 1900's Block Judge, where injury to a presiding block judge means Dredd has to fill-in and deal with the mental residents of a rundown city block, is a fantastic 'new' story from Wagner and Ezquerra, is it? Some of us don't have the wool pulled over our eyes so easily- this 'new' 10 part mini-epic is doing nothing but expanding on the premise of a single issue story which was published a mere 13 years ago.
They've barely even bothered to change the title (Block Court, Wagner & Kennedy, prog 1284)
(http://i.imgur.com/VjhmPFR.jpg?1)
That Dolman's had more than face-change surgery:
(http://i.imgur.com/lOLQEo7.jpg?1)
She's had city reassignment surgery too. From Wagner and Marshall's Escape From Atlantis, prog 1285, 3/4/2002.
: Bad City Blue 28 September, 2014, 01:19:49 PM
I was reading an old story last night where a Judge jumps in front of MacGruder to save her from an assassin.
The judge's name is Judge Coster.
tee hee
I was reading an old story last night where a Judge jumps in front of MacGruder to save her from an assassin. The judge's name is Judge Coster. tee hee
Different Chief Judge (Volt), different spelling of the name Costner:
: sauchie co-op 09 March, 2014, 05:18:27 PM
The name badge of CJ Volt's personal protection officer in Mark Millar's voodoo assassin nonsense, The Big Hit (prog 1030, art by Graham Stoddard and Jack Couvella):
: JayzusB.Christ 04 October, 2014, 11:42:37 AM
Gaahh! I still can't use it! That said, I am alright at putting on other accents; at least until someone with that accent heards me.
: Dash Decent 04 October, 2014, 10:12:04 PM
Okay then, what do you call a man with no arms and no legs you find floating in your swimming pool?
Bob.
: Hawkmumbler 05 October, 2014, 10:11:49 AM
Stop. Right. Their.
Well, that works in my accent... but everyone knows that one, no? Bob was even a character in Will Self's My Idea of Fun: a limbless Scotsman, he was, heroically working his way round a swimming pool.
: I, Cosh 06 October, 2014, 02:36:58 PM
I still don't get this one. What sort of accent do you need?
: glassstanley 06 October, 2014, 04:12:22 PM
'moored'
: Proudhuff 06 October, 2014, 07:04:14 PM
: The Cosh 06 October, 2014, 02:36:58 PM
Try Winston Churchill?
I could never understand the 'better jaw, jaw, war, war' thing until done in that accent( ie don't pronnounce the Rs)
see also the current Kingdom Js Back/Bach, if you use the Loch 'ch' it doesn't work either ;)
: Ancient Otter 06 October, 2014, 08:40:30 PM
: sauchie co-op 09 September, 2014, 11:20:28 PM
Would Lobsang Rampa also a reference to or even just a influence on the name of the character Lobster Random? Or just pure coincidence?
... but everyone knows that one, no?
A man you find in the letterbox? Bill.
A man you find on your doorstep? Matt.
A man you find hanging on your wall? Art.
A man with a seagull on his head? Cliff.
A man with 20 rabbits up his bum (or nose, depending on audience)? Warren.
A lady with only one leg? Eileen.
A Japanese lady with only one leg? Irene.
A woman you see in the distance? Dot.
A woman with sausages on her head? Barbie.
A man with a shovel through his head? Doug.
A man without a shovel through his head? Douglas.
A man with no knees? Neil
A man you find under a car? Jack.
A man lifting crates onto a ship? Derek.
A woman lying on a tennis court? Annette.
A man dressed in a brown paper suit? Russell.
A forum member with a sense of desperation? Dash Decent.
Thus ends my career as a thread hijacker.
Aha! Remember the fun we had when the tagline on the Meg was: He is the Gore.
: Dandontdare 07 October, 2014, 05:13:42 PM
you missed the woman with a pint of lager balanced on her head - Beatrix
: Frank 19 October, 2014, 02:51:07 PM
Judge Dredd: Hard Day's Night, prog 1339 (5/7/2003), by Morrison, Goddard, Teague, Blythe:
(http://i.imgur.com/FiNK615.jpg?1)
So what's the story here? I'm working my way through progs from 2003, and I've previously seen the names of former boarders Mogzilla and Scojo scrawled across walls and used as names of businesses. Was Tharg auctioning-off mentions for charity, or were creators just trying to curry favour with the squeakiest wheels on the relatively new phenomenon of message boards? Can I look forward to a shoot-out in the TordelBack Hottie House involving the Professor Bear Block Y-Dults?
I would have read those names at the time without having a clue who/what they referred to, since at that time The Internet was something my brother had to sneak me into his university and give me a loan of his login to access.
: Richmond Clements 19 October, 2014, 03:13:44 PM
: sauchie welfare 19 October, 2014, 02:51:07 PM
That episode, if memory serves, also has a panel in a corridor where the names of many boarders from that time are scrawled on the wall.
You do have a good memory, Rich. Saw this plethora of fan-wanking as I read on, but didn't want to double-post. Spurrier had been published by this point, but Barney says Arthur Wyatt was still just a fanboy like Jayzus B Christ (two mentions):
(http://i.imgur.com/96qxVf6.jpg?1)
: Lobo Baggins 19 October, 2014, 03:39:37 PM
Not actually 2000AD related, but I always knew that this * was called an asterisk, but it made me grin like a loon to find † is called an obelisk...
*Nothing to see here, move along
†I won't tell you again...
http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=4947.0
Cheers, Rich. Is that Molcher (longmanshort) moaning about not being in 2000ad? Haunting message boards in the early 21st century appears to have been a great way to get your work into the prog - I can't wait to read the serialisation of Hawkmonger's manga epic about polysexual deep sea divers in prog 2024.
: JayzusB.Christ 20 October, 2014, 05:33:58 PM
While it wasn't quite up there with Goaty's silver screen scrawls, I was chuffed. I had kind of begged him for it on the forum, to be fair
: Theblazeuk 20 October, 2014, 07:39:01 PM
Old hat for many of you I am sure but where is Goaty (and any other forumlings) visible in Dredd?
: Hawkmumbler 20 October, 2014, 07:46:45 PM
I shall await my turn, in time.
JOE SOAP's ugly mug can be seen on a billboard at the side of the skedway, Command Forces is part of the on-screen ticker during the news footage of disorder at the start of the film, Radiator is the radiator to which Kay is cuffed, and that bit of squiggly graffiti you can't quite make out says sauchie. Nobody is sure where Goaty was mentioned, and it's never been discussed here.
Radiator is the radiator to which Kay is cuffed
;) Surely...
: radiator 23 October, 2014, 12:35:20 AM
I only realised embarrassingly recently that Kevin Rahm (Mad Men's Ted Chaough) is actually not just a very (very) well-preserved James Spader.
I mean, it's not just me who think that they look uncannily similar is it? (*Googles* apparently not, phew).
(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/2651867648/h85085248/)
Given the shiny suits of the period, he reminded me of Commander Straker from UFO:
(http://www.showbiz411.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ted-chaough.jpg)
(http://www.isoshado.org/6/6_merchandise_archivio/pr.fander.photo/itc105.JPG)
Was just re-reading Portrait of a Mutant, which features the Kreelers' symbol prominently -- vertical box with an X through. However, I realised that I don't actually know what the vertical box is supposed to represent. Presumably mutation but how?
(http://wingsoverscotland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/kreelman.jpg)
No thermometers?
No hotdogs?
No Nintendo Wiis?
Please could someone put me out of my misery?
: NapalmKev 12 April, 2015, 07:31:39 AM
I think it's supposed to represent a strand of Mutant DNA.
It's a mutant letterbox.
A lot of people in Yorkshire have vertical letterboxes. That explains where all Britain's mutants are then.
: Lobo Baggins 12 April, 2015, 12:07:19 PM
Looks a bit like the Norse rune Iar, 'serpent'.
...which is used to represent the dragon Nidhogg, which is also the term used for someone with no honour, the other word for which (Nīþ) became the Old English word nithe, which in modern English is...
Hate.
There you go... either Strontium Dog is much, much deeper than we thought or it's an absolutely massive but nevertheless utterly brilliant coincidence!
: Jacqusie 13 April, 2015, 01:48:21 AM
At 40 years young, I only just got Adam Ant this year...
: ThryllSeekyr 13 April, 2015, 03:35:09 AM
Have you played the game, you can get it (http://store.steampowered.com/app/94400/) on Steam.
: Lobo Baggins 25 May, 2015, 07:23:37 PM
Necroposting somewhat...
I always assumed that the name was a reference to the guitars the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Flying V so it's always been 'Strato Vee' for me..
: Dash Decent 26 May, 2015, 11:39:20 AM
Perhaps it's Cyclops from the X-men's visor (= mutant) crossed out (= no mutants) and turned sideways (= please don't sue us, Marvel).
: Fungus 26 May, 2015, 12:41:00 PM
Always been "Vee" for me, but hard one to prove without TB Grover on-hand. What slightly punctures this theory is that SATURN V was definitely "5".
(http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/spaceship-apollo-4.jpg)
: Woolly 26 May, 2015, 05:53:54 PM
I've always thought they were 'Stratospheric Vehicles', so Strato Vee for me too.
I thought it was because they were shaped like the letter 'V', no?
Yes, I thought 'V' because of the shape.
: JamesC 27 May, 2015, 01:17:15 PM
A mutant chromosome?
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e129/jimmyalpha2008/18tnai9ptbayajpg.jpg)
: johnnystress 27 May, 2015, 01:43:55 PM
An upright "no junk mail" sticker ? :)
Maybe a "no ballot box" symbol?
There was a gay jibe by some actress against some actor during Strontium Dog: Rage. I had no idea at the time. But then again, I never even copped that when some London thugs accused Clinton of being Swifty's 'lover boy' that they were accusing him of being gay; mainly because I had never heard of 'gay' at the time.
: JayzusB.Christ 02 June, 2015, 11:05:30 AM
Also, speaking of gay jibes, I just noticed that Garth Ennis's first ever line of Dredd dialogue was 'Control, you got a stiff in Julian Clary Alley.'
Garth Ennis then completely abandoned the concept of joking about anal sex, of course, and certainly did not bang on and on ad nauseum about it in Preacher.
: Dandontdare 14 June, 2015, 06:15:43 PM
So I popped into Waterstones yesterday and it was bedlam - half the shop cordoned off with big screens so you couldn't see what was happening, lots of large security men and a massive queue of giddy (mainly teenage) girls stretching out of the shop and half way round the shopping centre. I asked one of the staff who was the cause of such excitement and discovered it was none other than ... Joey Graceffa!!!!
Nope, me neither.
Apparently he's a YouTube vlogger with something like 600 million viewers - the most famous dude you've never heard of.
: Hawkmumbler 14 June, 2015, 07:13:17 PM
I know (of) him. He's a nice enough fellow, but not in my sphere of interest.
: A.Cow 19 June, 2015, 02:47:19 AM
Was just re-reading the Chopper Midnight Surfer story and realised that the billycord that keeps surfers attached to their board must originate from "umbilical cord". D'Oh! How can I have missed that all these years?
(http://s30.postimg.org/4ea5v9vk1/billycord.jpg)
I was only re-reading that the other day. You're probably right - do actual surfboards have billycords too? It sounds like an Ozification of 'umbilical' anyway
Yeah, you can get leg ropes for surfboards. It stops the board from being washed away from you if you fall off, saving you a potentially long swim trying to retrieve it.
: SuperSurfer 20 June, 2015, 03:32:52 PM
A real dumbo one. Was reading Hachette Mandroid today and I don't think I ever realised an iso-cube is an isolation cube.
They should do a facepalm emoji.
: Spaceghost 02 July, 2015, 08:57:22 AM
Not sure if this has been posted earlier, but I've just been re-reading the very excellent Trifecta and I've only just noticed that the three villains involved in the Godcity conspiracy are called Bachmann, Turner and Overdrive.
: Dan Banks 02 July, 2015, 01:28:07 PM
You've just blown my mind!
: Jacqusie 02 July, 2015, 08:10:13 PM
- do actual surfboards have billycords too? It sounds like an Ozification of 'umbilical' anyway
I've never heard them being called Billycords or 'Billys'... It's just yer 'Leash' that goes round the ankle.
Another good example of Mega-city slang I reckon! :thumbsup:
These three jokes from prog 500, arranged in order of unsuitability for my 11-year-old self:
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/2000ad%200500%2030_1.jpg)
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/2000ad%200500%2032.jpg)
: The Enigmatic Dr X 05 July, 2015, 06:44:43 PM
I don't get the last two of those. How did Chopper get his nickname?
Also, I realised on Friday why Trainspotting is called Trainspotting. (I assume it is to do with tracks?)
: Tiplodocus 05 July, 2015, 07:47:22 PM
I thought it was to do with the pointlessness of the situation they find themselves. The stations are all closed and there's no trains. Or something.
: Dark Jimbo 05 July, 2015, 07:55:20 PM
Venus is being flirtatious; hoping that Chopper is named after his... well, you know. Nemesis may be slightly hard of hearing. (I remember Jasper Carrott making the same joke, but our boy the Warlock got there first.)
As for Trainspotting, I think Tips is on the ball there. The novel sheds more light on it; when Begbie and Renton meet a alcoholic down-and-out (who turns out to be Begbie's father) in the disused Leith station where they've stopped in for a piss; and he drunkenly jokes something like 'Whit are youse up tae, lads? Trainspotting, eh?'
Irvine Welsh has written more than one truly dreadful book, but he is capable of flashes of utter genius - I'm thinking here of the cot death scene, whose chapter title in the book is 'It Goes Without Saying'. While this is the junkies' unspoken agreement that the heroin cook takes his hit before the bereaved mother gets a turn, it also alludes to how the baby dies before anyone finds out who the father was. Or maybe I overthink these things.
http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/23571/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-title-trainspotting
: GordonR 05 July, 2015, 11:56:50 PM
Also note the wallpaper in Renton's childhood room at his parents' house, where he stays when he's forced to move back in with them.
It's got trains all over it.
: Frank 19 July, 2015, 10:18:15 AM
Interesting detail regarding what happens to judges who don't make the grade and a rationalisation of why street judges injured in the line of duty aren't still patrolling the streets with robot legs and plasma cannons where their hands used to be * (Rennie/Richardson, House Of Pain, prog 1485):
(http://i.imgur.com/oQyMc9N.png?1)(http://i.imgur.com/q7KhPLA.png?2)
* it doesn't work completely - given the level of tech seen in mechs who appear outwardly human, such as Inga and Ueno Hama, which could surely be applied to prosthetics - but I'm going to fancon it and say the technology is too unreliable for use in situations where human lives depend upon it functioning 100%
: ZenArcade 19 July, 2015, 12:05:59 PM
After DOC all solutions to depleted Judge numbers would have to be considered. I guess however there is an inbuilt lack of trust in investing in tech after Mechanismo and those booby-trapped Lawgivers. Z
: Butch 19 July, 2015, 10:18:15 AM
See, this is why i love this forum. Your post has absolutely nothing to do with what the previous poster said, even though you're showing a story written by the same man.
This board is powered by Random, Jayzus.
Si Spurrier and Rob Williams obviously spent a great deal of 2006/7 feeling intellectually intimidated by BBC arts programming, since two different versions of The Culture Show and Mark Lawson made into the prog within a year of each other.
I don't know if there was some kind of miscommunication between Spurrier and Marshall (on Neoweirdies, prog 1496), or if making Merk Awesome's chassis and vocabulary more reminiscent of Stephen Fry (maybe Andrew Graham Dixon) was intended to make the scene a more general satire of the cognoscenti:
(http://i.imgur.com/E6gBSAz.png?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/8vRTshz.png?1)
Despite Spurrier bringing back Citizen Snork as a talent show judge, Williams's story (The Biographer, prog 1537) is by far the most interesting, getting round the difficulty of writing his first Dredd story in a very arch way - by writing a story about a writer finding it difficult to write a story about Judge Dredd. You thought all that metafictional stuff in Ichabod Azrael came out of nowhere:
(http://i.imgur.com/GGMzlo8.png?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/ggi0Kgy.png?1)
... and cleverly subverting the expected formal conventions of a Dredd strip:
(http://i.imgur.com/WSr64cO.png?1)
Wasted effort on you lot at the time - https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,19856.msg335017.html#msg335017
RIP Shuggie McTighe (20??-2039), long standing head of Tek Division and wan a' Jock Tamson's bairns (apparently). Seen here with more hair than usual and without the headset he habitually wore, but then Jock's Sean Connery analogue isn't a perfect likeness either. Scotland gains independence by 2029 (at the latest) in the Dredd timeline (Rennie/Jock, Tartan Terrors, 1540, 06 Jun 2007):
(http://i.imgur.com/GR8yWjT.png?1)
: SuperSurfer 09 August, 2015, 06:30:01 PM
Zippo in ABC Warriors.
A few days ago I came across a Sunday Times magazine I kept from 1989 which has a disturbing article on the My Lai massacre of almost 500 civilians by GIs during the Vietnam war. It really is a harrowing read. What is also upsetting is reading about determined attempts to cover-up the barbaric crimes committed (only bad guys commit war crimes).
After the massacres, groups of GIs entered hamlets and set them alight using Zippo lighters and they were called 'Zippo squads'.
Now I wonder if Pat Mills had that in mind when creating Zippo in ABC Warriors. I did know that US troops would carry Zippo lighters and engrave them with messages but didn't know (or had forgotten) there were 'Zippo squads'.
And having read the disturbing article, I wonder just what has been going on in the mostly underreported conflicts the West has been involved in, in the last decade or so. Other than what has come to light from sources such as Wikileaks, it seems to me that very little is ever reported on what actually happens on the ground.
: ZenArcade 09 August, 2015, 06:32:46 PM
I seem to recall the term zippo raid as similarly applicable. Z
: Frank 30 August, 2015, 08:12:37 PM
After the massacres, groups of GIs entered hamlets and set them alight using Zippo lighters and they were called 'Zippo squads'. Now I wonder if Pat Mills had that in mind when creating Zippo in ABC Warriors.
I'd say that's almost certainly the case - the early sequences of the first book of Nemesis featuring Zippo had a very 'Nam aesthetic to them. Congratulations, SuperSoaker.
Robbie Morrison and Richard Elson's Blindside (progs 1996-1999, August 2008) sees Dredd and a rookie with a brutal haircut (who's squeamish about killing) trapped in Phoenix Tower and unable to call for help, with a gang of bad guys trying to kill them.
The two judges are separated, a firefight in the dimly lit, empty corridors of the high-rise building ensues as they make their way to the top floor, and Dredd and the leader of the gang try to psyche each other out by yelling cliches into microphones while the rookie takes out her female opposite number.
Dredd doesn't have a lot of faith in the female rookie's abilities, and she makes several errors early in the story - including losing her gun - but she finally wins his respect by sneaking up behind and killing a bad guy who's standing over a weakened Dredd* with a gun instead of shooting him with the gun.
Alex Garland began writing the script for the 2012 Dredd film in 2006, but abandoned his early attempts before turning in his shooting script in 2008:
(http://i.imgur.com/H1YuIVg.jpg?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/e7g8KzJ.jpg?1)
* More in the spirit of this thread, after Dredd is blinded, Elson draws the visor of his helmet without the wee white lightning flashes, which is neat
: malkymac 01 September, 2015, 08:06:49 AM
Well remembered. I thought it was Hibs posters and the like that were the bedroom walls.
Oz Chief Judge Bob was a future Bob Hawke.
: AlexiP 01 September, 2015, 10:23:44 AM
I completely missed the J. Jone's butchers van from Dad's Army in Absalom a while back. I only noticed it flicking back through. I did think at the time 'that chap looks an awful lot like Corporal Jones!' I was half expecting 'they don't like it up 'em!' when the knives came out.
Must be a fan.
After wondering why Star Wars discussions always seem to veer towards euroscepticism, I've just twigged what "EU" stands for.
Just re-read the first Tharg strip. For the first time I realised that the queues of people waiting to see him arrive at work (as he thinks) are really just waiting for the bus.
: Lobo Baggins 05 September, 2015, 04:38:02 PM
Talking of Tharg strips, I'm not entirely sure what 'The Shedding' (prog 283 - 285) is about...
It seems to be about when the notoriously strict senior editor Bob Bartholomew got replaced with the more easy going Barry Tomlinson, but that seems like a bit of an odd thing to put in the prog considering only the IPC staff would get the references!
I've also heard rumours it was written by Alan Moore...
: A.Cow 12 September, 2015, 12:43:30 AM
Just came across this looking at The Lowry (http://www.thelowry.com/event/extraordinary-everyday-objects-and-actions-in-contemporary-art) website:
(http://www.richardsaltoun.com/media/na993r/460x360/6897c211d296872b853f9a0bbe6/8586_1000.jpg)
Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges), Roelof Lowe (1967)
Never realised it was a real art exhibit!
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bDUK5U-yua8/TRBJnRfVOTI/AAAAAAAAALY/KedoYK4HR3A/S898-R/Mind%2Bthe%2BOranges%252C%2BMarlon%2521.jpg)
Prog 211's Future Shock is titled 'Ernesto Hornetz must die'. A pun that completely passed me by for the last 30+ years.
Yet another one I missed, from Moore and Gibson's classic from Tharg's Head Revisited.
Not sure about the 'Grawk' bit, but the first bit of dialogue is a cock joke, isn't it? (As in 'pointing Percy at the porcelain.) Not sure who it's meant to be or why they're saying it, but it seems to be either about wanking or pissing on the Halo Jones graphic novel. Charming.
EDIT - Hang on, is that a camera in his hands? Now I'm confused.
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/11698484_715352201943978_102862959000381588_n.jpg)
ummm ... I still don't get it?
A nest of hornets.
D'oh! ::)
I even tried saying it out loud, but didn't twig that. :-[
: Dark Jimbo 15 September, 2015, 05:04:01 PM
Me too, DDD! :-[
: Steve Green 14 October, 2015, 08:55:01 PM
Since we were pilfering Strontium Dog for the fan film, I noticed that I'd written Wulf using 'I' in a sentence - which sounded off when I thought about it.
Looking through the agency files, he pretty much always refers to himself in the third person (or uses we) except in the Ragnarok storyline, where his speech patterns are pretty normal, because he's actually speaking Old Norse and that's being translated by Alpha's Future Rosetta Stone, rather than his second language.
It's been said before, but I wonder why Wulf has a German accent when he's from Scandinavia? Sure, why not, I suppose
: Steve Green 15 October, 2015, 10:58:14 AM
The Old Norse to English crash course isn't quite as good ;)
When Big Finish did the audios they had a thought that Wulf should pronounce Alpha's name "Yonny" but didn't go with it as it just doesn't sound right. Wise move.
Such a shame!
: Hawkmonger 15 October, 2015, 08:32:41 PM
I don't know... sounds like the kind of thing that could get a tad irritating after a while. Suppose we'll never know.
: Tjm86 16 October, 2015, 07:16:37 AM
It's like Twoflower's comments about his work in either Colour of Magic or the Light Fantastic. Inn Sewer Ants was easy but for a long time I didn't get 'Repeating Sound of Underground Spirits'.
: ming 16 October, 2015, 08:25:01 AM
Especially as it's "Reflected-sound-of-underground-spirits"... ;)
I've just discovered that Tlachtga is a hill a few miles away from my folks' house, where I grew up. I 'd always connected the name with some similarly titled Aztec or Inca sport I'd read about as a kid.
: Tjm86 16 October, 2015, 03:06:51 PM
Sorry, working from memory in early hours of morning with hangover. Always a good combination, yes? ::)
And the answer is? My first thought was 'economics' (echo-gnomics) but gnomes aren't spirits so I'm at least half wrong.
: TordelBack 17 October, 2015, 03:13:56 PM
Your answer is correct... Gnomes in their original fairytale conception were indeed spirits. Blame C. S. Lewis and that saucy Wil Huygen for your modern confusion!
That was the bit that threw me for a while as well. BTW thanks for correcting my misquote.
: sheridan 17 October, 2015, 11:22:47 PM
What always confused me about that pun was that I don't pronounce economics in that way (Eek-o-nomics).
: pert 25 October, 2015, 03:22:38 PM
Dunno if this has been mentioned before but DJ1's look was obviously based on the Dr Feelgood logo
: Tiplodocus 06 November, 2015, 01:28:14 PM
Just been watching HOUSE as it's great to
a) a Whodunnit but the disease is the killer and
b) see Hugh Laurie killing every line he gets
when I realised that his best friend Doctor (that he keeps interrupting and dragging out for a chat) is named Watson.
And anouther name for House is Home.
Home and Watson.
Holmes and Watson.
And I guess the junior doctors are his Baker STreet Irrascibles or whatever they were called - running off and doing errands for him.
: Arkwright99 06 November, 2015, 01:52:17 PM
His friend's name is Wilson, but House's address is 221 Baker Street (and he's an addict) so you're essentially correct. :)
Yup, House is fairly explicitly a version of Holmes. Great series, amazing central performance. Accidentally flicking between House and Blackadder III or IV can lead to mental collapse.
: Tjm86 08 November, 2015, 02:14:31 PM
This week's Droid life ....
Sorry, this one got me. I just know I'm going to be going with the forehead slap when it finally clicks but at the moment 'I got nuthin!'
: Dandontdare 08 November, 2015, 09:01:45 PM
instead of a 3riller, it's a 3-roller.
Okay, it's not one of the best.
: Echidna 08 November, 2015, 11:10:15 PM
That's... pretty tenous. I don't feel so bad about not getting it now!
Here's one: I haven't read Dinosty yet, but whenever I see the name I read it as Dino-sty, like pig sty. I only recently realised it's Dino-stee, like Dynasty...
Yeah, it was the explicit nature of it that hadn't twigged with me before - just about any 'tec with a tic show is riffing of Holmes but this glaringly obvious "It's exactly the bloody same except with diseases" had somehow passed me by.
Apocryphal or not but I have it in my head that
a) Laurie never told the producers he wasn't american and
b) when he had a novel published, he submitted it under a psuedonym so he couldn't be accused of riding the coat tails of his celebrity.
If true, "What a guy!"
: Jim_Campbell 09 November, 2015, 12:36:16 PM
I was particularly amused by Laurie's surprise that he was the lead character — he said that the show was untitled when he was sent a script to read and thought it was clearly about the kindly Dr Wilson and that House was his asshole side-kick.
Said it would be a head slapper! I'm with Echidna on that one ....
: ming 18 November, 2015, 01:13:56 PM
This may have been covered in another thread dealing with 2000AD-related linguistics, but hey.
Listening (with great enjoyment) to a bunch of Thrill-Casts lately, I heard Ma.. er, Tharg refer to SQUAXX and he pronounced it SK-WAX. To me this has always, always been SK-WOX and it has shaken me to my core to hear TMO refer to it otherwise. Is there some kind of support group to help me through this?
: I, Cosh 18 November, 2015, 01:32:41 PM
You are right and Tharg is wrong. Simple as that.
I know it's buried in this thread somewhere already, but this week's Bad Company reminded me of one I missed to years: The Diary of Danny Franks...
