FURIOSA… in the ‘80s?! And a Black MAD MAX?! This Indie COMIC is Amazing!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- Chris and Steven explore the first few issues of Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy's groundbreaking series, SABRE - a surreal, post-apocalyptic spectacle.
COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.
SHOW NOTES:
00:00 - Theme song
00:52 - Some background info on the storyline for SABRE - the first “graphic album” for the direct market - a sci-fi story set in the “distant future of 2,018” LOL
4:40 - Don McGregor’s delightfully ornery introductory essay to the Image reprint of SABRE.
14:55 - The “throw you in the deep end”-style storytelling of SABRE - in media res, wildly expository and dense dialogue, the art of melodrama - all of it in service of casting a rather immersive spell.
18:33 - Soliloquies in Shakespeare and SABRE - “thought balloons” spoken aloud, and the eternal battle to believe in a smart audience that wants to be challenged.
23:14 - “Pure comics!” A post-apocalyptic ghost of an amusement park and the bizarre evildoer known as Grouse - a rapscallion refugee from an animated film/Nazi cat-rat… The high weirdness of stories built specifically for comics.
25:34 - The gloriously purple prose of Don McGregor and how Paul Gulacy’s stunning artwork is at risk of being drowned under a roaring river of words.
41:35 - Paul Gulacy in 1978 was merely 25 years old, and yet creating impressively lovely, Steranko-influenced art with a bizarre plasticine rigidity all its own.
43:14 - Paul Gulacy never read “How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way” …and that’s absolutely not a problem!
47:13 - Don McGregor making life Hell for Paul Gulacy - “Draw me a giant train crash and a massive gun battle with dozens of characters... on horseback!”
57:56 - Lord help us, we attempt to describe the psychedelic visual world of SABRE and its wild cast of characters.
1:06:14 - The inconcievable notion of releasing a comic book as narratively dense as SABRE in the ADD world of today.
1:12:53 - SABRE: THE EARLY FUTURE YEARS - a SABRE relaunch from Don McGregor …and Trevor Von Eeden?!! The Kickstarter that almost was.…
01:19:26 - SABRE is a story about battling conformity and this also appeared to be one of Don McGregor’s chief battles in life.
1:23:52 - The British Invasion in comics - and their florid, evocative prose stylings - owe a debt to Don McGregor’s poetic voice in his vast ouevre (BLACK PANTHER, KILLRAVEN, NATHANIEL DUSK, DETECTIVES INC, and, of course, SABRE), with a detour into how impossible it was to ink the amazing Gene Colan.
1:26:45 - McGregor’s impassioned, provocative text piece in SABRE #2, pushing back on the regressive culture of the comics world, “...a medium that would rather have writers work as whores or mechanics.” What do ya really think, Don?!
1:36:25 - The atypical tenderness of the love story in SABRE.
1:42:37 - Wrapping up the discussion, recommending that everyone out there go read SABRE immediately… just be sure to snag the original issues so you can check out the letter columns!
“SABRE has a ton of heart and love and madness contained in its pages... two creators who were trying to push the medium of comics forward …and succeeded.”
#madmax #furiosa #furyroad #80scomics #comicbooks #new #content #explore - บันเทิง
🎙 SHOW NOTES
Chris and Steven explore the first few issues of Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy's groundbreaking series, SABRE - a surreal, post-apocalyptic spectacle.
⏱ TIMESTAMPS
00:52 - Some background info on the storyline for SABRE - the first “graphic album” for the direct market - a sci-fi story set in the “distant future of 2,018” …LOL
4:40 - Don McGregor’s delightfully ornery introductory essay to the Image reprint of SABRE
14:55 - The “throw you in the deep end”-style storytelling of SABRE - in media res, wildly expository and dense dialogue, the art of melodrama - all of it in service of casting a rather immersive spell
18:33 - Soliloquies in Shakespeare and SABRE - “thought balloons” spoken aloud, and the eternal battle to believe in a smart audience that wants to be challenged
23:14 - “Pure comics!” A post-apocalyptic ghost of an amusement park and the bizarre evildoer known as Grouse - a rapscallion refugee from an animated film/Nazi cat-rat… The high weirdness of stories built specifically for comics
25:34 - The gloriously purple prose of Don McGregor and how Paul Gulacy’s stunning artwork is at risk of being drowned under a roaring river of words.
41:35 - In 1978, Paul Gulacy was merely 25 years old, and yet creating impressively lovely, Steranko-influenced art with a bizarre plasticine rigidity all its own.
43:14 - Paul Gulacy never read “How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way” …and that’s absolutely not a problem!
47:13 - Don McGregor making life Hell for Paul Gulacy - “Draw me a giant train crash and a massive gun battle with dozens of characters... on horseback!”
57:56 - Lord help us, we attempt to describe the psychedelic visual world of SABRE and its wild cast of characters.
