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Up 31/1/04
News Special:
31 January 04
 Judge
Dredd in Metro
This week saw the
first incarnation of a Judge Dredd daily newspaper strip since the much missed
Daily Star version. For a 6 month period, daily commuters will be able to see
the adventures of Mega City's finest in the free newspaper, Metro, in what could
possibly present the biggest PR push for the character in recent years, eclipsing
even the recent Dredd vs Death video game.
We caught up with
2000AD publisher, Dominic Preston, to find out more.
How did the
deal with Metro come about?
DP: We have
been keen on the idea of a Dredd strip in a newspaper for a while so I e-mailed
Metro from their website in the hope that I would stumble across a fan. After
4 e-mails, a fan replied who, luckily, was one of the editors. They were originally
keen on Strontium Dog stories but we felt that Dredd was more identifiable and
fitted into the urban environment better. Who knows, if we continue we could look
at this possibility.
I did also speak
to The Sun when Striker was pulled but I did not manage to find the 2000AD fan.
I must thank Kieran at Metro for being so straight-forward, helpful and easy to
deal with.
It's been said
it will run for 6 months - are there plans to carry on longer if possible?
DP:
It will run for 6 months, 26 weeks. We will review how it has gone towards the
end of the tenure and if Metro are happy and we are happy we will continue to
run them.
 Were
you influenced by the Daily Star strips, or has there been a change in direction?
DP: Personally
I have not read them and have no idea what direction they went in in the first
place.
How have you
dealt with the limitations of the format?
DP: We have
tried to work each story into the week, rather than go for the 3 panel gag touch.
We wanted there to be an incentive to read the strips through the week and create
a story about urban life. The 3 panels need to stand alone as much as possible
but 2000 AD and the Megazine are anthologies, after all. When all is said and
done, we are dealing with professionals and although we do not have much space,
we can make the most of it.
This
also means that you need 26 mini stories which was quite an effort for Matt (Smith),
who's writing the strips. Gordon Rennie has also written a few and has more in
reserve. What we wanted to do was keep a couple of weeks back so we could drop
something topical in every once in a while. When you are working to a daily schedule
you need a good bank of material to cover for all eventualities.
Who are the
main writers, and will Miranda and De La Cruz remain as artists?
DP: Matt
Smith has written the bulk of the material and Gordon Rennie has written some
stories as well.
We liked the artwork
of Inaki and Eva and it was very much a decision that was made because of their
style. What we wanted was a style of artwork that would appeal more to the non
2000 AD reader. Although this may seem a bit perverse, Metro has distribution
of 900,000 everyday. Feel at liberty to make up your own readership figure, I
think 3,000,000 is not unrealistic. We needed as broad appeal as possible to cater
for as wide a market as possible.
 What have the initial reactions
been like?
DP: It's
a bit early yet for real feed back as the first week story has only just ended.
There may be some comment on the registration, on the lettering and Birmingham
have printed the strips in B&W. These are all things that you discover in
the first week but the chap at Metro has all the teething problems well in hand.
There is a topical story in next week, we will see if it raises any
eyebrows. It will take some time for momentum to grow but no negative feedback
as yet, which with 2000 AD fans I consider good news.
Will we see
these collected at some time in the future, and will non-Metro readers be able
to see the strips online?
DP: The
strips will be on the Metro website for 2 weeks after publication then we will
move them over to www.2000adonline.com. We will see what happens about collecting
them, they are an odd size, format and structure so we will have to look into
the best way to print them as a collected edition.
What's your
favourite newspaper strip (other than Judge Dredd, of course)?
DP: Page
3
Keep an eye
out on www.metro.co.uk and www.2000adonline.com
for the online versions of the daily Dredds.
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the forum for more news updates |