: Cyber-Matt 18 November, 2015, 06:04:24 PM
: The Cosh 18 November, 2015, 01:32:41 PM
So presumably you pronounce Tharg's home planet as KWOX-ANN?
Ha! I genuinely do. Wouldn't have occurred to me there could be another way.
Me too. Since 1970-whatever-it-was. I can't change now.
Skwox and kwokksan for me too. Also never even considered that it could be anything else. Anyway, that was Cyber-Mat pronouncing it wrong, not Tharg.
Skwox but Kwaksan here, just to be awkward. Clearly the puny human sensorium is ill-equipped for the complexities of Betelgeusian phonemes.
: M.I.K. 18 November, 2015, 08:04:52 PM
I've always thought it was a chicken noise rather than a duck noise.
I'm with Tordelback on this one, I'm afraid.
: Spikes 18 November, 2015, 10:26:23 PM
..a duck noise.
(http://i.imgur.com/mcwQawF.jpg)
SK-WAX, SK-WAX*
But yeah, another one for SK-WOX here
: ZenArcade 18 November, 2015, 10:32:42 PM
I'm not ducking this issue: it's a quack! Z
Quaaaaxxan... You don't have to put on the red light...
(This is, I'll admit, dirty earworm tactics to make you all pronounce it like I do.)
: Mike Carroll 18 November, 2015, 11:47:50 PM
That's how I pronounce it too...
P.S.: Beat you to that joke by ten years (http://www.michaelowencarroll.com/sp020.htm)!
: JayzusB.Christ 19 November, 2015, 08:03:11 AM
You win this one, Carroll ;)
: Mardroid 19 November, 2015, 11:42:04 AM
To my mind 'ua' is pronounced "wa"* , or possibly "wah" (although that pronunciation never occurred to me on looking at the words but I can see how an 'a" could be pronounced "ah").
It never occurred to me it would be pronounced "woh" or "wo". There is no letter 'o' in the word after all.
So its been the duck noise all the time for me. Which granted isn't that long, me being a relative newbie.
*Or it could be "ooa" , 'u' sounding like "oo" like the two 'u's in 'vacuum' but that sounds almost the same as "wa".
In a quandary, I danced a quadroon then bivouacked in quagmire near an aquafarm, with some Squaxx on Quaxxann.
I do love this thread. Thanks, all.
: Mardroid 19 November, 2015, 01:31:18 PM
Okay, good point with the first two. I never thought of those. Aquafarm .... I would pronounce "achwahfahrm"*
*Although I think the " a" as "ah" might be a London accent thing. Never "aquohfarm".
Thinking about it, from a pronunciation point of view, English is kind of complicated, isn't it?
"Squad." Skwod.
Now I'm thinking of them too. Heh.
With the "keh" sound of a 'c', 'k' or an 'x'*, I would always pronounce a proceeding 'a' as in 'and' though. But I get where you sqoxans are coming from now. ;-)
* At least it's part of the x sound . xs...
: Fungus 19 November, 2015, 04:14:43 PM
This one might just be coincidence...
Aquila. A killer (harden the 'qu').
: Magnetica 19 November, 2015, 06:55:32 PM
I say them like Tordelback as well. It never occurred to me there could be another way.
Only just realised that 'Blockbuster' refers to people queueing for tickets 'around the block'.
Always figured it was just some nonsense phrase.
: JayzusB.Christ 28 January, 2016, 07:56:19 AM
Well, not so much something that went over my head as something I never noticed before. The last two frames of Necropolis - Burnt-up Dredd's face is normal again. Then it returns to burnt and scarred for the next few progs till he gets the rejuve job. How did I not spot this?
Um ... sorry, not quite right. A "blockbuster" was a WW2 bomb (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/blockbuster) and the term was then used in entertainment (from 1957 onwards (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=blockbuster)) to describe a product with major impact. A similar example is the popular American phrase "it's the bomb" (referring to the atom bomb).
The last two frames of Necropolis - Burnt-up Dredd's face is normal again. Then it returns to burnt and scarred for the next few progs till he gets the rejuve job.
Nice spot, Jayzus, but Dredd goes into something that looks like a big toastie machine, with DERMAHEAL written on the side. It's something that heals skin, not a magic young-again machine, and nothing in the Dredd strip suggests he's ever had his youth restored.
Pointless pedantry aside, here's some pointless trivia. The Judge Dredd Annual 1984 features a story that's two pages of strip and four pages of a text personality test, to which judges subject perps. The arresting officer has a familiar name and moustache:
(http://i.imgur.com/a5yPEJK.png?1)
Don't mess with Sladek, or he'll haul your ass down to the SECTION house (?). Sladek & Kneepad turn up in prog 461's The Falucci Tape (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/hires/463.jpg), in which Sladek ices Kneepad to cover up his extra-judicial liaison. All of this went over my head, despite a Tharg Note in 461 referring me to the 1984 annual. D'OH!
The test itself is worth reading, as it introduces the supporting cast of The Falucci Tape and gives Kneepad a rounded back story TB Grover obviously felt was too well developed to waste. It's an interesting example of the crazy levels of world building Wagner & Grant were doing at that time, as well as an odd experiment in form.
: JayzusB.Christ 09 February, 2016, 10:27:09 PM
: Butch 09 February, 2016, 08:37:16 PM
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/2000AD%200711%2004.jpg) (http://s143.photobucket.com/user/brnwlsh/media/2000AD%200711%2004.jpg.html)
(Nice spot yourself on the Sladek thing though; I always wondered what story the Falucci Tape was referencing.)
(http://i.imgur.com/xmUaUxf.png?1)
: The Legendary Shark 10 February, 2016, 12:05:42 AM
There's a bit in The Empire Strikes Back where Yoda tries to look into the future to see what will become of Leia, Han and co. on Bespin. I always thought he said it was difficult to see because the future is "always emotion," which kind of made sense.
Only last week, reading a Star Wars novel, did I finally realise he actually said, "always in motion," which makes more sense. D'oh!
: SuperSurfer 10 February, 2016, 01:40:01 AM
This cover would you believe it. Well, I never really paid it much attention, having not read the entire prog and I just this second noticed the logo.
No doubt some self-proclaimed expert has by now commented that you never mess with your logo and never cover it up and that their three-year-old daughter knows that and would do it better in Photoshop.
(http://www.2000adonline.com/application/media/progs/original/1965.jpg)
: JayzusB.Christ 11 February, 2016, 10:31:46 AM
On a recent re-watch of Dredd, it occurred to me that Anderson's origin story was probably the standard model for all judges in that version of MC1. Basically, any nonscrot watching would assume that Dredd was also inducted as an orphan at age 9; which was probably the creators' intention.
It was also even more low-tech than I remembered - there really wasn't much there that wouldn't be possible to do today (bionic eyes, slo-mo and psi-powers being the exceptions). The vehicles even look a bit dated by today's standards. But don't get me wrong - I loved it for that. Dredd has always been about Dredd; about being a hard bastard breaking skulls; the sci-fi comes second.
Hmm, interesting. Maybe that "something else" Anderson mentioned was the fact that Dredd's a clone?
There's certainly a fair old number of armchair designers* on this board!
*(Not people who design armchairs, you understand).
It was also even more low-tech than I remembered - there really wasn't much there that wouldn't be possible to do today
When I first saw it at the pictures, it occurred to me that there was a lot of stuff in it akin to things from the early stories, that would have seemed quite futuristic if the film had come out in the 1980s, (talking bikes, cleaning robots, etc;).
: Jacqusie 12 February, 2016, 12:17:35 AM
(http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q629/Simon_Jacques/619robinson_zpsmbzu1na2.jpg) (http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Jacques/media/619robinson_zpsmbzu1na2.jpg.html)
These were the days SuperSurfer!
All will be revealed in the sequel! Except, of course, it won't.
: Theblazeuk 12 February, 2016, 04:03:52 PM
Maybe that bit did go over my head. I always thought she was about so say 'anger'. The frustration and rage of Dredd that bubbles beneath the service of control and discipline.
: Colin Zeal 12 February, 2016, 04:23:47 PM
As a kid, the joke about a wrestler called The Undertaker having a manger called Paul Bearer went over my head for a long time.
No, she actually does say 'anger' before anything else. Whatever it is she's about to say remains a mystery.
: NapalmKev 13 February, 2016, 08:01:06 AM
A penchant for Taffeta Ballgowns! Looks like both Dredd films borrowed something from the A.B.C Warriors.
: Echidna 13 February, 2016, 08:24:54 AM
"I can feel anger and control. But there's something else, something behind the control, something almost... Oh, that's it. More anger."
Doubt.
But if course it's the unspoken mystery that makes the whole thing work.
: Jim_Campbell 13 February, 2016, 08:57:58 AM
"I can feel anger and control. But there's something else, something behind the control… an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope? No, wait, I can feel FOUR things, anger, control, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and…"
: Steve Green 13 February, 2016, 09:23:23 AM
1 thing I never quite understood.
In the Terra-meks, what is the NOGEEEE that Fantas-tek is shouting all about? Was it just meaningless shouting?
: IAMTHESYSTEM 13 February, 2016, 10:10:39 AM
This is so embarrassing.
FLO RIDA....it's F-L-O-R-I-D-A isn't it? I get up but my brain doesn't.
: TordelBack 13 February, 2016, 12:21:41 PM
Hey, you're well ahead of me.
:D and when discussing the relative merits of assorted rapping men, one might debate their lyrical flow. The ability to ride said flow for a sustained period would be considered an asset.
: Jacqusie 13 February, 2016, 08:59:48 PM
I'm not sure that I ever twigged that Dredds apartment Rowdy Yates and Clint were so inextricably linked... but then I am getting old... but not that old for Rawhide it seems... ::)
(http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q629/Simon_Jacques/clint-eastwood-cowboy-favorites_zpsqzylhsuz.jpg) (http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Jacques/media/clint-eastwood-cowboy-favorites_zpsqzylhsuz.jpg.html)
Strange; I was just reading about the Rowdy Yates thing on the imdb page for Dredd 3d before you posted that - never really made the connection that it was because Clint Eastwood had an influence on Dredd's character.
Of course, Rico lives there now, doesn't he? No more baths for Joe.
: Theblazeuk 16 February, 2016, 09:52:40 AM
Woops! That's what I meant. :)
Just realised on a re-read of some old progs that there's pretty much always been a little bit of cheesecake-ish titillation in 2000ad - it was kind of part of the 'don't-show-your-parents' deal along with the violence. What made me think about that was how they used a photo of Sybil Danning as Saint Exmin from Battle Beyond the Stars to illustrate one of Ro-Jaws' old film columns - sweet Jesus. If Valkyries had actually been in any way sexy, it would have looked like this.
That was one of my favourite Dredd's of late 80's, great art by Jim Baikie too... wonder if Rico ever found his rubber duck?
: glassstanley 29 February, 2016, 09:45:04 PM
Not worth starting a separate thread for this, so apologies that it's slightly OT.
Re-reading the Titan 'Judge Dredd 12' for the umpteenth time today, and I finally noticed that the version of the cover of Prog 377 they use has the original dateline (14 July). After 376, the Prog stopped appearing for a few weeks due to industrial action, and when 377 finally appeared, the new dateline was Letra-setted in (with the wrong font).
I've only just realised what Gestapo Bob Harris' initials are...
: PsychoGoatee 02 March, 2016, 02:57:11 AM
Took years for me to realize what Resyk meant, and I used to think it was pronounced "Resick". Can't remember if I posted that before, if so this is a resyked post. :D
: johnnystress 10 March, 2016, 05:29:01 PM
There's a song about this guy
Can any Scandinavian members translate?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUMxJZFUAuc
: The Enigmatic Dr X 13 March, 2016, 04:19:29 PM
Not comic related but...
You are supposed to crush Oxo cubes in their foil packet, flattening it, then tear the corner and pour.
: Hawkmumbler 13 March, 2016, 06:14:07 PM
This is....I....
'Stares out of window and contemplates whole existance'
: The Legendary Shark 13 March, 2016, 06:25:46 PM
I don't remember Linda Bellingham doing that. No wonder her husband's hair fell out...
Or was that Bisto?
So much to remember, so few brain cells left :(
: Darren Stephens 13 March, 2016, 06:53:29 PM
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
: A.Cow 13 March, 2016, 10:17:37 PM
Unfortunately the same process doesn't work so well with crisps.
Shut up. Really?
: Hawkmumbler 14 March, 2016, 07:21:39 AM
Prawn cracker crushed in the bag and added to a soup of your choice. Delicious.
: The Enigmatic Dr X 14 March, 2016, 07:44:05 AM
I know, I know. But that is what I was told, and shown. And it just seems so... obvious.
Everything I've ever known was wrong. :o
: Woolly 14 March, 2016, 07:56:39 AM
I don't remember Linda Bellingham doing that...
Clearly a case of Oxo retconning the origins story of the cube to suit a modern audience ;)
Coming soon: All-Star Goddamn Oxo
EDIT - Fuck. My 5000th post, and I use it to make a shit joke about stock.
Re: Oxo cubes
...peeling a banana from the bottom...
...using the serrated edge on a box of aluminium foil to shear of the section of foil you require...
...and...
...breaking a segment of Toblerone off by pushing the top of the segment inwards instead of pulling it away from the rest of the bar.
Congrats. And, keep in mind it was a shit comic-related joke
I've just found out that the Blankety Blank chequebook and pen was a silver trophy shaped like a chequebook, not an actual chequebook. I've also just noticed the play on words - blank cheque.
Grud, I'm thick.
: Modern Panther 20 March, 2016, 04:26:33 PM
When I was a kid, i thought the prize was a "cheque, book and pen".
I also thought that when something went "under the hammer" it got smashed up if no one bought it.
I've also just realised that it was the 'subscribers' notebook and pen' thread that subconsciously inspired me to look up the blankety blank chequebook and pen.
: Dash Decent 21 March, 2016, 11:49:52 AM
I've just seen the Judge Dan Francisco entry on Wikipedia. It doesn't mention that his show was a play on "The Streets of San Francisco" (which it has an article on, of course: here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Streets_of_San_Francisco)).
Could it be that it went over the head of the person who wrote the entry?
: sheridan 21 March, 2016, 01:28:07 PM
This entry? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Francisco) Doesn't matter if it went over the head of the person writing the entry or not - if it can't be supported by external citations then it shouldn't be in the article, even it's a pretty obvious pun (as long as you've heard of the original show, that is). The name Dan Francisco is a bit more of an obvious pun though...
That level of citation-probity hardly gels with the supposition later in the same entry that Francisco's election is a response to Obama's. The Streets of Dan Francisco is far more obviously a deliberate pun, and one that actually explains the character's bizarre name. See also: Barbara Hershey.
could have been worse could have mentioned taking her up the OXO tower...
: amines2058 21 March, 2016, 04:58:20 PM
Nooo.... why have a I never seen this before!! Barbara Hershey....Hershey Bar. (Slams head into desk crying at own stupidity!)
: Big_Dave 21 March, 2016, 05:09:08 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Hershey
So is our Hershey named after a chocloate bar or the Actress? Now I am confused.
: Dandontdare 21 March, 2016, 05:53:00 PM
I think it's the actress - didn't she change her name to Barbara Seagull for a while after being possessed by the spirit of a seagull?
EDIT: yes she did - and she also "gave birth to their son, Free, who changed his name to Tom when he was nine years old" - now that's waht I call embarrssing mom syndrome!
Originally the confectioners, but if I remember correctly the 'Barbara' first name came from a readers' poll in the Meg.
Thanks Tordelback so everyone was right, and the real Barbara Hershey is a nutter. Glad that is all cleared up!
runner up was judgey mcjudgeface http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/20/boaty-mcboatface-leads-online-poll-for-name-of-new-research-ship-5763140/
: I, Cosh 25 March, 2016, 10:39:19 AM
Was out with a friend last night and learned something I'd been oblivious to.
Him: "Oh, I see Garry Shandling's died. Bummer."
Me: "Who's that?"
Him: "Garry Shandling. American comedian?"
Me: "Oh. Never heard of him."
Him: "The Larry Sanders Show?"
Me: "Eh? I vaguely remember that being on but I always assumed it was one of those shitey American chatshows they used to fill up empty bits of the schedules with."
Him: "..."
: Steve Green 25 March, 2016, 10:58:55 AM
It was treated pretty horribly by whatever maniac was scheduling BBC 2 programmes though...
: ming 27 May, 2016, 05:13:05 PM
Huck Widney - who he?
I've wondered about who the hell Huck Widney was since Chopper tagged his block in UnAmerican Graffiti back in 1981. Any clues?
Heh, was reading the same thread I think.
Probably! Whenever I look at that page I always wonder about Huck Widney... Why couldn't it have been Rita Tushingham Block or Ernest Borgnine or someone? Bah!
: M.I.K. 28 May, 2016, 02:03:51 PM
If Huck Widney's not a real person, it could be a Scottish dialect pun in-joke thing.
I was thinking the same thing. To explain: in idiomatic lowland Scots, would not becomes widnae (wid-nay), just as cannot gives way to cannae (can-nay), and will not transforms into willnae (can-nay). An old Scottish joke relies on the same speech pattern:
What's the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney? Bings sings but Walt Disney
I can't think of any similar joke that has the punchline Huck widnae, though.
: Butch 28 May, 2016, 04:31:25 PM
Tom Sawyer wanted to swim in the Mississippi but Huck Widney /widnae...?
: Mister Pops 28 May, 2016, 09:27:32 PM
There's the Billy Connelly classic about the Weegie in the phone box who gets redirected to the operator:
"Here daft lad, the fanes nae workin'! I'm tryin tae ring ma burd!"
"Is there money in the box?"
"No its jist meself!"
: Spikes 29 May, 2016, 12:07:18 PM
: Mike Carroll 29 May, 2016, 12:14:16 PM
I reckon it's "money" = "many"
-- Mike
: JayzusB.Christ 29 July, 2016, 08:51:57 AM
Just rereading some early Day of Chaos episodes, before the shit hit the fan. Lovely bit of Wagner irony here when you know what's coming...
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/08.jpg)
: JayzusB.Christ 04 August, 2016, 10:49:09 PM
Does anyone remember a Calhab Justice one-off, where a Brit-Cit transfer judge in Glascal is bullied and harassed until he finally snaps and murders a citizen for dropping litter?
One local judge calls it 'madness', while another says something like 'Naw, no' madness. I'll gie ye anither guess'.
It's only a small thing, but it's baffled me ever since. If flying into a homicidal rage isn't madness, what exactly is it?
: A.Cow 05 August, 2016, 12:42:27 AM
PMT?
: The Legendary Shark 05 August, 2016, 03:56:43 AM
Future shock?
Maybe he just turned Scotch. Why can't you Scotches be peaceful and sober like what we, the Mick,
: norton canes 08 August, 2016, 11:05:29 AM
Here's one that's still going over my head... I've been re-reading Harry Twenty on the High Rock, and I get most of the jokes with the inmates' surnames and sentence lengths e.g. Svede Sixteen, Root Sixty Six etc.
But 'Genghis Eighteen' still escapes me. It sounds like it must be a pun. If it is, it's so obvious I'm missing it.
: Dash Decent 08 August, 2016, 02:41:46 PM
We have a disinfectant spray in Australia called "Glen 20" (Click!) (http://www.dettol.com.au/products/clean-surfaces/dettol-glen-20-disinfectant-spray/). All through my teenage years, whenever I heard it mentioned on an ad on the telly, I always thought of Harry on the High Rock and how this Glen bloke must be serving a sentence up there too.
: norton canes 08 August, 2016, 03:10:56 PM
I've just realised I've written 'Svede' instead of 'Swede'.
: Trout 18 August, 2016, 06:24:29 AM
Walking the streets of Toronto at 1 am, a thought popped into my head.
Kreelman = cruel man.
Why did I never notice that before? Gagh!
: sheridan 03 September, 2016, 10:29:54 PM
I hadn't seen Alien when Varks first ran, and the funny thing about things that you read that contain pop cultural references is that when you become aware of the thing that's being referenced you can have a blank spot when re-reading the original and not make that connection.
That's why I only just noticed today that Sigourney Bean bears a striking resemblance to Ripley in a not-entirely un-xenomorphic tale of genetically metamorphosing aliens in the Meg.
: TordelBack 04 September, 2016, 07:43:55 AM
I hadn't seen Alien when Varks first ran, and the funny thing about things that yo
Extra marks for noting that Sigourney Bean sounds more than a bit like Sawney Bean, mass cannibal/average Scot.
: ZenArcade 04 September, 2016, 04:38:17 PM
Genghis 18. Now you've got me. Genghis Khan was a pretty nasty piece of work who depopulated large parts of Northern China; Central Asia and Russia. 18 - numbers to letters - AH - Adolf Hitler a pretty nasty piece of work who denuded Eastern Europe and western Russia of millions of people? I am most probably waaay off the mark mind you. Z
I'd never have twigged on this possible meaning, if you hadn't of posted. But certainly sounds like it could be plausible.
I first recall this 'numbers to letters' way of doing things from scumbag groups like Combat 18.
Which, just checking Wikipedia, formed in the early 90's. I guess this way of doing things was around a lot longer than that.
: Leigh S 04 September, 2016, 11:20:22 PM
Ace Garps pointy head being inspired by the actual shape of an ace? Not sure if this is true, but it would make sense and it only just struck me as likely/possible
The tool generally referred to as a Dofore, will in fact Do For the job headslap
: Tony Angelino 05 September, 2016, 09:50:49 PM
I had a friend, when I was a kid, who always talked about Doctor and Quinch.
It's not really an example of something going over your head. I suppose it was more a case of him not reading the strip title correctly.
: JamesC 06 September, 2016, 12:41:02 PM
My mate used to say 'Roger Trooper'.
: The Legendary Shark 07 September, 2016, 02:45:33 PM
I used to call Dash Decent Dash Descent.
: Link Prime 07 September, 2016, 02:54:49 PM
Someone has to enter a Roger Moore / Rogue Trooper mash-up into this months comp.
*My little cousin called him 'Rocky Trooper', bizarrely enough.
One for Button man: I seem to remember an art entry titled Roque. trooper in the letters page many, many years ago. Z
Prog 1797, Carroll and Smudge's Heavy Ordnance. So Johnny Alpha and Dredd really do inhabit the same timeline* ...
(http://i.imgur.com/f3rxKCa.jpg)
Only the ever reliable Jimbo (https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=36705.msg700643#msg700643) thought it worthy of mention at the time.
* I kid
In 1937, Westinghouse built the first "industrial atom smasher," a 5 MeV Van de Graaff electrostatic nuclear accelerator, so I guess by Dredd's time they may have branched out into weaponry...
Captain Irrelevant.
They branched out a wee while ago - they're the US network (http://www.cbs.com/) that makes rubbish like NCIS and Big Brother. They were a big name in consumer electronics in the fifties; presumably they found their way into 2000ad due to the same childhood nostalgia as a brand name like Hershey.
He's actually based on a little known comics character called 'Roger Topper' from a comic called Berk! from the mid sixties. He was a character who possesses a talking top hat with all sorts of special abilities, although for no apparent reason he never used any of them and would spend every episode arguing with the hat, then he'd hold his breath until his face turned blue.
John told me it was because his dad worked for them.
Wow! Cheers, Steve.
: Dash Decent 08 September, 2016, 04:10:07 AM
You called?
When I saw the cover of prog 167 I wondered why it said "Comic Rock" when - being the prog - it could've said "Prog Rock".
Sorry, posted too soon. Sentence two:
So their subtlety went over my head at the time.
I only just realised that Roseanne's Bar in Street Cred (Judge Dredd, Prog 1962) is a play on words on Roseanne Barr. I had connected that Roseanne took place in the Lobo Lounge, but didn't get the Bar/Barr bit until now :-|
Not sure I get the subtlety of Comic Rock...
I'm not sure if it went over my head or there's no connection, but reading Steve Mac's autobio, the whole grading of employees seems a lot like the categorising of droids in Robohunter.
Also wonder if the typewriter incident inspired Alec Trench?
: norton canes 12 September, 2016, 02:34:29 PM
From the intro to Slaine, in the prog before the strip started:
"At the age of 12 he had his first warp-spasm. At the age of 16 he learned the secret of the mound."
I'm not sure if this counts as something that went over my head at the time, or something I'm just reading too much into now.
The secret of the mound is from when he was chained up in the mound on midsummer's day (I think - don't have my copies to hand right now).
: Rio De Fideldo 12 September, 2016, 03:21:59 PM
It took me years to notice that the Resyk building is shaped like a coffin. I just thought it was a futuristic shape that McMahon had come up with.
I don't remember when I noticed that, but it was quite a way down the line :-)
Feck. I honestly never noticed till now.
Also, I've just realised V (as in Vendetta) doesn't just signify V's cell number but also the 5th of November.
: sheridan 08 October, 2016, 08:25:16 AM
And Evie.
: The Enigmatic Dr X 08 October, 2016, 08:46:32 AM
It was years before I realised "Resyk" was pronounced re-psych and was short for re-cycling.
I always pronounced "Ressk".
: malkymac 10 October, 2016, 11:18:53 AM
Way back in I think the original return of Rico story, the department that checks out all the new born sprogs is called 'birth control'.
something my 10 year old self had obviously never heard of at the time.
A lesser writer would have gone for the more obvious joke. But Wagner and / or Grant add an extra layer.
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/brnwlsh/vera.jpg)
Rob Schneider was Fergee?!?!
Hurr-hurr-*SOB*
Nope, Fergie - it's spelt and pronounced differently (at least in my head, it's always been Fer-GEE not Fer-gey).
Although I admit that until recently I never realised that Junior Angel was Spud off of Trainspotting.
So... you think it's just coincidence? I think that was it - Dredd's non-judge sidekick, Fergee...
I must be thick. What joke am I missing in that panel?
Id've thought the standard response was "love a duck" which has been shifted to "lay a brick" which is a distortion of what ducks do. Can't remember but wasn't Vera's Dad a builder?
Course I could be completely wrong. ::)
: The Legendary Shark 17 October, 2016, 06:00:17 PM
"Sh*t a brick," Shirley?
Possibly. But don't call me Shirley!
Id've thought the standard response was "love a duck" which has been shifted to "lay a brick"
See, that's what I thought was so clever about it. 'Love a duck' would have been the obvious gag, given that's what Clarkie is doing, but Wagner and Grant neatly sidestep your expectations.
: I, Cosh 18 October, 2016, 09:22:19 AM
Ah, fair enough.
I have an embarrassing one which occurred to me while listening to rock radio in someone's car t'other week.
The repeated phrase "That ain't workin'" in the song Money for Nothing by the group Dire Straits does not, in fact, mean "This method is not producing the required outcome." but "No physical effort is required to make a living this way."
To be fair, the former never seemed to make a lot of sense but then neither do 98% of song lyrics. I actually admire the way so many singers are able to belt out a series of non sequiturs without cringing.
