2000AD And Judge Dredd Legend Colin MacNeil Answers A Few From The Fireside Questions

On Fire

Any 2000AD or Judge Dredd fan should be familiar with Colin MacNeil’s incredible art. On Social media the gentleman often shares his sketches with the tagline “From the Fireside.”With these facts in mind, Tripwire’s contributing writer Paul N Neal reached out to Colin to see if we could feature a generous handful of his sketches and ask a few questions that were entirely inspired by each of Colin’s sketches.
Here are the results…

TRIPWIRE: You recently shared an online sketch of Usagi Yojimbo. Some might say that is a reasonably niche comic book character, it inspires me to ask whether you have a particularly discerning taste when it comes to the comics you read and enjoy? Do you enjoy a lot of comics, or would you say you are quite a fussy comic book reader?

COLIN MACNEIL: I know it may sound strange to folk, but I don’t read comics. Well, I used to read a lot of comics, but don’t anymore.

Growing up in the North of Scotland there was pretty much only British comics available, Victor, Warlord, Commando, 2000AD, etc. Occasionally there were American comics, but they were very few and far between. It was only in the 1980s and 1990s when I was really exposed to other comics: American, European, Japanese, etc. I read voraciously.

However, by the late 1990s/early 2000s, I pretty much stopped reading comics entirely. I’m sure that sounds strange to many, but I think by that time I had learned everything that could be learned from reading other folk’s comics. I became more interested in what I could do rather than seeing what others did.

TW: You have painted and illustrated the character Judge Dredd and his world for many years. One has to wonder do you actually like Dredd as a character. To your mind, is he a hero or a villain?

CM: Dredd is one of the most interesting comic characters about. Some call him a hero, some a villain but I think Dredd’s character is way more than any simplistic term like hero or villain.

To me, Dredd is just a man. … A man fuelled by a deep and enduring love. Love? Dredd?! Let me explain.  What does Dredd fight for, what is he willing to risk his life for again and again? The law? No, law is merely the rules by which he must act. What he fights for is Mega City One and I don’t mean just the infrastructure of the city. It’s the citizens, the people of the city that he fights for. It is them that he loves.

But Dredd has done some terrible things to the citizens of MC1, some might say. Well, yes, that is true, but the other thing one has to remember is that Dredd is a bit of an “Old Testament” type of character.

Proverbs 13:24 tells us, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chaseneth him betimes ” (i.e. Spare the rod and spoil the child.). This pretty much sums up Dredd to me. He doesn’t use the rod because he hates them, but because he loves them and wants what’s best for them.

TW: You have labelled your online sketches as being, “From The Fireside.” Can you explain where that label comes from please? Do you literally have a lovely open fireside in front of you as you create your art?

CM: Yes, I sit by the fireside in the evening with several sketchbooks next to my chair. As I feel inspired I pick one up and do some sketching as I relax. Hence “From the Fireside Sketchbook.”

TW: Your sketch of Ro-Jaws from ABC Warriors is lovely, but it begs a question. Are there any other 2000AD characters you would really like to sink your teeth into artistically that to date have been denied to you? Given the opportunity, would the ABC Warriors have been an appealing challenge for you as an artist?

CM: I’ve been quite lucky to draw some of the early characters from 2000AD like Fiends of the Eastern Front and Strontium Dog. So, a chance to draw some of the other characters from those early days would be fantastic. I really liked Meltdown Man, so would love to draw a sequel to that, if it ever happened.

Funnily enough, I was going to draw the ABC Warriors years ago (Khronicles of Khaos), but due to various reasons it never happened. I would like to draw the ABC Warriors, but it would have to be the early ABC Warriors, the originals, the Meknificent Seven!

TW: Below, you have proved conclusively you can certainly draw a Dalek. Are you a particularly big fan of Doctor Who? Indeed, do you have a favourite Doctor? Would you agree, as a Scotsman, that some of the recent actors to take on the role have been particularly impressive in the role?

CM: My first memories of Doctor Who are vague recollections of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, though it was only with Jon Pertwee that I really began to watch and appreciate Doctor Who. Mind you, Tom Baker was my absolute favourite Doctor. Peter Davison and beyond were not my favourites at all, though I did quite enjoy David Tennant’s stint on the character. I did watch the first couple of episodes with Matt Smith as the Doctor, but I thought he was rubbish. I haven’t watch Doctor Who since.

So long story short, no I’m not really a fan of Doctor Who, I just like my childhood memories of sitting in front of a massive 22″ black and white television watching fantastical imagery.

TW: The next sketch is too great an opportunity to miss. Are you a huge Babylon 5 fan? It is a terrific series. If you are a fan, can you describe why you enjoy it?

CM: I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan, I just enjoyed watching it. In my opinion it’s one of the best tv shows ever made.

Many people like to compare B5 with Star Trek, especially Deep Space Nine. Star Trek is about perfection, about being the best, overcoming anything with science and technology. B5 is about imperfection, about being what is, about overcoming anything with “faith” for the lack of a better word.

Every year, or two, I watch the entire series and will be invigorated by it. Watching Star Trek is fun, it’s interesting, but not invigorating. It just doesn’t have the “hit” that B5 has. Star Trek is like a half spliff of mild but amusing weed, B5 is primo psilocybin.

