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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Monday 23 January 2023

The Vigilant: I Have A Personal Opinion. You Do Not Like It -sail on!

In this day and age it seems that if you have a personal opinion you have to keep your mouth shut. Just say what everyone else is saying and if you don't -you are EVIL

Scarily enough I find that I have been in comics for 50 years now. Yes, that is scary. I was a kid during the great days of the Silver Age of British comics and there in the Bronze Age until we got....well, I think we can all quit pretending we are in an age where the UK has a comics industry.

Before I start let me put something to rest. People have deliberately miss-read or twisted things I write. They know what is in my mind when I wrote those things. In fact, I appear to be living rent free in a few peoples heads. I call this my unofficial fan base. Here is the fact:no, I do not buy 2000 AD and I do not, therefore, read it., Apparently, this means I hate Rebellion Studios who publish the title. Sure, that is probably why I have a shelf full of their books (most given to me as gifts but a good few I purchased).


"Rebellion really dislike him!" was what was written on a UK comic forum that someone sent me a screenshot of. Really?  Well, I doubt that statement because we just take the particular Midlander's word on it as no source is given. I have had absolutely no interaction with Rebellion Studios and just because I do not buy 2000 AD does not mean I am at war with them! 😂

I do have opinions on how old characters have been used but they are the publishers not me. My opinion is my opinion and to be honest if you are the kind of arschloch who feels a person must have no opinion you can go 😱 off.

I think that the rebooting and the way the old IPC/Fleetway characters were treated was awful.  Really, really awful. Build up how popular these characters were and why they were popular and then.... ignore that and basically make it all Americanised".

If that was an attempt to attract American sales it failed because the American comickers who know the old characters -and the old character fans in India- just said "no". They collect the comics because of the characters as they were originally not some awful dross. As one American told me: "The *****? Adam Eterno is a cameo and in that he's killed?" Yeah, well, of course he was for no real reason.

Did the writer(s) do a Leah Moore and Reppion (with Albion) and not really know the characters and did no research on them? At least with Albion the books were made looking through thanks to the artwork by a real fan -Shane Oakley. Turning the Steel Commando into a psychopathic killer with PTSD -it had character but was a robot ffs. Not a good idea. 

Before anyone says anything, yes, I do have The Vigilant series (1 and 2) and I have looked through them a few times but it's all just dead with no real characterisation that anyone would see as even close to the originals.

With these old characters Rebellion could do a great deal and even bring them into 2023 without having to do what they already have.  Although he had no real knowledge of a lot of the actual original characters (Golden and early Silver Ages) look at what Grant Morrison did in Zenith: Phase Three and Steve Yowell's black and white art made it all gel.

You need a writer who knows the characters. You need an artist who can draw the characters so that old fans will recognise them and new fans will become interested. Full colour? Why not but try black and white first.

So there are some of my opinions. Will Rebellion Studios start screaming? I really do not think they could give a toss!.

 

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