: Colin YNWA 18 October, 2016, 07:01:04 PM
Yeah, yeah, yeah you say that Mr Rock FM
Nearly 30 years after it was published, I have only just spotted what was special about the logo on Prog 502 (the Christmas Prog). '2000AD featuring Santa Dredd'
I've never noticed that either. Almost-teenage me must have been distracted by something else on the cover.
He was a darn sexy Fomorian alright.
Don't think I noticed the Santa Dredd bit either.
But like all fantasy beefcakes and cheesecakes, spends all his time wandering around really cold places wearing next-to-nothing :-)
: A.Cow 19 October, 2016, 12:36:01 AM
I didn't get it, either. Had to look it up. Apparently, in Coronation Street, the character Vera Duckworth made frequent claims that she was (allegedly) related to royalty.
It's not 2000 AD-related, but I only recently realised that The Island of Doctor Moreau's titular character name also reads as "Doc Tomorrow" -- highly appropriate for a science fiction novel commenting on nature vs. nurture, vivisection & evolutionary theory and the consequences of such.
Note: The use of "Doc" as a familiar form or abbreviation for "Doctor" was well-established by the late 1800s, when the book was written.
: Colin YNWA 19 October, 2016, 08:10:15 AM
Ha! Never spotted Santa Dredd (the commericalisation of X-Mas is complete. My predictive text replaced Santa with Santander!) I check that when home.
Prog 1704, Dredd - The Skinning Room. Page where the Judges find Riggs. She's been stripped naked & strapped down. Either she's had an ... intimate tattoo or she trims her pubes into the shape of the Justice Dept Eagle.
From watching today's episode of QI-XL, I found out that Lobsang Rampant block (from Rumble in the Jungle) was named after fake monk Lobsang Rampa.
: The Enigmatic Dr X 23 October, 2016, 11:58:14 PM
The notebook given away recently as a subscriber gift had tweaked art... it had Dredd reading the Law on copyright infringement.
...that Archie had appeared in 2000AD prior to Zenith (and not just in that article about British comics which featured in an annual). (the robot appeared in Tharg and the Intruder (https://sheridanwilde.wordpress.com/2016/10/23/prog-24-get-a-load-of-this-ancient-water-god-drawing/), fulfilling a not-dissimilar role as Mek-Quake in Kings Reach Tower.
: glassstanley 24 October, 2016, 08:28:18 AM
That's how it was originally published, on the back of the 1st edition of Titan's Chronicles of Judge Dredd Vol 1. An early call for creator's rights.
...that the CIA paratroopers who killed Shako's mate and cubs were named Marx and Spencer.
: TordelBack 25 October, 2016, 09:00:01 AM
And I thought that story couldn't get any, um, cooler. Great spot, Sheridan!
: Angry Vince 26 October, 2016, 07:05:07 AM
Didn't read the first 46 pages (late to the party), but only just realised that Johnny Alpha must of course be the best S/D agent because he is the Alpha Dog!
Can't believe I missed that one...
Never thought of that. Get whet!
: Jacqusie 13 November, 2016, 02:12:12 PM
(http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q629/Simon_Jacques/Frank%20W_zpssckyrzrk.jpg) (http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Jacques/media/Frank%20W_zpssckyrzrk.jpg.html)
I was reading some old Armoured Gid and it's only just occurred to me that Franks surname 'Weitz' is a make of German camera...
...Which is not to be confused with the Jokers Camera in on the cover of the Killikng Joke. That ones 'Witz' - German for Joke of course.
I'm sure John Tolinson was aware of both these facts when he wrote the series and I've really enjoyed looking at Simon Jacobs glorious painted art on the run, they don't make em' like that anymore...
: norton canes 03 January, 2017, 02:56:57 PM
Up to 1986 with my prog slog and I've noticed an instance of Mega-City slang I don't remember from reading them 30 years ago.
Did John Wagner or Alan Grant know what they were doing when they coined 'vag' as a term for vagrant?!
: Frank 03 January, 2017, 06:10:04 PM
The current three letter slang for the homeless is bum. Same general area.
At the time of Grindstone Cowboys, a few of us commented on the perfection of Dredd's typically terse response to Rico's doubts that he was ready to replace him - "you'll do (http://i.imgur.com/yyLuE6b.png)" [1].
Maybe Dredd's job approval seemed so in character because the lazy old bugger was recycling his words of encouragement to Hershey when she worried she wasn't ready to replace Volt as Chief Judge - "you'll do (http://i.imgur.com/SFc9TEh.png)" [2].
[1] Grindstone Cowboys, 1977
[2] Volt Face, 1167
: lincnashOZ 13 January, 2017, 12:51:14 AM
Its a very new one that jumped out at me, perhaps others didnt see.
Jimp Heston in the recent Meg story Monkey Business.
Homage to Charlton Heston from the original (and best) Planet of the Apes movies ?.
Hmmm, thought that one was fairly obvious.
Hell Trekkers (387-415 (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=HELLTREK)). Expedition leader Lucas Rudd's wife is called Amber*. Future satire (http://www.conservativehome.com/profiles/2015/05/profile-amber-rudd-a-true-believer-in-climate-change.html).
* Catchphrase: 'take your radiation pills'
: sheridan 16 January, 2017, 02:05:28 AM
And wasn't Charlton Heston Block the location of Monkey Business, way back in the 2100s?
My mistake - Charles Darwin Block was that particular location...
: James Stacey 17 January, 2017, 12:23:09 PM
There was a Charlton Heston block but not related. From the City of Dredd
Charlton Heston Block
A large, well-to-do cityblock. Infected by the Block Mania, Heston formed an alliance with Ricardo Montalban Block, but was wiped out by poison gas Heston helped manufacture which accidentally leaked from the Dixy Plasteen Complex. (Block Mania; City Block)
Matheson Peat led a Block Mania-crazed Citi-Def squad from the Charlton Heston Frontliners, attacking neighbouring Michael Moore Block and the East-Meg One invasion army. Other Frontliner volunteers included Marriot, Mattocks, Rawlinson and Topley. They investigated the ruins of the Rejin Estate, where Peat discovered the half-mad Erik Rejin, the only survivor of his family. (The Final Cut)
By 2123, Heston Block had been annexed within Apetown's borders. The ape uplift Travis Perkins was raised in Apartment 1175. (The Fierce and the Furious)
Ah-hah - so the apes got Charlton Heston in the end!
: Smith 21 January, 2017, 04:20:37 PM
Meat Patrol from Meg #224 has Tommy Vercetti Social Club,Rockstar North Boulevard. :)
: Tombo 22 January, 2017, 04:28:00 PM
I was reading the Mega-Collection version of "Chasing Herod" last night and suddenly noticed that Lucy Melmoths' rather fetching zebra-print outfit had an actual tail attached, although it would appear to have been dropped by the time Pussyfoot 5 was published.
: Karl Urban 22 January, 2017, 04:28:00 PM
Urban created a distinctive voice to make him seem tough: "In my research I came across a passage in one of the Dredd comics, saying Dredd's voice sounded like a saw cutting through bone. So for me that was kind of the starting point" The Huffington Post, 03/09/2012 (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/03/dredd-3d-star-karl-urban-violence-shocked_n_1851730.html)
The Tenth Planet (http://i.imgur.com/pxD7aWO.png), Megazine 2.58 (July 1994), by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra.
: Echidna 28 January, 2017, 04:54:47 PM
Just occurred to me - Tale of the Dead Man might be a play on "dead men tell no tales"
I seem to be the only reader whose head this didn't go over. Just been catching up with January's progs and immediately recognised very thinly disguised versions of our erstwhile boarder (and my friend and former neighbour) Johnny Stress with his twin brother Danny. Johnny has the rockabilly 'do while Danny has the mutton chops. Unconvinced? One of the real brothers has, or had, a pet spaniel. Still unconvinced? Mike Carroll didn't even bother to change their surname!
PS I told Johnny today; he read through his latest progs and was suitably chuffed.
PPS I know you're still lurking here, McMonagle - hope you don't mind me posting this ;)
PPPS They're both way slimmer and handsomer than Tiernan Trevallion has them.
(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16406834_10154255561506629_8534137611465076556_n.jpg?oh=d0e209da970ba472e13def64c93796bd&oe=59077150)
John Burdis points out that the brothers' forenames - Fernando (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQsjAbZDx-4) and Angelo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRLQs0w4ExY) - are not without significance. And of course, the story takes place on the Diana Rig(g).
: Steamrunner 03 February, 2017, 09:46:33 PM
Just following up on the Charlton Heston block references above — Charlton Heston was the first named block ("City Block 1", way back in prog 117). I'd forgotten it cropped up again...
: Steve Green 08 February, 2017, 06:10:30 PM
Brigand Doom
Is it meant to sound like Brigadoom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadoon)?
Brigadoon, I imagine so.
It took me way too long to cop that Armoured Gideon sounded like Armageddon.
Not convinced by this one.
When I saw that cover pop up on Facebook it reminded me that I've always suspected Dave D'Antiquis was a play on words but I've never been able to work out what it might be.
: Mike Carroll 08 February, 2017, 09:53:46 PM
I always figured it was meant to sound like "Day of the Anti-Christ."
: The Legendary Shark 08 February, 2017, 10:07:44 PM
Dave the Old?
... I've always suspected Dave D'Antiquis was a play on words but I've never been able to work out what it might be.
Oh, that's a good effort!
You saw the rain dirty valley?
: sheridan 09 February, 2017, 12:46:23 AM
Is that a torch in your pocket?
: norton canes 11 February, 2017, 11:10:49 PM
Just re-read the first couple of episodes of 'Bitch' and it defintitely went over my head that Durham Red's victim is called Ab Rancid.
: Fungus 12 February, 2017, 01:55:47 AM
Hewligan = Hooligan.
From a drunken moment of clarity, chatting to DDD at the 40th.
You got that it was also Hewlett and Milligan though?
Yup, of course.
: glassstanley 16 February, 2017, 06:33:00 AM
M.A.C.H. Zero was quite macho. Only just spotted that one.
: Magnetica 24 March, 2017, 06:38:16 AM
So you know how we never saw Nemesis in the first few episodes of Book 1 and he was only revealed later? (In the Sci-fi Special IIRC.)
Well actually he was on the cover of Prog 222 all along - he is there in orange on the left hand side border. I had never noticed that until this morning - take a look in the "Your Favourite Prog Covers" thread.
It is amazing how you can look at stuff but not see it properly - literally for years.
: Jim_Campbell 24 March, 2017, 10:02:59 AM
Not quite… the Sci-Fi special marginally predated Nemesis Bk1. Nemesis didn't appear outside the Blitzspear in the first couple of shorts, but the reveal came in the 1981 Sci-Fi Special (July 1, according to Google), and Nemesis Book 1 started later in the same month. (I certainly recall knowing what Nemesis looked like before the first book ran…)
Thanks Jim. I couldn't quite remember when the Sci-if Special came out. But I do remember not being able to get hold of it at the time, so for me I didn't know what he looked like until he was shown a few episodes in.
It was only a couple of years later when I managed to get it.
Like Cornelius Cardew before him, I only recently made the connection between the great maestro Pilchards-in-Tomato-Sauce Clayderman and the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=264HLeQIUv4).
I'd like to think the name came first and the story quickly improvised over a couple of pints later.
So what is the Cornelius Cardew thing?
In addition to being Skizz's pipe fitting mate, he was an English avant-garde composer and "loony leftie" who grew up not terribly far from Northampton.
Good old Wikipedia: In Popular Culture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Cardew#In_popular_culture)
: MF1970 24 March, 2017, 08:31:07 PM
I always thought it was from The Clash song Armagideon Time
: norton canes 27 March, 2017, 12:56:50 PM
Aux Drift = Rourke's Drift
You know, that went right over my head. So bloody obvious now.
You know, that went right over my head.
Like a haircut.
Kidney :o
Wow, really? You've only just noticed? Funny because it took me longer to notice Wulf was called Sternhammer because he was a stern fellow...with a hammer. :lol:
: Proudhuff 01 April, 2017, 11:40:55 AM
Yeah :-[
I never ran the two words together, until a recent Dogbreath issue...
Was just re-reading SD Agency Files 01, and noticed that Wulf's cucumber fetish was actually started by another character, the Wolrog Sergeant Kark in the Galaxy Killers. (He's smart as cucumber you know)
: Mardroid 03 April, 2017, 05:24:33 PM
I've often wondered how Would got so obsessed with cucumbers being a viking, as isn't it a New World fruit?* Then again, the Norsemen did cross the great divide centuries before that Columbus chap.
I suspect he picked it up later, though.
* I'm sure it's technically a fruit having seed thing inside.
Better than Harry 20's weasel obsession, anyway.
: Tombo 03 April, 2017, 07:10:25 PM
According the Wikipedia cucumbers were first cultivated in India around 3000 years ago, and they're mentioned in the Old Testament. The first recorded mention in France is from the 9th century so maybe he visited France on a raid.
Botanically they're a fruit but they're treated as a vegetable from a culinary point of view.
: Bad City Blue 03 April, 2017, 08:46:48 PM
That gets really weird when it's read in one sitting.
'Well, knock me down with a weasel.' Hmmmm
: norton canes 06 April, 2017, 12:21:04 PM
Hershey, Bar(bara)
: sheridan 06 April, 2017, 12:31:05 PM
I wonder if that one was intentional? I thought I read somewhere (possibly earlier in this thread) that the name was taken from this Barbara Hershey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Hershey).
: Rogue Judge 06 April, 2017, 04:06:21 PM
Maybe this Hershey was named after the Hershey Bar... ;)
She was named by a phone poll early in the Megazine's history which, if I recall, had no options so I assume they ended up with a load of random other possibility and two or three people who said Barbara because it was the name of an actress, or just sounded familiar.
I'd have gone with Carol (Carol Hersee has a vaguely similar name and has appeared more on British television than everyone else put together...) but didn't bother to ring in because it was something like a pound a minute.
: positronic 06 April, 2017, 04:29:05 PM
And the Hershey chocolate bar was manufactured by a confectionary firm founded by a man named Hershey! Who knows whether there might not be some actual blood relation in ancestry between the actress and the chocolate bar magnate?
Did anyone already mention that Harry 20 was Escape From Alcatraz (starring Clint Eastwood) IN SPAAAAACE... ? :lol:
And maybe both of them are related to the CJ?
Well, apart from the fact that's she's a fictional character living in some possible 'what if' science-fictional future timeline... Judges all have common names we see in real life, so why not?
I wonder if it would violate any laws if some writer put in a reference to Hershey being a descendant of one of them?
You and your 'fiction'.
I still like that there's a MC1 Judge who's a descendant of Dutch Schaefer.
That settles it - in my canon, Judge Hershey is officially a descendant of the chocolate founder Mr. Hershey and the cousin of Willy Wonka (twice removed)
Did anyone ever try looking in the phone directory (this was a thing before internet-capable smartphones, kids, ask your dads) for the name Dredd?
I just found this lad. I assume that's his real name; can't see why a Safeway's salesperson would need a pseuodonym.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-dredd-020b6497 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-dredd-020b6497)
Dredd was supposed to be black.
http://conventions.cps.neu.edu/videos/travis-dredd/
: CalHab 07 April, 2017, 09:55:34 AM
I find his chin disappointing.
That explains why he can wear such a close-fitting helmet.
Hold it there now hoss, Bernard Manning you ain't.
: positronic 08 April, 2017, 06:41:20 AM
That's classic. So he worked installing CCTV systems (and later automated security gates) for a little over 3.5 years, then was unemployed for 2.5 years, and for the last 6.5 years has been working in the liquor department at Safeway (no title listed, so I'm guessing he's not the department manager). I wonder if he's familiar with his namesake? It's a fair bet he might have heard of the movie, though.
: Smith 08 April, 2017, 06:57:06 AM
This is just like Busieks Supeman: Secret Identity. :D
I just meant he's got no hair to get in the way. Nothing else. I've always thought Dredd's hair must be really worn down with the constant (23 hours 50 mins) a day of wearing such a tight helmet. And remember all the "it looks too big!" comments when we first saw Urban's more realistically-sized helmet.
Does Joe Dredd even have hair? How do we know, was it shown (from the back of his head, obviously) somewhere? Maybe it would make more sense if his head was shaved?
Didnt notice it the first time;one of the opening quotes in Nikolai Dante is atributed to "The Kama Sutra" translated by Richard Burton.:/
Sir Richard Burton was the translator of the Kama Sutra. He's a different Richard Burton to the one that married Elizabeth Taylor.
: Smith 09 April, 2017, 03:56:30 PM
Well,in my defense,there are a lot of people with that name,so its easy to get confused. :)
Both pale beside this one:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PytMr-25oWw/VTTOfZgpeQI/AAAAAAAABo8/Wo20YFHA4-A/s1600/287%2BBurt.jpg)
That also crossed my mind. :)
I guess this is a good place to ask as any.So a Kenny Who? related question-the bit about the company using a droid to reproduce Who's art is obviously a jab at another artist,but who?(pun not intended)Which American artist of the time was copying Cam Kennedy?
But this is before Cam Kennedy's actual American-published work, by some years, wasn't it? And I can't recall who was first to publish (not reprint) him in America. Had to be prior to Dark Horse's Star Wars, I think, so maybe DC?
I remember thinking that the Star Wars thing was what gained Cam Kennedy real acceptance by the Amercan market, though. Before that, he was too far from mainstream acceptability for the US. Which is why it seems odd to me that an American artist should be copying his style, if it wasn't that popular in America prior to Star Wars.
Kenny who is a bit of a take on the authors own attempts to break into American comics.So Kennedy probably recognized his style in somebodies work.
And even if it isnt always obvious,people at Big 2 were familiar with 2000ad.Take for example that odd period when every superhero adopted Zeniths style of jacket over costume.Granted Paradax did it first,but you know what I meant.
Oh definitely. Sometimes it has nothing to do with trying to copy something popular in an attempt to boost your own popularity. Sometimes its even the opposite, where the influenced artist seizes on a lesser-known's style in order to 're-invent' himself somewhat, figuring no one's going to catch it because the artist being copied in less popular in the copyist's marketplace. I remember Keith Giffen got bagged by The Comics Journal for copying... who's the euro artist? Jose' Munoz? I've forgotten now.
: BPP 15 April, 2017, 06:18:28 PM
Cam tells the story about Kenny Who being all about a joke about a big two editor not knowing who he was and when introduced shouting 'Kenny Who?' at Wagner / him. This was when the Americans were looking to raid the UK talent pool and Wagner / Grant / Kennedy were pitching for a deal. He never mentioned the copying element so doubt that was part of the real-life contribution to the story.
Yes,it did.The same company made a droid that imitated Who's artwork.Which send him on an axe rampage and confrontation with Judge Dredd.
Beyond our Kenny;Meg #1-3
Kenny who is a bit of a take on the authors own attempts to break into American comics.
BBC interview with Cam Kennedy
Wagner and Grant had pitched a story idea to DC Comics, which Kennedy would draw.
After initial keen interest, Kennedy said that the trio struggled to get confirmation that the strip was going ahead.
Kennedy said: "This was in the 80s when you had to try and reach people by phone. You couldn't text or email someone directly.
"Eventually it was decided one of us should go to New York and confront Denny O'Neil, a writer and editor mainly of Batman stories, about our pitch.
"It was me - the one furthest from the main airports and who had to take a ferry and then drive to Glasgow - who was picked to go.
"When I finally got to DC Comics, I was pointed down a corridor to O'Neil's office. This guy with braces holding up his troosers came out of the office just before I reached it.
"I asked him if he was Denny O'Neil and then told him I was Cam Kennedy from Scotland. He just looked at me and said "Kenny Who?"
Greatly amused, Wagner and Grant went on to write Kenny Who? as a character. In one strip, he travels to Mega-City One from the Caledonian Hab Zone (Calhab) in Scotland.
Kennedy said: "Kenny Who? ends up in jail and his wife and two kids then come over and confront Dredd. One of Kenny's kids pees on Dredd."
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-19014995
I assume Kenny Who was more a Jab at IPC/Fleetway and the battle for royalties etc.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GA_S-71DQGY/TuRvMC5A5wI/AAAAAAAAAY8/v-HPDa53dko/s1600/creatorsrights.jpg)
These kind of embarrassing international cultural faux-pas could have been avoided, if only they'd invented Rosetta Stone Scottish for Americans back then.
I figured out that part,I was just wondering if Kennedy thought another artist was ripping him off.
Was it from that story where they let a bunch of the artists do one page of whatever they wanted, and they refused to print Mick McMahon's? I remember something about there being a charge of swiping leveled at somebody in that one (not McMahon's page, I think)?
https://books.google.ie/books?id=dyrcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT21&lpg=PT21&dq=mike+mcmahon+prog+500&source=bl&ots=g4Ue_YcvCD&sig=LOGaBumg9I3vYSC8UYjk0MXl_NY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjAw6mFmqfTAhXHB8AKHTF7Ab0Q6AEIRDAG#v=onepage&q=mike%20mcmahon%20prog%20500&f=false
I read the trade for Aux Drift yesterday. It wasn't until I got to the script section at the back that I realised the dog flying the biplane at the start is named Snoop, i.e. Snoopy in his Red Baron-baiting 'WWI flying ace' daydream persona.
In my defence I hadn't noticed Snoop's name given in the strip; there was so much name-calling going on between the pilot and gunner that I must've glossed over it. The name is there in the strip though.
Still waiting for a Ronnie Barker to turn up.
Right, that was it. "Tharg's Head Revisited", in Prog 500. And it was Mick McMahon accusing the plagiarization? I wasn't sure if Cam Kennedy had been involved in that and drawn a page, perhaps utilizing Kenny Who? to comment on another artist appropriating his work.
Thanks for pointing out those 2000 AD creator interview collections, Joe. I wasn't aware those existed, if apparently only available in digital -- I'm trying to avoid Kindle's format though. Have to think about those.
: The Corinthian 16 April, 2017, 10:44:32 AM
That page is reprinted in Judge Dredd: The Mega-History (along with the Brian Bolland page that was also cut from the same strip) and the commentary makes it clear which specific artist McMahon was accusing - but it wasn't Kennedy.
The McMahon replacement page that was published in Prog 500 counts as a thing that went over my head, because it alludes to the censorship without saying too much. As a kid I could tell something was up but had no idea what.
It was Brett Ewins. That's in the link that Joe Soap posted to the relevant Google Books page from the 2000 AD Creator Interviews Vol. 04. Ewins is quoted in response to McMahon's page from "Tharg's Head Revisited", so you may want to check it out.
I knew I'd seen those "Tharg's Head Revisited" pages reprinted somewhere in one of the books I have, I just couldn't remember where to reference it, and the details of the events surrounding the controversial story were hazy in my memory.
: A.Cow 17 April, 2017, 01:53:36 PM
If I read it right, Ewins argued that deadlines (& the need to emulate existing artists) led to the tracing incident, which he claimed was a one-off.
Going back to the Kenny Who? story, I suspect that Wagner & Kennedy were referencing a problem which had become a general issue in the industry at the time (rather than something that had happened to Cam himself).
It's interesting to note that the same thing has happened with composers of big-budget Hollywood movie soundtracks (https://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs?t=9m43s (https://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs?t=9m43s)) who are being asked to emulate existing temp tracks used during editing. Some things never change!
Or even something like... in the early days of Silver Age Marvel comics, when they'd bring in a new artist to be a new regular penciller on a series that was usually kicked off by an issue (or several) pencilled by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee would often have Kirby do page breakdowns (or layouts) for the incoming artist, to try to give the new artist a feel for the sensibility that Lee wanted the series to capture. Basically the direction here (if not issued as a direct order in as many words) was, "do it like Kirby would", and "here's how, to give you a feel for it".
I can understand what Ewins is trying to say there, in a way. John Romita, when he took over the pencilling of The Amazing Spider-Man from Steve Ditko, was terrified that he was going to be reviled by the readers as a pretender and an also-ran. He was convinced he was going to go down as the artist who wound up getting the series cancelled. He knew the readers were used to Ditko's artwork, and liked it -- and that was the kind of Spider-Man they expected and wanted to see. So on his earliest issues he held back on his own natural style, and tried to draw it more towards what he perceived as the readers' desires.
When you're the new guy you probably think you're being asked to fill some big shoes, and you're going to suffer by comparison to the already-popular artists who have been established as fan-favorites. If your natural style isn't anything like the popular guy's style, you try to cheat and force yourself to draw the way they do, and you resort to swiping, because there's no way you can follow "in the tradition of" without leaning heavily on the readers' familiarity with previous stories. Whether or not an editor may have encouraged (or even suggested or requested) that sort of thing is another thing we'll probably never know.
Now I'm not going to say either McMahon or Ewins is right or wrong here, at least not without having studied closely specific pages and panels that are the bones of contention. Was it really only a one-time thing? That would seem to portray McMahon as a particularly over-reactive sort of artist. Or did Ewins really take shortcuts more often that he's willing to admit, and he's just trying to soft-pedal his guilt after being caught at it? I really don't know -- all I'm saying is I can understand it somewhat in light of the practical demands of how the comics industry works, and how comics fans & readers think. In the old days, it wasn't like today. It just wasn't always so simple and straightforward as "Just give it your best and be yourself; I'm sure everything will turn out fine and the readers will love it."
: Jim_Campbell 17 April, 2017, 06:34:57 PM
Apart from the innumerable swipes from Gibbons in his Rogue Trooper run, and the similar number of Bolland lifts on Anderson, which were also (presumably) "one-offs".
IIRC, the specific thing that enraged Mick, was Brett's cover for GW's 'Judgement Day' RPG scenario, which he felt was a fairly shameless swipe of Mick's iconic Cursed Earth cover…
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-Ge006dwDYs/maxresdefault.jpg)
(http://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/0/9116/328958-19752-125200-1-2000-a-d.jpg)
Well, this is another example where you don't know. I mean you don't know whether the art editor at Games Workshop just called up Brett Ewins and hired him because he WAS Brett Ewins, or maybe the art editor was really hoping to hire Mick McMahon but he wasn't available (too busy with 2000 AD assignments) or wasn't interested (not offered enough money). Or even if the art editor thought somehow (misunderstanding, or just ignorance?) he had hired the Judge Dredd artist who had drawn the cover of Prog 61, specifically because he wanted a cover for the Judgment Day module to look like the cover of Prog 61. We just don't know what the particular circumstances around that cover were, because sometimes "art direction" can be very much like "I was only following orders", and that's just exactly what the art editor ordered.
In essence, we can't really know whether Ewins was hired for the GW job and given an entirely free hand in choosing how to compose the cover for that module. In that respect, using an independently-contracted example of a swipe which falls outside the aegis of a normal 2000 AD publication, seems like not the best proof of guilt in and of itself. Its only value is if it can be persuasive as a particular egregious instance among many many others. I don't say those hypothetical "many" don't exist, but narrowing it down to just one (and one in which the genesis of the cover concept might be said to be outside the normal operations of 2000 AD editorial, and thus especially dubious) is far less persuasive than if the choice of layout and subject for the cover could be narrowed down to no other realistic possibility than the executor of the actual drawing. Sometimes, the actual job of work is to execute a swipe. That really does happen.
