The Judge Dredd story in this week’s 2000AD tells of a boy called Klein, rescued from his violent and abusive father by Judge Dredd, who grows up to be a violent and abusive Judge. Mostly, the story is told through fairly blatant captions (“He’d never realised how much he looked like his father”), but occasionally the art is allowed to make its own, more subtle, points. Here, Judge Klein tries out his hero’s trademark sneering lip, suggesting that it is not just his father who is the malign influence on his life.
Panel: Judge Dredd “Cycle of Violence” by Robbie Morrison (script), Cliff Robinson (art), Chris Blythe (colours) and Annie Parkhouse (letters), 2000AD prog 1549, Rebellion, 8 August 2007
Five-a-side What, Exactly?
Here’s a passage from this month’s Batman.
Now, five-a-side soccer is a common enough game, but I’ve never heard of five-a-side rugger. Did the Scottish writer Grant Morrison type that the English character the Knight was holding a football, meaning the round thing, only to be misinterpreted by American artist JH Williams III? Or is this a clue that the Knight may not be all he seems (one of several in the issue, such as Batman’s statement that his presence “seems so unlike me”, or the way that Williams draws Wingman’s hands with the same angular fingers he uses for the Saul Bass-style double-page outline of the hand of mystery villain the Black Glove)?
Panel: Batman issue 667, “The Island of Mister Mayhew” by Grant Morrison (writer), JH Williams III (artist), Dave Stewart (colourist), Ken Lopez (letterer), Peter Tomasi and Mike Marts (editors), DC Comics, August 2007
5 comments:
Hmm, that's an interesting one. You're right in that five-a-side is not really a 'proper' variant of League or Union - you'd want 'sevens' for that sort of thing.
Of course, I haven't counted the actual number of attendees at the meeting, so he may simply have split the total in two to get his figures.
I make it 11 present, including Batman & Robin, but not including Mayhew and/or the Black Glove, unless the latter is one of the 11 in disguise.
Now, the French guy says, "Forget Batman! I thought we were playing five-a-side!" If he's not expecting Batman & Robin, he is only expecting 9 people to be there. Does he think Mayhew will join in? Or is he aware of the Black Glove as a separate presence?
Darn these serial whodunnits! They making you pay attention to the silliest things!
Or "...make you...," even.
That does it. I will HAVE to buy the next one now, to see if you're right!
I'm pretty sure Morrison shipped the Knight off to qwerd in JLA Classified.
Does he pay attention to his own continuity?
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