Monday 29 April 2013

Makin' Aitkin! EXCLUSIVE Interview with Maurice Aitken!

Proof that the mythological Aiken cover does actually exist!

An incredible coup this week for 2000AD Covers Uncovered. 2000AD artist Book Cook managed to erm... acquire the phone number of the British Kirby, the one and only Maurice Aitken! The mysterious artist, who is known to have inspired legends such as Kirby, McMahon, Ezquerra, Bolland, O'Neill, Gibbons and, of course, Cook himself, never gives interviews but I decided to go for it and give him a ring anyway.

Here's a transcript of our conversation...

Me: "Hello? Is that Mr Aitken? Maurice Aitken? My name is Pete Wells..."

Maurice Aiken ''Ullo? Who's that? Wells, like the fish? What the 'ell do you want - how did you get this number?''

Me "I hope you don't mind me ringing sir but I'm a huge fan of your work. I-I got your number from a friend at the Prohibited Planet comic shop in Sunderla-"

Maurice Aiken ''Humph...can't people just leave me alone? Pfff....well, you're 'ere now, what do ya want?''

Me "I'm so sorry to disturb you Mr Aitken. I write a 2000AD covers blog and wondered if you'd-"

Maurice Aiken ''What the effin' hell's a blog? Ya know I don't like to talk about my work - especially the Gunheadz, brings back all sorts of memories... I suppose ya mean that cover from waaaay back when the Gunheadz were in that useless rag 2000AD - is that thing still going? Flippin' alien editors, I ask ya... The Gunheadz only had one cover for AD, maybe it was more I can't remember. They used to have a wicked lettering fella at IPC back then, I seem to recall he did a bang up job on it.''

Me "Yes, just the one cover, but unfortunately it was lost and never used. I believe it was lettered by a young fella called Parrnum O'Pye. He was a big fan of yours, as is his grandson, who works for 2000AD now. In fact, I think it was the grandson who recently discovered it beneath the pile of unread submissions. Oh, excuse me a moment Mr Aitken... yes, I'll have two steak bakes and a corned beef slice... sorry about that. Anyway, Tharg knew I was a fan and actually let me buy it! Two hundred polystyrene cups it cost m-"     

Maurice Aiken ''You have the original?! I wondered where the hell that went. IPC were real sticklers back then, used to take photos of everything - concepts, roughs, pencils - I wouldn't be surprised if they were floatin' about somewhere."

Indeed, on aged film they did have the concept sketch for the cover and even Aitken's pencils. I asked if these came with the cover but unfortunately they were snapped up long ago by the Kirby and Ditko estates respectively...

Aitken's pencils - note how Eisner would eventually adopt the same roughing style later in his career.

Here are those pencils too, a masterclass in rending which is still evident across the comics industry today. 

Apparently this image was repeatedly parodied by Tezuka until IPC threatened legal action.

Maurice Aitken "Anyway, I'd done plenty of Gunheadz covers before this one, but this was gonna be introducin' the gang to a whole new audience so I wanted to make sure they was all on there like. Mowser, Akay, Bazooka Joe, Lady...L-Lady Winchester, and dear ol' Sgt Howitzer. People always used to think they were American for some reason so I made sure I got the old RAF symbol in there good and bold... and...and that twisted bastard Popcon.''

And here are those other Gunheadz covers...

Note the Ezquerra-esque outline on Mowser, clearly the inspiration for King Carlos himself.

Several crudely copied versions of this Bazooka Joe image were found in the recently discovered, tear stained sketchbooks of Norman Mingo.

The erotic Lady Winchester. According to the Alan Moore book 'Beards, Bonking and Bewilderment'  she was to be a member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen before a cease and desist order was issued by Egmont.

Stripped to the waist and ready for action! Elements of this early Sgt Howitzer pin up be seen again and again in Frazetta's work and is evident in early character designs by Mignola.

Me: "I've been lucky enough to have seen some of those covers Mr Aitken, they're amazing! The impact they had on the comics industry really can't be underestimated. Can you tell me a little about your style? How do you feel about the army of Aitken-clones it inspired who don't tend to credit you in their work?" 

Maurice Aitken: ''My style? Well i dunno really... I've always been drawing, since I was a nipper - ya just do what comes out don't ya I suppose? I used to have a friend up north back then - the comics would come over from the states as ballast in the big ships and he'd send 'em down to me. Lot's of Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert - Sgt. Rock all that stuff... I guess that inspired me to tell my stories. People say they're a bit bonkers and wacky, but there's a lot of truth in 'em too... I uh...I don't like to talk about it really... (muffled noise in the background) I dunno Peter, I think I've probably said enough... Don't call me again please... Huh? (knock at the door) What now? Bah! Some fresh faced f**kin' Herbert with a satchel's at my door - where's my combat knife? Don't call me again. Bye!''

Me: "Mr Aitken? Mr Aitken?"