In essence, we can't really know whether Ewins was hired for the GW job and given an entirely free hand in choosing how to compose the cover for that module. In that respect, using an independently-contracted example of a swipe which falls outside the aegis of a normal 2000 AD publication, seems like not the best proof of guilt in and of itself. Its only value is if it can be persuasive as a particular egregious instance among many many others. I don't say those hypothetical "many" don't exist, but narrowing it down to just one (and one in which the genesis of the cover concept might be said to be outside the normal operations of 2000 AD editorial, and thus especially dubious) is far less persuasive than if the choice of layout and subject for the cover could be narrowed down to no other realistic possibility than the executor of the actual drawing. Sometimes, the actual job of work is to execute a swipe. That really does happen, and is not known to be uncommon in merchandising art.
: Tony Angelino 17 April, 2017, 09:38:37 PM
I wasn't aware of that at all. Strangely Prog 61 is my favourite cover and I do have that RPG book but I don't remember ever looking at them and going "wait a minute".
I also wasn't aware of any alleged copying of Bolland and Gibbons work. Shows how observant I've been. Anyone have any examples of these?
To be fair to Brett Ewins he still did have a style distinctive from the others (in my eyes anyway). I have a vague memory of Alan Davis not being best pleased with some of Bryan Hitch's early work.
Well, this is another example where you don't know. —SNIP—
Well, that really was an awful lot of words deployed in service of disagreeing with a point I didn't make.
I read it as "you don't know" in the vernacular (i.e. "one doesn't know") rather than it being a personal reference. Or have I misunderstood?
I always find the "Brett the copyist" discussion fascinating, because that was his style. When I started reading 2000AD regularly, Ewins was the main man. His Rogue Trooper, his Dredd, his Anderson, his Dark Judges. I neither knew nor cared that some of his figures were heavily referenced or even exact copies of other artists' panels: it all looked like Ewins to me, and it all looked good. And I still feel that way: his chunky-tech heavy-black pages are bold and lively, and everything fits together, the borrowed bits and the new bits, all making for a good looking well-told strip. Even the re-using of blown up pixelated photocopies of his own work on Bad Company works within his scheme, actually becoming something interesting in its own right rather than a 'cheat'. A style born of necessity, but one that really works.
Incidentally, that Judgement Day cover not only graces one of the best RPG modules I ever played, it's also a superb image, regardless of the Dredd being traced from McMahon: it's inked and coloured n such a way as to form the heart of a great new cover . And it's also perhaps worth noting that all the interior illustrations, and all the interior art in the main boxed set, are reprinted panels from the comic: at least here we got something partly new. Stick an 'after McMahon' box in the corner and we're good.
I can of course see how that is/was irritating for the artists concerned, and what the wider issues are, but I can't feel that way myself. When i look at the work I just see good comics.
The rest of the post was a discussion of things I didn't say. All I said was that Ewins had form for swiping, and that I'd read that Mick was particularly narked about that specific cover -- ISTR he didn't name Brett but said that an unnamed artist had got paid more for tracing a Dredd cover of his for Games Workshop than he'd been paid for doing it in the first place. Didn't require a huge amount of detective work from there.
FWIW, I owned Judgement Day, too, and I never clocked the swipe until it was mentioned. When you put the two side-by-side, however, it is pretty blatant.
Yes, perhaps I should have said "nobody knows", but that's it. There's a basic inequality in trying to judge the motives behind the creation of a piece of Dredd merchandising art against what was normally being published in 2000 AD.
: ming 18 April, 2017, 09:55:23 AM
And then there's this... I'd love to know how this one came about; swipe or no swipe it still remains one of my favourite Future Shocks.
This just came up in discussion on the FB art group... The classic Gary Rice / Brett Ewins Future Shock from Prog 206, 'The Last Man' bears a striking resemblance to a story published in Heavy Metal the very same month (April 1981). As detailed in the blog linked to below, "'Good-bye, Soldier !', written by Ricardo Barreiro, with distinctive black and white art by Juan Giminez".
Anyone know whether this was printed in French earlier in Metal Hurlant?
(http://i.imgur.com/HNV18rf.jpg)
You can see the whole story via the link below; too similar to be a coincidence, although Brett's visuals for the ending are unbeatable...
http://theporporbooksblog.blogspot.no/2011/04/heavy-metal-magazine-april-1981-heavy.html
Again, I didn't say anything about motive, only that Ewins had previous form for swiping and that McMahon had expressed displeasure at the close similarities between his Dredd art and a piece of GW cover art by another artist. The only motive I'd speculate on in that scenario is, given his tireless experimentation and reinvention of his style, that Mick probably felt he'd have done a better job on a homage to his Prog 61 cover than another artist doing a fairly straight lift.
: Eric Plumrose 18 April, 2017, 10:53:41 AM
To clarify lest anyone misinterprifies, Brett said he swiped once-only from Mick not that he hadn't done so from other artists. From 2000 AD: THE CREATOR INTERVIEWS:
: Brett Ewins
There was one image that I did, as I was racing against time, where I used a Mike McMahon image -- I only did that once . . . But there are times I've had to lift an artist because otherwise there's not going to be anything on that page. So there's a couple of times I've had to trace stuff off, but literally there's only one time I've had to do that with Mick's work.
Interesting. Thanks for that.
No, you didn't mention motives. What I'm saying is that you/we/anyone shouldn't just assume that Ewins received NO specific directions from Games Workshop prior to the execution of the final Judgement Day cover assignment illustration.
Possibilities include verbal instruction, visual references, etc. -- down to the point of Ewins potentially having executed the illustration based on a cover layout designed by someone else that was supplied to him, or even the possibility that he was specifically given or sent a copy of McMahon's cover for Prog 61, and directed to include that image of McMahon's Dredd on his Lawmaster.
A merchandising art assignment isn't directly comparable (if Ewins is being tried for the accusation of swiping) against a normal page of artwork Ewins might have drawn for a story published in 2000 AD, where I think we can fairly assume that the 2000 AD art director isn't micro-managing the details of composition on every story page. 2000 AD covers may be treated differently than interior pages in terms of how much they are art-directed.
Maybe I should just have lifted the URL of the actual image in your post, as opposed to simply quoting the entire thing. My comments weren't directed at you personally for what you said, I'm just raising the point because it seems like something people fail to consider when debating the guilt of "swiping".
: Eric Plumrose 18 April, 2017, 12:28:48 PM
I always find the "Brett the copyist" discussion fascinating, because that was his styleit all looked like Ewins to me, and it all looked good.
Yup. Unlike one art droid who still can't settle on whom he wants to be and once O'Rourked 1981-vintage-Mick's entire style, I don't think at any point I've ever looked at Brett's artwork and been unconvinced by him stylistically. It's also kinda fun picking out his swipes (there's at least two I can think of in 'The Case of the Urban Gorillas' from the 1981 2000 AD Annual).
Stick an 'after McMahon' box in the corner and we're good.
As Cliff did here:
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTCjkkg5HZVVC3l8ecL0dbAM_CE_tRbmXzDRwU-mpH4dg1pwd_2)
: JudgeJudi 22 April, 2017, 07:10:16 PM
On re-reading - I've just realised that the Dredd Strip 'Night of the Bloodbeast' (Prog. 138) features cameos from Digby (Dan Dare), The Spirit, E-Man and at least three other characters who are clearly meant to be someone but I don't know who...
E-Man? Now there's an unlikely cameo homage. I was reading another 2000 AD story the other day and almost thought I saw an homage to John Byrne's robot character ROG-2000 from Charlton Comics, but after looking more closely, I decided it was probably a simple coincidence of similar design. Obviously that wasn't the case in Prog 138, since several different characters appeared in cameo homages.
I also just finished reading Judge Dredd: The Cape & Cowl Crimes, a collection of stories satirizing various popular superhero characters from other publishers.
I wonder who the man at back left is intended to be and the woman?
http://imgur.com/a/oEOIr
(Cannot work out how to embed?)
(http://i.imgur.com/d71FOv0.png)
Unless the spear is significant in some way, I'd be inclined to say the man looks like he's wearing glasses (or has bags under his eyes), and possibly has a mustache. This seems more likely to be an editor, writer, or artist for 2000 AD, but I have no idea who it might be. Anyone want to take a guess?
As for the woman, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what she's wearing on her head. Seems like she must be a comics character, but nary as clue as to which one.
How to embed:
1. apparently links to imgur site are not allowed
2. workaround for #1: right-click on image on imgur page, choose Open in New Tab
3. copy URL from address bar in tab (your image by itself) you just opened in #2
4. in your reply, paste image URL (should end in .jpg, .gif, or .png) where you want it to appear in post, then highlight
5. click on [img] icon = box on far left, 2nd row, right above row of smileys
6. click on Preview before actually posting it, to make sure you got it right
7. should work, but feel free to ask if it doesn't
8. I already did it for you in quoting your post above, but test it yourself just to make sure you know how to do it.
@judgejudi -
One more to add:
9. right-click on any image you find on web, choose "Copy image address" to copy URL, then as above from #4.
: Spikes 23 April, 2017, 02:46:17 PM
Durham Red? ;)
I'd have said the guy at the back left was John Belushi. The girl, I dunno, she has an early Alex Raymond vibe... Dale Arden, Jane?
I can rule out Dale Arden for you. Jane (from the British comic strip, right?) wasn't a costumed character, AFAIK. I really can't make out that unique headgear she's sporting in that drawing. The shoulder-length gloves should offer some clue though, I would think.
Looks a bit like John Wagner...
She's wearing a pillbox hat with a veil (the picture is a lot clearer in the original prog), so I'm guessing she's a femme fatale from The Spirit.
Hmm. Doesn't look like any of the familiar Spirit femmes fatale to me.
Now that I'm staring at the man, I wonder if that spear is his...? If that's the case, then he's almost certainly holding that spear, which would seem to bust my theory that the drawing was of some artist, writer or editor for 2000 AD. But then this wild idea just shot into my head, a vague recollection of some Euro comic character strip called (appropriately enough) ... "THE MAN", which was a long-running thing about a caveman or neanderthal's typical daily adventures. Ring any bells with anyone? It's kind of hard to use in a search engine...
: The Legendary Shark 23 April, 2017, 03:30:25 PM
This? (http://comixjoint.com/man-2nd.html)
Not Bode's. This was another Man, less cartoonish (not Alley Oop, either). I can't recall the actual country of origin, possibly Spain, or somewhere in South America... never mind the artist's name.
The only caveman character I can think of is Tor which was a Joe Kubert creation. I don't think that's him though and I'm inclined to agree its likely a 2000AD celebrity. The way he is just looking forward at the reader. I've never seen Garry Leach so I'm just wondering if its him?
I think the female is likely a Spirit character as her arm is locked with his.
No idea about the spear though.
Something else I missed first time around - all the on-going talk about Dredd's age - Bizmo Klux (the Radbeast from Night of the Radbeast) is a springly 134 when they throw him in the pit... (born July 12th 1971).
Yes, I remember thinking when I first read it that the Biz was a little bit older than me (or will be, in 2104).
I just read a story in the 2000 AD's Greatest: Celebrating 40 Years collection where Kevin O'Neill appears as a character (who turns out to be the perp in this Dredd story). Can't remember the title or the Prog, but in the story O'Neill tries to sell Dredd a Dream Machine (which is like some kind of holographic TV that projects virtual fantasies). His name is mentioned several times in the story, so it isn't like one of those cameo background characters named after one of the 2000 AD staff or creator-droids.
In the plot of the story O'Neill is a really a disgruntled ex-employee of the company selling the dream machines, and O'Neill is going around as a (unauthorized) door-to-door salesman so that he can sneak into the conapts of the company's higher-ups and off them. It's one of the early Progs, because Dredd's in his apartment, and his housekeeper Maria and Walter the Wobot are there. The art wasn't by O'Neill but drawn by Carlos Ezquerra. I don't know if Ezquerra drew O'Neill as an actual caricature of his likeness.
I've never seen Garry Leach so I'm just wondering if its him?
That was my initial thought too, especially after finding a photo (http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/0/9241/691694-03_x_force_05.jpg) of him (making presumptions about what he might look like younger). However, it would not explain the spear.
A visual theatrical pun on being a background extra?
: norton canes 24 April, 2017, 09:32:07 AM
It's 'Krong' from prog 5, isn't it?
(https://mydreddfulyear.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/prog-05.jpg)
Yes, that's the one. Funny that I forgot the reveal at the end about citizen O'Neill originally being the creator of SFX robot monsters (Dino DeLaurentis' KING KONG remake was in theaters at about the time that prog was published), and the reason he wanted revenge on the dream machine company execs was that feelgood holotech fantasies ruined the market for monster movies!
I don't know if anyone can say whether or not Ezquerra actually caricatured the 2000 AD artist's likeness there. I've never seen any pictures of Kevin O'Neill from the late 1970s, so I don't know what he looked like then.
Oh, and I think prog 5 is Carlos' actual first published Dredd too, isn't it? The very first Dredd story he drew wasn't published until later, right?
According to Dave Gibbons on the Face Book recently, Kevin O'Neill played the part of 'the Office Junior' (presumably, Billy Preston) in the Big E photostories in Tornado, but I seem to recall either O'Neill or Ezquerra saying that they'd never actually met at the time Krong was being drawn so the O'Neill character looked nothing like O'Neill the Art Bodger.
That was my first thought too.
There seems to be someone behind the Spirit's lady friend (you can see something between her and Dredd), so perhaps that person is the spear-bearer?
Other characters at the party include -
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o320/Lobo_Baggins/Party01_zps4fprxhqy.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/Lobo_Baggins/media/Party01_zps4fprxhqy.jpg.html)
Biffo the Bear from the Beano, possible Peter Pan with vuvuzela, Howard the Duck, Starzan from Wally Wood's Sally Forth and Popeye.
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o320/Lobo_Baggins/Party%2002_zpsfvzckwsn.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/Lobo_Baggins/media/Party%2002_zpsfvzckwsn.jpg.html)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o320/Lobo_Baggins/Party%2003_zps8krwc9oz.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/Lobo_Baggins/media/Party%2003_zps8krwc9oz.jpg.html)
Little Bo Peep (plus sheep).
And a better scan of the final scene (although it still doesn't help)...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o320/Lobo_Baggins/Party%2004_zps7jl38kdh.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/Lobo_Baggins/media/Party%2004_zps7jl38kdh.jpg.html)
Wow, that's awfully specific. I would just have guessed Tarzan. Was that quoted from somewhere?
Prog. 437's "something abnormal about norman" features Judges Amos and Andy (who seem to either be twins or clones).
How did I miss first time around reading Judgement Day:
Judge Bruce is Lenny Bruce...
That Sabbat is a parody of the Dennis the Menace character Soppy Walter and even worse I missed that Dennis turns up himself!
Sabbath is the most piss-poor excuse for a major Dredd villain ever conceived, and Judgement Day was the worst 'epic' until Helter Skelter… and I include Inferno in that assessment.* I quite liked some of Ennis' shorter Dredds, but his extended storylines bear no kind of scrutiny at all.
*All right, maybe the Egyptian thing deserves the real turkey award, but still…!
: positronic 01 May, 2017, 06:53:36 AM
But an Aussie version of Lenny Bruce? I can see where I'd miss that; I'd just assumed it was perhaps a common surname in Australia. At any rate, he doesn't get much on-panel time in Judgment Day, but perhaps you're thinking of OZ.
It's easy to see where I'd not recognize the Sabbat thing, since the only Dennis the Menace I'm familiar with is the American comic panel (later a long-running comic book) created by Hank Ketcham, and the other Dennis appeared in The Beano, which I've never read.
Judgement Day was the worst 'epic' until Helter Skelter… and I include Inferno in that assessment.* I quite liked some of Ennis' shorter Dredds, but his extended storylines bear no kind of scrutiny at all.
Would the shorter ones you're referring to be included in the Dredd Garth Ennis Collection TP? I have that, but was putting off reading it after reading Judgment Day, which seemed more of a by-the-numbers sort of account of epic-scale mass destruction like you'd find in a typical Marvel crossover story -- but it definitely doesn't help that the villain can't really be taken seriously. Dredd's character is more or less reduced to assuming command of the crisis and barking orders like a drill sergeant.
: sheridan 01 May, 2017, 09:04:12 AM
Interesting fact about the two Dennises - they were both published for the first time, completely independently, on the exact same day: 12 March 1951.
: JudgeJudi 01 May, 2017, 09:15:17 AM
At any rate, he doesn't get much on-panel time in Judgment Day, but perhaps you're thinking of OZ.
If I was thinking of OZ, I'd mention OZ.
Well, I meant specifically relative to Judge Bruce being an homage to Lenny Bruce. I read Judgment Day, but given Judge Bruce's not-large speaking role in that, even after you point it out, I'm still having a hard time recognizing the homage to Lenny Bruce.
I thought you meant that the homage/parody (other than just the name) was evident in terms of character dialogue, since the Judge uniform would obscure any physical resemblance of Judge Bruce to Lenny Bruce, especially in Judgment Day where he's mostly seen towards the end of the story in that Samurai Ground Attack Armor, so I assumed the homage was more recognizable through characterization in his earlier appearances. Or maybe there was just some bit of Judge Bruce's dialogue in that which escaped me.
: Tony Angelino 01 May, 2017, 12:36:48 PM
I don't think the 'homage' goes past the name. I couldn't tell there being any other similarity between Judge Bruce and Lenny Bruce.
The name Bruce is associated to Australia, which is probably how the original writers gave the character that name, but even then its more as a forename.
: positronic 01 May, 2017, 02:05:47 PM
Okay, I've just paged through Judgment Day now, and I see the reference JudgeJudi is referring to -- it's on page 99 of the print collection, where Judge Charlie Joyce calls Judge Bruce "Lenny". I wasn't getting what she was saying at first, because if it was just the name, then didn't Judge Bruce already exist before Judgment Day? -- But I gather then that Judgment Day is where Judge Bruce -- who was not originally created to be an homage/parody to American comedian Lenny Bruce -- became an homage to Lenny Bruce, when Garth Ennis supplied Judge Bruce with a first name, which he'd never had before that. Pardon my confusion, JudgeJudi.
: Eric Plumrose 01 May, 2017, 04:40:04 PM
Haven't read 'Judgement Day' and it's been an age since I flicked through 'Oz' but doesn't giving Judge Bruce a 'first' name kind of miss the point? In that 'Bruce' is his first name? What with the Oz Judges being far more laid-back, they're all referred to by their givens!
Or is that something that should have gone over my head?
: Robin Low 01 May, 2017, 05:15:21 PM
This may be a case of something going over Garth Ennis' head...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyVX3uJpqxc
...or more likely he just didn't care.
It seems there should be some consistency, but what are the other Oz Judges' names?
Let's not forget that this has been a point of confusion ever since Judge Rico (who technically, should also have been Judge Dredd).
It's likely something much more obvious when reading Oz or Chopper than Judgment Day, where Bruce is out of his element. (Hard to be laid-back about voting to nuke those other five Mega-Cities, too...)
But yes, Monty Python. Garth Ennis really should have known that, unless he's much younger than I think he is... but maybe we can use the excuse that Lenny is his last name. Judge Bruce Lenny. "Lenny" is a single word in a dialogue balloon uttered by Judge Joyce of Murphytown. (Personally I'd have voted for his first and last name being the same -- Judge Bruce Bruce.)
I've always presumed that Judge names work the same way as South American footballers: some use surnames, some use nicknames, and a few use first names.
We've also seen this issue explored: when Rico II shows up in MC2 he too is a Cadet Dredd, but elects to take 'Rico' to avoid confusion (and give his clone-uncle another shake). Presumably a similar decision was made before: two identical Judge Dredds is asking for trouble.
: The Legendary Shark 02 May, 2017, 06:25:15 AM
There must be more than one Judge Smith or Judge Jones - I always wondered how Justice Department dealt with that. Maybe they get a number as well, like the Welsh soldiers in Zulu (eg., 347 Jones), or maybe they use first or nicknames as already suggested. My favourite idea is that their badges contain some kind of bluetooth identifying transmitter thingummies.
: Woolly 02 May, 2017, 08:37:04 AM
My favourite idea is that their badges contain some kind of bluetooth identifying transmitter thingummies.
Don't the badges also contain a small explosive charge, or did I dream that?
: Steve Green 02 May, 2017, 08:52:51 AM
Belt buckle does.
: Hawkmumbler 02 May, 2017, 09:02:43 AM
First names possibly? Frank can't be the only Judge to have his forename on his badge.
Maybe first name then initials, SMITH, JF.
: Theblazeuk 02 May, 2017, 10:47:15 AM
I think you'll find Judge Frank's first name is Dirty.
It never occurred to me that Bruce was his first name. The only other named Oz judge i remember was Chief Judge Bob, though, so it kind of makes sense - or did, at least, till the Lenny bit was added.
What also went over my head, of course, was that Bob was inspired by Bob Hawke.
Am I missing something or is there a bit of overthinking going on here?
Oz. Judge Bruce is a throwaway joke by the writers based on national stereotypes and it being funny to have a forename for a surname.
Judgement Day. "Alright, Lenny?" is a throwaway joke by the character based on the writer's youthful belief in the superiority of his own tastes in popular culture, in this case heavily influenced by Bill Hicks. It's not saying that's the judge's actual name.
It's the same as me being introduced to someone called Mr Marx and saying "Alright, Harpo?"
: sheridan 02 May, 2017, 02:51:48 PM
My thought was that the Judgement Day line was a throwaway line, as you say (though I've not read the panels in question in some time).
From the strip that brought you: Barbara Hershey; Stan Lee; Judges Fuego, Coppit, Fodder, "Cal", and Solomon, to name but a few? Shirley not!
Cosh is correct...
I once knew someone who had the nickname Tooky because his first name was Barry.
While I would contend that 'Bruce' is a not unusual surname and that any humour derived from it being used as such is in itself an example of overthinking . . . fair dinkum!
An excellent point, although it does makes you wonder why they both wouldn't identified by their first names, since they were cloned and entered the academy at the same time. While they're both clones of Fargo, yet not named Fargo, wouldn't it have been easier to just give them both different surnames?
Still, when you think about it, there must be a lot of Judges who have the same last names (not necessarily related to each other), in a city as large as the Big Meg?
: JOE SOAP 03 May, 2017, 02:58:50 AM
He was, originally.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Rico2.jpg)
Yet there are also flashback sequences that show him with a badge that reads RICO, so someone chose to retcon that appearance in subsequent flashbacks. The original panel makes more sense, so why they didn't leave it that way... is probably what TordelBack says, that it would be too confusing having 2 Judge Dredds who look identical (until Rico's incarceration on Titan).
Hindsight is 20/20, but they could have avoided those problems by just giving both of Judge Fargo's clones different last names.
The single panel is on page 99 of the trade paperback. After a brief snippet of conversation between Judge Bruce and Judge Joyce, as they're parting, Judge Bruce looks at Judge Joyce and says "Charlie.", and Judge Joyce looks back at Judge Bruce and says "Lenny." That's the whole thing.
Judgement Day. "Alright, Lenny?" is a throwaway joke by the character based on the writer's youthful belief in the superiority of his own tastes in popular culture, in this case heavily influenced by Bill Hicks.
Young Garth Ennis? Forcing his pop culture tastes down the reader's throat? Surely not...
I remember it being something more like 'Heh! Nice one, Charlie.' 'Alright, Lenny. I'm just off to the jacks.'
Judge Baker was the first victim of the Solar Sniper in 2099.
A different Judge Baker was also a judge reported to the Council of Judges by Judge-Tutor Schwartz for corrupting cadets about twenty years later...
: JudgeJudi 03 May, 2017, 08:06:43 PM
So I wonder if there are multiple Judge Cody's* clones out there also with naming confusing (I seem to remember an annual claiming about a third of the judges were clones)?
* I think it was Cody....
: JOE SOAP 03 May, 2017, 09:49:22 PM
Of course, but no one thought there'd be lots of debatin' a 'one-off' comic character's name 4 weeks, let alone 40 years, after he met his contemporaneous end.
I read that it was written as a quick fill-in story (Progs 29-30 being all Mills wrote of Dredd until the longer Cursed Earth saga from Progs 61-70, 81-85), so obviously no thought was given to the lasting ramifications, never mind that it would become a cornerstone of the Dredd mythos. This being the very first hint we get of Dredd's origins, though, maybe it ought to have been more foreseeable.
I've wondered if Pat Mills might have gotten the idea from Rich Man, Poor Man, which would have still been fresh in people's minds at that time.
I must admit you have to adjust that perception a little when you consider that as of Prog 30, Dredd might still be being viewed as of less significance to 2000 AD than say, M.A.C.H. 1 or Dan Dare.
Comics rarely lasted more than 5 years so it was all rather fluid – Dredd almost had an ex-girlfriend (https://books.google.ie/books?id=ReEQDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT79&lpg=PT79&dq=dredd%27s+girlfriend+blood+of+satanus&source=bl&ots=0z_CcI1vfr&sig=1UdD8UAHqYyhb4CZgk80_Qm1enY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEnJCL9tTTAhVKCsAKHagdDlIQ6AEINjAD#v=onepage&q=dredd's%20girlfriend%20blood%20of%20satanus&f=false).
Someone might have pointed this out before but I was reading the Wally Squad story from 1984 (Wagner/Grant/Ewins) in the Mega Collection recently and noticed that the two undercover Judges surnames are Pino and Shea.
I don't know whether this is some play on Pinochet, the former ruler of Chile, or just a coincidence.
Well, nominally 2000 AD was a part of the boys' comic group of IPC, and past standards held that boys outgrew the comic-reading habit after a few years. That was the common wisdom, but they were proven wrong by people like us, and by the types of editors and creators working for comics like 2000 AD, or a symbiosis of those two things.
That said, a lot of the older strips are based on action-adventure fantasy premises that don't really bear close scrutiny in terms of realism. There's a kind of tension between the older-style treatment of Dredd as almost inhuman or superhuman, to the more modern approach of wanting to deal in a thoughtful way with real-world concerns for a older audience, and have an interesting depth of characterization. As it happens, I just read the trade collection Mutants in Mega-City One, and you couldn't ask for a better study in contrasts between the older and newer Dredd stories in it, and how they treat not only the mutant characters, but the sea-change in attitudes in Dredd in the intervening years.
Of course, what's not alluded to at all in the trade paperback is what came in-between the mostly-older reprints in the first half of the book (and aside from just a couple of stories in the first half, they aren't mostly what you would call "gems"). The second half, representing the book's title story, mostly tells one long tale (in the aftermath of Origins), where Dredd has discovered his mutant "cousins", descendants of Eustace Fargo's twin brother, now low-level mutants living in the Cursed Earth. It's a very good, and very powerful story, another feather in John Wagner's cap, as are the follow-on stories which carry on the main thread (how I wish the entire book had been stories from this particular run!)
