Tag: Tom Tully

2000 AD 9 (23 April 1977)

144899What a stinker of an issue. I think the M.A.C.H. 1 might actually be the second best story, which is sort of unbelievable.

It opens with a tepid Invasion. Not terrible, but not very good. Carlos Pino’s art is decent. Then a poorly written Flesh about family vacations through time. Studio Giolitti’s writing (whoever it is) is atrocious. Boix’s art isn’t bad though.

Awful Harlem Heroes. Tully can’t pace it for four pages. I guess Gibbons does draw a cool evil cyborg but he wastes a page on the cyborg’s reveal.

The Dan Dare is bad and visually confusing. Belardinelli is stuck drawing epic space battles in tiny panels; writer Gosnell doesn’t seem to understand what psychic means.

The aforementioned M.A.C.H. 1 has decent Cooper art. It’s dumb, but not bad.

The Dredd is crud. John Wagner front loads it with robot-related morality and doesn’t deliver any good action.

CREDITS

Invasion, Ships; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Carlos Pino; letterer, Jack Potter. Flesh, Book One, Part Nine; writer, Studio Giolitti; artist, Boix; letterer, S. Richardson. Harlem Heroes, Part Nine; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Dare, Part Nine; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterers, Potter and Peter Knight. M.A.C.H. 1, Our Man in Turkostan; writer, John Wagner; artist, John Cooper; letterer, Tony Jacob. Judge Dredd, Robots; writer, Wagner; artist, Ron Turner; letterer, John Aldrich. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 8 (16 April 1977)

144898Harlem Heroes takes place in a world with a Mega City-One. That one detail is more diverting than anything else in this issue’s entry, except maybe how Gibbons draws the Russian players. They’re giant bear furries. They’ve been so attired a while now, I just hadn’t bothered to comment.

The Invasion story isn’t bad. Finley-Day doesn’t really do any character or plot development and his last pages are always hurried.

Flesh, with new artist Boix, is dumb but not too bad. Apparently none of the characters outside Invasion or Dredd make any sense in 2000 AD.

The issue also has less loathsome Dan Dare and M.A.C.H. 1 entries. Dare because it moves too fast to leave an impression but John Cooper’s art on M.A.C.H. is decent. Rough but competent.

Belardinelli, who does so bad on Dare, does a decent job on Dredd.

CREDITS

Invasion, Concorde; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Mike Dorey; letterer, Jack Potter. Flesh, Book One, Part Eight; writer, Ken Armstrong; artist, Boix; letterer, Potter. Harlem Heroes, Part Eight; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Dare, Part Eight; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Potter. M.A.C.H. 1, Spain Kidnap; writer, Nick Allen; artist, John Cooper; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Judge Dredd, Antique Car Heist; writer, Charles Herring; artist, Belardinelli; letterer, Tony Jacob. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 7 (9 April 1977)

144897 1Poor Judge Dredd. Even with a great page or two from McMahon–he does better with full scenes, not trying to summarize–the story ends on a lame pun from Shaw. Worse, there were some obvious better ones.

Invasion has decent art from Sarompas, Flesh has a possibly good setup for the next issue (at least in terms of giving Sola something interesting to draw) and Harlem Heroes is lame. There’s a disconnect between Tully’s interest in the game play and how Gibbons draws it.

Kelvin Gosnell’s pacing on Dan Dare is a surprise. He rushes through the showdown with the big alien queen. It doesn’t make the story any better, but it does make the badness read faster.

And M.A.C.H. 1 is its usual terrible, this time with Mills giving the super spy a Bolivian sidekick who talks like Speedy Gonzales.

The issue’s lacking any gems.

CREDITS

Invasion, Train Story; writer, Pat Mills; artist, Sarompas; letterer, John Aldrich. Flesh, Book One, Part Seven; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Ramon Sola; letterer, Jack Potter. Harlem Heroes, Part Seven; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Dare, Part Seven; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Potter. M.A.C.H. 1, Bolivia; writer, Pat Mills; artist, Enio; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Judge Dredd, The Statue of Judgement; writer, Malcolm Shaw; artist, Mike McMahon; letterer, Aldrich. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 6 (2 April 1977)

144896More hard going this issue, even though the art’s much better overall.

Invasion has decent Ian Kennedy art and a not bad idea from Finley-Day, his execution is just weak. He doesn’t plot it for his page count.

Sola does a small dinosaur versus cowboy battle in Flesh. Not a lot of opportunity for the art, but it’s competent. Story’s lame though.

Harlem Heroes is rushed and trying. I keep waiting for Gibbons to impress me on this one and he never really does.

Dan Dare is awful. Mike Dorey’s art on M.A.C.H. 1 helps the story a lot. Much like Invasion this issue, Mills just paces the M.A.C.H. story all wrong.

As usual, Dredd proves the best. Malcolm Shaw has a good finish for the story–nice little moments throughout too–and McMahon has some nice panels. He’s appropriately conveying the humor.

