Futureshock 2000ad Documentary

This review was written some time ago when the film came out.I have edited it for grammar but not sentiment so its a lot more vitriolic then my more mature prose.

my review of Futureshock: the story of 2000ad

REVIEW OF FUTURE SHOCK THE 2000AD STORY

Made on a minimal budget and comprised mostly of talking heads, this documentary can swiftly and sophisticatedly tell the story of 200ad and more.

Starting with the death of Action comics and Boy’ weeklies, the film begins with the creation of 2000ad under Pat mills. While loosely a chronological narrative, it ably and swiftly takes on themes and subjects that pervade an era that 2000ad represents through its many changes.

Interviewing several key creators and editors over their tenure paints a picture of strong personalities, and you do feel the passion from every interview for what they did. 

There is drama in the conflicting viewpoints, but by avoiding any judgments and without a voiceover to guide you, you get to see all the feelings, passion, and quirks that went into creating a milestone not just in comics but in media. 

From the creation of Dread to its troubles, the story of Strontium dog, and how those tales were censored in South Africa. The stories continue to paint a troubling comic for troubling times, Be it the conservative views of the media and the public, to the laddish influences Dave Bishop and Andy Diggle tried to avoid in their editorial period. 

The enmity between the generational changes is quite clear without resorting to any sense of taking sides.

And the anecdotes and personalities placed here are something you see very rarely post the convention era of the 80s and 90s.

This is not a romanticized account; the difficulties over writer’s rights and the opportunity created for Karen Berger in Vertigo are dealt with openly and honestly. Neil Gaiman’s retelling of the box you had to tick that said ‘take your money, and fuck off’ is quite refreshing, if only because no one says fuck off as well as Neil Gaiman.

Karen’s input and interview also help place more context on the authors and the international appeal. It also helps open the story of the role of women, and the lack of women is dealt with from many sides and enriches the whole film from the original context. As Boland puts it, “it was a boy’s comic written and drawn by boys” to the impact and recognition of How curtailed Halo Jones was. Emma Beeby’s experience at cons with a female readership that existed and was ignored coming up to her in droves. Bishop and Diggle’s arguments in the late 90s as ads ran seemed to be designed to drive women away more than increase male readership.

From obscene faxes to treating art, some deemed obscene in the most indecent manner ( I did feel tears forming when Gibbons mentions how the original art was being used as door mats and draft excluders) and the notion of a ‘Pat Bomb.’ 

The film ends with a sort of coda on how crucial it was in the changing attitude to superheroes in American comics, and the multimedia impacts its artists and authors have, the Robocop prototypes being the most impressive and throughout the legacy of 2000ad to this point is honored with style.

The film is slick, and the art and interstitials help carry the verve and kinetic energy that was the engine of 2000ad. Even with the least involvement or investment in the comic, it makes for an enjoyable and highly impassioned documentary that is shot and produced with style.

POST CREDIT COMMENT.

This film has had limited theatrical releases. I don’t think much would be gained cinematically, but I had comments from people recently asking about copies or how to get a viewing. I paid £3.49 to watch it via amazon, and I don’t think the HD rental would have enhanced my experience. This is a labor of love, and supporting such things is essential. Hence writing this, it’s cheaper than a pint! FFS! What are you doing? If you’re going to fob off on shit, remember my rule; FUCK, MICHAEL BAY. Let me repeat that; FUCK MICHAEL BAY. And spend your money on seeing and supporting independent features. If you want to work in film or review the movie in the U.K, how about you support the fucking industry somehow! Torrent the latest PUNCH FACE vs. MEGA KICK and wink yourself off over the price of cinema tickets, but if your response to a niche film that talks about the things you claim to love and admire and get all nostalgia for the sentiment and creativity for. THEN FUCKING RENT IT! Jesus, man, how old are you? And you’re more worried about Radioactive Kung Fu Badger adding a weasel sidekick because there were no fucking weasels in the stories you read as a pre-pubescent in the 1970s? FUCK YOU, there were loads of Weasels, but back then, we called them ferrets because we didn’t know any better and kept them in our pants! JUST PAY THE FUCKING MONEY!

I just…you know why you’re the reason no one pays for your reviews, right? You do know that.

….I need a lie-down.