Wow! That was one of the best moments of my life, another thing ticked off my bucket list! Again, here's that recently discovered cover, a real piece of history there. 

Note to obvious influence this cover had on O'Neill's first Marshal Law cover.

And here is how this super cover looks all lettered up, that really was the golden age of 2000AD.

Nice to see the lettering has survived the test of time...

My thanks to Maurice for talking to... well, shouting at me, I can die happy now! Massive thanks to Boo Cook for getting me his number. Hopefully, if Boo continues to hone his craft, he will one day be as good as the mighty Aitken himself! 

Saturday 27 April 2013

IDW Round Up


 Zach Howard Cover A

As 2000AD fans will know IDW produce a Judge Dredd title for the American market. The company are renowned for producing varient covers using some of the biggest names in the business. Already we've seen delights from Dave Sim, Greg Staples, Nick Percival, Dave Sim and Carlos Ezquerra, with other star names such as Ashley Wood being touted.

With this in mind, I wanted to try and round up as many covers as I could. This list, image intensive though it is, is certainly not exhaustive and I'm sure will be subject to updates in the future!

Here goes: 

Issue 1 had many, many covers, including retailer incentives for ordering multiple copies of the comic.

Issue 1A by Zach Howard...

 
Coloured by Nelson Daniel.

 
 Cover 1B by Nick Runge

Cover 1C Jim Starlin

Cover 1D Whilce Portacio

Special Subscribers Cover by Zach Howard.

Foil Variant!

 
 Carlos Ezquerra Retailer Incentive 1:25 cover

 
Carlos' cover coloured by Nelson Daniel

Personalised cover for comic stores ordering 500+ comics, by Nick Runge.


Jetpack comics exclusive cover featuring art by Cliff Robinson.

Jetpack comics exclusive 2, by Daniel Swuerczynski Swierczynski Daniel


Jetpack comics exclusive 3, more Cliff Robinson.

Charles Paul Wilson III Variant

 Not quite as many covers for Issue 2 but some crackers never the less...

Cover 2A pencils by Zach Howard...

 
Inks...

Coloured by Nelson Daniel.


 Cover 2B by the wonderful Greg Staples.

  Cover 2C Nick Percival, a 1 in 10 Incentive Cover

Sketch variant by Kyle Strathrm

 Onto Issue 3...

Cover 3A by Zach Howard...

Coloured by Nelson Daniel.

Cover 2B by Zach Howard and Nelson Daniel.


Cover 3C by Nick Percival.

On to Issue 4...

That boy Zach Howard again!

And his partner in crime, Nelson Daniel.


Garry Brown 4B

Garry Brown's masterful colours

Nick Pervical excellent 1:10 Variant


Issue 5

Zach's pencils

Very moody inks...

And great colours by Nelson. Love this one!

Langdon Foss' mental cover for issue 5!

Issue 6

The team of Zach Howard and Nelson Daniel return!

Issue 7

Mike McKone inks...

Coloured by Rico Renzi


Issue 8

Howard Chaykin's controversial lawmaster...

Coloured by Jesus Aburto

Judge Dredd Year One

Some of my favourite ever covers here by the amazing Greg Staples. This series by Matt Smith and Simon Coleby is excellent, I can't recommend it highly enough!






Issue one had this glorious incentive cover by King Carlos Ezquerra himself...


Coloured by 2000AD favourite Len O'Grady...


Cerebus legend Dave Sim has also provided a set of nicely designed covers...

Logo sketch

Issue 1 inks

Colours

Issue 2 inks...

and colours.

Issue 3 inks...

You guessed it, colours!

Aaaand finally, issue 4 inks...

And wicked looking colours!

Forthcoming series'...

Recently a Dredd vs Mars Attacks comic has be announced, this could be amazing!!! Below is another jaw dropper of a Greg Staples cover...


And, very recently announced is City of Courts, written by Doug Wolk, aithor of the exhaustive Dredd Reckoning Blog. What on earth could this be!?! The cover below is by Ulises Farina with colours by Owen Gieni...


Free Comic Book Day

On May 4th you will be able to grab IDW's Judge Dredd classics with cover by the esteemed Mr Bolland This will be an ongoing series of classic Dredd strips coloured by Charlie Kirchoff...




Artist Collections

Which brings us nicely on to IDWs sumptuous artist collections. These over-sized, hardback books are collectors dreams showcase the breathtaking talents of some of Dredd's most important artists. Be sure to check out the Red and Blue Label editions of the books which are simply amazing packages!

Below is the cover for the Brian Bolland collection - inks by Bolland, colours by Charlie Kirchoff...




Here's the recently released Carlos Ezquerra collection...

And the forthcoming Cam Kennedy collection, yay!

Wow, that was exhausting but by no means exhaustive! It's great to have a company so invested in Dredd so hats off to IDW. Watch this space for more wonderful IDW covers.