CREDITS

Invasion, Wembley; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Ian Kennedy; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Flesh, Book One, Part Six; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Ramon Sola; letterer, Jack Potter. Harlem Heroes, Part Six; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Six, Part Three; writer, Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Potter. M.A.C.H. 1, Himmler’s Gold; writer, Pat Mills; artist, Mike Dorey; letterer, Potter. Judge Dredd, Frankenstein II; writer, Malcolm Shaw; artist, Mike McMahon; letterer, Tony Jacob. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 5 (26 March 1977)

144895It’s a distressingly tepid issue. Even with Judge Dredd fighting a giant robot gorilla–or maybe because of that emphasis on absurd bigness. The Dredd story does look good though–Carlos Ezquerra bakes dry humor into every panel.

The opening Invasion story is a bore. Finley-Day’s just writing dialogue for action scenes and he’s not particularly good at it. Sarompas’s art on the story is lacking.

At least the art on Flesh is good. Nothing happens in the story except dinosaur rampage (including raptors before anyone knew to call them raptors). Sola’s artwork is beautiful, which makes up for a lot. But it’s still pointless.

Harlem Heroes finishes the first game and then Tully speeds up the overall plot. The plot’s more interesting than the game coverage, but not much.

Dan Dare and M.A.C.H. 1 are both lame, but M.A.C.H. 1 is much worse. It’s exceptionally bad this programme.

CREDITS

Invasion, The Resistance, Part Five; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Sarompas; letterer, John Aldrich. Flesh, Book One, Part Five; writer, Studio Giolitti; artist, Ramon Sola; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Harlem Heroes, Part Five; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Dare, Part Five; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Jack Potter. M.A.C.H. 1, Probesnatch; writer, Nick Allen; artist, John Cooper; letterer, Jack Potter. Judge Dredd, Krong; writer, Malcolm Shaw; artist, Carlos Ezquerra; letterer, S. Richardson. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 4 (19 March 1977)

144894Pat Wright takes over the art on Invasion and it’s immediately less interesting. Gerry Finley-Day’s writing isn’t terrible, but without dynamic art, the cracks show a lot clearer.

Flesh still has great art from Sola. Ken Armstrong’s writing is even worse than usual, especially the dialogue. And they rip off Westworld whole sale. It’s a chore when dinosaurs aren’t on page.

Gibbons has a great opening splash page for Harlem Heroes. Tully concentrates on making the game seem real; while not exciting, the dedication to the concept is something. They could have cut a lot of corners and they don’t.

Dan Dare is lame. I guess Belardinelli does do well with gross alien creatures. Not a lot of space shots either.

Pat Mills is back writing M.A.C.H. 1. Artist Enio’s apparently scared to make the Arab villains look too Arab. It’s awful.

Dredd’s fun. McMahon compacts his visuals well.

CREDITS

Invasion, The Resistance, Part Four; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Pat Wright; letterer, Tom Frame. Flesh, Book One, Part Four; writer, Ken Armstrong; artist, Ramon Sola; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Harlem Heroes, Part Four; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Dare, Part Four; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Jack Potter. M.A.C.H. 1, To Kill a President; writer, Pat Mills; artist, Enio; letterer, John Aldrich. Judge Dredd, The Brotherhood of Darkness; writer, Malcolm Shaw; artist, Mike McMahon; letterer, Nuttall. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 3 (12 March 1977)

144893Ramon Sola does the art on Flesh and all of a sudden it looks great. The dinosaurs, the landscapes, even the cowboys. All the strip needed was good art to make it palatable.

Belardinelli handles the art on both Dan Dare and M.A.C.H. 1. He doesn’t do a good job on either, but Dare is better thanks to the space scenes. He can draw the space stuff, just not humanoids interacting.

Invasion is okay enough–Blasco’s still the best art. The writing’s a little wonky, but not terrible. Harlem Heroes is inoffensive sports stuff, if a little dumb. And Gibbons’s art is problematic on the athletics.

Judge Dredd, with Kelvin Gosnell writing–McMahon is still on art–is little better. It helps if one reads it as some kind of riff on a Dick Tracy comic strip, some comedically self-aware future one.

AD’s definitely improving.

CREDITS

Invasion, The Resistance, Part Three; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Jesus Blasco; letterer, Jack Potter. Flesh, Book One, Part Three; writer, Ken Armstrong; artist, Ramon Sola; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Harlem Heroes, Part Three; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Dan Dare, Part Three; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Potter. M.A.C.H. 1, Battleship; writer, Nick Allen; artist, Belardinelli; letterer, Tony Jacob. Judge Dredd, The New You; writer, Gosnell; artist, Mike McMahon; letterer, John Aldrich. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 2 (5 March 1977)

144892Once again, Invasion is the best strip, M.A.C.H. 1 is the worst and Harlem Heroes is the strangest.

