Over the top!!

Art by Henry Flint; Words by John Wagner;
Taken from Judge Dredd: Total War

In any given Prog, if it's a good Prog (and most are), there'll be a panel or two that goes beyond what is strictly necessary. An image, an idea, a line of dialogue - or if you're lucky, all three - that put a smile on your face. Garth Ennis certainly learned this lesson well, and has gone on to apply it routinely to nearly everything he's ever written, from True Faith to Preacher to The Boys.

The funny thing is, the examples I have for you today aren't even remotely famous, they're really just routine for the Galaxy's greatest, both old and new.

This first offering has it all, but I think it's the face that really sets it apart.

Art by Ramon Sola (or possibly Lopez-Vera?); Words definitely by John Wagner & Pat Mills
Taken from Shako!

Even a lesser thrill such as Dead Meat has its moments, mixing up action movie dialogue with the only possible use of a horned head...

Art by Simon Jacob; Words by Michael Cook
Taken from Dead Meat

Belardinelli is guaranteed awesome, especially when you let him loose on a spaceship entering the fifth dimension, but spare a thought, too, for the unknown letterer of this early Dan Dare, he really gives it his all!

Art by Massimo Belardinelli; context / words by, I think, Kelvin Gosnell
Taken from Dan Dare - Biogs

See, Over the top fun doesn't have to be all about violence. But, in 2000AD, often it is violence, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Look, here's a ninja fighting a tiger:

Art and context by Steve Parkhouse;
taken from Tiger Sun, Dragon Moon

 

One of the most OTT things ever wasn't a true strip, it was a series of adverts for Havoc TM - some kind of role playing game I think. Robbie Morrison surely had a lot of fun being as hardcore as he could. Again, it's all in the faces - I think drawn by Robert McCallum?

 

That's it for now...

Only in 2000 AD part 4

99 posts! Woo. In celebration, here are some of my favourite pictures from 2000 AD. They pretty much speak for themselves:


Here's Gargarax - perhaps the best demon design ever (Brett Ewins on art, Wagner and Grant providing the ideas):

There's something lovely about the detail in this scene here. It's also the only good thing at all to come out of Time Flies 2. Shame artist John Beeston only got to do one episode of it. I've no idea what happened to him.

Finally, this is a strong contender for all time favourite kill scene, by the unbeatable combination of John Wagner and Henry Flint: