I actually have been hunting down the old eagle comics single issues with those killer Brian Bolland covers. Then add to that I am a big Kyle Hotz fan and that explains the Evil Ernie kick. I read them when he first jumped on and followed his career through the top cow agency days and up to Marvel work like the Hood. I really love those Billy the Kid books he does with Eric Powell for Dark Horse. My dream team for a sewer creep comic would be him and Tim Seeley or me on writing duties.
Have you tried the 'Daily Star' collections? Dredd, admirably condensed to fit a half page format. Like little short stories. I remember reading them when i was a teenager on my paper-round. The collections are really worth tracking down. I have most of the softback collections as well as this hardback . . . . Have you seen the huge Image book 'The art of Brian Bolland'? If you're a fan its a must have. A bewildering amount of amazing covers etc. Every time i look at the book it amazes me how much content there is . . . .
I have seen that before it is on my pick up list. I also know there's a best of Bolland Dredd book I have been meaning to grab. I also really enjoyed the cover work he did on Flash during Geoff Johns run on the book.
Are these in color? Other than a few relatively new 2000A.D. megazines, I haven't read color Dredd comics in ages. That Bolland book has been in my amazon wishlist for too long. There is only one other cover artist I enjoy more than Bolland, and that would be Arthur Adams, although it's like 1a, 1b comparing the two.
^^ Nah, Daily Star strips are black and white. Most 'classic period' Dredd stories in 2000ad comics were B/W . . . they were only coloured-up later for reprints like the Eagle collections. The colour versions were usually aimed at the American market. Like my favourite 2000ad duo 'DR and Quinch' . . . the Titan collection is B/W and the American collection was colourised. (i have both!) All the old school Titan collections are in B/W. Anyway, heres one of my fav Bolland Dredd covers
^ Love it ! Nice selection of thugs and punks in the background. After your post about the Daily Star strips, I had the nagging feeling I had something similar to what you mentioned, and lo and behold, after a bit of shelf spelunking...I found it. Had this since I was thirteen
^^ Cool, Ron Smith's Dredd was one of the best . . . along with Bolland. i think my favourite Dredd artist of all time has to be Carlos Ezquerra. He did 'The Apocalypse War' which is one of the best Dredd stories IMO. I always loved Ezquerra's Strontium Dog too Here's a page from Starlord. It was a 'sister' comic to 2000ad for a brief time. It was printed on much better paper and had a lot more colour pages. I still have about 14 issues . . . i think they did around 22 before it was stopped.
When I sold most of my on card action figures I only kept like ten. I have the comic book based Hellboy figures, the Spider Jerusalem figure DC direct did, Speed Racer, the set of Goon figures and my 2000 AD Dredd. I also have the loose figure from that build a figure series he was in and a loose Evil Ernie. Those comics just stuck with me from when I was young. That said I wish they would make a Cassie Hack figure from Hack/slash.
Wow...nice, vibrant colors on that Strontium Dog ! Just finished these two hardcovers I picked up at the comic con. At this point in his career, I think Mike Mignola deserves to be mentioned among the great American horror writers like Poe, Lovecraft, and King. And oh yeah....he can draw like a sumbitch too.
I love most things image puts out. East of West Saga Spread Manifest Destiny Tech Jacket Those are just a few
Just read the newest Blacksad from Dark Horse. The quality of their recent hardbacks are great! I have to say it had one too many coincidences in the plot, but i dont see why that should get in the way of an entertaining story. Juanjo Guarnido's artwork is still as amazing as ever . . . the watercolours add so much to the 1950s noir style. Also, just finished SUGAR SKULL by Charles Burns . . . . the last in his X'ed Out trilogy. Anyone else been reading it? I really liked it, but i suspect i will have to go back and read the first two again to fully appreciate it. I think i missed a few details. Its genuinely weird and unsettling stuff!