And yet the story raised so many questions in my mind about what would happen if Dredd would apply the same philosophical/ethical/moral questioning to many of the laws he's enforcing on a daily basis (and a certain percentage of other judges could be expected to follow suit) regarding The Law vs. true Justice, that I realized that sort of realism carried to its logical conclusion would ultimately completely undermine the basic fantasy premise that the Judge System is based on.
It also raised a whole host of questions about Dredd himself -- where is his conscience/ethics/morality coming from, if he's entirely a product of institutional conditioning from birth to adulthood? Did they teach him to question the law and higher authority at the academy?? Dredd (and Rico) had no parents, no leisure time, no hobbies or interests, almost zero freedom of choice compared to any normal person, NO social or emotional ties to anyone outside of the justice system, and they'd both been raised entirely as a tools of the state, with the sole purpose to preserve that state, as part of an experiment.
Knowing how differently Joe and Rico turned out, even though they were both genetically identical, and also both subject to the exact same influences of indoctrination from birth, turns the whole "nature or nurture" conundrum of psychiatry and sociology on its head. It makes me think there's got to be a huge past continuity story waiting to be told somewhere explaining just how it is that the two turned out so differently -- when you stop to consider that they originally fit the old expression "like two peas in a pod" more closely than any two individuals (even identical twins) EVER have in the real world.
: Greg M. 08 May, 2017, 08:36:28 PM
It makes me think there's got to be a huge past continuity story waiting to be told somewhere explaining just how it is that the two turned out so differently
It's called 'Blood Cadets'. It's extremely good. You'll get it in the 'Brothers of the Blood' TPB.
: Dark Jimbo 08 May, 2017, 08:45:31 PM
It makes me think there's got to be a huge past continuity story waiting to be told somewhere explaining just how it is that the two turned out so differently -- when you stop to consider that they originally fit the old expression "like two peas in a pod" more closely than any two individuals (even identical twins) EVER have in the real world.
One word - bloodline. As soon as the concept of the bloodline flaw was introduced it's as much explanation as you ever really need for Fargo/Rico/Kraken/Nimrod.
Thank you Greg and Jimbo. As it happens, Brothers of the Blood was one of a handful of outstanding story arcs that Doug Wolk (of the Dredd Reckoning blog/review) picked as one of his worthy-of-recommendation titles, so it was already on my list.
Anyone want to weigh in with bouquets or brickbats for the Tour of Duty and Day of Chaos storylines, which are also tentatively on my list?
Both great - make sure to read them in order, is all. DoC riffs a lot on much of what happened in ToD. Also a very good idea to be up to speed with PJ Maybe's shenanigans before then, as he plays a pivotal role in both epics, one way or another.
Seconded - defo read the complete PJ Maybe before ToD and DoC
So far the reading list of post-Necropolis Dredd TP collections I've got is this:
[X] - The Garth Ennis Collection (Not bad, enjoyed the Emerald Isle/Judge Joyce stories.)
[X] - Judgment Day (Purchased long ago; wanted it for the Strontium Dog crossover. Didn't know any better!)
[ ] - The Pit
[ ] - The Carlos Ezquerra Collection
[X] - Origins (Absolutely amazing! They should all be this good.)
[X] - Mutants in Mega-City One (1st half, fair/poor; 2nd half, excellent!)
[ ] - Brothers of the Blood
[ ] - The Complete PJ Maybe > https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN279 (https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN279)
[ ] - Tour of Duty (2 vols.)
[ ] - Day of Chaos (3 vols.)
I've also heard Trifecta is good, but I figure the list is long enough for now. Then again, I could probably add anything that was predominantly Wagner and/or Ezquerra stories without too much persuasion!
I'd maybe prioritise Trifecta over the DoC:Fallout volume, which is by no means essential and mainly a case of Carroll and Williams setting things up for ongoing storylines that aren't actually resolved in that book. That said, I suspect you ought to be au fait with both The Simping Detective and Low Life before tackling Trifecta*, so that's just adding even more to your reading list...!
Titan is maybe the best call for a post-DoC volume, but once again you really will need some familiarity with Low Life for that one...
*Also, given the scripters' very strong 'voices', SD and LL are just that bit more subjective than your average Dredd script - you may love 'em, they may fail completely to be your cup of tea.
Okay... according to Dredd Reckoning, Trifecta includes:
(Judge Dredd stories from 2000 AD Progs 1803 and 1806-1812, The Simping Detective stories from 2000 AD Progs 1804-1811, and Low Life stories from 2000 AD Progs 1805-1811)
... should I need more than that to understand what's going on in Titan? I don't need to read all three Mega-City Undercover volumes first, do I?
Also, I've read a couple of chapters of Insurrection, and found the basic premise of that spinoff (space mining colonists decide to secede from Mega-City One) to be pretty interesting. I know the story's been collected in a couple of volumes, which I'm presuming require no real background reading... Any thoughts?
The other spinoff series (besides Judge Anderson) that I like is Hondo City. I read Hondo City Law (because it was easy to get) before realizing that there had been another volume of earlier stories (Shimura) released some years ago (and now out-of-print). Trying to find a copy of that one now, while I await the copy of Hondo City Justice that I ordered last week.
You don't need any background reading for Insurrection, though Insurrection itself is background reading for another, more recent series. But I'm not going to tell you what that series is as it's a surprise appearance ;-)
I must confess I'm puzzled by this - another megazine strip?
Insurrection is a series by Dan Abnett published in Judge Dredd Megazine starting in January 2009. Abnett explains that "the actual brief was to bring to the Dredd Universe something of the epic war-in-space scale of the stuff I write for Warhammer 40K. Tharg (Matt to his friends) wanted a stonking big space war story that would suit the universe of the Mega-Cities".
The series was drawn by artist Colin MacNeil, who has also worked on a number of Warhammer 40K stories, and one reviewer notes the similarities suggesting "MacNeil is reprising exactly the same art style that he used on the "Bloodquest" strip in the Warhammer Monthly comic."
The reception has been positive with reviews of the first episode suggesting "With cracking art and a storming first episode I have to say 'Insurrection' has the potential to be the best Dredd off world spin-off ever" and "This was as good a first episode as I can remember reading and I can see Insurrection having the legs to deliver on that initial promise." Reviews only got better after that, including: "Quite simply, this is the best non-Dredd story ever to run in the Megazine" and "glorious"
I forget now where I read the first couple of chapters of this story... might have been a past FCBD issue, or one of those 2000 AD Specials, but my reaction was much the same. Pretty impressive. Didn't hurt that I was already a fan of both Dan Abnett and Colin MacNeil, either, I guess.
Insurrection (Books I & II):
Mega-City One mining colony K-Alpha 61 has declared independence from the 'Big Meg' and renamed itself Liberty. This act of defiance has angered the Justice Department's Special Judicial Squad and in a bid to stop further colonies from rebelling, war is inevitable...
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/XB423 (https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/XB423)
Insurrection: Liberty (Book III):
MEGA-CITY COLONIAL SPACE, 2135 AD. Mining colony K Alpha 61 renamed itself Liberty after cutting loose from the Big Meg. Furious at this dissent, and in a bid to stop the revolt spreading to other colonies, the SJS launched a blistering attack on Colonial Marshal Karel Luther's forces. Now, the alien Zhind have stepped up their attacks on the colony worlds causing an uneasy alliance to form between the SJS and the insurrectionists...
Yep! Lawless
: Smith 24 May, 2017, 01:46:42 PM
Not exactly 2kAD related,but I guess this is as good as thread as any.Rodney has a Dan Dare shirt in a few episodes.Took me years to notice that.:)
(http://itsgoneviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Dan-Dare.jpg)
Billiam Zinkywink in an old Anderson strip - I wasn't too well versed in American comics at the time (I'm still not that much, but more so than then) - but clearly a play on Bill Sienkievicz.
: WhizzBang 24 May, 2017, 09:54:32 PM
Michael Palin also wore the same t-shirt design in Around The World In 80 Days.
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/14/article-2580094-1C4C8A9C00000578-431_306x457.jpg)
Sure it's related. Dan Dare appeared in 2000AD, even if the t-shirt pictures the Frank Hampson-illustrated original version of Dan Dare from EAGLE, and even if ownership of the Dan Dare character has gone its own way since the days when IPC had the publishing rights to the character.
You've got the people who only like the original Frank Hampson version of Dan Dare in the same way as you've got the people who only like the original Alex Raymond version of Flash Gordon. Then you've got the people who like both the Raymond Flash Gordon and the later version by Dan Barry, and the people who like both the Hampson Dan Dare and the later version from 2000AD, even though in both cases the two versions are substantially different. The original artists on both characters each worked on them for just about a decade. Even though they were both science fiction heroes, they're less alike as characters than they are in the parallels between their original incarnations and their later incarnations.
I was saying that Im not sure if this was the right thread,but nevermind...
First episode aired in September 1981,so it misses the Dans 2000AD run by a bit.IIRC Eagle relaunched around that time.
Same shirt shows up later in a series 2 episode,and maybe later again,but Im not sure.
My head hurts!
: terryworld 26 May, 2017, 02:54:13 AM
fuckin' hell... it's like being back at school and getting lectured everyday innit?
Aeroplanes.
I think Frank Hampson's Dan Dare for the original EAGLE was brilliant. I've barely read any of the IPC incarnation of the character, but what I've read about it doesn't encourage me.
Obviously in the early days of 2000AD the publisher felt that the history and name value of Dan Dare was important, but it isn't clear whether the readership of 2000AD felt the same way, and from what I've read about the 2000AD (and later EAGLE revival) of Dan Dare, there never seemed to be a clear creative team or direction for the series. I'm sure there must have been some readers whose first exposure to the character was the later Dan Dare, who felt differently.
I know the later 2000AD and EAGLE strips were collected in 2 trade volumes within the last decade or so, but where was the classic EAGLE Dan Dare most recently reprinted? I have a few of the earlier collections, which I believe were published by Titan Books (don't quote me on that, I'd have to go check).
I'd never thought about it, but I started reading Eagle and 2000AD at around the same time, so I was introduced to the name Dan Dare by the New Eagle version - the original's grandson, I believe, though the original did pop up via time travel. That's the Eagle original, not the post-cryosleep 2000AD original.
I was under the impression that when Eagle was revived in the 1980s, it was published by IPC. Is that not the case? Or did they just choose to ignore what 2000AD had done with the character?
Have the stories you're talking about had a reprint collection somewhere?
When 2000AD was launched by IPC in 1977 they tacked on the Dan Dare name to their more punky Bowie-esque space hero and got around it by saying he'd been in cryo for however-long-it-is. When new Eagle was launched four or five years later, also by IPC, they again tacked on the Dan Dare name to their space hero (more military, not so punky) and got around it by saying he was the grandson of the character the reader's parents would have read about when they were kids. Once it had been running a few years, for some reason, they brought the original Dan Dare (ignoring the space accident / cryo / face change / cosmic claw). I didn't say that neither was published by IPC.
No, my bad -- I just assumed that if both comics were published by IPC, the Dan Dare character would be the same version from 2000AD to the new Eagle comic, since they were only separated by four or five years (actually I didn't think it was even by that much).
Just to make sure I understand this correctly, how much of a gap of time was there between when DD stopped being published in 2000AD and when it began again in the new Eagle? Do you think IPC assumed two totally different audiences for the character in the two different comics?
Totally different editorial groups, no doubt, and perhaps the new Eagle editor felt they had to try to prove that their version was better than the earlier 2000AD version.
So what happened later? Was the Dan Dare copyright challenged and/or recaptured by the Hampson estate, or... ??
: Jacqusie 27 May, 2017, 02:26:35 PM
I know this has been mooted before, but at the time I never thought of it.
When Johnny Alpha got killed by the big flying thingy - why did no-one use the old time bomb or such device to sort the situation. I know it wasn't as simple as that, but time tricks have been used all over the early SD stories...
Still we have a reanimated Johnny now, which still feels rather ... odd
No-one had any equipment in the Lyran dimension - other than a skateboard and Johnny's last scraps - so it would probably have to have used the Doghouse time machine, which was destroyed. Based on later events, a carefully-set timebomb should get you there, but you have the problem of how to programme co-ordinates for a mystical dimension - and the paradoxical issues of taking a trip to prevent a death which caused your trip. Note that all Johnny's timejobs are by way of retributive justice or fixing a problem caused by time travel, never prevention of an event that has already occurred.
Plus the Moses Incident sets a precedent for not using t-weapins to undo a death.
There's a scene in one of the stories where Johnny talks about how expensive those Time Bombs are -- just ONE of them would be far more expensive than an average bounty he could collect, so he can really only afford them when the bounty he's after is a huge payday for him, and he's already got the scratch to invest in equipment. You get the impression he's only got them with him for special high-paying tricky jobs.
There's a scene in one of the stories where Johnny talks about how expensive those Time Bombs are
I suspect that's storywriting logic to avoid an easy get-out. (C.f. Dr Who sonic screwdriver vs. deadlock seal, Star Trek transporter malfunction)
Mork Whisperer - they come in at 300K creds a pop - earlier on Johnny chucked them around fairly freely but it made sense to make them expensive (Mork Whisperer), risky (Blood Moon), or illegal (Life and Death)
How they're used in Blood Moon doesn't really make much sense in the way they're traditionally used - Johnny manages to use it to travel interplanetary distances to a specific time, and back again.
The magic dimension thing could have been explained away - they have d-warp technology after all.
But it's too easy to just hand wave away death with no repercussions. In Life and Death, Feral paid a price and Johnny wasn't exactly undamaged by his revival.
Yeah, the whole Schicklegruber Grab is not based around stopping Hitler but to bring him to justice when it won't affect the timeline.
I don't think it's made explicitly clear how the time drogues work, he's brought people back temporarily but switched it off again after he's got the info.
Or a dead guy's fate doesn't change, it's just postponed.
We tweaked it for the fan film, a drogue is just a localised (and temporary) reversal - which eventually collapses.
Technically someone could time bomb back to Stonehenge and stop the whole thing, but then you end up with a Max Bubba/Ragnarok situation.
Or even go back to Moondog Mountain and stop Bubba, and have similar repercussions on the future.
A price must be paid.
Sure, but presumably all the effort that Sagan and the Lyrans went to with Malak Brood's bones and Stonehenge was to ensure a one-way trip. If you could just use a D-jump in and out, technology available to the Stronts, that was an awful lot of bother. And on the subject of Malak Brood, it was obvious that Johnny would have done anything to bring Moses back, and yet he had to resort to wizardry: just as Precious and Middenface did. So I'd judge changing the past to bring someone back from the dead is a no-no in SD universe.
Yeah, in Blood Moon he says 'time could fold in on itself'
Although Max Bubba did an awful lot more than just saving one person.
Doesn't really explain the nebulous nature of the time drogue in the strip though.
In the first case Johnny actively switches it off, the second the guy playing cards is shot a second time.
I guess the drogue is a temporary (and safer) solution, it just postpones things, doesn't change the future permanently?
Speaking of magic dimensions and "Get Out of Death FREE" passes, that's pretty much happened on Johnny's earlier Journey To Hell. I guess if you're trapped in a hellish other dimension where the plain-old nonexistence that follows real death might seem highly preferable, you might start being a lot more cautious with using both d-jump and t-jump technology afterwards, because you just never know where you might wind up. After escaping that place you might breath a sigh of relief and reflect that it was better than having died the real death that the panic-button d-warping avoided, but that's because you wound up escaping. While you were trapped there in that dimension at the time it sure mightn't have seemed like the better alternative, though.
I think there's some interesting stuff that hasn't been done with the time weaponry yet (at least as far as I know)
I was expecting Johnny to use it to transport a bomb in Dogs of War, a bomb within a bomb.
A more vicious stront could use a drogue to have someone straddled between life and death, rocking the device forwards and backwards.
Johnny's first use of it is 'talk or I'll make you die a thousand times' but he's not that vindictive.
Stix with a time drogue however...
That's pretty much what a Time Trap does - I suppose it would depend if the targets were aware they were trapped in a loop, though (it's never explicitly stated one way or the other, but Kreelman appears to recall being trapped in Outlaw.)
I was thinking more working like a vcr, where the operator could really pause someone in agony at the worse possible moment.
The time-trap is a bit of a weird one - originally it talked about them repeating until they starve to death but Kreelman was trapped for 2 years.
This is more complicated than I first thought. I'm just reading the Schicklegruber Grab and pondering at the 'time room' with interest. It asks more questions than there are answers about how the Strontuim Dogs use the whole time flux. Alpha keeps popping up in Dredd and vice versa, but which version of Alpha?
I still find it hard to read the current SD stories with the resurrected Johnny, part of me thinks it would be better off if we kept the flashback tales with Wulf (He's very much missed as a partner and the film brings this home).
Johnny's new life needs a bit more time and strong stories I'm hoping and dare I say this, a new Artist such as Chris Weston who has always said he would like a go, might bring something new to the franchise for a spell to give Carlos a run on Dredd.
A price must be paid indeed... :think:
I'm not sure it's that complicated?
Alpha's visits to MC-1 shift with Dredd, so in Top Dogs Wulf is alive, Judgement Day is later in both Dredd and Alpha's respective timelines (Wulf Dead), and By Private Contract it's later still with the post resurrection Alpha Gang.
I really enjoyed the untold tales - The Ragnarok Job and Rage were great and everything, but losing Wulf left a big viking shaped hole to fill.
Middenface worked well as a replacement in the Rammy, but yeah I really miss the big guy.
I wouldn't mind seeing him brought back for a story, in some temporary alt dimension version just to have him bickering with that shitlord Kid Knee Jr.
: CalHab 29 May, 2017, 01:00:12 PM
Listening to the Mega-City One Book Club podcast, I suddenly realised Kid Knee is a pun, not just a wild-west themed nickname based on his mutation. I don't know how I missed that.
Kidney? ;)
It was already spotted by others (http://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=38748.msg769866#msg769866) back in the day, but I killed myself laughing re-reading Megazine 337 when I realised that Mike Collins' rendition of MC-1's Alien Zoo was based on Dudley Zoo in the West Midlands.
(https://preview.ibb.co/i1HNca/Dudley_Zoo.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gag4qv)
It's very apt. To explain for those who've never lived in the Black Country, there's something undoubtedly incongruous about exotic animals living on a hill (with ski-lifts) in the middle of a run-down market town surrounded by smoke-encrusted factories & pound shops.
Is it really? Kidney? :think:
Well that certainly flew several feet over my bonce as I wished for that particular Stronty Dogs's testicles to meet a rather forceful object...
Doctor Fungus Bellamy. Nice.
I never got the pun, Kidney? What relevance has that got to his mutation. :|
: Mardroid 30 May, 2017, 09:58:53 PM
Kid Knee (He's a bloke who fancies himself a hardcase, (hence the Western, 'kid' Billy, etc) with his head in his knee.)
Kidney (Sounds the same.)
While the name Kid Knee didn't go over my head when I was a nipper the name Durham Red continues to do so.
For some reason I seem to remember a school friend and myself thinking it was a type of chicken. I don't think this is the case though.
There is a brick called a Durham Red and there is a breed of cow called a Durham and is sometimes known as a Durham Red.
Maybe this has come up before but anyone know where Wagner/Grant got her name from?
: Dark Jimbo 31 May, 2017, 12:06:54 AM
While the name Kid Knee didn't go over my head when I was a nipper the name Durham Red continues to do so...
It's a football thing. If Alan Grant had got his way, she'd have been called Chelsea Blue!
Just as a name, I think "Chelsea Blue" is actually better, if for no other reason than Chelsea is a female name, as well as a place.
That said, I can see a couple of reasons why "Durham Red" was a preferable choice for this character. Red as in "blood red" works better for a mutant vampire (and the name Chelsea Blue would also have affected the character's color scheme).
Also, blue is already associated with the Genetic Infantry, and we already had a Venus Bluegenes, so it seems like the Rogue Trooper franchise already has the color blue locked up. No need for two blue spinoff characters.
It's interesting that just a couple of years later, Nancy Collins' vampire character Sonja Blue first appeared in the novel Sunglasses After Dark.
Middenface McNulty went over my head. Obviously it's alliterative, but what's the joke?
I had to look up "midden"... (a dunghill or refuse heap).
John told me that Middenface was originally described as having all sorts of crap on his face, rather than his head - bits of broken glass etc.
There's even a mention of that in one line of the Kreeler Conspiracy.
Carlos decided otherwise, which is why we have the lumpit-headed character we know and love.
Not really a pun but his actual (mildly funny) name. McNulty is his real surname, and Middenface is just thesort of thing a dusgruntled scottish parent might christen a mutant baby.
: Greg M. 31 May, 2017, 09:47:19 AM
I presume they actually christened him Archibald, since that's his real name. Can't remember much about the Young Middenface series, so dunno if it tells us when he first acquired the nickname.
: Link Prime 31 May, 2017, 09:55:58 AM
Not from the pen of TB Grover, but in a (now apocryphal) flashback tale by Peter Hogan (& Mark Harrison), it was revealed that Red obtained the name Durham from her first husband.
Her name is therefore a misinterpretation; it should be 'Red Durham'.
D'oh! I did know it was Archibald, as well...!
I have a Scottish friend from Aberdeen that used to call me a Midden, I thought it was a term of endearment... the cheeky mare.
... if her cultural heritage is one that puts the family name second. (Much of south-east Asia puts the family name first.)
: Link Prime 31 May, 2017, 08:31:43 PM
Sure, but not in this case- I'm pretty certain it was explicitly stated that Durham is her (married) surname.
And her 'real' first name is Lucy. *
* According to Ho-Gan.
Lucy Durham: dosn't she present shows on Edwardian kitchenware?. Good job this is the work of a notorious fantasist.
: glassstanley 01 June, 2017, 08:10:02 PM
Death Aid Part One:
"Control, this is Dredd. You got a stiff in Julian Clary Alley."
On an equally dubious note, I've finally tracked down the Bisley graffiti that David Bushop mentions having to censor in the Future Shock documentary.He's mis-remembering the actual graffiti. It's '<scratched out> bandit' rather than 'Gaylord'. It's in Meg vol 2 #62 if you want to find the name of the celeb...
I remember a Judge Gaylord in another Ennis Dredd. The young Garth was, it seems, obsessed with gay.
: I, Cosh 02 June, 2017, 03:38:04 AM
It's a little hard to explain, but something like "ya wee midden" could be used affectionately or as an insult.
: Link Prime 02 June, 2017, 10:33:21 AM
Lucy Durham: dosn't she present shows on Edwardian kitchenware?
We could start a campaign to get Beeny's forename changed to Sarah.
: Lobo Baggins 02 June, 2017, 01:38:53 PM
She's also from somewhere near Milton Keynes (she moves there after her parents die when she's 10) rather than from Durham, too - and that's in Island of the Damned by Alan Grant.
I'm saying she's originally from Oxford. I don't think she'd 'ave a Durh'm accent wi'oot it toornin' up in 'er dialogue, pet...
: Jacqusie 03 June, 2017, 01:00:40 AM
Aha, that's was she used to call me "ya wee Midden" - I did probably talk a load of dung in those days though.
Middenface has lumps on his head and some artists flattered his face more than others I suppose, Simon Harrisons Middenface looked a bit dungy at times!
She has a Durham accent in the SD film, i was pleased to note.
: JUDGE ALFISH 04 June, 2017, 08:44:54 PM
I'm nearly 50 and only now thanks to the Forum do I get "Rogers & Hammerstein". Perhaps that's what happens when you grow up listening to The Clash and Joy Division...or I'm just a lot dimmer than I realize.
: Tony Angelino 04 June, 2017, 11:12:36 PM
I think those are the best pun names in the history of the Prog. Really clever. I figured that one out very early on and I think it may have been down to seeing The Sound of Music on TV when I was quite young. The name Hammerstein in particular just stuck with me.
: positronic 05 June, 2017, 05:25:18 AM
"Rogers" = "RO-Jaws" is a bit stretchy, even for a pun. Especially since to be technically accurate it's "RoDgers & Hammerstein"... which sounds even less alike. Although now that you mention it, now their song-and-dance duet on the stage at Greasy Gracie's does make make more sense in context.
: Magnetica 05 June, 2017, 06:01:05 AM
Hmmm really? I don't think it is that much of a stretch...especially for a pun(???).
To be technically accurate... I just can't believe that a battle droid would strike up a friendship with a sewer droid. The whole thing's a bit far-fetched if you ask me.
: sheridan 05 June, 2017, 11:00:57 AM
I was familiar with Ro-jaws and Hammerstein about five years before I'd heard of the other duo.
: positronic 05 June, 2017, 12:22:59 PM
Mills addressed that, though. In the original Ro-Busters, they seemed like a bickering odd couple, but then in the later Return Trilogy we learned some things about Hammerstein that explain why he wasn't acting like his usual sober warbot self, and even got a rationale explaining Ro-Jaws' "faulty obedience and courtesy circuits". In other words, Ro-Jaws is not a typical sewer droid any more than Hammerstein is a typical ABC Warrior, or even a typical Hammerstein Mk III warbot.
I have a harder time believing that a sewer droid and a warbot would have even the most minimal levels of musical song-and-dance routines programmed into them. :lol:
: TordelBack 05 June, 2017, 03:29:08 PM
I'd say it's a perfect pun. Any less 'stretchy' and it'd be a boring homonym (or just a kid's joke like the one about the shipwrecked survivors of a collision between two ships with cargoes of red and blue paint respectively). The truly great puns require the consumer to do a bit of the legwork.
But not having any official logo, I always thought of them as "Hammerstein and Ro-Jaws", because that's how it tends to work... the take-charge big hero guy gets first billing, followed by "and..." his diminutive, comic-relief buddy. That tends to make the joke much harder to recognize, too.
: Magnetica 05 June, 2017, 04:07:09 PM
I think that just you to be honest. I always remembered it as Ro-jaws and Hammerstein... because it sounds better that way.
Not sure the big guy always gets mentioned first. Little and Large for instance.
Or Laurel and Hardy.
: Fungus 05 June, 2017, 05:35:50 PM
As a pun it's glorious. I've sometimes wondered if PM punched the air (or something/someone more tangible) when he hit upon it.
How do you find Kingdom, on this basis ? :o That'll be tough going.
Kingdom doesn't work for me in that sense. Gene (the) Hackman, Paul Numan, Clara Bow etc. Too contrived for me personally.
I guess the other part is that for the longest time, it was ABC Warriors, and not Ro-Busters, that was the returning feature, and they were (except for Khaos stories in the early 1990s) Hammerstein's crew. He's the Sgt. Rock to their Easy Company, or the Sgt. Fury to their Howling Commandos.
Ro-Jaws, being a mere sewer droid designed for garbage disposal and cleaning out sewer drains, and therefore essentially weaponless, couldn't contribute much in the way of being a soldier, even if he did make a fair serviceable first responder in the Ro-Busters disaster squad.
It was only after reading The Complete Nuts and Bolts that I truly appreciated what a great character Ro-Jaws is, and now he's replaced Hammerstein as my favorite mek. Of course I'd read a scattered sampling of the Ro-Busters stories way back when, but never the entire thing.
