Video Nasties - Redux

One piece of advice I picked up from Kieron Gillen is that actually having a script turned into a comic by an artist is a valuable step in showing you - as a writer - what actually works and what doesn't. It's rare, though, to get a single script drawn by two entirely separate artists and see how its interpreted in two different ways, but that's what happened with an old Judge Dredd script I wrote for Zarjaz, Video Nasties.

The script was originally commissioned for the print edition of Zarjaz, with John Hutcheson providing the art. However it was also passed along to Alex Mines as a "try-out" - and his version has been serialised across the Zarjaz blog all this week.

For me, personally, it's been fascinating doing a comparison between the two versions and the original script, and I've learned a hell of a lot from the exercise.

The two images above are the same panel (page 2, panel 4, to be exact). While it's really unfair to compare the two panels out of the context of the rest of the page - and the strip as a whole, of course - they do provide a quick (and spoiler free) example of how the two artists approached the scene. On the left, we have John's more dramatic, exaggerated version, while on the right, is Alex's more restrained take.

It's also unfair to pick a favourite version, but both are now available to read, so you can make your own mind up; John's version is currently appearing in the latest issue of Zarjaz, and Alex's has now been posted in full over at the Zarjaz Blog. Lettering for both versions is provided by Bolt-01.

Zarjaz #24 - along with a whole host of back issues is available to buy now from the FutureQuake Shop, priced £3.00 (Earth Money), plus shipping.