John Wagner

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For other people named John Wagner, see John Wagner (disambiguation).

John Wagner
National Comics Award (x4)
Inkpot Award[1]

John Wagner (born 1949) is an American-born British

comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. He is the co-creator, with artist Carlos Ezquerra, of the character Judge Dredd
.

Wagner started his career in editorial with

Eagle, Scream! and Roy of the Rovers. They also wrote for DC Comics' Batman in the U.S., created a series of Batman and Judge Dredd team-up comics, and started the British independent comic The Bogie Man. Judge Dredd has twice been adapted for film, and David Cronenberg adapted Wagner's graphic novel A History of Violence into the 2005 film of the same name. Wagner continues to write for 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine
.

Biography

Early life and career

"Patridge's Patch", from Jet, co-written with Pat Mills, illustrated by Mike Western, 1971.

Wagner was born in Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1949,[2]: p. 10  the product of a war marriage. When Wagner was twelve his parents separated and his mother returned to Greenock in Scotland with the children.[3][4] Wagner describes himself as "a pretty badly adjusted youth" in America, fighting and getting into trouble, and says he "benefited a lot from the added discipline of life in Scotland."[3]

When he left school he joined a printing company, going to college on day release, until his aunt showed him an advert for editorial assistants at

IPC,[7] working from Mills' garden shed in Wormit, Fife.[3][8] Starting with humour titles like Cor!! and Whizzer and Chips,[5] they also went on to write for girls' and boys' adventure comics, including strips like "Yellowknife of the Yard", about a Native American detective in London, drawn by Doug Maxted, for Valiant;[9] "Partridge's Patch", about a friendly rural policeman and his dog, drawn by Mike Western, for Jet;[10] "The Can-Do Kids" for Lion,[11] and boarding school serial "School for Snobs" for Tammy. IPC managers John Purdie and John Sanders began to take notice.[2]
: pp. 10–11 

After nine months their writing partnership broke up, and Wagner moved to London to join IPC's staff, editing girls' titles Sandie and Princess Tina until 1973,[8] when both were merged into other titles.[5] After that he quit comics for a time, taking a variety of jobs,[8] including as caretaker of an estate in the Scottish Highlands[6] and dredging on a barge.[12]

Battle, Valiant and Action

"Darkie's Mob", illustrated by Mike Western, from Battle Picture Weekly

In the autumn of 1974 Pat Mills had been tasked with developing Battle Picture Weekly, a new war-themed title for IPC to compete with D. C. Thomson's Warlord. He asked Wagner to join him and help develop characters.[7] Mills and Wagner were dissatisfied with the sanitised nature of boys' comics[8] and wanted to make them harder-hitting, with more working-class heroes.[7] They devised the opening line-up themselves,[8] with the assistance of Gerry Finley-Day,[7] before farming the stories out to other writers.[8] The title was launched with a cover date of 8 March 1975,[7] and was a hit.[8]

Wagner continued to write for girls' comics, including scripting gymnastics strip "Bella at the Bar" for Tammy,[13] and was appointed editor of the ailing boys' weekly Valiant. Characters he created for this title included the tough New York City cop "One-Eyed Jack",[8] drawn by John Cooper, which was inspired by the film Dirty Harry and became the comic's most popular character,[14] and "Soldier Sharp", drawn by Joe Colquhoun, about a cunning coward in World War II. Both strips transferred to Battle when Valiant was merged into it in 1976, with One-Eyed Jack leaving the police and becoming a spy.[15]

Wagner then quit editorial and returned to freelance writing.

Titan Books in 2011.[17] Other strips he wrote for Battle included "Joe Two Beans" (1977), about a mute Native American soldier in the Pacific Campaign, drawn by Eric Bradbury, and the naval series "HMS Nightshade" (1978–79), drawn by Western.[15] For Mills' short-lived, controversial title Action he scripted the boxing strip "Blackjack".[18] During this time he shared a flat on Camberwell New Road in London with future 2000 AD editor Steve MacManus.[5]

2000 AD

In 1976 Mills brought Wagner in as script adviser for the new science fiction comic he was developing, 2000 AD. Wagner suggested the new title needed a cop story, and his proposal, "

Apocalypse War" storyline,[19]
: p. 87  and continued to draw the character semi-regularly until his death in 2018.