I particularly enjoyed reading "Ro-Jaws' Memoirs", which told his backstory of how it was he wound up in that used-robot showroom in the first place. Now that he's taken a somewhat more prominent role with the ABC Warriors in the ongoing struggle for robot liberation, I hope he may continue exclaiming "Manky Moses!" until at last cludgie is unclogged. :D
: Dark Jimbo 05 June, 2017, 07:52:21 PM
He does get most of the best lines!
'What sort of robot is this? What does it run on?'
'I'll give you a clue, luv - humans talk a lot of the stuff I eat.'
General Armz. I only got it the other day.
: Steve Green 06 June, 2017, 10:22:05 AM
I saw Paul Merton interviewed by Richard Herring last night, where he performed his 'Policeman giving evidence after having taken hallucinogenic drugs' routine.
Reminded me a little of that Dredd with McCarthy on art duties - no idea if it was an inspiration (the original inspiration for the routine was a documentary about operation Julie, where there was a drugs factory bust and the air was thick with hallucinogens)
: A.Cow 06 June, 2017, 05:01:59 PM
Um ... not sure I get it. I may be being extra thick here so please forgive me for asking for elucidation.
: Jim_Campbell 06 June, 2017, 05:06:16 PM
I thought it existed entirely to set up the "A Farewell to Armz?" next prog tagline…
: Proudhuff 06 June, 2017, 06:00:46 PM
I always thought it was the kind of thing geek genehackers would do, name their creations after favourite stuff from movies music etc... there is a Skynet somewhere! :o
Indeed. It's also a pretty important part of the Aux culture: these are the kind of stupid names people give dogs, but taken completely un-ironically by the recipients, and in many cases used pridefully and literally, with consequences for how they view their own personalities and capabilities. It's a very well developed gag.
: Jacqusie 06 June, 2017, 10:50:57 PM
Me neither, I think if Dan Abnett left all the daft names in Sin/Dex world that would be ok (as it's premise is it's daft) but it gets a bit much when they start cropping up anywhere and everywhere. Ted Behr anyone? Jeez...
I'm just waiting for Dixie Normous and Ivor Biggen to liven things up in the snore fest that is Brink...
I still say Kingdom needs a Ronnie Barker.
Was there a Jack Offenbark?
Surely we should have Samuel L. Dachshund?
: Steve Green 07 June, 2017, 10:46:34 PM
Say Woof one more time, motherf*cker - I dare you, I double dare you...
Things that went over Blackblood's head -- General Public.
: hippynumber1 08 June, 2017, 11:43:58 AM
Not so much something that went over my head as something that went unnoticed until this morning: my copy of The ABC Warriors: The Third Element paperback actually reads 'The THRID Element' on the spine.
Not to mention crediting Tony Skinner - who isn't in the book - but not Henry Flint, who very much is. No proofreading going on at all that day!
No proofreading going on at all that day!
Either that or lots of 100°-proof reading.
(https://19818-presscdn-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/64f/2f/ptadrunk.gif)
Not so much over my head but something I hadn't noticed before last night. The Judges radio chatter at the very start of "Judge Minty" includes the old "Letsby Avenue" pun. Classic!
: CalHab 22 June, 2017, 04:37:31 PM
Reading the new Lawless book, I only just realised Kill a Man Jaroo is a pun on Kilimanjaro.
: Link Prime 22 June, 2017, 04:55:45 PM
Ah c'mon.
That's Justin Credible.
I'd hazard a guess that's Mr Carroll's doing.
: norton canes 23 June, 2017, 03:54:55 PM
Reading the new Lawless book, I only just realised Kill a Man Jaroo is a pun on Kilimanjaro
About half way though it, and noticed that another Uplift is called 'Kay Too'.
I wonder if Marshall Lawson will EVER ARREST them?!
My grud...
Ro-Busters is a pun on 'robust'!
HOW HAVE I NEVER SEEN THAT?!?
: Woolly 28 June, 2017, 10:16:10 PM
(http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/o499/woolly76/abc_zpsvmkwhihh.jpg) (http://s1144.photobucket.com/user/woolly76/media/abc_zpsvmkwhihh.jpg.html)
Fuck! Can't believe I've had to have that pointed out to me! :-[
: Lobo Baggins 29 June, 2017, 07:05:16 AM
It's the Beatles and Cromer all over again...
: Jim_Campbell 29 June, 2017, 07:35:36 AM
No, you fools! It's a play on the name Rob Usters, the American character actor who famously played the roles of both Rogers and Hammerstein in the 1958 biographical radio play "One Day We'll Be So Famous They'll Name A Pair Of Comedy Robots After Us".
Also starring Aebis E. Woryorz.
Just re-read an old Killing Time GN. I think I was about 17 last time I read it, and really didn't cop that 'call me Ishmael' was a Moby Dick reference. And maybe, now that I think of it, the whole story is an intentional allusion to Moby Dick; given that its main theme is the hunt for a colossal monster.
: zombemybabynow 06 July, 2017, 01:37:24 PM
the down of an elephant / duck joke - 7 years!! no kidding!!
: flip-r mk2 13 July, 2017, 08:49:27 PM
Just realised that 'Jimp' is a contraction of Judge impersonator doohhh, I'll get me coat :)
: Smith 13 July, 2017, 08:52:34 PM
Really?That was even explained a few times in the strip.:)
: sheridan 13 July, 2017, 09:32:54 PM
Filippo wins the thread! (keep 'em coming though!)
: Tjm86 15 July, 2017, 04:39:28 PM
On a bit of a prog slog through the 300's at the moment and just got to the end of Fort Neuro. One of the Nort Generals is General Vagner. A guest writer cameo for our esteemed Dredd writer? Or am I reading too much into it?
: M.I.K. 15 July, 2017, 07:59:25 PM
More likely a reference to the composer chappy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner), whose music was appropiated by the nazis, but may be a slight nod to oor John as well.
: sheridan 16 July, 2017, 12:17:03 AM
Similar Wagner/Wagner connection here (also a thing that went over my head at the time):
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/459.jpg)
: Echidna 16 July, 2017, 03:21:46 PM
Was Wagner's real name common knowledge at that point? That's one of a few in-jokes referencing his identity (e.g. Fly's Eyes Wagner, Cadet Wagner's entry on the Honour Roll in Mutie the Pig) which appeared when he and/or Alan Grant were going by John Howard, TB Grover etc. (or uncredited, in the case of MTP)
The examples you've given are in the first three years (and I think two are in the first six months, before the Compu-73e credit cards had been introduced). Fort Neuro was around Prog 300, and we were well used to credit cards by that point (they'd also spread to other IPC comics, though obviously without the sci-fi angle).
While watching Bone Tomahawk, it suddenly occurred to me where Tommy 'Hawk' Hill from Twin Peaks got his nickname. I'm thick, I know, and it was probably explained in the original two series, but there you go
: Smith 08 August, 2017, 07:18:27 PM
Here is a hilarious SinDex one-Dirty deeds done dirt cheap is a song/album title.
Yeah,that took me a while.:|
Is Mickey Challis the Knight of Cups?
I've just learned the word factotum, and realised I've missed a long-running Sin / Dex pun.
Speaking of, I only tumbled to their names' meaning when I spotted Roman soldiers marching to "sinister, dexter, sinister, dexter -halt!" in a rerun of Frankie Howerd's Up Pompei![/] tv series. Smut and education in one amusing package.
: I, Cosh 07 January, 2018, 09:55:34 AM
What shocks me about this is that you've never read any Bukowski!
Fraid not, though I know quite a bit about him due to a Bukowski-obsessed friend. Probably time to start reading him.
I sussed the meaning of Sinister and Dexter's names from the start; but I have no recollection as to how, given that I never learned Latin. The Um Louts were a mystery to me until I went to work in Germany a few weeks after they were introduced.
Yep, left handed people are bad and sinister.
If you're ambi-dexter-ous, it's like you have two right (i.e. good/useful) hands.
Damn straight. Almost as bad as frecks, in my experience.
: Theblazeuk 08 January, 2018, 09:57:36 AM
I vaguely recall that one of the early SinDex strips actually has a little bubble explaining this very reference, as least it did in the DC-printed collections. Not going to dig them out to check mind.
Leaving my education to the likes of Frankie Howerd probably wasn't my most astute adjudicature, Missus.
: Magnetica 08 January, 2018, 12:45:40 PM
I don't remember that being in the Prog.
: DrRocka 22 January, 2018, 12:35:33 AM
I have literally just THIS SECOND realised that when Fink Angel refers to his "pizen" it's his Cursed Earth Drawl way of saying "poison" 🤯
: Jim_Campbell 22 January, 2018, 06:42:37 AM
What on earth did you think he meant?!
I've no idea! I must have been about 9 or 10 when I first read The Fink so all I can assume is that I thought it was some kind of futurespeak that meant nothing. I do love a good 2am moment of sudden realisation.
Next up, I'll be revealing that Monty Python and Pink Floyd weren't actually real people, and that the world wasn't actually black and white until someone invented colour in the late sixties.....
Pink Floyd [was]n't actually real people...
He was, he just wasn't well and stayed back at the hotel.
: Woolly 22 January, 2018, 10:50:45 AM
Yeah but, which ones Pink?
: NapalmKev 22 January, 2018, 10:51:34 AM
He was, he just wasn't well and stayed back at the Hotel
Well done, that man! Made me smile.
: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) 22 January, 2018, 12:08:11 PM
And reading this, I've just this second realised that when Fink says "pizen", he is probably saying "pye-zen" and not "pizzen", as I have been reading the whole of my damn life.
: sheridan 22 January, 2018, 01:18:22 PM
And right handed people are dextrous / have greater dexterity.
Something it took me three stories to realise was why Harry Heston is called Heston (Planet of the Apes).
Just been watching loads and loads of Steptoe and Son (it was a bit before my time) and realised that Look Out for Lefty (in Action, also a bit before my time) is blatantly Steptoe meets Roy of the Rovers.
Bit of S&S trivia: the "Son" in Steptoe and Son is Albert, not Harold.
Just discovered that recently too!
Heh, poor old Harold hasn't even got his name on the gate. Those old fashioned writers really thought things through!
Never twigged that, absolute genius.
That's inspired :)
Very likely it occurred to them in a flash (no planning required) but in any case it's just perfect...
On the same note but a different track, I remember an interview with Bob Larbey and John Esmonde in which they revealed a secret about Margo from The Good Life which informed their writing of the character but was never revealed in the series. As a teenager, Margo fell for a boy from the wrong side of the tracks and was sent away to have an abortion. Though not a suitable topic for sit-com, this character fact explains her secret attraction to the unconventional Tom, her repressed loathing of her conventional husband and her obsession with keeping up a respectable appearance.
I think they had similar secrets for all the characters in the series but I can't remember what they were or if they revealed them.
Now that's how to write characters!
I always assumed the Goods & leadbetters were wife-swappers, definitely lots of inter-couple flirting going on
There was definitely a strong sexual undercurrent.
Never would have suspected Margot secretly loathed Jerry. Quite the reverse really, repressed love.
As to fancying Tom, well who wouldn't. Much of my early amd more successful romantic strategising centered on bring as Tom-like as possible.
: JamesC 09 February, 2018, 01:55:47 PM
I hate The Good Life, I hate it.
Felicity 'Treacle' Kendal and Richard 'sugar flavoured snob' Briars. THEY'RE NOTHING BUT A COUPLE OF REACTIONARY STEREOTYPES, CONFIRMING THE MYTH THAT EVERYONE IN BRITAIN IS A LOVABLE MIDDLE CLASS ECCENTRIC, AND I HATE THEM!!
That was a highly articulate outburst, James
. I only hope they're not browsing.
: Pyroxian 09 February, 2018, 02:06:18 PM
Hehe - my thoughts exactly - https://youtu.be/bomygz1Ygkk?t=29
: sheridan 09 February, 2018, 08:27:47 PM
Hehe - my thoughts exactly - https://youtu.be/bomygz1Ygkk?t=29 (https://youtu.be/bomygz1Ygkk?t=29)
Is it Vyvyan? Is it Vyvyan? Yep!
: Dash Decent 11 February, 2018, 09:19:57 PM
The character names also have some jokey angles - the blokes are Tom & Jerry (after the cartoon cat and mouse of course) and while one couple is 'Good', the other is (Led)"Better'.
: Jim_Campbell 11 February, 2018, 10:11:21 PM
Things that went over your head? The Young Ones' extra flat mate…? (https://www.dailygrail.com/2016/06/the-5th-young-one-pay-no-attention-to-the-girl-behind-the-sofa/) Wait? What?!
: Jim_Campbell
link=topic=35063.msg979327#msg979327
date=1518387081
Things that went over your head? The Young
Ones' extra flat mate…? Wait? What?!
That's extraordinary. I resolved to check this out and went to retrieve my Young Ones dvds from the box under the bed where all my "classic comedy" discs live.
The dvds aren't there...
Can't find those discs anywhere. Been through my entire collection and nada. They must have gone missing during the waveform collapse of my last slide. There's probably a parallel universe out there containing nothing but my Young Ones dvds, a few stray Biros, half a dozen odd socks and several species of fluff.
: JamesC 12 February, 2018, 10:40:03 AM
The DVD release of The Young Ones was annoying because they removed the Subterranean Homesick Blues bit from 'Cash'.
The best way to watch The Young Ones is on an old VHS on a wooden telly.
Found 'em.
OMG - there she is!
Why did the edit it out?
ooh, have we got a video?
Something to do with the rights for the song.
And, yes, we have a video from Harry the Bastard at Rumbelows but so far we can only get it to make toast. :lol:
Sorry to double post - from Wikipedia:
The episode features a performance from Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve, a one-off conglomerate of high-profile rock musicians and theme writers, including Jools Holland, Simon Brint, Stewart Copeland and Chris Difford performing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan. For contractual reasons, this was edited out of DVD releases in the past, but was reinstated for the 25th Anniversary edition.
On the original release DVDs, to go with the edit, the scenes of the main cast are cut, all bar the scene where they take Neil to the job centre. The band's name is also edited out of the credits, but rather than simply erase the name, the portion of credits with the group name is cut, with the credits before and after that intersected by a thick orange line, which also shows two sets of footage playing. However, when a total list of all cast members of all 12 episodes of the series are in the credits for "Summer Holiday", the names of the three musicians are not taken out.
: glassstanley 23 March, 2018, 08:38:59 AM
Have we mentioned Bradley & Milton? Just had this pointed out to me!
: Bad City Blue 23 March, 2018, 04:02:30 PM
aw ffs... I nver noticed that!
: BMCCOLL 23 March, 2018, 05:10:15 PM
Urban myth I'm afraid, the quote was an old gag by the brilliant Jasper Carrott.
Don't get it
I'm glad it's not just me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Bradley
: Tjm86 02 April, 2018, 09:04:11 PM
Bit of a face palm moment for me. Just reached Prog 478 on the latest prog slog. Reading Dredd: the Art of Kenny Who, I've just realised who he sits drinking with in the Boils Head. Pretty sure we have a cameo from our great John Wagner. Number of times I've read this and never noticed!
: BMCCOLL 20 April, 2018, 10:41:50 PM
Prog 424, Dredd says about Chopper "... He's out. Now heading south on Lusardi!"
I've just been re-reading Dan Dare in early progs and have been scratching my head over a couple of easter eggs in The Doomsday Machine (prog 80-ish).
In the main picture I recognise the USS Enterprise, Biog Mothership, Thunderbird 3, Anastasia, Eagle Transporter, part of an X-Wing fighter, and the Metropolis Machine-Man. And other panels include the Millennium Falcon cockpit, Sandcrawler tracks and Harrier jump jet.
(https://image.ibb.co/hG1pj7/artwork.jpg)
I'm guessing that the obscured hanging object under the "Doomsday" banner is Thunderbird 2, and suspect that the ship next to the Machine-Man hand is Fireball XL5.
However, I'm totally flummoxed over the big ship behind the Enterprise saucer with swept-back wings and "WT..." visible. Can anybody put me out of my misery?
(Also, is the striped vehicle (bottom left of this image) from anything? Kinda looks familiar.)
(https://i.imgur.com/pRPwFlL.png?2)
https://youtu.be/atwfWEKz00U?t=56m11s
: sheridan 21 April, 2018, 12:18:41 AM
The striped ship looks very Chris Foss-y to me (long-term Squaxx will remember his triptych of MC1 covers).
(http://www.justpressplay.net/images/stories/chris_foss/chris_foss_banner.jpg)
: Timothy 21 April, 2018, 08:29:08 AM
Looks a bit like the Speedo Ghost.
: Magnetica 21 April, 2018, 08:43:50 AM
Ace Trucking was a few years off yet at that point.
Aha! Thanks, Frank -- you're a superstar.
(I'd never have got that -- last saw that movie something like 35 years ago.)
So a potential candidate for the Swipe thread ;-)
Luther Arkwright was named for the two big engines of violent social upheaval in British history: Protestantism and industrialisation.
: The Enigmatic Dr X 25 April, 2018, 10:53:11 PM
That Chevvy Chase wasn't Paul Simon
Tangentially, I never realised that Carrie Fisher was married to Paul Simon (twice). I always thought it was a SNL gag!
Having read the excellent Megazine floppy about Nemesis, I've just remembered two things that went over my head in Deathbringer the first time round: 1. The type of 'physical pleasure' Torquemada got from violent acts of revenge, and 2. The fact that he needed armour over his old chap to fend off repeated groin attacks.
This is what I love about rereading old progs - suddenly getting the sneaky adult bits I missed as a kid. I also didn't realise that Termight borrowed so much influence from Catholic iconography. I grew up in 80s Ireland, though, so I suppose it's the same as the way a fish doesn't know what water is.
: glassstanley 01 May, 2018, 07:29:32 PM
There's one page of Hicklenton's that has an editorial white blob in one corner. That's because he drew an ejaculating penis in that space originally.
Indeed. I own the original art for it - you can see it in all its glory here: http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1239930 (http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1239930)
I love that Hicklenton went ahead and drew that page, presumably knowing it would be spotted and whited-out. Even more I love the feeble attempt to hide it behind the text box!
There's another notorious one, owned by another boarder, which features Purity going down on Nemesis - Hicklenton's 'gobble! gobble!' sound-effect was judiciously edited out.
Prior to all that, Bryan Talbot had included the line "Nemesis does it with Purity" on the back of a Terminator wagon.
Was there really such a panel? Not that there's anything there to go down on...
This is true, given that Nemesis's member is, in fact, his beak. Nonetheless, Purity has a good go here: http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1032423 (http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1032423)
(https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2018-02/8/14/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane-02/anigif_sub-buzz-11012-1518117480-5.gif?downsize=715:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto)
My word. God, I loved John Hicklenton. Less of a shite he could not give.
: AlexF 03 May, 2018, 10:06:45 AM
Dan Abnett's latest 'Ammo Amass' pun from Sinister Dexter finally justifies those 4 years of Latin I had to do at school...
: The Monarch 03 May, 2018, 03:51:46 PM
I really guess I gave John Hicklenton more praise when I was younger....god I was a stupid kid hating it :(
So what's the pun?
: Tjm86 03 May, 2018, 04:25:43 PM
The first exercise you had to learn was 'amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant' 'I love, you love, he she it loves, we love, you love, they love'.
Our head, who taught us Latin, liked to use negative reinforcement to aid memory. One whack of the Jasper for each mark below the pass mark. I suppose it worked after a fashion. I can still remember too much of the Latin together with how much I hate it.
: The Legendary Shark 03 May, 2018, 04:50:02 PM
The older I get, the more I regret not learning Latin.
I thought it was pointless at the time to learn a dead language but it has been useful all my life in inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Anyone else do the Cambridge Press Latin course featuring Pompeii citizen Caecilius and his slave Clemens and cook Grumio?
'I love, you love,
he she it loves,
we love, you love, they love'
https://youtu.be/ZfMrbIzd69Q?t=35s
Jeez luweeze, why did so many of the TV people I loved as a little kid turn out to be such truly titanic shits. Thank the good grud for Bernard Cribbins and David Attenborough (fingers crossed).
Tony Hart should be safe as well - anything untoward should have come out by now.
: Smith 04 May, 2018, 08:02:51 AM
I got the entire Demon by Alan Grant now.And it dawned on me that The Thing-that-could-not-die is pretty much Gronk.There is also a (possible) tribute to The Fist of Dredd moment.And a musical issue.Because ofc there is. :)
: Colin YNWA 04 May, 2018, 08:13:48 AM
Not read any of the Alan Grant Demon issues for years. How does it hold up?
Pretty good actually.Thou it does lose steam after #21.And you get a whole host of guest writers.
: norton canes 04 May, 2018, 09:24:08 AM
No idea if it was intentional but 'The Slavers of Drule' makes sense when you consider homonyms of 'slavers' and 'drule'.
This one's come up a few times already in this thread and more before. It's definitely intentional.
Sorry, I realise that was rather dickish of me to raise the pun without explaining it!
Thanks to those who chipped in. And, for the sake of completing the loop, I'll point out that 'ammo amass' means 'to put together a large collection of ammunition', an appropriate name for a gun shop. :lol:
(And let's all be grateful Abnett hasn't saddled us with supporting character 'Anus Annie', which would derive from the other 'first bit of Latin Grammar', the declension of the noun 'annus' (year) - annus anne annum anni anno anno anni anni annos annorum annis annis.)
On that note, any Asterix readers might wonder why, when drunk, they all hiccup as 'Hic Haec Hoc' - yup, you've guessed it, that's another bit of Latin grammar listing...
: Magnetica 01 July, 2018, 04:44:05 PM
I'm almost embrassed to say: this week's tagline "portal enemies".
(https://i.imgur.com/TcLPamN.png?5)
Better (25 years) late than never: https://www.manchesterpride.com/page-1/
Context, gentle reader; contex (https://i.imgur.com/e3JpBxy.png?1)t
For a very, very unsubtle strip, that went completely over my head too. I liked Big Dave - and really miss the days when racist, misogynistic, sociopathic boors being lauded as national heroes was only an ironic piece of satire in a comic.
: sheridan 27 August, 2018, 08:53:03 PM
Was IPC owned by Robert Maxwell by the time Maxwell Tower was named? Looks like Mirror Group had been split off from IPC main by that point (which explains why that 2000AD Quiz Book was printed by Mirror Group, coz they were both sub-divisions of the same company at the time).
: A.Cow 27 August, 2018, 09:48:03 PM
Was IPC owned by Robert Maxwell by the time Maxwell Tower was named?
I believe the IPC takeover was a couple of years after The Thirteenth Floor began.
It's possible the name was just a play on "Maxwell House" (as in coffee).
: M.I.K. 27 August, 2018, 10:48:06 PM
It's also possible that at least one of the writers of The Thirteenth Floor was familiar with this building in Falkirk (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Maxwell+Tower,+Seaton+Pl,+Falkirk+FK1+1TF/@55.9958082,-3.7713211,3a,75y,184.34h,92.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szeucmDWajEXjAZLkWwWPbA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x48887a274985c2f5:0xf07a760679088653!8m2!3d55.9955937!4d-3.7713199).
You might be on to something there (had a look at satellite view though, no glass roof).
: Frank 08 November, 2018, 06:03:11 PM
War Marshal Kazan: a military strategist of such genius he was cloned, so his intellect could outlast his limited time on Earth. Loved a chicken metaphor.
(https://i.imgur.com/g1TIvry.png?4)(https://i.imgur.com/rpxNqbd.png?2)
I originally assumed this was just a quirky bit of characterisation by TB Grover, and it probably is, but then I read that a great deal of twisted Nazi theory on race and genetics was shaped by Heinrich Himmler's past as an unsuccessful chicken farmer (https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1151284).
Aha! There's the reference; there's the parallel (if any) being drawn, you say. But then I read that one of Mussolini's catchphrases, describing fascism's slow erosion of civil liberties and democratic institutions, was if you pluck the chicken one feather at a time, nobody notices*
Well, there you go, you think, it's late and I really need to get going - BUT WAIT! Here's actual Russian** dictator, Stalin, describing how he sees all humanity as broilers:
Stalin clenched a chicken in one hand and began plucking feathers in handfuls. The bird squawked in agony, but he continued until the chicken was completely unfeathered.
He put the bird down then held out a handful of grain. The chicken staggered weakly back towards him and started to peck the grain right out of the hand that moments ago had inflicted unbearable pain on it.
Stalin said, "People are like this chicken. It doesn't matter how much pain you inflict on them. The moment you offer them what they need, they will still follow you and turn to you for their survival" ***
So there we have it. A reference (that's probably not a reference at all, and just a coincidence) explained in a way that connects all of humanity's worst excesses to chickens.
Pulling up a chair in Pseud's Corner, I speculate that, in past times, the first thing most humans would have killed (some as children) was a chicken, and offer the tenuous suggestion that this first act of sadism - or at least indifference to the suffering of another living being - may have left a lasting impression on the way political violence's greatest and most cynical exponents conceptualised the world and expressed themselves.
* https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/madeleine-albright-warns-of-a-new-fascism-and-trump
** Okay, Ukranian
*** The story's obviously apocryphal, but it was told about Stalin (https://medium.com/thrive-global/you-are-bigger-than-your-career-the-stalins-chicken-168a93f58132)
: Steve Green 08 November, 2018, 06:43:27 PM
The apocalypso bit being based on Cy Grant's regular slot on 'Tonight' - a few years before my time.
https://youtu.be/1ezY-f383Ik?t=44 (https://youtu.be/1ezY-f383Ik?t=44)
: Dash Decent 09 November, 2018, 04:22:01 AM
Loved a chicken metaphor.
[...snip...]
You can add to the list whatever it was Hitler said about defeating the British being like wringing the neck of a chicken. I don't know the exact quote, just Churchill's response: "Some chicken. Some neck."
: JOE SOAP 09 November, 2018, 04:35:41 AM
I believe John Wagner owns/owned some chickens.
: TordelBack 09 November, 2018, 06:57:19 AM
From this observation we can draw a direct line to the inspiration behind the Alpacalips War.
: Frank 09 November, 2018, 07:35:34 AM
We're not really lama farmers. We've got a couple, but they're pretty useless. You can't eat them; I suppose you can, but we'd be in trouble if we did. It costs more to get them sheared than the fleece is worth. My partner, Jenny, is now carding, washing, spinning it and making it into a jumper, which I may soon be wearing.
I used to keep 25 hens. I thought I could make a little industry out of this, but I ended up subsidising all the neighbours with the eggs, so I gave that up. The fox helped me - he took away 15 in the space of a few weeks.
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/2000adthrillcast/episodes/2016-02-09T21_00_00-08_00
: Steve Green 09 November, 2018, 08:45:35 AM
'Fox'
: Tjm86 09 December, 2018, 04:51:41 PM
Re-reading Ellis and Hitch's Authority at the moment. The scene where Jenny et al visit RAF Rendlesham features a couple of signs that I missed on first reading, particularly the one that reads "squirrel fondlers please report to Lt Dez Skinn." :o
: JayzusB.Christ 13 December, 2018, 03:27:43 PM
Zenith Phase 3 - I've just learned from tvtropes.com the reason Thunderbolt Jason's magic belt, which only worked for right and justice, wasn't working for him.