1:06:14 - The inconcievable notion of releasing a comic book as narratively dense as SABRE in the ADHD world of today.
1:12:53 - SABRE: THE EARLY FUTURE YEARS - a SABRE relaunch from Don McGregor …and Trevor Von Eeden?!! The Kickstarter that almost was...!
01:19:26 - SABRE is a story about battling conformity, and this also appeared to be one of Don McGregor’s chief battles in life.
1:23:52 - The British Invasion in comics - and their florid, evocative prose stylings - owe a debt to Don McGregor’s poetic voice in his vast ouevre (BLACK PANTHER, KILLRAVEN, NATHANIEL DUSK, DETECTIVES INC, and, of course, SABRE), with a detour into how impossible it was to ink the amazing Gene Colan.
1:26:45 - McGregor’s impassioned, provocative text piece in SABRE #2, pushing back on the regressive culture of the comics world, “...a medium that would rather have writers work as whores or mechanics.” What do ya really think, Don?!
1:36:25 - The atypical tenderness of the love story in SABRE
1:42:37 - Wrapping up the discussion, recommending that everyone out there go read SABRE immediately; just be sure to snag the original issues so you can check out the letter columns!
“SABRE has a ton of heart and love and madness contained in its pages... two creators who were trying to push the medium of comics forward …and succeeded.”
I appreciate the deep dive into McGregor’s and Gulacy’s Sabre, I was a big fan of Gulacy at that time with his run on MOKF. I just wanted to mention a few thoughts that struck me while listening. You may not think that Gulacy uses any reference for his people, but he’s notoriously known for basing the main characters on real Hollywood stars [Shang Chi = Bruce Lee, Clive Reston = Sean Connery, Blackstar = Kirk Douglas] and all that reference [film, TV] definitely contributed to the cinematic look of his art. Like the Sabre opening page, panel 5 is a straight Clint Eastwood nod and the whole page reads like one of the Sergio Leone westerns. In that respect he works well with McGregor’s style of writing, which also worked well with another artist Marshall Rogers [another favorite, both have impacted my art style]. You mentioned the Gene Colon Detective Inc. work, but the 1st Graphic Novel [1980] was the highly detailed and acclaimed one with Rogers [ they were noted for having the first lesbian characters in a mass market comic]. “Pushing the envelope” as you stated McGregor liked to do. [ I’d be remiss not to mention another book, from a few years after that, by friends Mark W. Harris & Darrell Goza, “Danse” that pushed into that realm also, as the lead character was a lesbian detective] As for the interracial/sexually charged stuff, first off, you’d think the SciFi/Comic fandom would be familiar with it, as we’d already had Kirk and Uhura on Star Trek and big time Hollywood icon Charlton Heston with his co-star Rosalind Cash in the Omega Man from the 60’s and 70’s. I bought the Sabre graphic Novel when it dropped in ’78, which would make me 13yrs old at the time, and none of it offended me, lol. Go figure. Overall a great podcast, Thanks!👏🏽👏🏽
Hi there! Thank you so much for the kind words about our podcast and for your incredibly astute, knowledgable commentary!
Re: Paul Gulacy’s use of photo reference: we stand corrected! I appreciate you pointing this out - if anything, it serves as a testament to the greatness of Gulacy’s art, as his use of photo-ref feels so well incorporated into his signature “style” whereas many modern artists referencing photos appear to be simply tracing them.
Also: totally agree with you on Marshall Rogers! Another brilliant, utterly unique artist - we actually plan to cover an obscure series that he wrote and drew for Eclipse called CAP’N QUICK & THE FOOZLE. It’s bizarre, charming, and beautifully drawn.
And DETECTIVES INC. is such a cool series - I had forgotten that Rogers did the initial graphic novel! Another thing to look for on Ebay :)
Thanks again for listening and commenting - so glad you enjoyed the show! -Steven
Our intention re: Gulacy's art is that he wasn't tracing from reference photos. No slight toward him for being inspired by Leone's indelible and impressive visual vocabulary, or basing characters on real-life counterparts. Most visual storyteller from any era borrow from other greats.
Re: the interracial romance in SciFi, as a Black dude, I applaud it; moreover, it represents a cultural frame-of-mind shift from 20th (and, sadly, 21st) century thinking. These pairings depict the "what if" that the scifi continually strives for. We'll have to track down "Danse", sounds fascinating. Thanks for your comment. -Chris
💬 TELL US
McGregor & Gulacy created a post-apocalyptic story for the ages - yet, it's rarely talked about in comics conversations. ❓What are some of your all-time favorite post-apocalyptic comics? We gotta know!
There were additional comics done, at least a couple had art done by the great Billy Graham!
Yes, the great Billy Graham, indeed! We’d love to take a close look at his work in a future episode - perhaps some of the BLACK PANTHER stories he did with Don McGregor! Thanks for your comment! -Steven