Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Nerd Dad

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  • Newsprint,

    like the Montessori secondary school in Wellington that has recently closed due to lack of money,

    Wa Ora Montessori School in Lower Hutt -- a state integrated school -- started its secondary programme this year. They currently take the 12-15 group but as they grow will extend to 15-18 also.

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 42 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Rorschach is the Question,

    The abyss is the answer. Ha hah hah. … ehh, sorry.

    ….Nite Owl is the Blue Beetle (not Batman as most people think), Doctor Manhattan is Captain Atom and so forth.

    Who was The Comedian based on, btw?

    I wasn't aware of the Question/Steve Ditko connection until I came across it in a Moore interview some years after reading Watchmen. There's certainly a touch of Ditko's bizarre Ayn Randian Mr. A about Rorschach. He's a great portrayal of someone stuck in a sort of perpetual libertarian ideological adolescence.

    He sure is, and Ozy, for all his genius, is a similarly ideologically adolescent utilitarian. Ditto Comedian and realpolitik.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    . . . Ozy, for all his genius, is a similarly ideologically adolescent utilitarian.

    Now that you mention it, that Ozy sure is one mean Benthamite bastard.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Yeah, if confronted by the Trolloy Dilemma, he'd push the fat man off the bridge, no hesitation.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Trolley...)

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Crowley,

    I know that it is hard to talk about ( Stallone left a bitter taste , ( my vote at the time was with Eastwood ) ) but for me Judge Dredd was 2000AD!!!!! Well that and the ABC warriors, Tharg's future shocks and the Strontium Dog. If it wasn't for Goscinny and Underzo I wouldn't know what a library was. Mustapha Million paved the way for my realisation that there are two sides to the middle eastern debate and no matter how hard I scrunged Faceache had me beat, Billy's boot's were indeed magic, Hotshot Hamish could really kick a ball and Gnasher is in the top three of Dog's names.

    Thank's Mum for fronting my monthly subscriptions at the newsagent

    Otautahi • Since Nov 2008 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Thank's Mum for fronting my monthly subscriptions at the newsagent

    Saved you from winding up in the juve cubes?

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Judge Dredd was 2000AD

    He is the Law, Citizen!

    (I'm one of the few people I know who actually says "Drokk!" with feeling)

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I know that it is hard to talk about ( Stallone left a bitter taste , ( my vote at the time was with Eastwood ) ) but for me Judge Dredd was 2000AD!!!!!

    Dry your eyes, a re-boot is in the offing! I actually thought Stallone could have worked (hey, he brought the jaw!), but I don't think the studio ever had the guts to go with the pretty black joke at the heart of it all. (Then again, Starship Troopers left the viewer in no doubt that we were rooting for spectacularly dumb fascists, and nobody got that either.)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    But Starship Troopers made rooting for the fascists so much fun! Love the adverts that they threw into the movie.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Who was The Comedian based on, btw?

    Not sure. May be in the Lower Devonian strata of my files. Dave Gibbons has put out a beautiful book called Watching the Watchmen (of course) that details the creation of the comic, so no doubt it's in there. I'm thinking of buying it, but the price is just a little out of my reach at the moment.

    I don't think the studio ever had the guts to go with the pretty black joke at the heart of it all.

    A friend of mine assistant edited at a British sf magazine and got to know a lot of writers who also worked on Dredd. They largely hated him and tried to write stories that showed what a bastard he was... but found that they just made the character stronger.

    One of my favourite lines was his attempt to talk a would-be suicide out of jumping off a ledge:

    "Littering is an OFFENCE!"

    Regarding Starship Troopers , or Paul Verhoeven, that's a very European sense of humour on show there. I did hear a story that he had wanted to make a Dredd movie, but ran into some copyright issues. Now that would have worked...

    Certainly what I've seen of the early costume designs for Robocop show a link - some of the helmet designs are almost identical.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Rorschach is the Question,
    The abyss is the answer. Ha hah hah. … ehh, sorry.

    Many a true word said by accident. That's what the Surrealists thought.

    Mind you, I have often thought that the Comedian was a sort of cross between Captain America and the Joker - even more so after seeing The Dark Night . There's probably a large helping of John Wayne in The Green Berets and Rambo as well... and probably Samuel Johnson.

    I mean when he said that "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels."

    You know there's Pythonesque potential there - literary action figures. "Dodgson, Charles D-D-Dodgson."

    Oh no, hang on, I'm not being as stupid as I thought: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ...

    I'll get my coat.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Aha! Graham Green! The Comedians

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Oh no, hang on, I'm not being as stupid as I thought: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

    And even if that movie hadn't been a great steaming shit-pile and realised with Zac Snyder-style neurotic fidelity, I have a funny feeling the sequels would never have seen the light of day. When you put down a comic book muttering "OMFG -- Jekyll just arse-raped the Invisible Man to death!" (and what's really creepy about it is that his reason is strangely noble) you've got wonder just how wide Alan Moore's perverse streak really is. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Kyle M:

    But Starship Troopers made rooting for the fascists so much fun! Love the adverts that they threw into the movie.

    Reminds me of these easter eggs in Verhoeven's earlier effort Robocop:


    "Pakistan is threatening my border!"




    "An American Tradition. 8.2 MPG."

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Crowley,

    Dry your eyes, a re-boot is in the offing!

    Eyes are now dry!!! But does waiting twice for them to get it right really improve our chances?

    Otautahi • Since Nov 2008 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    And even if that movie hadn't been a great steaming shit-pile

    Dodged the attack of that killer turkey, fortunately.

    "OMFG -- Jekyll just arse-raped the Invisible Man to death!"

    You might say that he gave him a right Hyding [rimshot].

    Personally, I feel that is sf and fantasy aren't being creepy and making one think, "well that was fucking weird, but if you look at it differently, it kinda makes sense", then they're not doing their job. I'm very over sanctimonious Californians with pointy ears talking about logic or Californians with bumpy heads talking about honour.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    rimshot

    Must....resist...urge.....to post...horrible...joke....

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • JackElder,

    Judge Dredd

    My bro-in-law used to work for a computer games company. There was an artist at the company who'd had one of the shortest job interviews ever:
    "Thanks for your portfolio. So, what else have you worked on?"
    "I used to draw Judge Dredd."
    "You're hired."

    And so the bloke's name around the office was Kevin Who Used To Draw Judge Dredd.

    (His name may not have been Kevin - tbh I can only remember the last part of it. ;)

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Must....resist...urge.....to post...horrible...joke....

    After Kracklite and I gave you that opening. Give in to the dark side, Annie, it feels nice! :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    After Kracklite and I gave you that opening. Give in to the dark side, Annie, it feels nice! :)

    Well, since you asked so nicely....but if I get in trouble, it's all your fault.

    Jekyll just arse-raped the Invisible Man to death!

    rimshot?

    No, I expect he'd have had to be all the way in to do that much damage.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    After Kracklite and I gave you that opening

    Too much information for me, thanks. :P

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    I thought the colon-ial thread was elsewhere?

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    As if anyone cared, but anyhow - fifty library holds later, I finally have Watchmen to enjoy. Apparently the library has bought a heap of new copies to beat the film tie-in rush. Get in while you can!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

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