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Nelson Mandela becomes comic hero, how many others are there

 
  

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miss wonderstarr
12:17 / 30.10.05
The issue of Look-In would have been published around '88.

Well, this was my point; it just seemed kind of amusing given that Kylie's now been around for two decades, and her first three years of Neighbours and PWL singles seems such a short period by comparison.
 
 
Tom Paine's Bones
17:14 / 30.10.05
JFK, Thatcher and Hitler have certainly appeared in comics, though these weren't perhaps the stories of their lives.

In terms of satire rather then straight biographies, Hunt Emerson's gamebook/comic crossovers, You are Ronald Reagan and You are Maggie Thatcher are rather splendid.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
18:36 / 30.10.05
Actually, that reminds me that Ronald Reagan appeared in Dark Knight Returns, and Margaret Thatcher in Morrison's Dare and St Swithin's Day, as well as Zenith.
 
 
Juan_Arteaga
22:21 / 30.10.05
David Letterman also shows up and dies in Dark Knight Returns.

I think Limbaugh and Leno show up in DK2.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
07:17 / 31.10.05
Jonathan Ross was in a comic from Trident (publishers of St Swithin's Day) in the 1980s -- as the modern form of Satan, I think.
 
 
Axolotl
07:23 / 31.10.05
I noticed (but didn't buy) a Mr T comic the other day. I didn't read it, but I guess it's more about the character Mr T than the person, if you see what I mean.
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
08:35 / 31.10.05
Branson Avatar Zenith phase 2
 
 
Sax
09:33 / 31.10.05
St Francis of Assisi:

 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
10:10 / 31.10.05
There have been a lot of comic book adaptations of autobiographical/biographical books by/about real-life born again Christians.



Spire Christian Comics did quite a lot of these. While full of nonsense and racist dodginess etc, they were of a notably higher quality than, say, Jack Chick comics. I had a copy of In The Presence Of Mine Enemies as a kid and remember finding it utterly thrilling, from the bail-out scene at the start onwards. Great cover, too, of the old school high-concept kind:

 
 
miss wonderstarr
16:21 / 31.10.05
Zenith Phase III:

a fictional pop group including Matt Goss, Morten Harket and Phil Cool (whatever happened to Phil Cool?)



Red Star Robinson based on Ian Brown from the Stone Roses



Domino based on Sid Vicious




Miss Wonderstarr based on Siouxie Sioux



Jimmy Quick based on Jimmy Somerville




David "Lux" Cambridge based on Jim Morrison
 
 
miss wonderstarr
16:32 / 31.10.05
++PLUS++ Patsy Kensit, Lenny Henry and Jonathan Ross, along with other eminent celebs of the day, appeared in the fully canonical and in-continuity Morrison and Yeowell Zenith one-page in a 2000AD sci-fi special.
 
 
Juan_Arteaga
22:04 / 31.10.05
Speaking of Zenith, didn't Britney Spears get molested by Robot Archie?
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
07:42 / 01.11.05
zenith's got too many 1 panel cameos too mention.

even the gallagher brothers make it in.
 
 
sleazenation
08:30 / 01.11.05
Dude the Oasis bruvs and Jarvis Cocker had one panel appearences in Judge Dredd strips in the mid 90s...
 
 
Bed Head
10:46 / 01.11.05
a fictional pop group including Matt Goss, Morten Harket and Phil Cool (whatever happened to Phil Cool?)

Do you mean the ‘Jack 5' group that Zenith is moaning about to Eddie? I always thought that was supposed to be all three of Bros, plus Rick Astley and Leonard Cohen. Is that really supposed to be Phil Cool?


Also, hey, would these guys count? “Rick Barry” and “Dr J” were real people, I think.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
 
 
Jack Fear
11:05 / 01.11.05
You think? God, you young people today. No sense of history.

I cannot vouce for the historical accuracy of Rick's sweater-vest, though.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
16:48 / 01.11.05
Yawn and Juan are both right. Apparently the Gallagher brothers also cameo in "zzz.zenith.com" alongside Britney.

I hadn't checked the pic of Jack Five when I wrote that post, but looking at it now I believe it's top row -- Matt, Morten, Luke -- bottom row, Rick Astley, Phil Cool. He seems more likely than Leonard Cohen to me as a 1989 youth media figure, but I could be wrong.

Hold on while I take a very bad photo.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
16:53 / 01.11.05




Sorry, I'll get a scanner sometime.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
17:18 / 01.11.05
Anyway, yeah I agree that's Leonard Cohen before it's Phil Cool. So I've been wrong about it for 16 years.
 