I'd thought it was just a plot device to make him vulnerable like all of the previously mighty heroes therein. Not so - it was a huge clue that what the heroes thought was a noble act of saving the multiverse from the Lloigor was actually, unknown to them, a project to hand it straight to the dark gods in question.
Christ, I love obsessing over Zenith.
: Greg M. 13 December, 2018, 05:11:02 PM
Yeah - reading it at the time, I just assumed his belt issues were part of the general mockery of the ineffectiveness of most of the heroes in the face of cosmic horror, but of course Morrison's actually trying to flag up the revelation coming a few episodes later...
: Frank 15 December, 2018, 04:04:40 PM
Not 2000ad, but what the hell. Like everyone else on Earth, I've never seen the UK A Star Is Born rip-off Breaking Glass (https://youtu.be/O-c99rkQlV0?t=136). Google tells me it predated Disney's Tron by 2 years*
(https://i.imgur.com/He3hKFp.png?1)(https://i.imgur.com/eB3Jtyp.png?2)
* The production designer of Breaking Glass was probably ripping off something they'd seen at an art exhibition or a fashion show, but following the Lipstick Traces (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_Traces:_A_Secret_History_of_the_20th_Century) of influence is interesting in itself
I've a vague memory of that song from the first time round. Don't think I've heard it since. I love it. I'm going to listen to it now as I clean my boat.
I've never seen the UK A Star Is Born rip-off Breaking Glass (https://youtu.be/O-c99rkQlV0?t=136)
The most interesting thing my rabbit hole dive turned up was that the US release of the film ends on that scene and the triumphant note it strikes.
The UK version ends with the main character leaving the stage to find the band have broken up, her relationship's over, and her management have conned her into selling out. She suffers a nervous breakdown on the tube and ends the film drooling in a sanitorium!
Two cultures, divided by more than our common language.
I definitely remember that scene with the outfit being used as an off-the-peg music video for the song at the time, so I don't think it was particularly obscure. I also remember really liking the song, even though I was totally aware it was about the end of the world and everybody dying and I was five.
: Dandontdare 16 December, 2018, 03:14:06 AM
I really need to watch breaking glass - I love Hazel O'Connor. Until I watched that vid (followed by Will you) I'd forgotten about the movie, but what a couple of fantastic songs (though I do remember sneaking a look at one of my big brother's collection of bongo mags that featured her in its 'celebrity nudes' section - an old glamour shoot that had her posing on packing crates in some dusty attic *nostalgic sigh*)
I've just realised that Shaun the Sheep is possibly a pun, which doesn't work in an Irish accent.
: Proudhuff 18 December, 2018, 03:21:44 PM
I'm hoping that's not a euphemism :-[
I've just realised that Shaun the Sheep is possibly a pun,
Only if you say it in a clipped accent.
: sheridan 18 December, 2018, 03:34:40 PM
Which bit doesn't work in an Irish accent? Shaun / Sean or shorn?
The 'r ' in shorn would always be pronounced here, so they don't sound the same.
(having asked that, I would pronounce them the same, and it took me a while to realise)
Incidentally when I was living in Beijing, they would play Shaun the Sheep in a loop on screens in subway trains. I saw Chinese people fighting back tears of stifled laughter looking at it. Some things are funny everywhere.
: O Lucky Stevie! 19 December, 2018, 04:28:07 AM
"I ain't afraid of no robe..."
The black leather and fishnet-vested German acapella group in Pitch Perfect 2 are called Das Sound Machine (https://youtu.be/VngeoOy-nFs?t=14). DSM: there are lines about the girls having to beatDSM or how they can never beDSM (https://youtu.be/Y2otY8nVEsI).
Possibly the least audience appropriate observation I've made on this forum, and that's including all the ones about Derrida.
Always had a soft spot for Breaking Glass - it's cheesy and overwrought in equal measure, but I loves it.
Hazel was touring the UK recently, and I caught her at the Engine Shed in Lincoln. Great night - A showing of the film, plus a Q&A afterwards and then she performed songs from the film, and elsewhere, for over an hour.
You certainly get yer moneys worth with Hazel.
: I, Cosh 22 January, 2019, 05:13:09 PM
"Thread Zero" is Scojo!
: Lobo Baggins 22 January, 2019, 05:32:55 PM
Some of it is... some of it is my other username Bone Machine.
Don't know how that happened - I think I was changing my screen name at the exact moment that Scojo got his final ban. Or something.
: norton canes 23 January, 2019, 08:21:26 AM
In The A.B.C. Warriors, Zippo's head is shaped like... yeah.
Also, having picked up a few back progs in a charity shop last weekend, I've just realized that the bunch of seven 'evil' Volgan robots with a grudge against each A.B.C. Warrior, that featured in last year's stories, were first introduced ten years ago.
That's even weirder, but does make sense of why I've seen your avatar in there before.
COMPU 73E
Is supposed to say ... 'Computee'?
Hmm. Maybe not.
Given that The Boys was post 9/11 and set in an alternative universe, this was either a beautiful coincidence or, more likely, a piece of dialogue / scenery juxtaposing worthy of Alan Moore.
Went way over my head the first time round.
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eUcJvU3zLPE/W353lcXssGI/AAAAAAAAHvM/LBFA2RlD4QsEMGD9hzkCkXcS_cZyXvOxQCHMYCw/s1600/RCO0)
: A.Cow 30 January, 2019, 05:01:26 AM
I was born 10 years too late to get this cracking reference from Prog 454:
TV advert: Cyril Lord carpets -- "This is luxury ... you can afford ... from Cyril Lord!" (http://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/52900ebb-e26f-4010-8950-1461790e1add)
(https://i.ibb.co/bm0WCFW/prog-454-cyril-lord.jpg)
Followed-up with a flooring-focused double-tap. Quality!
"You'll be on the carpet for this!" - Love it!
And that the Judge in question is named Wilton (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClf86j8Lne7DvlrStupM-NQ).
: ming 31 January, 2019, 12:23:24 PM
Ah, that's the stuff that makes this thread shine so bright... Love it!
: WhizzBang 02 February, 2019, 03:22:45 PM
I have just noticed today that Sonic Youth have a track called Skip Tracer. Does 'Skip Tracer' mean something or did Sonic Youth make it up?
: broodblik 02 February, 2019, 03:26:06 PM
Skip tracing is an industry term used to describe the process of locating a fugitive that can't be found at their place of residence or usual hangouts. "Skip" refers to the person being searched for (derived from the term "to skip town") and "tracing" meaning the act of locating the skip.
Thanks. The strip name probably has nothing to do with SY then.
: PsychoGoatee 03 February, 2019, 10:21:26 PM
The Brass Sun story "Motor Head" has got to be named after the legendary band though, at least.
Eh, there are plenty of great US movies that end on a down note. And I don't feel we're particularly divided, as far as cultures go. But every culture has differences.
Plus you're talking about a movie edit from 1980. These days if a downbeat drama gets distributed from overseas, they're a lot less likely to tack on a happy ending. Along with a lot of other reasons why I find that kind of "us vs them" generalizing mentality to not really apply much.
: A.Cow 05 February, 2019, 02:40:03 AM
Three of the other Brass Sun story titles seem to be references to highly-regarded sci-fi/fantasy titles:
The Diamond Age (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age) (Neal Stephenson)
Floating Worlds (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Floating-Worlds-MASTERWORKS-Cecelia-Holland/dp/0575108231) (Cecelia Holland)
Engine Summer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_Summer) (John Crowley)
The first storyline doesn't fit this pattern, although there is a spurious link to fantasy author Neil Gaiman:
Wheel of Worlds (https://comicvine.gamespot.com/neil-gaimans-wheel-of-worlds/4050-20944/) (Neil Gaiman)
And yet, aside from the band, the only other famous Motor Head seems to be a fella from Frank Zappa's band.
Originally Motorhead was a song written by Lemmy while he was in Hawkwind (the subject of which is speed).
One of my favourites - gotta love a song that manages to rhyme "parallelogram"!
FROM: https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-motorhead-by-motorhead
...with a song that Hawkwind dismissed as no more than a B-side, he had the template for a new band. Having teamed up with guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox, Lemmy originally named his new band Bastard. But, as he recalls: "A friend told him: 'You probably won't get a lot of Top Of The Pops action with a name like that.' So I went with Motörhead."
For sure, I enjoyed two Lemmy books over the last year or so, his autobiography and the later biography called Lemmy. I think his band is legendary enough that it'd be quite tough to name something that without it being a nod. Plus Lemmy has even been featured in 2000AD.
: Leigh S 05 February, 2019, 04:57:50 PM
And Edgington was only the other day on the 2000ad thrill cast talking about his love of Heavy Metal (and the Iron Maiden comic he has has been involved with?)
I seem to recall a photo of him eating a prog.
: Funt Solo 09 February, 2019, 12:04:42 AM
(https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/lemmy-2000-ad-2000-ad-scifispecial-1987-post.jpg)
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/ba/8e/98ba8e919977cbcfd1c6f9febfae9c87.jpg)
Beat me to it!
Hell yeah, that rules. :D
: Jacqusie 28 March, 2019, 10:04:40 PM
Bryan Talbot's Grandville and The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
...must have been an Open all Hours fan our Bryan...
Did he do anything based on Nurse Gladys Emmanuel I wonder? :)
: pert 05 April, 2019, 01:08:38 PM
GIs and Dolls was obviously a reference to Guys And Dolls
In the same era of Rogue, all the following are titles I wouldn't have recognised at the time, as I hadn't come across the original being referenced:
All Hell on the Dix-I Front
Frisco Fog
From Hell to Eternity
Gasbah
M for Murder
To the Ends of Nu-Earth
...and Judge Dredd around the same time - I'd never heard of High Society before that orbiting luxury condo.
: ming 05 April, 2019, 01:58:39 PM
While reading the last couple of episodes of Grey Area it finally popped into my head that BEM probably stands for Bug-Eyed Monster... Or does it?
That's the usual meaning of the acronym (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug-eyed_monster).
: Leigh S 05 April, 2019, 10:28:55 PM
milliput is a play on Lilliput! Not 2000ad I know, but mind, blown.
The Vestal Virgin 'Mater Clementia' who fought Felix and Aquilla in the fall of Rome...
...and that strange lady on the front cover of the album 'Goats Head Soup' by The Rolling Stones
I think so anyway! :thumbsup:
Btw, just re-reading Aqullia and marvelling at just how good it all was...
: GordonR 02 May, 2019, 11:53:15 PM
The Mater Clementia comes from various creepy-looking statues of veiled Vestal Virgins, but especially the famous 19th century one at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.
With a bit of vintage Dario Argento thrown in.
Not familiar with the Stones album, but I imagine they were riffing from the same source.
I wasn't familiar with the album cover, so looked it up. That ain't no lady - it's Mick Jagger!
My Wicker Man obsession intensifies at this time of year, and I thought I'd managed to uncover every single reference in it by now. But then I find that the music that accompanies Eddie Woodward being dressed in sacrificial robes and paraded towards his play place of execution is a real medieval song with lyrics that celebrate summer, just like Summer is Icumen In..
https://youtu.be/7UvesKl8_W8 (https://youtu.be/7UvesKl8_W8)
P.S. this is the first May in years I haven't managed to find an actual wicker man burning ceremony and wear an appropriate costume for it. Next year!
It's not over my head, but I just want to give a nod to "Noam Chimpsky". I like it!
That one was already a thing, though...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim_Chimpsky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim_Chimpsky)
Thanks Lobo, in that case it was over my head.
I'm familiar with Noam Chomsky, but not Nim (Neam) Chimpsky.
Honestly not sure whether this is something you all need to sit down for or if it's the equivalent of telling someone that Spock's mum was called T'Pau.
(https://i.imgur.com/YqzApda.png?2)(https://i.imgur.com/VZyjghd.png?3)
(https://i.imgur.com/33H01BG.png?2)
My excuse is that I'd never tasted a quince in the eighties, and certainly didn't know they looked a little like mishapen heads. I got the mince connection, obviously, since mince (boiled until it was grey) was the default dinner option for every Scottish mum between WWII and the fall of the Berlin wall.
Should have known; Wagner and Grant were partial to a bit of Quince (https://i.imgur.com/z7LyXw9.png). *
* Wagner, Grant & Ezquerra, Prog 190, less than a year before that panel from The Hotdog Run (233)
Quince must be the plural form of (Banjo) Quint (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/britishcomics/images/f/f6/The_Helltrekkers.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140604081140)
: Theblazeuk 22 May, 2019, 03:51:28 PM
Man that Nim Chimpsky link is but one of the things I love about this place, cheers.
I wasn't an Eagle reader in the 80s, but I'm enjoying the Where Eagles Dare podcast - I have only just learned from the latest episode where forum veteran The Amstor Computer got his name from.
: Lobo Baggins 24 May, 2019, 09:46:37 AM
I just hope that they gave him that orange in the end...
Mind the oranges, Nim!
: The Amstor Computer 25 May, 2019, 05:50:53 PM
Yup! Always had a soft spot for the series in the Eagle, and it just stuck :)
I remember that era of Eagle fondly, if somewhat vaguely. Walk or Die always stuck in my head, and prepared me for the horrors of the first grown-up novel I ever read, Lord of the Flies.
Don't remember Walk or Die - my non-2000AD IPC era was Scream!, Battle Action Force, Billy's Boots and Martin's Marvellous Mini in Tiger, photostrip changing to conventional Doomlord, Manix, One-Eyed Jack in Eagle.
Oh! Fillmore Faro from the Judge Child Quest pronounced his last name as "Pharaoh" and not "Far-oh"!
I see! That explains all the Egyptian stuff...
Bloody hell. I missed that too
I thought it was also very clever to set it in Memphis (Tennessee as opposed to Egypt)
Well, I got that part of it, at least.
: The Legendary Shark 01 June, 2019, 11:00:48 PM
Torchwood, I've just discovered, is an anagram of Doctor Who.
: sheridan 03 June, 2019, 08:52:38 PM
It was also the codename for new who before it was released, so that nobody would know what they were working on - they liked the codename so much they put it in the story.
I didn't know that, either.
Worst. Nerd. Ever. :(
I'm half-proud to say I knew the Torchwood thing. Worked it out myself. (Did I fuck - I saw it on the internet. Never even watched it.)
That said, I've just realised that the Great Beard, the nickname of a writer who is the best in his field, is a play on the Great Bard, the nickname of a writer who is the best in his field.
In other news, after an Auf Wiedersehen Pet YouTube marathon, I've just discovered that Brian Johnson from AC / DC is a Geordie, not an Ozzer.
Would the Great Beard also be known as 'The Original Author' when his work is adapted for film?
(https://i.imgur.com/yrusjxT.png?2)
https://www.amtrak.com/home
Return To Armageddon - Return, as in single, half-fare, or day saver. Thanks to Morgan Spiceman on the 1977-2000ad Facebook group.
Naah. None of his comics have ever been made into films.
Random, I know, but the chipmunks Chip and Dale - Chip 'n' Dale - Chippendale! FFS!
(https://i.imgur.com/eYNgGwy.png?1)(https://i.imgur.com/DVSYw7W.png?4)
Thanks to Bruce Gray and Alan Marshall of the 1977 Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/4727793513/permalink/10158136896528514/). Few strips have the benefit of the same writer for forty years.
: norton canes 04 July, 2019, 10:43:34 AM
'The Mills'
: I, Cosh 04 July, 2019, 11:15:16 AM
What part? I just read it as a direct reference to the Dark, Satanic ones from Jerusalem.
Which story are you referring to?
: norton canes 04 July, 2019, 02:59:23 PM
The current Absalom chapter. I thought it might be a sly reference to another 'Mills'.
(https://i.imgur.com/c5aEy4D.png?2)
It's not a great likeness. The Rest Of The Board are probably right, and it's just an on-the-nose Blake reference, but the tenets of reader reception theory say we should all get a speedboat.
I've only read one previous chapter of Abslalom, and the same thing did occur to me then, so I think it's probably safe to say you and me are geniuses who can see the code of the Matrix.
: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) 09 July, 2019, 10:39:36 PM
Not prog related, but...
"Open sesame". Open, says-a-me.
Never got that. Not until tonight when it was made obvious by an eleven year old actor in a school performance of 'Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits'. I feel like an idiot.
Probably helps if you saw Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qia-QoAmiVI) when you were eight or so, as I did!
: M.I.K. 10 July, 2019, 04:40:57 AM
I saw said Popeye cartoon too, (probably at an even earlier age), but a variation of "open sesame" seems to have first cropped up in an 18th Century French version of 1001 Nights, so I think the fact it sounds like "says-a-me" is merely a coinkydink.
: Trout 18 July, 2019, 03:18:50 AM
Wait... Otto Sump is Donald Trump? I'm just re-reading Get Ugly and he lives in Sump Tower. Whaaaaaat
: Funt Solo 18 July, 2019, 07:22:01 AM
...which was built in 1980, when that strip was published. :o
: GordonR 18 July, 2019, 07:56:32 AM
Trump Tower was completed in 1983. I doubt anyone in the UK had really heard of just another New York property developer Donald Trump when that story appeared years earlier.
When I lived in NY in 1987, he was definitely becoming A Thing by then, at least in the US. By 1990, he and Trump Tower were well enough known to be majorly lampooned in Gremlins 2
I'm sure I knew of Donald (and Ivana) Trump by the late 80s, and made the connection with Otto Sump around the same time. I definitely first heard of Ivana when she was still married to Donald, so that's pre-1991.
They were certainly both famous enough by the end of the 90s to warrant Ivana appearing as a guest on TFI Friday.
I'm sure I knew of Donald (and Ivana) Trump by the late 80s, and made the connection with Otto Sump around the same time. I definitely first heard of Ivana when she was still married to Donald, so that's pre-1991
Like this guy, I've been familiar with Donald Trump since at least 1992:
(https://i.imgur.com/5m5ghKE.png?1)
He's always looked and dressed like shit. He's exactly as bald in this image as he is today, although he no longer draws his eyebrows with a sharpie.
I first became aware of him as a punchline on Saturday Night Clive, a year or more earlier, when his affair and impending divorce had US tabloids salivating so much at the prospect of his spouse taking him to the cleaners that the story made it over the Atlantic.
The publicity from that made him and Maples a sort of low rent celebrity couple for a while - the kind that got their pictures in UK tabloids but needed a caption to tell you who they were - but I can't remember reading or knowing much else about him until they divorced.
I heard nothing else about him* until the You've Been Trumped (https://youtu.be/fsfLTvnzwI8) documentary about him playing the Scottish Government like Elmer Gantry (https://youtu.be/ZDOI0cq6GZM) and The Daily Show's coverage of the Birther (https://youtu.be/HHckZCxdRkA?t=160) movement. I had no idea he'd become a game show host until then.
So then I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time.
* I remember my brother telling me about the billboards all over Atlantic City - TRUMP: THE BIG NAME IN ATLANTIC CITY and laughing at the tawdriness of it, but I think I assumed that was just an extension of his failed property development empire, rather than the beginning of his failed gambling empire
: The Amstor Computer 19 July, 2019, 06:42:30 PM
Likely correct - Sump first appeared in 1979, and none of the early stories featuring him seem to have any connection to Trump beyond the similar-sounding name.
The only counterargument I can think of would be that (if I remember correctly) Wagner and Grant have said in a few interviews that they used to devour newspapers to help come up with ideas for Dredd, so it's possible that by the time "Otto Sump's Ugly Clinic" rolled around the ongoing construction of Trump Tower had been mentioned in at least some of the more international-minded newspapers (or possibly mentioned on TV) and when it came to naming the tower Sump had bought, the Trump/Sump Tower conceit was fun enough for them to run with.
: Funt Solo 19 July, 2019, 07:03:15 PM
I don't think a few pesky facts should get in the way of a good theory!
See also: flat earth (gaining popularity these days as what were once isolated idiots are connected by the power of the Infobahn), faked moon landings (in which basically every other resident of the planet is in on the conspiracy except for those persecuted few that believe it) and the utterly splendid "right-angled contrails mean we're being drugged by the government" (introduced to me on this very board by a true believer).
It'll be child's play to get this Sump/Trump thing off the ground. (Honestly, I'd believe it's equally likely to be a coincidence or an actual factual homage based on knowing a bit about what's going on in the New York business community circa the late 70s / early 80s.)
Wagner and Grant have said in a few interviews that they used to devour newspapers to help come up with ideas for Dredd, so it's possible that by the time "Otto Sump's Ugly Clinic" rolled around the ongoing construction of Trump Tower had been mentioned in at least some of the more international-minded newspapers (or possibly mentioned on TV)
Wagner's a US citizen. Although he was probably too skint to visit family in 1980 and I'm not sure Trump's NYC minor celebrity status would have meant much in Pennsylvania.
I don't think it's a DJT reference, but I'm not sure the OP does either. Sometimes coincidences are just so interesting you want to share them and it's a shame to pass up any opportunity to take the piss out of Trump for how weird he's always looked:
(https://i.imgur.com/ZUJJ7Ka.png?1)
One strong gust and that wispy fringe is a goner. Note the head-to-shoulder-width ratio - and that's with padding
They used to speak about his 'Robert Redford good looks' back then. Gold-tinted glasses, it would seem.
At least Otto was only ugly on the outside.
The first time I saw a parody of Trump was probably Back to the Future II - and, along with loads of other people in this country, I'd have had no idea who it was a parody of (even though I may have heard of Ivana on the afore-mentioned Clive James show). I'd also have seen Elijah Wood in the same film, but nobody on either side of the Atlantic would have known who he was at the time :-)
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bttf/images/4/4c/Wild_Gunman_kids.jpg)
Ah well. I'm happy to accept it as a coincidence and not a reference.
Mayor Jim Grubb, however, was based on a man who had a newsagents shop in a village near Dundee. I know this for a factor because John Wagner told me. :D
: Leigh S 26 July, 2019, 05:30:13 PM
Strontium DOG Johnny Alpha(got that one)'s partner WULF Sternhammer
And we slate GFD....
: Dandontdare 26 July, 2019, 08:31:40 PM
My old mate from Peebles who I was at Dundee Uni with always drags out the anecdote of how he met "the real Fergee" - ie some guy he met in a pub who claimed that the character had been based on him - I've always been skeptical, but has John ever mentioned the inspiration for the king of the Big Smelly?
(https://i.imgur.com/OTI2wrw.png?2)
BBC Archive have made their Oscar-winning documentary The War Game available on iPlayer (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02zy7nt). It wasn't broadcast until 1985, but it'd be interesting to know whether bolshy Trot TB Grover saw it at the pictures:
https://youtu.be/6KQMwpTZStY
It wasn't broadcast until 1985, but it'd be interesting to know whether bolshy Trot TB Grover saw it at the pictures:
Especially since, IIRC, it was not originally released in cinemas, in fact the BBC chose to restrict access to a highly select audience so for a looooong time its reputation was largely anecdotal. Worth bearing in mind the level of nuclear hysteria that was prevalent around the time of the Apocalypse War, though.
Especially since, IIRC, it was not originally released in cinemas
The War Game was given an X-rating by the BBFC (https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/war-game) and released in UK cinemas in November 1965 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059894/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ql_dt_2).
It sounds like it probably only played on the arthouse and university circuit here, but like I say, it won an Academy Award (https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967). The director, Peter Watkins, was the same cat who made the Culloden (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/SJqjSQ243JckRSr7Tpj2XZ/televising-the-revolution-how-peter-watkins-went-to-war) documentary in the style of Vietnam newsreel.
: Dash Decent 31 July, 2019, 11:06:39 PM
Don't forget that Wulf is big, making him a 'Great Dane'. Alpha's helmet has a dog-nose appearance to it, and the SD badge looks like the tag on Scooby-Doo's collar!
I won't skate them for puns or dog references. I loved all those bits - "Next prog: Dog-gone!" etc.
: Tjm86 01 August, 2019, 12:35:17 PM
Thank you for clarifying my ignorance. I'd based my understanding in part on Watkins' own recollections which omitted the subsequent, apparently limited, general release by the BFI. He was slightly more than a little put out by the way in which the BBC handled the matter at the time, it seems.
: TordelBack 01 August, 2019, 07:54:43 PM
: Leigh S 02 August, 2019, 12:05:41 AM
What can I say, the sternHAMMER misdirection worked - Wagner = master magician!
Shaky Kane. Chaka Khan. Probably unintentional but it just crossed my mind today (and i spent the next hour with an earworm consisting of 'Shaky Kane' sung repeatedly in disco stylee).
: I, Cosh 06 August, 2019, 11:33:57 PM
Seems a bit of a stretch, but I'm too Scotch to get some English puns.
You know about GBH (dead) though?
: Dandontdare 06 August, 2019, 11:42:47 PM
ummm .. no?
: M.I.K. 07 August, 2019, 05:46:27 AM
I kind o' always assumed Shaky Kane was indeed a pun on Chaka Khan, while simultaneously being a (probably self-deprecating) reference to Bob Kane, with added possibility of intention to conjure up a mental image of a stick-brandishing codger.
...and maybe Shakin' Stevens.
: I, Cosh 07 August, 2019, 09:51:53 AM
If this was a reply to me sorry for the delay. I was hoping Frank would swoop in with an appropriate scan.
GBH (Dead) was an exiled Sha'Ka'Kan warrior.
haha no, that one DID go over my head.
I actually got that one, for once. Just thinking about GBH (Dead) yesterday. What a great character. Hard as nails, crazy-looking, with the voice of an old English aristocrat.
I was going to observe that GBH (Dead) must be one of the most unique comics character designs, but then I realised that could apply to the entire crew of the Speedo Ghost.
T.B. Grover and the Maestro, a neutron star collision of pure creation.
I've just remembered that I'm friends with Shaky on Facebook, or I was last time I checked. I'll ask him about the chaka khan thing.
: Steve Green 09 August, 2019, 09:27:25 AM
The unfortunate lab assistant in the DNA man is called Beaker after the muppet.
Anyone would think you'd been listening to the latest Space Spinner 2000 (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=44366.msg1010828#msg1010828)!
: Steve Green 09 August, 2019, 04:41:02 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/37HBfR8.png?2)(https://i.imgur.com/IDiatJF.png?3)
Who exactly was Moore talking to in the Northampton Arts Lab?
Glass shattered high above Seventh Avenue in Manhattan before dawn on a cold November morning in 1953. Seconds later, a body hit the sidewalk.
The night manager peered up through the darkness at his hulking hotel. After a few moments, he picked out a curtain flapping through an open window. Police officers entered room 1018A with guns drawn. They saw no one. The window was open.
Decades later, spectacular revelations cast the death in a completely new light. The victim was disturbed about his work with the CIA and wanted to quit, leading his comrades to consider him a security risk. This was no light matter for men who believed that the success or failure of project MK-Ultra might determine the fate of the US, and all humanity.
