Future Shock! The Story Of 2000AD

Today I watched Future Shocks! The Story Of 2000AD and I may have found one of the best opening titles to a documentary ever. It's an exhilarating animation of the most iconic 2000AD images to some metal soundtrack that I can't find anywhere.
The documentary itself is a very insightful trip into not only the history of 2000AD, but also the British comic industry at the time. It also brought to my attention the kinds of comics that have been big in the UK and how they differ from US comics.
While the US have always ruled the comics world with superheroes, there are strong themes of anarchy and anti-establishment-type characters running through the history of British comics. The Beano has Dennis The Menace (the good one), Roger The Dodger, The Bash Street Kids - generally children who got back ad parents, teachers, the police and responsibility. The issues from the 90's that I owned as a smaller, smellier human are wonderfully chaotic in art and story, containing an energy that I have aspired to create in my work.
I also visited the Comics Unmasked: Art And Anarchy In The UK exhibition in the British Library in 2014, which showcased a fantastic array of comic history this side of the Atlantic. There was everything from Ally Sloper, who is perhaps the first comic book character of all time. Ally Sloper is an anti-hero type of character, trying to scam people and dodge his landlord. He's a loveable rogue. There was also original art from the banned Dredd storyline featuring a war between McDonald's and Burger King, and David Lloyd's amazing original art for V For Vendetta. That really gave an insight into traditional ways of working as opposed to digital means. Also very inspirational to me, as I love to work traditionally first, digitally second.

I had also never really considered how influential it was for in Hollywood. Obviously, in films like Robocop and 28 Days Later, you can see much more of an almost pulpy, violent tone and style seen in Progs. It's a huge inspiration to things like that, but Grant Morrison makes a good point that Michael Bay's Transformers are really closer to the likes of ABC Warriors than they are to the nostalgic 80's toys commercial.
It's not hard to imagine all this, though. Taking inspiration from  France's Heavy Metal, American films and a British society heading down the shitter, British comic writers and artists working for 2000AD were crafting sci fi stories and characters with a harder edge than had ever been seen before outside of EC Comics. They were violent, punchy and full of subtext, and a huge contrast to the fun and dumb Superhero comics of America. Once those creators crossed the Atlantic to Marvel and DC, suddenly Wonder Woman was having a breakdown, Batgirl was paralysed and Superman was dying. American comics were a whole other blanket fort for them to play in, and they took great pride in dismantling the neighbour's toys.

So yeah, the doc. First of all it was so great seeing so many inspirations talking about comics and their careers! Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Grant Morrison, Kevin O'Neill...so many people whose work I revisit again and again. There was a noticeable lack of Alan Moore - but anyone who knows anything about Alan Moore should not expect him to make any public appearances, which is totally understandable. I would have liked more inside stuff about the studios and things like that but really interviews were enough. Everyone was engaging, all the appropriate topics were covered, including the early years, controversy and censorship, the way in which comic creators got fucked over a lot, DREDD, and...the other Dredd film.

I highly recommend - it's currently on 4OD I think, I saw it on Sky+. It's also on DVD.