Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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It was well worth a trip to your local cinema in December 1984 because it was a month which saw the unveiling of a whole slew of memorable films. Films such as Beverly Hills Cop, 2010, City Heat, The Cotton Club, Dune, 1984, A Passage to India and, that Jeff-Bridges-led alternative to ET, Starman.
But, of course, the month's biggest cinematic event was the unleashing of the masterpiece that is Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Never having seen it, I don't know if it's any good or not but its title rhymes, and that's good enough for me.
Over on the UK singles chart, just two songs ruled the roost. December began with Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love at Number One but even they had to make way for the arrival of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? which would not only top that year's festive chart but would go on to become the UK's biggest-selling single of all time - at least, for a spell.
Over on the British album chart, only one LP ruled the roost, that month.
And that LP was The Hits Album by the ever-prolific Various Artists. Coming at it from a position of total ignorance, I'm going to assume the record was a compilation album that featured a bunch of hits.
But that's enough of that. What was the galaxy's greatest comic doing, during that month, to compete with such showbusiness majesty?
It was serving up a menu of Tharg's Future-Shocks, Nemesis the Warlock, Judge Dredd in battle with vampires, Ace Trucking Co and The Hell Trekkers, while the Stainless Steel Rat was still attempting to become President.
Interestingly, it would appear that, in his strip, Nemesis was up against the ABC Warriors, which is not a clash I would have ever expected to see. I like to think that, next month, we'll get to see him taking on Bill Savage.
Electric Boogaloo was good stuff by this Hoosier’s standards! Better than Flashdance imho. But Electric Boogaloo II had the feint odor of….
ReplyDeleteBruiser’s and Crusher’s heads seemed small for their body size. Does this artistically suggest they had lower IQs cause they did seem to act like it. People say I have a big head. That could be the next SDC open mic question! “How big is your head?”
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that DC comics did not sue “Starman “the movie for copyright infringement!
ReplyDeleteAh, the halcyon days of sluggish film distribution. A US summer film like Beverly Hills Cop held back from the UK until Christmas (see also Ghostbusters a couple of weeks later). And then - if you lived in the sticks like I did - you might have to wait further months to see a less popular film; we didn’t get Dune or 2010 until March or April 1985.
ReplyDeleteI really like both Dune and 2010.
Kev wins the covers, obviously. That’s a really grim Christmas cover. Well played.
Closely followed by Dillon for me. I’m not the biggest Dillon fan but that’s a really dynamic angle there. Was that creature some sort of mutant clone of the Judge Child or something?
Ron Smith really lost his life-drawing skills as time went on. His inks are really nice and consistent but the actual drawing got stiffer and more awkward.
I like Bryan Talbot but his Nemesis still grates for me to this day. I can’t rationalise it: it’s good art by a really good artist it but it just doesn’t work.
Yeah, much as I loved the Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Bryan Talbot on Nemesis didn't quite do it for me either, Matthew. You can see why he'd be considered suitable for the Gothic Empire storyline, but... probably it was a case of putting one distinctive artist on a series another made very much his own?
ReplyDeleteO'Neill was always going to be hard to replace (I was amazed Tharg actually managed it at all, with John Hicklenton later, although unfortunately by then Nemesis was well past its sell by date).
Steve, with Mek-Quake at the seige of Ydrassil in the previous Nemesis arc, and Ro-Jaws turning up at the start of this one, I'm not sure why anyone would find the arrival of the ABC Warriors in the strip unexpected.
Considering they started out fighting the Volgan wars, I'm just surprised it took Pat Mills til the twenty-first century to bring Bill Savage back, and into his rightful place in the saga...
-sean
On the subject of Bill Savage, wasn't he from somewhere near the (pre-gentrification) Isle of Dogs. I wonder if he's a West Ham supporter...
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Millwall. On reflection, perhaps thats more likely.
-sean
Sean, I don't remember where Bill Savage was supposed to hail from. All I recall is that he was British, carried a shotgun and didn't like Russians, even if he did seem to think they were called Volgans.
ReplyDeleteMatthew, it's so long since I've seen 2010 that I don't remember if I enjoyed it or not. Dune was a bit too silly for my liking.
Charlie(?), I suspect the makers of Starman had the, "We're ripping-off Jesus," defence in their locker. Having said that, looking at the plot summary on Wikipedia, they could also have been sued by the makers of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The proletariat doesn't come any more lumpen than Bill Savage, Steve.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that 'Invasion' was originally about a Russian invasion, but IPC management got cold feet and had them changed them to 'Volgans' at the last minute before prog #1 came out. Not that it made much difference, as there was still controversy around it.
Michael Moorcock wrote a letter to the Guardian to complain!
www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/jul/20/action-2000ad-comics-comic-con
-sean
Why was it controversial to suggest the Russians might invade Britain? The Tory press were saying the same thing on a regular basis and fear of a Russian invasion was the whole point of NATO and Britain having nuclear weapons.
ReplyDeleteI think it was more the way they did it, Colin.
ReplyDeleteThe first episode of 'Invasion' is full of stuff like King Charles doing a runner, a prime minister who looked suspiciously like then leader of the opposition Margaret Thatcher being shot as an 'enemy of the people, and the 'Volgans' setting up a Peoples Republic of Britain.
You can read it as a preview here:
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN293
Whereas if you read 'Will o' the Whistle', a series with a similar premise in DC Thompson's Victor comic a few years earlier - about Britain being invaded in 1993 by 'cruel eastern race' the Kirganis (basically the Chinese, rather than Russians) - its done quite a bit differently, and drew less attention:
www.victorhornetcomics.co.uk/whistle.html
-sean