The Guardian: How A Deadly Fall Revealed The CIA's Deadliest Secrets (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/06/from-mind-control-to-murder-how-a-deadly-fall-revealed-the-cias-darkest-secrets)
A Netflix series, Wormwood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b01DL8DTUGM), covers this story from the point of view from Olson's family.
: JOE SOAP 08 September, 2019, 04:05:11 PM
The Olson tale first got into the mainstream via the original source book for these stories Operation Mind Control (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1543022618/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=aeebc627-7ecf-4129-8c0c-1d437f271eca&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0440167558&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=9VAJ9A4EHQ6WWRNAWKA3&pf_rd_r=9VAJ9A4EHQ6WWRNAWKA3&pf_rd_p=aeebc627-7ecf-4129-8c0c-1d437f271eca) (1978) by Walter Bowart. Another referred to in the book was the story of Candy Jones (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Jones) who cliamed to be a victim of the same programme – David Fincher was trying to get it made into a film at one point.
I haven't read Operation Mind Control, but the Olson's family's 1975 meeting with Gerald Ford appears to have sold them on the new cover story, that his death was an acid freak-out. It was their meeting with Gottlieb in 1984 that raised suspicions and the autopsy in the nineties revealed the head trauma and lack of toxins.
How A Deadly Fall Revealed The CIA's Deadliest Secrets ... Wormwood covers this story from the point of view from Olson's family
The CIA made me do that.
: Rackle 08 September, 2019, 05:40:49 PM
Well I just learnt something today. Guess I am a little bit less of an idiot now. :)
As pointed out by Jim Craig of the Megaverse (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2000admegaverse/permalink/2238788902948968/?comment_id=2238876796273512) group, Ezquerra's unusual boot holster design found favour with at least one fan:
(https://i.imgur.com/Iox5d2q.png) (https://i.imgur.com/BA27WXY.png)
Art from Bank Raid, Wagner & Ezquerra's first, unpublished Dredd strip. Image taken from the 1981 Judge Dredd Annual, which printed the story with all the spicy dialogue (https://helpers.seattlereviewofbooks.com/webhook-uploads/1470637628514/Bank-Raid-02.gif) about Dredd being an executioner excised.
: sheridan 21 September, 2019, 12:08:28 AM
Boot holsters are a bit silly when you're standing up, but make sense when you're on a bike. Or speeder bike.
It's only a week ago, but what went over my head (but was later mentioned in the prog thread) was that it was Dredd's helmet sitting on the dying Hershey's bed, not her own.
Made the scene all the more poignant for me.
I only just learned that 'Hocus Pocus' is most likely a 17th C mockery of 'Hoc est corpus meum': the 'magic words' of transubstantiation in the latin Mass. Surely Uncle Pat has used that factoid somewhere...?
In other considerably more embarrassing news, my wife recently and rather sternly informed me that the phrase "hooking up" exclusively refers to the sex act. I was under the impression it had the more general meaning of meeting up, or casually getting together socially. So when I've (frequently) told folks I'll try to hook up with them later, I may have been terrifying them. Especially when I was trying to get out of going drinking with junior colleagues...
...your Honour.
The first one: Wow! I honestly never knew that. I had aspirations to be a magician as a kid, and learned lots of good tricks, and really wish I hadn't let (in hindsight, jealous) friends put a stop to it.
The second one: Nahhh, I'm not having that. I've heard it used in purely social contexts loads of times. Either that or some of my best male friends want to shag me.
The US-centric English-speaking internet suggests it means either 'having sex' or anything along those lines but having sex. One study found three cohorts, the second of which had a completly non-sexual social definition. Though the Merrion Webster page links to the definition of 'hooker', so you probably don't want to use the phrase around junior colleagues. Or senior colleagues, for that matter.
Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hook_up#English) has a more balanced definition (unless it's suggesting Madonna had sex with a French music producer).
I'm very glad that Jayzus, as my Dublin/Kildare contemporary, has heard it in the sense I always intended, but as Sheridan's research suggests, and my missus avers, the younger native-netizen crowd may be hearing something totally different. So as I often find myself in the role of managing a lot of youngsters (anyone under 30, obv) I'm going to be trying to avoid this one.
I doubt all those kids in 80s US sitcoms 'hooking-up' meant they were indulging in horizontal refreshment.
"Hooking up" was a term known in the year 2000 to almost every American child over the age of nine, but to only a relatively small percentage of their parents, who, even if they heard it, thought it was being used in the old sense of "meeting" someone. Among the children, hooking up was always a sexual experience, but the nature and extent of what they did could vary widely. Back in the twentieth century, American girls had used baseball terminology. "First base" referred to embracing and kissing; "second base" referred to groping and fondling and deep, or "French," kissing, commonly known as "heavy petting"; "third base" referred to fellatio, usually known in polite conversation by the ambiguous term "oral sex"; and "home plate" meant conception-mode intercourse, known familiarly as "going all the way." In the year 2000, in the era of hooking up, "first base" meant deep kissing ("tonsil hockey"), groping, and fondling; "second base" meant oral sex; "third base" meant going all the way; and "home plate" meant learning each other's names. – Tom Wolfe, Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the Second Millennium: An American's World
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/wolfe-hooking.html
: Tjm86 29 September, 2019, 06:04:52 PM
Re-reading this I'm minded of the B5 episode in which Ivanova has to have 'sex' with an alien ambassador to seal a treaty. Having conned him royally, the puzzled shrug she gives in response to his "well what happens now" question was superb.
"Old style, you roll over and go to bed. New style, you go out for pizza, I never see you again."
"Next time…my way."
I think I'll join you in not using that one again. My students, who struggle at the best of times with phrasal verbs such as this one, will not be introduced to it.
They'll just have to jolly well work it out for themselves.
: Funt Solo 30 September, 2019, 01:00:53 AM
Phrases I'm uncomfortable using as a teacher but only discovered that by saying them (from nurture) and then backtracking quickly (from nature):
- Rule of thumb - despite it's probably innocent etymology there's a commonly held belief that it has something to do with legal wife beating. I use heuristic, instead, to avoid confusion. Although I have to define it. Without saying anything about thumbs.
- What did your last slave die of? - something my mum used to say to me, that I absolutely mustn't say here in the US, where slavery is rather a contentious issue, given that some people still think it was rather a good idea.
- Off the reservation - a phrase that means "out of control", or "outside the normal bounds" but is rooted rather directly in the forced relocation of indigenous Americans. My in-laws live "on the res": so reservations still exist, and to describe leaving said area as a negative, well...it's just not okay.
All this fuss over interpretation of words (and their etymology) reminds me of an old Dick Emery sketch ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gk_2TO8uwM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gk_2TO8uwM)
(https://i.imgur.com/Iu673vj.png)
Probe ... nudge nudge ... woof woof!
To me (as an equally grizzled Scotchman), "hookup" to mean something more than "casually meet" is an exclusively American usage. However, I understand that in these modern media times such distinctions are less concrete.
Rule of thumb - despite it's probably innocent etymology there's a commonly held belief that it has something to do with legal wife beating.
Wow. Your other examples make sense but I've never heard this one.
Rule of thumb has always meant 'rough estimate,' to me, like a carpenter measuring a distance with his thumb when precision isn't important. The wife beating angle does ring a distant bell, though - something about making a fist with the thumb on the inside so that if one punches too hard one breaks it. For serious fighting, thumb on the outside; for wife beating, thumb on the inside. Both condescending and beastly. Yeuch.
What did your last slave die of? Still pretty common in these parts, more employed in semi-jest in the face of an imposition or something. My usual response is, of course, "overwork."
Off the reservation I always took to mean "free," or sometimes "on the run." I always saw it as a positive phrase. I find it quite disheartening to see it also tied to "out of control" in the negative sense.
Well, a rule or ruler is something that people use to measure things. A thumb is something that people may use to measure things if a proper rule isn't available. Any other etymology is false (so no 'probably' about it - any guilty association has been made up by those wanting to lord over what other people can and can't say).
Sure, but etymology (always somewhat contested) is sadly less important than a term's current usage or understanding. Now I'm not going to stop using 'rule of thumb' anytime soon, but I have given up on 'niggardly'. It's just not worth the potential grief for all parties.
We have to pick our battles, i suppose*? I lost the war for 'decimation' some time ago but soldier on (with 90% of my initial enthusiasm), and i'm still holding the line on 'retard', despite being assured it's now much the same as 'moron' or 'idiot'. Not in my hearing!
*my concern about 'hooking up' isn't that I'm necessarily wrong, it's that some poor person working for me is going to think I'm hitting on them, which is really don't want, as opposed to offering a deliberately mealy-mouthed intention of seeing them drunk in some godawful loud and expensive dive later that evening. For the same reason I've stopped patting people on the back, or putting my hand on their shoulder. I know I mean to encourage or comfort, what actually matters is what THEY feel.
I guess we're experiencing the evolution of society. Some of it seems to be going okay, I guess, some of it doesn't seem to change much and some of it's a bit worrying. It was ever thus, I suppose, as we struggle to find ways to live together.
I refuse to stop using 'niggardly' altogether but I do tend to limit it, I think. It's weird, I'm all for an evolving and dynamic language (which is one of the things I love about English) but I find some aspects, like my own self-censorship, a bit dodgy. I hate losing words, but on the other hand I love learning new ones. I'd never want to lose the right to use the word that tarnishes the perfectly crumulent 'niggardly,' but assume the responsibility to use it wisely and in context - such as in the voiceover version of Blade Runner.
.... and i'm still holding the line on 'retard', despite being assured it's now much the same as 'moron' or 'idiot'. Not in my hearing!
Nope. It's in the same vein as c****, p*** or n*****. The same with 'mongrol' or 'spastic'. Derogatory terms that refer to individuals with a disability with the same level of contempt as their racist counterparts. I've landed myself in trouble recently for challenging someone on its use. No objection was raised over the use of the 'r' word but within the context of the debate the 'n' word was considered totally inappropriate (and yes I am conscious of the irony in my self-censorship here Personally I believe it is appropriate to name language that should not be used but apparently this is not the case).
Last time I checked though, current legislation doesn't quite see it the same way. Discrimination on disability grounds is fortunately now illegal.
: Funt Solo 30 September, 2019, 07:16:32 PM
All my language moderation as a high school teacher is based on a single theme: trying not to offend, and especially being careful that I don't unintentionally offend a minority student in my classroom. I need them to know that I'm on side. It's not about me and my freedom to say whatever I want: it's about providing a comfortable learning environment.
So, "rule of thumb" (because of a probably incorrect etymology - and I say probably because the actual etymology is guesswork) is out because of the connotations of domestic violence towards women. Women are a minority in the tech industry. I want to keep the focus on tech, not get suddenly drawn into a discussion about whether a phrase relates to domestic violence: so I avoid it.
"Niggardly" is out because it sounds so much like "nigger". It doesn't matter that the etymologies are separate: I'm just going to sound like a complete Scunthorpe if I use "niggardly", get questioned about it (which I'm sure I would) and then defend it on the grounds that I'm Mr. Logic. Remember Viz: he's an irritating bastard. Why would I push a point and risk offending my black students? They're another minority in tech.
Same for "off the reservation" (potentially offending Indians), "retard" (because it's used as an attack word and 38% of my students have special needs) and any mention of slaves (because this is america (https://youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY)).
I'm not a female, black, Indian student with special needs (or any one of those), but I'm on their side. Woke, mofo!
Woke, mofo!
As an insomniac who suffers from an Oedipal complex, I find those words offensive ;)
Quick, somebody plug the national grid into Orwell's grave...
: shaolin_monkey 30 September, 2019, 11:46:43 PM
I got caught out a few years back when describing how a Prince Albert is pierced, by commenting the needle goes in under your helmet and comes out your japs eye. My usual self censorship completely missed that one, but was thankfully highlighted by a member (excuse the pun) of my group instantaneously. It's crazy what vocabulary flies under your own radar sometimes!
The correct term non-racist term is 'urethral orifice'. But all the same, be wary of using it around people who are squeamish of needles and body modifications.
: Tiplodocus 02 October, 2019, 09:10:42 AM
Somebody suggested the term "fancy-dan" might not be treating people respectfully the other day. I couldn't find anything about it's use other than overly ostentatious. Turns out his father-in-law uses it in a very derogatory manner.
I'm with Tordels on decimated but I too have given up.
I still correct people on imply/infer and electrocuted/electric shock.
But imma prolly give up on "It's a big ask!".
No, it's a "big thing to ask". The evil that emerges from sports journo desks.
: The Legendary Shark 02 October, 2019, 09:58:44 AM
I still correct people on ... electrocuted/electric shock.
I bet you're a joy to have around in an emergency :D
: Proudhuff 02 October, 2019, 10:31:35 AM
I thought the Rule of thumb was about the size of stick that could be used for a beating or servants... no thicker than your thumb.
: shaolin_monkey 02 October, 2019, 10:37:48 AM
"The 'rule of thumb' has been said to derive from the belief that English law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick so long as it is was no thicker than his thumb.
In 1782, Judge Sir Francis Buller is reported as having made this legal ruling and in the following year James Gillray published a satirical cartoon attacking Buller and caricaturing him as 'Judge Thumb'. The cartoon shows a man beating a fleeing woman and Buller carrying two bundles of sticks. The caption reads "thumbsticks - for family correction: warranted lawful!""
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/rule-of-thumb.html
And then after that bit it continues:
the 'rule of thumb' has never been the law in England.
Even if people mistakenly supposed the law to exist, there's no reason to believe that anyone ever called it the 'rule of thumb'. Despite the phrase being in common use since the 17th century and appearing many thousands of times in print, there are no printed records that associate it with domestic violence until the 1970s, when the notion was castigated by feminists.
The oldest attribution refers to measuring something with a thumb instead of a ruler (as has been pointed out up-thread).
"many profest Christians are like to foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb, (as we use to speak) and not by Square and Rule."
: shaolin_monkey 02 October, 2019, 01:16:26 PM
That'll teach me to thoroughly read my own sources. :D
oh, where's that quote from sheridan?
"The earliest known use of it in print appears in a sermon given by the English puritan James Durham and printed in Heaven Upon Earth, 1685." (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/rule-of-thumb.html)
: ming 10 October, 2019, 12:54:30 PM
Nasty vicious bitey-bitey things...
Klegg = Clegg (or, in Norwegian, Klegg).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse-fly
As a kid I heard the feckers called clegs in Ireland too- this would have been in Clare, I think. Also creabhars, in Meath. I just call them shitfuckinbastards.
Also creabhars, in Meath. I just call them shitfuckinbastards.
I never heard that one in Meath, and I was born and bred in the kip. The second one is more familiar, especially as a houseboat dweller (or aquaknacker, as the locals call us).
I heard it used in Nobber - which is a place, nay a world, unto itself! - and also Ratoath. I'm only guessing at the spelling, cos I've a vague feeling it's just horsefly as gaeilge, but alas my Irish education ran more towards rote-learning prepared statements on dífhostaíocht and ríomhairí. It was pronounced "Crowhers".
: Funt Solo 11 October, 2019, 04:16:47 AM
They were called clegs in the Highlands, as well: it says from Old Norse kleggi on the interweb. Feckin' horseflies.
: CalHab 11 October, 2019, 12:45:56 PM
Yup, always heard them called clegs in Scotland.
Nobber! They eat their young out there.
I heard it used in Nobber - which is a place, nay a world, unto itself!
I'd never heard of it, but see that Nobber is just South of the border. No opportunity for double entendres there. And I'm sure it's never been said that the Archdeacon of Nobber is a euphemism.
It gets better than that! IIRC 'Nobber' is an anglicisation of 'an obair' = 'the work', probably referring to the large Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey earthwork at the edge of the village.
Now it so happens that the Dublinese for girlfriend is 'Mot' (from 'maith an cailín' = 'good girl'). So as a callow lad of 18 working away from home for the first time in that eponymous village, references to 'Nobber motte' regularly had me in stitches.
Thanks for the education - I did try to learn a bit of Gaelic a few years back, but fell at the pronounciation hurdle!
: Funt Solo 20 October, 2019, 05:27:14 PM
Mind the oranges, Marlon being a deeper reference than I thought...
(https://s.studiobinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/How-to-Use-Color-in-Film-Movie-Color-Palettes-Associative-Colors-The-Godfather.jpg)
Yep, I copped that lonnng after reading it; or possibly had it explained to me on this forum. I don't quite remember. Who would have thought it was a layered story.
I've only just noticed that the leader of the Parliament gang in Carroll's zarjaz Dredd story 'The Long Game' is called Andrel Markota and bears something of a resemblance to this person:
(https://www.dw.com/image/18498453_303.jpg)
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRyuO8s7PH65H2NvtsUjJoZYX-r3kgBaiE9BGn87kgoPcKcZGWi)
Apologies, can't find a larger version of that page, but that's her down the bottom! Squint, damn you!
I only recently realised that 'phizog' is short for physiognomy. I know nothing, Jon Snow.
I realised at the zoo that eiderdown is actual downy feathers from a spieces of duck called the Eider.
Get the feck outta here. I don't think I even realised till now that the 'down' part referred to feathers, never mind the Eider part
Venus on the Frag Shell (Friday-era Venus Bluegenes story) and Venus of the Hard Sell (Song written by John Constantine when he was a punk singer):
Venus on the Half-Shell (sci fi novel inspired by Botticelli's Birth of Venus).
Friday, Top, Eightball ... and LUCKY.
LUCKY ... because he's a BAG! Slaps forehead and kicks self for 30 years spent knowing there was something there but never quite making the (obvious) connection
: radiator 30 October, 2019, 11:42:49 PM
.....I still don't get it.
I've never heard of it either. According to wikipedia it's some sort of obscure US Navy reference? lucky bag (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Bag)?
: Dandontdare 31 October, 2019, 12:49:18 AM
Did you not have lucky bags (https://www.google.com/search?q=%22lucky+bag%22+sweets&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjo8si7osXlAhVHdBoKHcAZDSwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=%22lucky+bag%22+sweets&gs_l=img.3..0.31218.32925..34627...0.0..0.182.983.0j6......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i30j0i8i30j0i24.BssZGzOE4i0&ei=di66XejfCMfoacCztOAC&bih=598&biw=1216&client=firefox-b-d) as a kid? They were basically proto-lootboxes with mainly sweets, but also stuff like crayons, stickers or small toys.
And, my personal favourite, plastic vampire teeth.
: Frank 31 October, 2019, 07:07:32 AM
Even in 1988, it was a sort of Baby Boomer reference, but, looking at those reactions, it seems the concept might have lived longer in the imagination the further north you popped into existence.
Lucky bags belong to the same cinematic universe as jawbreakers, paying for a cinema ticket with jam jars, and Ready Steady Go - shit your parents wanged on about when they were drunk.
I was in a family-run chippie last week and they had jars of those mix-up sweets - shoelaces, rhubarb and custard, blackjacks - behind the counter. I realised the nostalgia they provoked in me was the second-hand, Brexity WE DIDN'T FIGHT TWO WORLD WARS, ersatz kind. They reminded me of my childhood in the sense that they reminded me of my mum and dad buying me a mix-up and telling me how much it reminded them of their lives as kids, which I enjoyed. But the rubbish of my own childhood was Wispas, Um Bongo and Space Raiders
You've perfectly described lucky dips (which came in bags but were called lucky dips where I came from) :P
: Dark Jimbo 31 October, 2019, 08:31:20 AM
If I might skew the results of your graph a bit; I was born in the mid-80s (so grew up in the 90s) right on the South Coast - and Lucky Bags were very definitely 'a thing.'
Lucky bags a part of my '70s Dublin childhood too: campsite shops and seaside towns appeared to do a particularly strong line in them. The single comic generally included were weird US things like Tweetie Pie & Sylvester or Scrooge McDuck, which I never saw anywhere else, and whose sole value were the ads for 1000 Army Men, Sea Monkeys and the ubiquitous X-Ray Specs. Many a rainy day in a 10ft caravan in Carraroe or Kilmuckridge was spent in contemplation of the boundless possibilities implied.
I concur with Sharky on the vampire teeth, arsom. Also, crappy pencils the lead in which came pre-shattered.
Friday, Eightball, Top and Dip.
: Link Prime 31 October, 2019, 02:02:16 PM
Lucky bags a part of my '70s Dublin childhood too: campsite shops and seaside towns appeared to do a particularly strong line in them. The single comic generally included were weird US things like Tweetie Pie & Sylvester or Scrooge McDuck, which I never saw anywhere else, and whose sole value were the ads for 1000 Army Men, Sea Monkeys and the ubiquitous X-Ray Specs.
We can only assume that the same entrepreneur who brought Lucky Bags to our emerald shores was also responsible for flooding every 70's / 80's newsagent with Put On Stickers.
I'm pretty sure that "Lucky" earned his GI nickname due to a compulsive gambling habit.
That blue skinned cardsharp was spotted with a deck once or twice in the Progs.
Yeah, but Top was also destined to become a hat and Eightball's aim would come in handy in his new career as a gun.
The names are still improbable and on the nose, just not in the nose.
You missed the subtext regarding Missionary position predilection and clone-pattern baldness.
I'd forgotten all about Lucky Bags. Lucky Dips were something different: two connected bags of vaguely different flavours of sherbet, and an edible Swizzle Stick (tm) to dip in them.
Edit:. No they weren't. https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/swizzels-matlow-double-dip (https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/swizzels-matlow-double-dip)
: The Legendary Shark 01 November, 2019, 02:29:54 AM
In the dim and distant, at school, I once accidentally induced an erection in one of my best friends by describing a view of Miss Morris, our English teacher, through x-ray specs.
Damn those Lucky Bags - all full of destiny and shit.
Photos or it didn't happen.
The Legendary Fluffer.
I honestly don't enjoy pointing this out, but the writer who came up with his name had no idea he was going to become a bag in later stories, nor indeed that there would be later stories. While I can't quite remember clearly, he may have been a Bagman proxy, though, and given Friday his bag, so maybe there's something in it.
Have to say, the gambling theory works better for me. He was definitely a card player.
That's definitely the actual reason. That, and (IIRC) he's Trooper 13 (Top is 1, Eightball is 8, Friday is 19 (?)). There really is no bag connection at all, other than that he has a good supply of gear (including cards) in his pack that Friday picks up. As you say, the bag thing is an ugly retcon.
: Link Prime 01 November, 2019, 11:55:33 AM
OG Bagman bit the bullet in Prog 949 - guess you could say he was Lucky not to have starred in any further Fr1day adventures....amirite????
< Snorts Breaking Bad blue crystal meth from combat knife >
Growing up in Australia, a lucky dip was a blind pick of some very small and cheap toys (like said vampire teeth) usually stuck in a paper bag and stapled up or scrunched closed. They'd all be in an enclosed box with a slot so you could get your hand in. They cost 5 cents or 10 cents or 20 cents to have a go - "pocket money prices". You dipped your hand in, drew out a random bag and looked to see how lucky you were. You'd never get anything as big as a comic in them. They're pretty much the equivalent of all the "blind buy" type toys you get these days, e.g. Lego minifigures.
I'm sure I read the Americans had similar 100+ years ago with toys stuck in a bran tub, so you literally had to worm your way around feeling for a prize to grab.
Something with a comic and rubbish plastic toys sounds more like a show bag, which you buy at the show (county fair). These were originally (many years before I was born) sample bags that used to get given away for free, then were charged for, and now - like the proverbial Quality Street tin now being twice the money for half the weight and full of nasty toffees instead of chocolates - aren't great value for money.
Actually we got lots of US comics at the newsagent so that wasn't strange, but the show bags were the only place my brother & I came across UK Star Wars comics.
Oh, and just to bore you all a tiny bit further, we call cotton floss/cotton candy "fairy floss".
The single comic generally included were weird US things like Tweetie Pie & Sylvester or Scrooge McDuck, which I never saw anywhere else, and whose sole value were the ads for 1000 Army Men, Sea Monkeys and the ubiquitous X-Ray Specs. Many a rainy day in a 10ft caravan in Carraroe or Kilmuckridge was spent in contemplation of the boundless possibilities implied.
I'm with you there, TordelBack. How my brother & I imagined getting those Army Men, or the brilliant-looking sea monkeys, or x-ray glasses, or selling "GRIT" for points to redeem for prizes, or even trying a twinkie or a hostess fruit pie!
There's a great book called Mail Order Mysteries (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mail-Order-Mysteries-Delightful-Treasures-Vintage/dp/160887026X) that reproduces the ads then shows you what you would've really got. Imagining the toys was more fun that the world of disappointment that they would have brought with them. Those 100 army soldiers? They're as thin as a credit card! They look okay from the side but not face-on. The army locker they come in? Cardboard!
amirite????
AmaLite!
(Thinks: Better come up with a tenuous connection to the thread topic). I've only just realised that it's not actually Leonardo DiCaprio posting here under an alias. (It's actually some red-faced dude.) I can't be the only one to think that the pilot's uniform was a clue that he was flying under the radar, right? Right???
: JOE SOAP 01 November, 2019, 12:45:35 PM
The Mad Genius Behind Sea Monkeys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0xXKCOSZuQ)
Dash's description of the Lucky Dip maps onto the Tenpenny Bag, a simple paper bag closed with a twist that contained a shopkeeper-chosen 'random' assortment of ha'penny sweets, in my experience heavily biased towards the Fruit Salad end of the spectrum. I still.see them around, but I don't know how much they cost in modern money.
That's definitely the actual reason. That, and (IIRC) he's Trooper 13
(Slaps forehead)
Staring me in the fecking face.
Hah, never knew that it was Joe Orlando who drew the sea monkeys! That AND Tales of the Black Freighter!
it's not actually Leonardo DiCaprio posting here
I've never vaped. Or listened to MGMT on noise-cancelling headphones. Not during sex (https://jezebel.com/leonardo-dicaprios-alleged-sex-technique-takes-off-1835585158), anyway.
... the writer who came up with his name had no idea he was going to become a bag in later stories ...
Dave Gibbons has been around a bit. I think he knew exactly what would happen after he left.
He'd got rid of the cheesey names (for a while), which is more significant change than most writers get to achieve with reboots of corporate characters.
Hmmm, I've certainly participated in the devil's mambo while wearing headphones, although usually with a splitter involved so both parties were on the same page; i've also incorporated some non-tobacco based inhalation back before I was a law-abiding citizen. I suppose adding the noise cancellation aspect might help with drowning out the kids banging on the door for food and/or credit for the Playstation store.
Those rumours of peformance issues ...
he's Trooper 13 (Top is 1, Eightball is 8, Friday is 19 (?)).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJFvtvTGEk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJFvtvTGEk)
Genius.
Serious receding hairline for a young lad of 19, though.
: Proudhuff 05 November, 2019, 02:53:37 PM
i thought it was because of his number... ( 7 or 13?)
I watched Mad Max 2 when I was about 11. To me then, it was the most amazing thing I'd seen in my life and I rebuilt my Walter Mitty-esque fantasy persona to be exactly like Max. Fortunately I haven't turned out to be a drunken racist nutjob.*