Starting with Harlem… Gibbons’s art is better this time, but the future setting is poorly thought out (Harlem’s a bad neighborhood even after future retrofitting?). It’s not a traditional storyline though, which is nice.

Flesh is a little better too, with Armstrong getting into some of the day to day of dinosaur hunting. Boix’s art is still iffy.

Dan Dare is crappy again. Bad writing, bad art. The art’s probably worse than the writing.

That Blasco art on Invasion makes up for the hurried pace. It’s a great looking strip. The art on M.A.C.H. is a little better too.

The first Judge Dredd finishes the programme. Peter Harris’s writing is weak, Mike McMahon’s art is indistinct. Dredd’s second seat to the villain even. From mundane beginnings….

CREDITS

Invasion, The Resistance, Part Two; writer, Gerry Finley-Day; artist, Jesus Blasco; letterer, Jack Potter. Flesh, Book One, Part Two; writer, Ken Armstrong; artist, Joan Boix; letterer, Bill Nuttall. M.A.C.H. 1, Vulcan, Part Two; writer, Robert Flynn; artist, Enio; letterer, Potter. Dan Dare, Part Two; writer, Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Nuttall. Harlem Heroes, Part Two; writer, Tom Tully; artist and letterer, Dave Gibbons. Judge Dredd, Judge Whitey; writer, Peter Harris; artist, Mike McMahon. Publisher, IPC.

2000 AD 1 (26 February 1977)

144891There’s definitely some weird stuff in the first issue of 2000 AD. Quite a bit of silly stuff too. Pat Mills wrote–either solo or with a partner–every story in the issue so the lack of creativity on some of the series might just be exhaustion.

The first one, Invasion, is the strongest. Great art from Jesus Blasco. It’s about some Eastern European country invading Britain; very methodically told. Looks great.

Flesh is about dinosaur hunters from the future. Joan Boix’s art has more personality than quality. It’s likable enough, as it’s cowboys and dinosaurs.

The Dan Dare is lame. Massimo Belardinelli has problems with figures, the writing’s dull.

Nothing’s as lame as M.A.C.H. 1 though. It’s a “Six Million Dollar Man” knockoff. Enio’s art is pretty weak.

Harlem Heroes is the nuttiest–a future version of the Globetrotters. Young Dave Gibbons on the busy art.

CREDITS

Invasion, The Resistance, Part One; writer, Pat Mills; artist, Jesus Blasco; letterer, Bill Nuttall. Flesh, Book One, Part One; writer, Mills; artist, Joan Boix; letterer, Nuttall. Dan Dare, Part One; writers, Ken Armstrong and Mills; artist, Massimo Belardinelli; letterer, Nuttall. M.A.C.H. 1, Vulcan, Part One; writer, Mills, artist, Enio; letterer, Nuttall. Harlem Heroes, Part One; writers, Tom Tully and Mills; artist, Dave Gibbons; letterers, Gibbons and Nuttall. Editor, Kelvin Gosnell; publisher, IPC.

Coogan’s Bluff (1968, Don Siegel)

In my youth, or until Entertainment Weekly misquoted me about it, I used to opine that film entered the modern era in 1968. I cited films such as 2001, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Bullitt. Coogan’s Bluff, released in October 1968 (who doesn’t love IMDb for release dates?), sort of goes against that assertion (which I’ve long since abandoned anyway).

Coogan is an anomaly in Eastwood’s filmography and maybe just in film in general. It’s not a Dirty Harry film–though Siegel’s direction is similar in both pictures–in fact, Dirty Harry was more of an identifiable character than Coogan is in this film. But Coogan is a character study… It’s incredibly different and almost impossible to explain. While there’s a chase scene, there’s also Eastwood getting beat-up a bunch (see, back in the 1960s, people could beat up Clint Eastwood, not anymore… he’s pre-iconic in Coogan), then there are these long, delicate conversation scenes between Coogan and his romantic interest (how did Susan Clark not take off as a dramatic actress? I half blame it on Universal and half on marrying the football guy). I think, in the end, I only decided it was a character study because we–the audience–aren’t privy to the most important time in the film. They just don’t show us….

Another interesting aspect is to see Eastwood’s progression as an actor. In Coogan’s Bluff, away from the Western setting, he’s obviously missing something. He found it quick though, given Dirty Harry and Play Misty and The Beguiled. But it’s a ballsy role–he gets his ass kicked all the time. The majority of his time is spent causing trouble and trying to get laid. It’s not surprising no one knows how to market this film today, post-marquee Eastwood.

Films like Coogan’s Bluff really spoke to me when I was a teenager because they did something different. Coogan doesn’t speak as loudly as it did–maybe it does, I can’t remember–but there’s some beautiful stuff in some of this film. Unfortunately, the Lalo Schifrin score works against it sometimes. So do the scenes when it’s too apparent they filmed on the Universal backlot, though the syncing is excellent in other parts of the film. And who thought the Cloisters would ever be used as an action showdown?