 
Bed Head
17:23 / 01.11.05
Gosh, that really is a photo. You’ve spurred me to find and scan it myself.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us



God, I'm not so sure now: the guy in the drawing has a pretty high forehead, and that's not very Cohenesque. But still, I think Phil Cool's face was rather more pointy that that. I mean, mmmmmaybe you’re right, but a) I don’t think it’s a very good likeness of Phil Cool at all and b) Leonard Cohen being in a boy band is funnier that Phil Cool being in a boy band. Did Phil Cool even sing? He was such a youth media figure that I’ve never actually seen anything he’s done. But in 1989 I knew who Leonard Cohen was because Tanita Tikaram was always droning on in interviews about how great he was, and I had to familiarise myself with his work in case I ever met her.


Dude the Oasis bruvs and Jarvis Cocker had one panel appearences in Judge Dredd strips in the mid 90s...

reminded: Jarvis had a *starring* role in two short Jamie Hewlett comic strips in the 1990s:

Cocker’s Luck

Common People: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Ah, the 1990s. Jamie Hewlett. Jarvis Cocker. Proper stars, man. Real glamour. Too bad that Look-In wasn’t still running by then, we might have been treated to a wacky comicbook version of Shed 7.
 
 
Bed Head
17:35 / 01.11.05
So I've been wrong about it for 16 years.

Dude, I think we’ve both been wrong. But I'm not sure this one-panel joke is going to turn out to be funny enough to justify *caring* who that guy was supposed to be anymore. Next half-way convincing guess wins it.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
18:35 / 01.11.05
Not only was I wrong, that photo looks fucking dreadful next to a scan. Next fiasco: I take a picture of myself in a Zenith t-shirt to illustrate my observation.

I do think you're more likely to be right than me. I googled Cohen and Cool, and the latter looks nothing remotely like that 5th band-member, while the former does, at least faintly.

I was right about Harket, though, I think, and the omission of Craig/"Ken" from the Bros of Alternative 230.
 
 
miss wonderstarr
18:48 / 01.11.05
Androgynous 90s rocker BRETT ANDERSON was also the star of a short-lived comic book about his life and music. Hold on while I find the proof.



O hold on a minute I hadn't finished there.
 
 
Bed Head
20:08 / 01.11.05
I was right about Harket, though, I think, and the omission of Craig/"Ken" from the Bros of Alternative 230.

Oh dear. And I was discreetly not mentioning your Harket thing. Do you really think so? That’s Ken on the left, man. Matt is in the middle, he’s wearing the kerchief/white vinyl jacket combo he wore on their UK tour. Luke, on the right, is sporting his studded leather jacket, for he is the rough, tough brother, grr. And anyway, A-ha were pretty much Down The Dumper by 1989. Zenith wouldn't be worried about Harket.

I'm right, but I've had to admit to knowing what Bros wore on tour in order to make the point. *slaps forehead* I fell right into that one.

And you’ve definitely captured the essence of Brett there, with his little pot-belly.


Meeeeanwhile, since my scanner was plugged in, I managed to dig out an example of Frank Bellamy’s Winston Churchill comic to scan:



And some anonymous internet person has helpfully found and hosted a few pages from the Adam Ant comic, which wasn’t in Look-In after all, but was in something called “TV Tops”. As I remembered, this has nothing to do with his boring real life biography, and is a Jerry Cornelius-ish, timestream-skipping, eternal champion-type thing instead. Although not quite as exciting as that. Adam Ant, man.


Also, POW! BLAM! See! Paradax being more Zenith than Zenith and being interviewed by Andy Warhol on his 'Nothing Special' TV show:

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
 
 
miss wonderstarr
20:49 / 01.11.05
Ironic about the leather jacket, because it was the Bros look (or possibly George Michael circa "Faith") that Zenith copied for his Phase II fashion revamp.

As for the other key issue, the only way to resolve this is through pseudo-science. I've combined these images in a kind of... "montage" ... helping us to recreate the ideas in artist Steve Yeowell's brain as he sketched that panel.



I've omitted Phil Cool after receiving this note from the Zenith artist.

From : Steve Yeowell
Sent : 01 November 2005 13:36:16
To : kovax
Subject : RE: phase 2

hi k-man
great 2 hear from u, loved that thread on "the decline of steve yeowell" lol. ur right my work has been in a rut since invisibles book 1, dunno wat happened pmsl

neway... no it wuznt phil i had in mind... as for morton or luke (matt?) i can't help u m8, brain is blank!

gud luck wiv da montage
steve-o
 
 
miss wonderstarr
21:44 / 01.11.05
Why can't Grant Morrison post on threads like this to clear up the important stuff. Anyway Anne Diamond is in Phase I and Melvyn Bragg in Phase IV.
 
 
bio k9
04:20 / 02.11.05
He only pops up when you make fun of Mark Millar.
 
  

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