Wagner created two long-running series in 1978. One, "Robo-Hunter", a private detective-style character who specialised in robot-related cases, was initially drawn by José Ferrer, but his pages were partly redrawn by Ian Gibson, who became the strip's regular artist.[19]: p. 49  The other, "Strontium Dog", a sci-fi western about a bounty hunter in a future where mutants are an oppressed minority forced into doing such dirty work, was created by Wagner and Ezquerra for Starlord,[8] a short-lived sister title to 2000 AD with higher production values.[19]: pp.39–41  Starlord was later merged into 2000 AD, bringing "Strontium Dog" with it.[8]

Doctor Who

During their writing partnership, Wagner and Mills had submitted story ideas to the

Doctor Who Weekly in 1979, he suggested them as writers. The pair wrote four eight-part serials, based on their unmade TV scripts. They adapted them separately, Wagner scripting "City of the Damned" and "Dogs of Doom", and Mills scripting "The Iron Legion" and "The Star Beast", although all were credited to "Mills & Wagner".[20]

Partnership with Alan Grant

John Wagner at a comic convention in New York City in 1992.

From 1980 to 1988 he wrote in partnership with

CB-inspired space haulage comedy "Ace Trucking Co.", were credited to "Grant/Grover". "Judge Dredd" was credited to "Wagner/Grant" starting in 1986.[22]

Other pseudonyms were created, at the insistence of publisher John Sanders, to disguise how prolific the two writers were.

The Thirteenth Floor",[23] for Roy of the Rovers they wrote "Dan Harker's War",[21] and for Battle they wrote "Invasion 1984".[24] During this time Wagner wrote the documentary strip "Fight for the Falklands" for Battle, without Grant who had no interest in war stories,[21] and "Dan Dare" with Pat Mills for Eagle.[25]

Wagner and Grant became part of the so-called "

Oz" led to the end of their writing partnership[19]: pp. 123–124  and they split their work between them: Wagner kept "Judge Dredd", while Grant continued "Strontium Dog" and "Anderson, Psi Division" and became the sole writer of Detective Comics.[21]
Although the two continued to collaborate from time to time, they never resumed a full-time partnership.

Creators' rights

In 1987, IPC's comics division was sold to Robert Maxwell as Fleetway Publications. John Davidge was appointed as publishing director in 1989, and within a matter of weeks was confronted by Wagner, who emptied a large bag of Judge Dredd merchandise onto his desk, pointed out he had received no royalties for any of it, and threatened a creator walk-out over the issue. Davidge, whose background was in magazine and book publishing, was shocked, and introduced written contracts and royalty payments for comic creators.[2]: p. 121 [19]: pp. 129–130 

The Bogie Man and the 1990s

One series Wagner and Grant did continue writing together was

European City of Culture
in 1990, and further stories followed from other publishers.

Wagner and Grant were named as consulting editors on a new title, the

Judge Death in humorous style.[19]: pp.138–140  While his efforts were concentrated on Dredd in the Megazine, Wagner took a break from writing the character in 2000 AD, replaced by Garth Ennis,[19]: p. 141  Grant Morrison,[19]: p. 162  Mark Millar and others. He did not resume writing for 2000 AD for more than three years.[19]
: p. 167 

Wagner was initially involved in Toxic!, an independent weekly anthology launched in 1991, but, aside from two Bogie Man serials co-written with Grant, most of his proposed stories were rejected and he withdrew from the project.[19]: pp. 142–143  One such proposal, "Al's Baby", a comedy about a male mob hitman who becomes pregnant, drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, ran in the Judge Dredd Megazine in 1991.[19]: p. 194  Another, "Button Man", a contemporary urban gladiator thriller drawn by Arthur Ranson, was published in 2000 AD in 1992.[19]: p. 154  Both spawned sequels.

Wagner and Grant reunited in 1992 for

Judgement on Gotham, a hit graphic novel teaming up Judge Dredd and Batman, co-published by Fleetway and DC and featuring painted art by Simon Bisley.[19]: pp. 150–152  Further team-ups between Dredd and Batman followed, but were beset by production delays.[29]

In the mid-1990s Wagner worked on a number of licensed properties for

Aliens, Star Wars – notably solo stories starring Boba Fett[30] and the comics strand of the multimedia project Shadows of the Empire – and Xena: Warrior Princess.[31] In 1997 he wrote his first original graphic novel, A History of Violence, a contemporary thriller about an unassuming small-town man whose background in gang crime comes back to haunt him, drawn by Vince Locke for the Paradox Press imprint of DC Comics.[32] It was nominated for the Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Scenario
in 2006.

21st century

In 2000 Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra revived "Strontium Dog" (main character Johnny Alpha had been killed off in 1990 in a story written by Alan Grant),[19]: p. 135  based on a treatment Wagner had written for an abortive TV pilot.[19]: p. 211  Initially, stories were set before the character's death in a revised continuity, but 2010's "The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha" brought Johnny back from the dead.[33]

Wagner has continued to be the main writer of "Judge Dredd" in 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine. In 2003 he co-wrote the Judge Dredd/

Day of Chaos" (2011–2012), in which many of the institutions of Dredd's world are destroyed, leaving a more dangerous city.[34]

In 2016 Wagner teamed up with Grant to create a new comic for BHP Comics. Drawn by Dan Cornwell "Rok of the Reds" tells the story of a dangerous intergalactic outlaw, Rok of Arkadi, who, while on the run, hides on the planet earth by taking over the body and life of troubled football star Kyle Dixon.

