LO1 Understand graphic novels and their publishers

2000 AD comics

a). 2000 AD has produced countless product over the years it has been publishing. A few of these products are Judge Dredd, Starlord and Valiant. Judge Dredd is a long running 2000AD series that has become its most popular. Starlord is was a comic book series that was created in anticipation of the sci-fi franchise Star Wars. Valiant was a adventure comic cook series that was initially successful but suffered when the adventure comic book market started to modernise.

b). titles
2000 AD comics has released countless titles since they were founded in 1977. 2000 AD was originally a science fiction comic book series containing characters that eventually branched out into there own graphic novel series'. Judge Dredd remains 2000AD comics most read series, this could be due to how long the series has been running but to my knowledge it seems as though Judge Dredd is the most popular. The majority of 2000AD's most popular comics are of the science fiction, this may be because of how well 2000 AD portray the genre. Another popular title by 2000 AD comics is Brass sun: wheel of the worlds, this graphic novel is of the science fiction and steampunk genre which is an unusual combination for graphic novels. Another of these popular titles is Rogue Trooper, this comic is a science fiction story about a rogue soldier.

c). Roles of writers/ letteres/pecilers/inkers/colourists

The role of a writer within a graphic novel is to write the narrative and dialogue. In more modern times like today there would be a team of writers, however back when 2000AD first started they had limited resources and had only one writer per novel. Writers often get switched around and replaced so as to keep the long running comic series' original. Pencilers play the role of initial illustrators. This means they lay down the foundations of illustration so that they can be finished by the colourerists and inkers. The pencilers are most often kept for the duration of a comic series to maintain a consistency in the illustration. The letterers are the people who write out the dialogue and text in that iconic comic book font. Every comic book company has a different style of lettereing that is unique to their comic books. The inker is often referred to as the finisher or tracer. The inker is the other half of the line illustration, where the penciler lays down the foundation in pencil, the inker applies ink to these foundations to give the images more shape and depth. The colourist is the role that is responsabe for applying colour to the illustrations. A lot of the earlier colourist used dyes and ink for the colours.


Judge Dredd

a).Genre

The genre for Judge Dredd is sci-fi action adventure. This genre is a a good genre for Judge Dredd because Judge Dredd is a very violent take on a dystopian, sci-fi future where crime is at an all time high. The genre for Judge Dredd has remained persistent through all the years of production, it has even stayed consistent throughout the adaptions of it.

b).  Style and content

The style of Judge Dredd is very classic, it holds the same original art style as many of the classic graphic novels. This art style helps put a comedic value on the violence within the pages. The content within the book is mostly about crime and the gritty police dealings so the narrative and visual content is of a very mature nature. This mature content has developed an iconography behind the Judge Dredd character and the novel, and to this day mature violence remains characteristic of the Judge Dredd franchise.


c). Meaning

There are many meanings involved with the Judge Dredd franchise. The humorous unrelenting violence could connote a dark nature behind the writers of the novel or a symbolic gesture that we should be lucky this isn't how it is in the real world.

d). Target audience

The target audience for Judge Dredd is men, aged 18 to 3. Any ethnicity and of demographic A,B,C1 demographic. This age difference is accurate as the Judge Dredd graphic novel is rate 18 and over. Another reason for this is because of its release a graphic novel it has risen in popularity in older generations seeking a nostalgic reminder of their youth. The target audience is predominantly men because the genre of science fiction, action and adventure appeals to the younger male audience more than it does female. This demographic is relevant because people of A,B,C1 have the disposable income to spend on a regular purchase like graphic novels or comic books. 

e). characters

The main character of Judge Dredd is of course Judge Dredd as the novel is named after him. Judge Dredd is supposed to be a personified representation of law and order. Judge Dredd is the only reoccurring character, there are often other Judge characters included however more often than not these characters get killed off within the story.