Often times those contradictions are presented between the narrations and dialogue (the text) and the action (the art). I loved big chunks of his run on Swamp Thing, but every time he went down a "humorous" rabbit hole, the comic stopped dead in its tracks and for the rest or that issue (or two), was garbage with nice art. R. and Quinch walking out of a photobooth they've just disintegrated, in an outer-space bus station. Okay, so in the light of what the Allies did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki it's probably wrong to make jokes about nukes. I'm starting a loose theme month of UK originated comicbooks, with a look at what is probably Alan Moore's most popular work for venerable UK sci-fi comic 2000AD.

He had a nice run of Judge Dredd reprints, and a near-complete run of Strontium Dog reprints, but I shied away from those, and even from Nemesis the Warlock, mainly because I wouldn't have much room in my suitcase to carry home several phone-book-sized collections. Debuting in 2000 AD with the space-based prison drama Harry 20 on the High Rock, he followed with the immortal D. Then they set up a charity for "the rehabilitation of dangerous ex-servicemen" and make the headqarters the house next door to the Judges. I suspect, however, that's less to blame for my dislike of the collection than that this is 2000 AD fodder, and really just the sort of thing bookish British males seem unable to live without. The characters were intended to appear only once in the pages of 2000 AD, but they became so popular with readers that they would get their own series.This time Quinch is narrating proceedings, and it’s a three part story where much to Ernest’s horror D. It might seem odd that Moore wrote a pretty popular and successful comedic series during the 80s when he was also writing some of most thoughtful and audacious comics of that same decade. When the cops arrive she begs for help but Waldo’s a bastard of course, and an egotistical creature too and annoyed that she ruined the play, so she’s hauled off by the police and he decides his moment of lust must have been caused by a vegan takeaway he ate. and Quinch continued to appear in 2000 AD from progs 525 to 534 in the form of an advice column with readers sending in letters with personal problems solved by D. is an alien variation of the 1950s UK Teddy Boy in drapes and quiff, the knobbled chin a defining feature, and Davis also makes use of large feet and fingers for comedy exaggeration.

Maybe it's because the humor style's been copped so much since, but I just didn't get the charge out of these stories that I did back in the day. R get back into college when they accused the Dean of having criminal tendencies and that he planted the stolen goods in Quinch's locker. Joining Moore was artist Alan Davis who really adds a great deal to the story, his art is often stunning and he deserves a great deal of kudos for making the strips so much fun to read.Adding a sheen of respectability to proceedings, and a good reason the strip did so well beyond Moore’s writing, was Alan Davis’ art. It’s fine, short and sweet but nothing that special, and it’s a shame in some ways that Moore didn’t bow out with Go To Hollywood rather than this breezy but unsubstantial effort. Of course, another fondly remembered story, and one that would foreshadow Moore’s disdain for Hollywood in later years, was the reference-rich “D. Using these techniques in isolation would certainly provide some laughter but when regularly used in unison, it’s a recipe for success.