A father of two, Wagner lives with his wife near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.[35][36]

Style and influence

Pat Mills describes Wagner's writing as "romantic but not emotional".[2]: p. 11  His depictions of violent action, from "Darkie's Mob" to "Judge Dredd" to A History of Violence, are unsentimental and laced with mordant humour. Other strips, like "Robo-Hunter", "Ace Trucking Co." and "The Balls Brothers", reveal a more overt comedy side to his writing.[8] He is well known for writing terse scripts, described by artist Dave Gibbons as being like "exciting telegrams".[37] He says he does not think visually, but rather "in terms of plot developments [and] dialogue", preferring to leave the visual decisions to the artist.[38]

Described by

D. C. Thomson & Co. of the '60s and '70s.[38] Outside of comics, authors he admires include John Steinbeck, Patrick O'Brian[45] and Michael Connelly.[46]

Awards

Awards won

Nominations

  • 1978 Eagle Award for Favourite British writer
  • 1984 Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook Writer — U.K.
  • 1985 Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook Writer — U.K.
  • 2002 National Comics Award for Best Writer in Comics Today
  • 2002 National Comics Award for Best Writer Ever
  • 2002 National Comics Award Roll of Honour
  • 2010 Eagle Award for Favourite Writer
  • 2011 Eagle Award for Favourite Writer

Bibliography

Main article: John Wagner bibliography

See also Category:Comics by John Wagner

Screen adaptations

A TV film of

The Bogie Man was made in 1992 by BBC Scotland starring Robbie Coltrane, but was not well received and a series was never made. Wagner and Grant made very little money out of it. Wagner felt that the screenwriter did a poor job adapting it, and Coltrane did not understand the character.[5]

1995 saw the release of Judge Dredd, a big budget version of the comic directed by Danny Cannon and starring Sylvester Stallone. Wagner was unhappy with the result, feeling they had filmed "the wrong script" and that "Stallone was badly advised".[5] A second attempt at adapting the character to the screen, entitled Dredd, was released in September 2012, directed by Pete Travis from a script by Alex Garland, and starring Karl Urban. This time Wagner was consulted over the script, was involved in the promotion of the film,[50] and has described it as "unlike the first film, a true representation of Judge Dredd".[51]

In 2005 his graphic novel

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
in 2005.

It was reported in May 2012 that Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn was in talks with DreamWorks about a possible Button Man film.[52]

The 2023 Tamil movie, LEO, an official remake of the novel “A History of Violence” has put a thank you card at the beginning of the movie. There are rumours that the author Mr. Wagner nor the producer of the initial adaptation are not aware of this remake. The movie is a smash hit and crossed 50 million dollars worldwide in 7 days.