TRIPWIRE: In you next image, Dredd looks a little downtrodden. It inspires me to ask, what is your opinion of the two Judge Dredd movies? Did you enjoy them? For that matter, which one do you prefer?

CM: I remember going down to London for a special screening when the Stallone Dredd movie came out. When we came out after the screening, someone asked me what I thought of it, I replied with a rude word. Whatever that movie was, it wasn’t a Dredd movie.

Years later the Urban Dredd movie comes out and I get invited to a special screening in Dundee, along with a couple of other droids from 2000AD. After the movie, we were put on stage to answer questions about our thoughts on the movie.

The first droid said “fantastic”, the second said “wonderful”, but then came my turn. My opinion was “meh”. It wasn’t a bad movie, it just wasn’t a good movie either, just “meh”.

Yes, the characterisation of Dredd was good, but everything else was “off” somehow. There were too many inconsistencies and lost opportunities.

For example, if I remember correctly, there was a scene where Dredd and Anderson were running low on ammo and there’s a room full of baddies to clear, so Dredd chucked a grenade into the room. What should have happened was Dredd fired a ricochet round into the room to clear it. That would have been in keeping with Dredd’s world. Also, the overuse of slow motion kept slowing down the movie to a ridiculous amount.

If I had to choose between the two movies, I’d say I’d prefer to watch the Stallone one. It may not have been a good Dredd movie, but at least it kept the story moving, had interesting visuals and was entertaining.

TW: You prove below you can draw Galactus, so does that mean you are a fan of Marvel Comic in general? Are there any Marvel characters you would like to work on with a writer? Given your experience with robotic judges, would Iron Man make sense at all?

CM: No, I’m not really a Marvel fan. As I’ve said previously, there wasn’t a lot of American comics about when I was young, so I don’t really have any emotional connection to them.

I did draw an Iron Man and Captain America story once, but it wasn’t very good. Marvel technology is like Bird’s Angel Delight, light and fluffy. My technology is heavy like a Clootie Dumpling, except you’ll break one of your teeth on a sixpence. (Probably only older folk would get that reference.)

TW: You shared a Nemesis sketch. You are known for working as an artist predominantly with John Wagner or the Dredd universe. During your time as an artist on 2000AD, did the opportunity ever arise to work on any of Pat Mills’ scripts?

CM: I did draw a series of Defoe for Pat Mills once, which was interesting, but again I didn’t have that emotional connection to the character to really make it work. I’ve said many times in the past that I’m not really a comic artist; I’m an artist who works in comics.

They are two quite different things really. Give me a story which I have a strong emotional connection with, and you’ll get a great result. If there’s no emotional connection, it ends up being merely functional.

TW: Your next image is clearly Star Wars inspired. As an artist, or indeed a fan of such things, which would you say you prefer science fiction or fantasy? If you have a preference, are you able to say why?

CM: To me, both are equal. Fiction and fantasy are both the same thing really to me, one uses “science” as its base, the other “magic”. Certainly, over my lifetime there’s been a lot of great science fantasy like Star Wars and Babylon 5. Most good “sword and sorcery/magic” fantasy has mainly been from before I was born.

TW: You have created a great deal of space marines and Warhammer illustrations during your career. Can you say at all please how significant have the Games Workshop properties been to your career as an artist?

COLIN: Well, I had been drawing comics for twenty years before working for Games Workshop, so wouldn’t say it was significant at all to my career. Certainly, some of the stuff I drew for them was really good work, but that was because I had a connection to the characters as I used to play Warhammer 40K. It was fun!

TW: Would you describe yourself as a particularly fast artist? Do you find deadlines stressful or do you have a set 9 to 5 routine to create your art?

CM: I used to be quite fast, a long time ago. There was one time when I drew ten pages fully painted, thirty pages black & white, three black & white covers and one painted cover in a single month. Nowadays I’ll draw maybe 12 pages a month.

I don’t find deadlines stressful at all, as they give me a fixed point in time to focus on. There’s been times working from home that I didn’t even know what day of the week it was.

I must admit that sometimes, just occasionally, I have daydreams about having a 9 to 5 job. That way once work was over I wouldn’t have to think about it till the next day. “Switching off” has always been a problem for me. There’s been a few times over the years where I’ve had to get up in the middle of the night to go back to the drawing table and draw stuff, just so I could get it out of my head.

TW: If I may, I would like to finish with this image you shared online some time ago. It feels appropriate. May I simply ask what does the future hold for you as an artist? What can fans expect from Colin MacNeil in the years to come?

CM: There’s still a lot of stuff I’d like to draw yet, though not necessarily all comics. There’s a few paintings I’d like to get done before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Regarding comics, I have a few of my own ideas I’d like to bring to fruition and hopefully over the coming years they’ll appear. I’ve drawn a lot of strips for some very good writers, but there’s nothing quite like bringing your own ideas to life.

A final note to the fans of 2000AD. It was the comic that made me want to draw comics, not just read them. So long as both 2000AD and I exist, I’ll be drawing for them.