The Ultimate Future Shock!!!!!!

Dom Reardon Interview

‘FIST ME’ SHOCKER OF THE KID-MAG BLOOD FIEND

EXCLUSIVE Freaky Trigger reveals FILTHY THORTS of the SICKO who’s got YOUR kids TERRIFIED to go on the Tube BECAUSE OF THE INSECT ZOMBIE FREAKS. By Al Ewing.

At gore-fest ‘comic’ magazine 2000AD he goes by the name of ‘Dom-2′ – THESE PERVS PRETEND TO BE ROBOTS but their LUST FOR BLOOD AND FILTH is all too human. And at FREAKY TRIGGER we’re proud to lift the lid on the psycho cesspit YOUR CHILD is exposed to weekly. It’s like Rupert the Bear IF HE LIVED IN A SICKO’S DREAM. Korky the Cat wouldn’t scamper down the Central Line with his head on backwards but if the terrifying ‘art’ of DOM REARDON is anything to go by then Ally Sloper must be TURNING IN HIS GRAVE – and then bursting out of it to TEAR THE FACE off an old granny and SCOFF her transversus muscle layer. YOU COULDN’T MAKE IT UP. Under the pretence of a ‘friendly interview’ we got as close as we dared to THE FOUL BRAIN WRONG of the immaculate ‘King Of Sin’ – trying to find out the UGLY truth behind the man who BEGS normal folk to PUNCH HIS FACE IN at conventions and who now POLLUTES the minds and hearts of children, aided by known enemy of mankind Gordon Rennie, with the ongoing series ‘Caballistics Inc’ – ACCLAIMED by the FEAR-PORN ADDICTS who’d like to see DEMONS POSSESSING OUR PETS in an ORGY OF BLOOD SEX RITUAL DEATH.

NOW READ ON.

“Tell us about the whole face punching episode.
Well, I’m all for peace, love and the general pursuit of happiness… but sometimes what you really need is a good solid blow to the face.

How did you get started in comics in the first place?
My first proper comics based commission was a pin up poster for a 2000ad sci fi special. It was a painting of Slaine… it wasn’t very good. I’ve always loved comics, before it became a job I used to make up characters and stories and draw them just for fun.

Caballistics Inc in 2000AD is what you’re most associated with right now. Probably.
Did Gordon Rennie have you in mind from the get-go?
No, it was supposed to be Frazer Irving. I just stood behind him.

What was your input in terms of character design and the like?
Gordon sent me descriptions and I worked them up from there. I didn’t get to decide what kind of people they are, but I got to decide what they look like, what they wear, their mannerisms and stuff…

Is there a single episode you’re proudest of so far?
Not really, there are a few single pages that I like. I always try to make each episode better than the last, there are some coming up in the next series which I’m quite pleased with, but by the time they’re printed I’ll be more concerned with what comes next.

Was there a pre-2000AD for you, and if so, what did it consist of and where can people buy it?
Comic-wise nothing published. I had a couple of characters I used to draw who were ‘Reality Investigators’ - they had philosophical adventures in cafes and the whole thing was based around bad puns. I’d love to bring them back one day…

What practical advice would you give to up-and-coming artists?
Draw a lot. Sketch from life as often as possible. Work from scripts (professional scripts are best). If you want to do comics being able to draw is not enough - you have to be able to tell a story and that’s a whole different thing. Find yourself a style and make sure you can employ it consistently. Finally and most importantly, you MUST go to conventions, get outrageously drunk and make a complete idiot of yourself.

How can somebody survive and prosper in the event of nuclear war?
By injecting themselves with scorpion DNA.

Where do you see UK comics going in the future?
To be honest I don’t think about this kind of thing, I just love drawing stories and I hope that there will always be a place for that.

If you could eat the still-beating heart of any comics professional and so gain their strength, who would it be? And would you feel pleasure in the act?
Alan Moore. And no, I would gain no pleasure in doing so, it would be a terrible loss to the world… in fact, Alan can keep his heart, so long as he continues to use it wisely.

Not hungry for main course, not hungry for pudding. There’s starving kids who’d be glad of that heart. Any plans to burst onto the US scene?
None at the present. I’m happy doing Caballistics.

I’ve noticed that you’re one of the few artists working today - perhaps the only one - with any sense of sartorial elegance. The others are all scruffians. The lot of them. What gives you this clothing-related je ne sais quoi?
As Dom sits, hunched over his computer, he notices a new burn hole in his silk dressing gown… Bollocks, he thinks…

What are your influences outside the comics field?
Egon Schiele all the way.

What’s coming up in the future of Dom Reardon?
I’m just going to carry on with Caballistics until October 2004 when I’m going to get mauled by a giant squid.

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…but the selling of a comic intended for an adult readership to its target audience is now an illegal act in the US. Those who’ve been following the Jesus Castillo case will have a clearer idea of what I’m talking about. The Supreme Court yesterday turned down Mr Castillo’s appeal after a truly mind-boggling closing speech by the prosecutor, essentially telling the jury to ignore the evidence in favour of their own prejudices.

Be frightened.