References

  1. ^ Inkpot Award
  2. ^ a b c d e Colin M. Jarman and Peter Acton, Judge Dredd: The Mega History, Lennard Publishing, 1995
  3. ^ a b c d Jack McKeown, "Dredd 3D fans owe a debt to the Wormit Thrill Shed Archived 13 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Courier, 4 September 2012
  4. ^ Steven McKenzie, Scotland's influence on 2000AD's Judge Dredd, BBC Scotland, 14 August 2012
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h W. R. Logan, Interview with John Wagner Archived 18 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Class of '79 (undated)
  6. ^ a b David Bishop, "Interrogation: Alan Grant Part One", Judge Dredd Megazine #266, 8 January 2008, pp. 16–22
  7. ^ a b c d e David Bishop, "Blazing Battle Action" part 1, Judge Dredd Megazine No. 209, 28 August 2003, pp. 72–78
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o David Bishop, "John Wagner: The Quiet American", Judge Dredd Megazine #250, 17 October 2006, pp. 24–30
  9. ^ Lew Stringer, Christmas Comics: Valiant 1971, Blimey! It's Another Blog About Comics!, 17 December 2009
  10. ^ Mike Western's Partridge's Patch from Jet comic, Peter Gray's Comics, 16 April 2010
  11. ^ Dean Simons, "The Father of Judge Dredd", Tripwire, November 2012, pp. 13–16
  12. ^ David Bishop, John Wagner talks about Battle Picture Weekly, Vicious Imagery, 30 January 2007
  13. ^ Brave Bella Barlow, Tammy's Most Popular Heroine Archived 4 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Books Monthly (undated)
  14. ^ "I invented Judge Dredd", BBC, 28 February 2002
  15. ^ a b c David Bishop, "Blazing Battle Action" part 2, Judge Dredd Megazine No. 210, 23 September 2003, pp. 72–79
  16. ^ Ian Wheeler, "John Wagner: The Story Man", Eagle Flies Again issue 11, Winter 2004, pp. 5–6
  17. ^ Darkie's Mob – The Secret War of Joe Darkie at Titan Books
  18. ^ "Blackjack" at The Sevenpenny Nightmare Archived 2 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v David Bishop, Thrill Power Overload, Rebellion, 2002–2009
  20. ^ a b Dave Gibbons, Pat Mills, John Wagner and Steve Moore, Doctor Who: The Iron Legion, Panini Books
  21. ^ a b c d e f g David Bishop, "Interrogation: Alan Grant" part 2, Judge Dredd Megazine #267, 5 February 2008, pp. 16–22
  22. ^ 2000 AD prog 493, IPC Magazines Ltd, cover date 25 October 1986
  23. ^ Alex Frith, "Review of The Thirteenth Floor reprint collection". Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008., 2000 AD Review (undated, via Internet Archive)
  24. ^ David Bishop, "Blazing Battle Action" part 4, Judge Dredd Megazine No. 212, 18 November 2003, pp. 72–79
  25. ^ Dan Dare at Barney's 2000 AD Database
  26. ^ Klaehn, Jeffery (December 2009). "Alan Grant on Batman and Beyond". Graphicnovelreporter.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013.
  27. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9
    . In February [1988], the Batman crossed paths with Scarface and the Ventriloquist in Detective Comics No. 583 by writer John Wagner and Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle.
  28. ISBN 978-1465424563
    . Writers John Wagner and Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle introduced the Ratcatcher in this two-part story.
  29. ^ David Bishop, "Interrogation: Alan Grant" part 3, Judge Dredd Megazine #268, pp. 16–22
  30. ^ "Interview with John Wagner and Cam Kennedy". Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Dark Horse Comics, 1997 (via Internet Archive)
  31. ^ John Wagner interview, Westfield Comics, July 1999
  32. OCLC 213309015
  33. ^ Tony Ingram, Mutant Mayhem in Milton Keynes: The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Strontium Dog Archived 28 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Broken Frontier, 19 August 2011
  34. YouTube
  35. ^ Shropshire restaurant name immortalised in Dredd 3D, Shropshire Star, 9 August 2012
  36. ^ Rick Fulton, "Scots comic legend on the end of an era.. and dawn of a new Dredd", Daily Record and Sunday Mail, 7 September 2012
  37. ^ Thom Young, Watching the Watchmen with Dave Gibbons: An Interview Archived 6 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Comics Bulletin (undated)
  38. ^ a b Laura Sneddon, Comic Studies: Dundee Comics Day, Comic Book Resources, 2 November 2011
  39. ^ Warren Ellis, Come In Alone issue #14, Comic Book Resources, 3 March 2000
  40. ^ Oor Authors, ItchyCoo
  41. ^ Comic Book Day: Getting Closure with Garth Ennis Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Nerdist News, 29 February 2012
  42. ^ Cut to: Andy Diggle (Comic Book Writer) Archived 8 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, My PDF Scripts, 2012
  43. ^ Multiversity Comics Presents: Rob Williams Archived 2 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine, 19 September 2011
  44. ^ Gary Spencer Millidge, Alan Moore: Storyteller, Ilex, 2011, p. 58
  45. ^ Luis Leña Velasco, John Wagner (interview in English and Spanish), Club Batman, April 2008
  46. ^ Set your lawgivers to hi-ex, kids – we speak with John Wagner Archived 22 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Forbidden Planet International, 29 September 2009
  47. ^ The source for this and the other 1979 awards is Previous Winners: 1979, at the official Eagle Awards website, archived at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 9 September 2018.)
  48. ^ This and all other 1992 awards listed in "Newswatch: UK Awards Named," The Comics Journal #149 (March 1992), p. 22.
  49. ^ MT. "Newswatch: 5th UK Comic Art Awards," The Comics Journal #168 (May 1994), p. 44.
  50. ^ Owen Williams, Exclusive: John Wagner And Alex Garland Talk Dredd, Empire, 2012
  51. ^ Karl Keily, "John Wagner discusses 35 years of Judge Dredd", Comic Book Resources, 31 July 2012
  52. ^ Mike Fleming, Nicolas Winding Refn In DreamWorks Talks For 'Button Man: The Killing Game', Deadline New York, 31 May 2012

External links

Online reference

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