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Parkhouse Part 2
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The
Black Knight |
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How did you
come to be involved with Marvel UK, and how did it compare with more 'established'
publishers like IPC?
Well, there was
a bunch of us at IPC: Steve Moore, Dez Skinn, Kev O'Neill. We all left at about
the same time and Dez wound up in charge of Marvel UK. He asked me to write some
stuff and it developed from there. It was much less institutionalised than IPC.
Much less rigid. And those ridiculous managing editors with their pipes and cardigans
were mercifully absent. Ideas were more appreciated, rather than feared. Give
Dez his due, he knew how to give you space to work.
For Hulk Weekly
you wrote 'The Black Knight', with art by Paul Neary and John Stokes. What led
the revival of the character, and how did you come to root the character in Celtic
myths?
The Americans had
initially made the connection between the Black Knight and Arthurian myth. Or
am I thinking of Captain Britain? Whatever the case, it seemed a natural path
to take. I'd just come back from a holiday on the Isles of Scilly, famed for their
prehistoric burial grounds. I remember sitting on a headland gazing out to sea,
with nothing but the open Atlantic between me and the Eastern seaboard of America;
and the whole story landed in my lap. It seemed like fate. I'm in love with Britain
and the British myths. It's my link to the traditions of storytelling. The landscape
holds the secrets of so much Celtic lore. I wanted to claim back the characters
from the Americans - who deal with everything in such a superficial way. I wrote
the outline shortly afterwards and was given the go-ahead.
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Nightraven
(illustrated by David Lloyd) |
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Also for Hulk
Weekly you produced the 'Nightraven' strip with Dave Lloyd and John Bolton. What
was the genesis of the strip, and did you enjoy writing something with such a
high pulp-influence to it?
As far as I know it was
Dez who came up with the basic idea. He was the pulp fan, not me. I didn't think
much of it, I'm afraid - and still don't. I don't care for genre entertainment
- but I'll do it if I'm asked. David
Lloyd seemed to get some kind of buzz out of it, but I thought it was a bit silly
and ill-considered.
How did you become the regular writer on the Dr. Who strip for Dr. Who Weekly
alongside artist Dave Gibbons?
Because of the work I'd
done on The Black Knight, Hulk and Nightraven - Alan McKenzie offered me the job
after Pat Mills quit. Did Steve Moore do a stint as well? Alan McKenzie was editing
the magazine after assisting Dez at Marvel UK. The first script I submitted seemed
to grab Alan and I was given the regular slot. I took advantage of Dave's amazing
facility with technical subjects, and the fact that contributors were allowed
to talk to each other. I asked him: Dave, what do you want to draw? And he replied,
typically. The three A's. Action, aliens and 'ardware.
I took him at his
word and it just took off.
You have been quoted as saying of the television version of Dr. Who:
"I perceived
the programme as juvenile entertainment, where almost-famous actors delivered
third-rate lines whilst avoiding the wobbly scenery."
Given that you were not a fan of the source material, what was your attitude towards
working on the strip?
It was a totally different
animal. In spite of received wisdom, I've never seen television as a visual medium.
It's just radio with a screen. Most things work best on radio. Television is run
by people who are visually illiterate. They think a disused quarry is a great
set for a show because it's cheap and it's just down the road. The fact that it
makes the programme look like crap just doesn't occur to them. They're unimaginative
and dull and they're obsessed with soaps and so-called "social realism".
I only watch two things on TV. Football and humour. And a bit of cricket. And
the occasional movie. But none of it is visual, apart from the movies. I suppose
they've been hampered by technical considerations; but I mean, what's visually
stimulating about Coronation Street?
We had a chance
on the strip to do some big-scale stuff. The Tides of Time was a potential epic,
ranging through so much scenery, from one end of the galaxy to the other. Dave
was challenged by the idea of starting a story with a village cricket match. But
he did a great job.
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Parkhouse
and Gibbons on Dr. Who |
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Dave Gibbons
said that you developed a 'Marvel-style' of working on the strip. Did you think
that, during your tenure with Gibbons, you managed to open the strip out from
its original source material, particularly on stories like 'The Stars Fell on
Stockbridge' and 'The Neutron Knights'?
That was my intent.
To take it away from the TV people and their faintly ludicrous assumptions. It
was BBC science fiction all down the line. Power hungry aliens versus an emotionally
challenged and sexually inhibited hero.
It was pure nostalgia
in essence, reflecting a generation who's predilections frankly mystified me.
Your final work on the Dr. Who strip was on the 'Voyager' storyline with John
Ridgeway, which many note as being the highlight of the strips history, mixing
humour, introspective drama and multiple narrative styles. How do you look back
on the strip, and your collaboration with Ridgeway today?
I enjoyed throwing
everything at John because he's such a nice man. I wanted to give him a party.
I think he enjoyed the variety and the manic pace. He was coming from a tradition
of War Picture Library and Prince Valiant. He reminded me of an uncle who'd taken
acid by mistake - so they just give in and go along for the ride. I still have
some of his original pages and I'm convinced they're his best work.
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