Breathing some new life into old characters.

presterjohn · Post by **presterjohn** » 24 Sep 2006, 20:46

Gadzooks! Not fans of Star Wars? You should be taken outside and flogged. Although it is permissable to not like the most recent trilogy to not like the first three films is just not on.

Corporal Clott · Post by **Corporal Clott** » 24 Sep 2006, 21:24

I must confess I?m not a fan of Star Wars. Telling a story by starting it close to the end instead of at the beginning is quite all right if that film were intended for the intellectual arty-farty crowd. I refer to those filmgoers who enjoy watching directors like Ingmar Bergman. But Lucas is no Bergman. Star Wars was aimed at the general public. That way the studio could make a nice fat profit. So what about those people who have trouble figuring out how to tie their shoelaces, let alone anything more complex like a plot? Just imagine the mental stress this film must have caused them. No, I fear Luke Skywalker did not cut the mustard as far as I was concerned. Oh, one more thing: it was a potential health hazard. One of these days a NASA astronaut and Star Wars nut is going to go for a space walk without his helmet! ?Hey, guys! It?s okay. Remember when Luke and his men were blasting that Death Star? We heard the explosions, right? And we all know that it's air that produces sound waves.?

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 24 Sep 2006, 21:57

Steve Bright wrote:
NP wrote:Can't stand Star Wars, Lew? Although you and I are the same age, I've never even SEEN Star Wars, any of them. Don't know anything about it. Just thought I'd share that!
Crivvens! And I thought I was the only one, NP. And we're only a few weeks apart in age too. Spooky!!

So that means it's either an age thing or Star Wars doesn't appeal to UK humour artists.

I was 18 when the first movie came out. Went with some mates, thought it was okay. Enjoyed Empire a bit more because it was a "darker" movie. Completely hated "Return" because of those bloomin' teddy bear Ewoks and that muppet Yoda. Never bothered seeing the three more recent movies. Always flick past any articles on Star Wars in movie mags.

I dislike the whole style of the movies and the silly names ("Han Solo", right, solo 'cos he's independent, yawn, and "Darth Vader" oh yeah, dark invader. I get it. Ho hum. And what kind of dangerous bounty hunter has the innocuous name of "Boba Fett"?).

Good kids films I suppose but personally I enjoyed the old Flash Gordon serials which inspired it far more.

Why do I get the impression I've just offended my entire readership?

Lew

Corporal Clott · Post by **Corporal Clott** » 24 Sep 2006, 22:06

The old Flash Gordons? They were rerun on TV some years ago and I loved them. Especially the special effects that made the old Dr Who look positively high tech. As for my favourite character...that has to be the Emperor Ming. If only he was in charge of this country...

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 24 Sep 2006, 22:22

Corporal Clott wrote:The old Flash Gordons? They were rerun on TV some years ago and I loved them. Especially the special effects that made the old Dr Who look positively high tech. As for my favourite character...that has to be the Emperor Ming. If only he was in charge of this country...

I first saw those Flash Gordon serials at our local cinema in the sixties. They were the same ones my Dad had seen there in the thirties!

Those were the days of the "ABC Minors" Saturday morning kids' matinees, when we'd have a three hour film fest of Warner/ MGM cartoons, an episode of Flash Gordon, and a tediously forgettable CFF movie. After which me and my best pal Dave Bird would go to the second hand bookstall to exchange Marvel comics (2 for 1) or buy them for 6d each.

Happy days!

Lew

NP · Post by NP » 24 Sep 2006, 23:03

Yes, me, Steve and Lew, all 18 in 1977 and all not caring about Star Wars. (Although I loved those Flash Gordon serials which I saw at the local too, Lew!) What it means, Steve, I don't know, but I reckon a poll should be taken immediately, broken down into age and Star Wars affiliation. This needs investigating!

Steve Bright · Post by **Steve Bright** » 24 Sep 2006, 23:41

Flash Gordon - those spark-spewing spaceships. Ming the Merciless. Fantastic cliff-hangers on a Saturday morning...preceded by Old Mother Reilly, Woody Woodpecker and Mighty Mouse.

