Ace Trucking Co. was 2000 ADs longest running humour strip. Basically, "truckers in space" featuring Ace Garp (ol' pointy head) and his very necessary "bit of muscle" -GBH.
I ought to explain to non-British folk the whole "GBH" thing.
In the UK we have various categories of violent crime. There is Assault. Murder. We then have an assault that results in physical damage to a victim -ABH =Actual Bodily Hard. Even more serious physical damage is termed GBH =Grievous Bodily Harm. It was always the psycho villains who specialised in this and why so many were used as minders (bodyguards) by crooks. Villains used to get a nickname at one time when there were local police and local villains and someone might be called "Grievous" or "GBH". So....well, explained.
Anyway, you can find The Comeplete Ace Trucking Co. vols 1 and 2 on Amazon.
Now if you never thought joining the Face Book Massimo Belardinelli Appreciation Society was a good idea after my last posting http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-massimo-belardinelli-appreciation.html then maybe this will convince you.
Massimo's daughter, Valentina, has posted these. You are seeing correctly -the sketches that marked the birth of Ace Garp!
Oh, of course, because we don't want any "problems" here, the birth of the already mentioned bit o' muscle -GBH.
It is quite rare to see or even find sketches by British comics creators of characters before they appear in comic strips. Most artists sketched out designs and never really had to get the "OK" from the writer-creator -they just got to work and sketches went in....bins (sorry, I went very faint there at the thought).
Ace Trucking Co. has a place in the heart of most old 2000 AD with its anarchic plot lines and action -some quite bizarre.
So, our THANKS to Valentina and the Belardinelli family for sharing these.
I ought to explain to non-British folk the whole "GBH" thing.
In the UK we have various categories of violent crime. There is Assault. Murder. We then have an assault that results in physical damage to a victim -ABH =Actual Bodily Hard. Even more serious physical damage is termed GBH =Grievous Bodily Harm. It was always the psycho villains who specialised in this and why so many were used as minders (bodyguards) by crooks. Villains used to get a nickname at one time when there were local police and local villains and someone might be called "Grievous" or "GBH". So....well, explained.
Anyway, you can find The Comeplete Ace Trucking Co. vols 1 and 2 on Amazon.
Now if you never thought joining the Face Book Massimo Belardinelli Appreciation Society was a good idea after my last posting http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-massimo-belardinelli-appreciation.html then maybe this will convince you.
Massimo's daughter, Valentina, has posted these. You are seeing correctly -the sketches that marked the birth of Ace Garp!
Oh, of course, because we don't want any "problems" here, the birth of the already mentioned bit o' muscle -GBH.
It is quite rare to see or even find sketches by British comics creators of characters before they appear in comic strips. Most artists sketched out designs and never really had to get the "OK" from the writer-creator -they just got to work and sketches went in....bins (sorry, I went very faint there at the thought).
Ace Trucking Co. has a place in the heart of most old 2000 AD with its anarchic plot lines and action -some quite bizarre.
So, our THANKS to Valentina and the Belardinelli family for sharing these.
Wonderful Belardinelli, but, what I think Belardinelli's work deserves are Art Editions. I'd love to see his work reproduced in a massive treasury edition. Even if it's only one story for each of the strips he drew. I honestly think, although the reprints are good, the size of the reproductions in 2000 AD did his work more justice. His aliens were an incredible mishmash of the humorous, original and bizarre.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the Garp character designed off an illustration sent in in a competition by a 2000AD reader ? That sort of rings a bell in my head. Anyhoo - lovely illustrations; and yeah - John has it just right. an incredible mishmash of the humourous, original and bizarre. Perhaps his best work in 2000AD was the first Dan Dare, but his work on the Harlem Heroes ( a half dozen episodes ) and the whole of FLESH 2 deserves a small mention.
ReplyDeleteI came to 2000AD a bit late, I can't remember the issue number and at the moment my archive's in a heck of a state. However, the cover has Dredd arresting a graffiti artist and the Belardinelli strip was 'Meltdown Man', that strip encouraged me to buy the comic and none of the others. I continued to buy 2000AD solely for Belardinelli's contribution, or the hope of seeing his work. I did sort of become interested in Bolland, O'Neil and Dave Gibbons, McMahon and Fabry, but Massimo was belissimo!
DeleteSepp: The Meltdown Man was a year long cliffhanger series and it ran from 1980-1981. I know this because I only re-read the collected Meltdown Man book last week. There's Ace Trucking and that's 2 volumes and Meltdown Man in Marvel Essential type books. Worth tracking down. And *** Pat Mills for not liking Belardinelli's Dan Dare work -he apparently worked to get him off the strip and Dave Gibbons to take over.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have The Meltdown Man collected, thank goodness and the complete Ace Garp. The Belardinelli Dan Dare I have is in Italian. Bib gave it to me many years ago.
DeleteVols 1 and 2?
ReplyDeleteElaboration: I have Meltdown Man and Ace Garp: Volumes One and Two. The Italian Belardinelli is here somewhere - I've been moving stuff about and putting up more shelves - The Dan Dare volume has other strips as well, including the Arena(?) strip - can't remember if that is it's name. Regarding a separate fantasy artist, Jeff Miracola, who has various videos on YouTube, I had to laugh at the fact that he casually found a copy of George Bridgeman's 'Life Drawing' on his school library shelf when he was 11. I can imagine the consternation were the idea put forward that a publication about life drawing were to be placed on our school library shelves. " But, but, it has drawings of naked people in it !!! " .
DeleteFound it and the Dan Dare book is Spanish ! Edicionnes Dalmau Socias . Umm, Oops ! Shows what memory will do. The Belardinelli strips are 'Halcon Negro' or Black Hawk, and the Dan Dare strip. The other strips contained are Flesh and Harlem Heroes.
Delete