Like Crunch, I am super into the good, creator-owned stuff coming out at Image - PROPHET, LAZARUS, EAST OF WEST, SAGA, PRETTY DEADLY, ORC STAIN... but I'm also still really enjoying a lot of the stuff these guys are doing for the big boys - I grew up on Marvel/DC superhero comics and I still like it when they're done right. Jonathan Hickman's Avengers (and FF before that), anything Rick Remender gets put on (his Punisher run is super-good... his Franken-Castle story arc with the Legion of Monsters is GREAT!!) I LOVED Ed Brubaker's epic Captain America run and the Winter Soldier stuff that spun out of it too. His creator-owned stuff, CRIMINAL and FATALE is even better and his latest (again, at Image), VELVET is a blast. Even if I'm not 100% on the writing, Marvel's go so many good artists locked down, I'll half the time check it out just for the that. I'm also reading everything Mignola's doing at Dark Horse and in full agreement that the guy just keeps getting better and better. Harder to gauge on the co-plotted stuff with Arcudi and I do think BPRD has suffered a little bit as they've tried to expand it into a CSI-type "brand" with so many titles, but they're still more good than bad... I just wish Guy Davis hadn't left the flagship title. That guy is easily my favorite living monster-drawing artist right now. As I get older, I feel like I have less patience with the more experimental "Indy" stuff (I'm old enough I was buying singles of EIGHTBALL and HATE), but I'm loving anything Michael Deforge does (and luckily, every publisher that's out there is scrambling to put together a comp of his endless web comics) and really, really into Simon Hanselmann's stuff. Super fucked-up, but in just the right way. Fantagraphics just put out a big collection of strips, MEGAHEX, that is an awesome starting point for anyone interested in checking his stuff out. I just remembered I've got an extra copy of the 1st collection of Brubaker and Epting's VELVET... if anyone's interested (and their library doesn't have it), lemme know and I'll send it out to you if you give me your address. It's straight up retro 70s spy stuff... like James Bond w/o the gadgets... and if he was a lady. Fun stuff.
Book of the year for me ! Imagine something that would range somewhere between Tintin au Congo and Yûichi Yokoyama's New Engineering and your almost there : ) Incidentaly, another Belgian put out a book about their Country colonial activities earlier this year, in a more acid vein (It's in french but hey ) http://bdptiluc.canalblog.com/
This. So. Much. This. (waited for the last book to read them) (yes I am aware they are huge pics. Yes I know I'm a dick. So worth it)
I'm speechless, not that I was a avid reader of Charlie Hebdo but fuck. RIP Cabu, Charb, Tignous & Wolinski. ------------------------------------------------------------------ I really hope this gets translated for you guys.
Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell by Jacques Tardi, adapted from the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. Got this on the weekend . . . i've bought all the other Tardi translations by Fantagraphics and this one is turning about to be one of the best. I'm halfway through this one and its probably the most hard-boiled and violent story so far. Fantagraphics seem to have stalled on publishing 'The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec' but at least they seem to be forging ahead with his crime stories.
^ Based on your suggestion, I investigated the Tardi/Machette titles and currently have West Coast Blues on order. Can't wait to check it out, looks like quality material. This was a fun read from Floating World Comics
I grew up with Tardi and have most of his humongous production I look up what is avalable in english, I think Fantagraphic's presentation of the books are really weak but eh, at least they are cheaper than the original french. I'd recommend "It Was the War of the Trenches / Goddamn This War!" an "Fog Over Tolbiac Bridge: A Nestor Burma Mystery". Any Nestor Burma novel by Léo Malet, I'd recommend too if you can find 'em in a language you read. There are a bunch of Nestor Burma movies and TV series out there but none are as outstanding as Tardi's adaprations !
Damn...I bludgeoned both of their names initially Thanks for the suggestions, S ! I grew up reading DC and Marvel, EC, Vertigo, Image, underground stuff, etc. I'm just now branching out to some European stuff minus the legendary British writers/artists. The other books by Tardi on my list are the Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc Sec ( i'm a fantasy nerd, and enjoyed the movie so this seems a natural fit for me ), New York Mon Amour, and the other ones Moog mentioned ( Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot and Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell ). I only speak/read English, so I must rely on translations. I'm curious, what is it you find lacking in the Fantagraphics translations ? I have the first trade on my amazon list....you're making me want to order it
I was just pulling your leg (and Manchette takes a N) I did not read the translations, as a collector, I just find the look and presentation of the Fantagraphics Tardi books hideous as objects.
