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Post by driver1980 on Mar 24, 2024 7:01:40 GMT -5
The first issue of UK comic Scream! was dated 40 years ago today (I presume it went on sale seven days before):  It ran for 15 issues, before merging into Eagle. Strips included The Dracula File:  The Thirteenth Floor was a strip about a sentient computer - Max - put in charge of a tower block, where he went to *any* lengths to protect his tenants from vandals, loan sharks and so many others:  Max would take the bad guys to the “13th Floor” (which didn’t officially exist), a virtual reality world where he could teach them a lesson - or worse. Another one worth mentioning is Alan Moore’s Monster, about a 12-year-old kid who goes on the run with his uncle, a misunderstood “monster”:  I did acquire some of these years ago. Some specials were published after the comic ended, and Rebellion have reprinted some stories. I’m curious as to whether these were received/popular outside the UK… |
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Post by foxley on Mar 24, 2024 7:07:15 GMT -5
I was vaguely aware of it, but distribution of British comics in Oz was pretty hit and miss. I have memories of reading some stories but they have been in reprints, or in Eagle after they merged.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,200 
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Post by Confessor on Mar 24, 2024 20:24:17 GMT -5
Ahh, Scream! comic. Gone but not forgotten.
I absolutely loved that comic as a kid and still have tremendous fondness for its various strips. I own Rebellion's collections of the "Monster" and "Dracula File" strips from Scream! and really need to get the "Thirteenth Floor" volumes too.
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Post by berkley on Mar 24, 2024 23:56:34 GMT -5
I don't know anything about Scream but I like the looks of The Dracula File, that would probably be the first one I'd try to find. The premise to 13th Floor sounds like it could have potential but I can also see it becoming repetitive and one-note, depending on how it was developed (or not) - what's the verdict, from anyone who's read it?. Monster doesn't grab me on first sight, but since it's Moore I would probably take a chance on it anyway. This must have been one of his earliest efforts, was it?
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Post by driver1980 on Mar 25, 2024 7:28:17 GMT -5
I don't know anything about Scream but I like the looks of The Dracula File, that would probably be the first one I'd try to find. The premise to 13th Floor sounds like it could have potential but I can also see it becoming repetitive and one-note, depending on how it was developed (or not) - what's the verdict, from anyone who's read it?. Monster doesn't grab me on first sight, but since it's Moore I would probably take a chance on it anyway. This must have been one of his earliest efforts, was it? In a way, it could be one-note, but there was some character development for Max, along with a few twists and turns. Without spoiling too much, there was a major change at one point. That reminds me, I only have Rebellion’s first volume, I need to buy the second one! |
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Post by driver1980 on Mar 25, 2024 7:33:42 GMT -5
On a slightly off-topic note, I am a tad depressed about the UK comicbook industry. As a kid in the 80s/90s, there were a lot of comics. Here’s a list of just some of them:
The Beano
The Dandy
The Topper
The Victor
Whizzer & Chips
Roy of the Rovers
Commando
Warlord
Scream!
Eagle
Wildcat
2000 AD
Judge Dredd Megazine
Only Commando, The Beano, 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazne remain. Perhaps there are one or two others.
I’m excluding DC and Marvel reprints as I am thinking about original UK content. There are some smaller titles which are only available in comic stores or online. So as far as corner shops and WHSmih are concerned, and I’m also excluding comic/magazine hybrids, there’s not much left; in my local WHSmith, the shelves are filled mainly with Marvel reprints.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,200
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Post by Confessor on Mar 25, 2024 9:46:39 GMT -5
I don't know anything about Scream but I like the looks of The Dracula File, that would probably be the first one I'd try to find. The premise to 13th Floor sounds like it could have potential but I can also see it becoming repetitive and one-note, depending on how it was developed (or not) - what's the verdict, from anyone who's read it?. Monster doesn't grab me on first sight, but since it's Moore I would probably take a chance on it anyway. This must have been one of his earliest efforts, was it? I really enjoyed The Dracula File at the time, but having recenty re-read the whole thing in the Rebellion TPB collection, I have to say that it isn't actually that great. It has an interesting premise in that it's set in the then-contemporary mid-80s and sees Drac defecting from the Eastern Bloc to the UK. Once there he inevitably leaves a trail of carnage in his wake, while ex-KGB officer Colonel Stakis stalks him, which all serves to give the strip an unusual and very topical (for the time) Cold War twist. The Thirteenth Floor was my absolute favourite strip in Scream!, but having not re-read it since the early 90s I have no idea how it would hold up. I suspect that like you say it might become a bit "one note". Monster, on the other hand, holds up really well to modern eyes. One clarification though: although Alan Moore conceived the basic plot of the series, he only wrote the first instalment, after which John Wagner took over as the writer. The strip follows the adventures of 12-year-old Kenneth Corman and his hideously deformed Uncle Terry, who had been kept locked away in a forbidden attic room for years. Kenny befriends his deformed, violent and affection-starved uncle, as the pair go on the run across England. Unfortunately, Terry tends to murder people who wrong him or the boy, due to his ferociously inhuman strength and complete lack of comprehension regarding society's laws. The strip's masterstroke is that the so-called "monster" is both horrifically repellent and yet easy to identify with. All in all, it's a bit dated, but it still holds up well to adult eyes. The atmospheric black & white art of Jesus Redondo is also rather excellent. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2024 13:04:31 GMT -5
I know we have some Scream! packed away back home in Hertfordshire. The ones I used to glean through the most were Whizzer, Dandy and Beano, and I have about a dozen or so of the hardback Annuals.
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Post by driver1980 on Mar 25, 2024 14:21:16 GMT -5
I just had a thought (it happens…occasionally): The Thirteenth Floor reflected the reality of the time - and what had come before (some people believe HAL was an inspiration). But could it do so again?
So much technology has evolved. There are debates about AI, deepfakes, hacking, etc. A reboot of the concept could be fun, e.g. Max battling another sentient computer, Max being hacked, etc, etc.
On the other side of the coin, I am wary of resurrecting concepts after such a gap. Is it possible to recapture the magic?
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Post by berkley on Mar 27, 2024 6:55:48 GMT -5
I just had a thought (it happens…occasionally): The Thirteenth Floor reflected the reality of the time - and what had come before (some people believe HAL was an inspiration). But could it do so again? So much technology has evolved. There are debates about AI, deepfakes, hacking, etc. A reboot of the concept could be fun, e.g. Max battling another sentient computer, Max being hacked, etc, etc. On the other side of the coin, I am wary of resurrecting concepts after such a gap. Is it possible to recapture the magic?
I just watched the first season of the X-Files from 1994 and there was an episode that was seems like it could have been based on The 13th Floor premise as described here, except it wasn't a residential or apartment, but rather an office bldg.
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