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Review
As the year draws to a close, and with 2000AD's 30th anniversary
just around the corner, it's time to find out what our regular reviewers thought
of the Galaxy's Greatest Comic this year...
Best newcomer
Edmund Bagwell |
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Gavin Hanly: I'd have to go with Edmund
Bagwell on this one. His Future Shock in prog 1508 was
one of the most impressive debuts I've seen in long while. Certainly someone
I want to see more of in 2007.
James Mackay: I’ll praise
the lovely stylings of Edmund Bagwell,
artist on the Future Shock “Spaceland” in 1508. Detailed,
clever, instantly recognisable, I hope to see more from this artist next year.
Robert Cornell: I can’t say I spotted any. 2000 AD has a “stable” of
proven creators at the moment. Until DC or Marvel offer Spurrier, Rennie & co
a suitcase full of cash there won’t be many open slots. Good. Sorry, bad.
I mean good…
Alex Frith: If the rules aren't too strict, I vote for Rufus Dayglo,
he of some truly excellent covers that evoke the 2000 AD style in both a retro
and contemporary sensibility, and a neat little 'Tales from
the Black Museum'
episode. Get that man a series!
Stephen Watson: Not too many to choose from
but for a few good Future Shocks, his first strip (Go Machine) and a
couple of clever Black Museum resurrections I’m going for Al
Ewing. I know he’s
had a few things in earlier, but I think it’s safe to say that 2006 has
been his breakthrough
year.
Linton Porteous: . I
know this is supposed to be best newcomer in terms of creative talent, but I
don't really know who's new in terms of the creators of the strips. Instead,
I've opted for a new character instead, in what I consider the two best one-off
Dredd strips of the year: Dominoes (prog
1482) and Splashdown (Meg
245): Domino Blank-One.
New
major characters for Dredd's world are often in the mould of poor Anderson clones,
grim street judges or actual clones of Dredd himself – who anyway often
fills all the roles required, where he is the undercover agent (Banana City)
or the military chief (Regime Change) dependent on the needs of the story. Here,
Domino adds a whole new layer to the Justice Department and is more than a match
for Dredd himself.
"Smudge"
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Andrew Howe: There were almost no new writers this year (I imagine somebody’s
already made the joke about Cal Hamilton), which opens the way for Smudge (Chiaroscuro)
and Lee Garbett (London Falling) to take the honours. Both
artists have unusual styles, so I’m hoping the editorial team will allow
them to work on stories that play to their strengths in 2007.
Bryan Coyle: I don't think there's been any
'proper' newcomers this year - Al Ewing's the only Future Shock chap who's stepped up from FS to series', but
he's been knocking at Tharg's door for a year or two now, surely? But I'll
go with Rufus Dayglo's McMahon-inspired art more than anything else, as it's
always good to see line art that's clear and distinctive, and quirky to boot
- something with a bit of an edge to it. I'd like to see his take on a
space-war story.
Adam Crabtree: If Al Ewing doesn’t walk the Hell away with this one…
He’s
been a background presence in the mags before now, but this has really been his
year. Excellent, well-realised dialogue combines with truly extraordinary scale
and imagination to create something that might well have come from the pen of
Russell T Davies and gone out to an audience of millions! This writer’s
unfailing cognition of the human perspective grounds his stories and gives them
depth and heart… even in a five page format. Some rather wild comparisons
to the careers of other, rather well-known writers who got their start through
Tharg’s stable seem that little bit more justified after 2006!
Three parter Go-Machine was a highlight, but Ewing
seems especially adept at one-shots; the five pager is his territory and when
he’s in there he can’t be
touched. Black Museum tale and Future Shock alike is knocked out of the park
by this droid.
David Knight: We’re seeing a lot more
of Rufus
Dayglo’s work in 2000AD and the Megazine these days, which is
a jolly good thing. He did us proud with the cover of Megazine 244 and the Tales
from the Black Museum story God
of Gamblers.
Lee Garbett |
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Jordan Smith: Smudge would have
won this vote if he used that cool dotted thing as shading on every panel instead
of just the parts from the movie Chiaroscuro. But Lee Garbett wins
because his art is very cool indeed, looks like anime
and with the help of a great colourist, has some very nice panels.
I can't wait
to see more of John Smith and this artist on Dead Eyes later in 2007 because
if the creature on the preview looks as good as the monsters from London Falling,
then it's sure to be great fun! A very talented artist indeed and definetly the
coolest new boy on the block.
Martin Charlton: God, been a bit
of an old boys club this year, hasn’t
it? I’m going to go for Simon Bowland as the new boy of
lettering in 2000AD. Perhaps he’ll always be seen as a replacement for Tom Frame, or some such,
but his lettering is well placed, with a distinctive style (I often feel that
Ellie & Annie’s work is somewhat samey). Here’s to a glorious
career for Tharg’s latest letterbot.
WR Logan: I might not be picking an obvious
choice and is he still classed as a newcomer, well no matter my vote goes to Jon
Oliver. He’s
done a fantastic job on 2000AD’s graphic novel line and for that alone
he deserves to win something.
Pete McCosh: There weren’t many names to choose from here, but Lee
Garbett’s work on London Falling was pretty nice.
Joseph Saxton: Have we had anyone new this
year?
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