The Buzz

THIS IS THE BEAT-NIK HORROR – Frazer Irving Interview

MENACE OF THE CORRUPTING SEX-FEAST SHAME-CULT BITING INTO OUR YOUTH – THE LYSERGIC SUPER-MEN POISED TO ENSLAVE OUR VERY SOULS. By Al Ewing.

“ANGELS BEAT MY HEAD OPEN WITH A BIG ROCK… THEIR WINGS WERE MADE OF HUMAN FACES AND CHARLES FORT WAS THERE…” ANGRY YOUNG MAN ON VOYAGE OF DARKNESS AND STRANGE BEAUTY – WILL YOUR CHILD FALL UNDER HIS EVIL MENTO-SPELL???

NOW READ ON.

‘Underworld’: an upcoming film about a love affair between a werewolf and a vampire who represent warring clans. Coincidence or conspiracy?
Coincidence…?… No such thing. This is all I will say on the matter.

When it comes to writers, you’ve worked with the cream of a crop of cream. Who’s been your favourite?
Gordon Rennie mainly, tho working with demon-child Si Spurrier has opened my inky eyes to a new generation of weirdness.

What works best for you in a script and what don’t you like seeing?
What works best for me is a good story, told succinctly. I like some good solid dialogue (but not too much otherwise it cramps the pix) and a story that has an actual structure as opposed to just scene after scene of linear action and boring old shite. What I hate seeing is where the script tells me what to draw. Camera angles, colours and composition are welcome at all times as long as they are relevant to the storytelling, but when it’s a pretty open panel/page and I get these dumb directions it makes my blood boil. I also hate reading boring stories. Something has to happen every page or I get tired and fall asleep whilst drawing it.

Is there a single episode of anything that you’d like on your headstone?
I care not for any writing on my tombstone, as I plan to be incinerated anyway.

I’ve just read the first episode of From Grace, which made its debut in 2000AD this week, and it’s top. Is there anything about this latest series that you’re particularly proud of?
The fact that I did it all in Photoshop. Way back in 1996 I was a technophobe, one who hated the idea of machinery taking over from real artists, and I was deeply threatened by anything that wasn’t paint or pencil. Since then I’ve changed tho, and now I’ve turned completely to the dark side and I am soooo proud of the fact that I can create anything I want with a Mac and a Wacom tablet. They said it couldn’t be done. A few years ago.

While we’re about it - by the time this sees print, Necronauts will have in all likelihood come out in easy-to-buy-and-devour trade form, but I am weak > from unwrapping a Quality Street and have not the strength to plug it. Can you do me a favour and do so?
The Necronauts is a Lovecraft-esque adventure starring Houdini, Lovecraft, Charles Fort and Arthur Conan Doyle. It tells the hidden truth behind the fate of Houdini and of a sinister alliance between mortals and the unspeakable ones. It’s all drawn in glorious black and white with a section at the back with sketches and things, is priced £7.99 and should be available in all good bookshops, online or in the real world. It’s a rollickingly spooky read with some cracking art.

Real-life Necronauts available here. Lil’ Billy wants to be a comic artist. What advice can you give him?
Hmmm. I hate this question. With a passion. If I get asked one more time I’m gonna start answering with some real venom, like “swallow razor blades” or “drink urine and sacrifice your grandmother” etc. Don’t ask me again. Or suffer the consequences.

Where do you see UK comics going in the future?
I really dunno. I reckon their merry path thru modern culture is faaaar from over and it’s gonna be interesting, but I am no fortune teller so I cannot predict any folly such as these questions demand.

How can somebody survive and prosper in the event of an invasion of mutants with scorpion DNA?
By sucking razor blades and drinking urine whilst sacrificing their grandmothers to spider goddesses. In Dagenham.

If you could eat the still-beating heart of any comics professional and so gain their strength, who would it be? And would you feel pleasure in the act?
Alan Moore, but I’d feel no pleasure as I am in the process of giving up red meat.

If you were marooned on a desert island and could purposefully exile any musician or band to your lonely hell and force them to live out their joyless existences playing music for you, their despotic tyrant, who would you pick? And would you keep them in tiny cages or just on a big leash tied to a stake?
Well whoever it is they’d get shit after they hit a certain age. This is the unwritten law of musicians. But at the moment I’d pick The White Stripes cos A) I just got the latest collection of tunes and B) because if I got really bored I’d force them into some incestuous porno act. And I’d probably not use cages or leases but a huge ring of fire.

What are your influences outside the comics field?
Another annoying question. I like art of many types like “impressionism”, “abstract expressionism” and I also like art nouvea/deco and I like music and movies and thinking weird things.

What’s coming up in the future of Frazer Irving?
Well this is another annoying question, as my path through life seems to be quite a mercurial one at the moment. Hmmm. A lightbulb in my living room just conked out. And then it just flickered. Is this a sign? I have no idea what will be next for my arty skills, as I’ve just this day finished From Grace for 2000AD and am still working on Judge Death for the Megazine, and I have to take a few days out to gather my wits and consider what I’d like to do next. I have a 5 page Terror Tale in Prog 2004 of 2000AD, but beyond that nothing is set in stone yet.

But in the immediate future; sleep. After a Dr Who dvd. And tea.

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