This is getting weird. Ma Kellogg's second-hand shop was about a hundred yards from the Odeon, Lew - I can still smell it; musty clothes mingled with eau de newsprint, and stacks of Marvel and DC treasures. The only scent that could compete was the old Glasgow Underground. Loved all those old 2 for 1's, but particularly Silver Surfer, Iron Man and the Avengers. Oh, and Thor. Awesome!

presterjohn · Post by **presterjohn** » 25 Sep 2006, 00:25

You bunch of creaky old timers! I was 11 when Star Wars came out. Just the right age I suppose to lap it all up!

I do remember all the flash Gordon type shows being showed during the summer holidays though. I watched them all quite happily. Summer was not summer unless the likes of Buster Crabbe or Johnny Weismuller were on the box.

I was always a sucker for the republic serials too. King of the rocket Men was another favourite.

David McDonald · Post by **David McDonald** » 25 Sep 2006, 00:39

Hi there

Captain Storm, If you ever want to see Starhawk in print again, do it yourself. I published the Doomlord collection last year, and it was relativly easy to do, if you can afford to have a few grand tied up for a couple of years that is!

I had been talking to DCT a couple of years ago about licencing some stories, and I found the both helpful and enthusiastic, so it might be worth a whirl!

David

Richard S. · Post by **Richard S.** » 25 Sep 2006, 08:04

any more (Doomlord) volumes coming out David? I've got the Deathlords of Nox volume and would be happy to support similar reprint projects. I've seen it in lots of outlets so you're obviously doing something right!
The content is great, the product looks porfessional and the price, as the used to say, is right. Great job all round.

Richard S.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 25 Sep 2006, 11:43

David McDonald wrote:
Captain Storm, If you ever want to see Starhawk in print again, do it yourself. I published the Doomlord collection last year, and it was relativly easy to do, if you can afford to have a few grand tied up for a couple of years that is!

That does seem to be the best way to get things done. Publishers like Egmont and Thomsons won't want to bother doing such books unless they can bring in an impressive revenue. It's fantastic that David did it off his own bat. After all, that is really how Titan Books started (with the first Judge Dredd softback 20 or so years ago).

It's very easy for us to sit around and say "Pubishers should do this..." but there are numerous reasons why there aren't shelves full of old-style comics and collected stories on the shelves of WH Smith etc. If there was big money in it, they'd be doing it. But a smaller publisher, with lower overheads etc, has a better chance of getting something done, even if the book is only available by mail order or in comic shops, providing he/ she can negotiate it with the copyright holder of course.

Lew

Magnet · Post by **Magnet** » 25 Sep 2006, 16:15

I think a Billie the cat game would be awesome!!

Corporal Clott · Post by **Corporal Clott** » 25 Sep 2006, 17:12

So, up to now we've got a Starhawk game and a Billy the Cat game. As for Lew's reminder that Titan came from humble beginnings, here's a thought: do we have the next Titan style entrepreneur within our ranks? If so, I say, let him show his face!

Captain Storm · Post by **Captain Storm** » 25 Sep 2006, 20:10

I would love to bring out a Collected Works of Starhawk money being no object of course,but there is always the thorny issue of copyright to surmount-particularly when many artists and writers can't even be traced,let alone paid for the use of their work.I can see Lew's point of view re the Publishers not wanting to gamble on a pig's ear.Which taking into account the couple of hundred users here,only reinforces the fact that we have got to get more users online.I subscribe to a few Yahoo groups all of which celebrate the humble comic.Through my postings there,a good few of them have visited the ComicsUK site and had a look at the forum.Their breadth of knowledge is unbelievable.However some of them have commented on the difficulty of registering on the site and all the debug error msgs coming up,which I know are still there when ever I post anything.So once this gets sorted out with version 2.0 of the site,I should imagine these experts dropping by to swell the ranks...Now where's me Starhawk game

Corporal Clott · Post by **Corporal Clott** » 25 Sep 2006, 20:22

Every so often I have to sign an agreement with DCT stating that I turn the copyright over to them. However, I don?t know if this is true of the artists, but I imagine it is. If so, then you?d probably need to get DCT?s permission and pay them. One way around the problem would be to get permission to use the characters, then get an artist and writer to do some new stuff.

Comics UK