Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!: 2000AD and Judge Dredd: The Secret History

Pat Mills is a legendary creator.His collaborations with Joe Colquhoun ( Charley's War (Vol. 1): 2 June - 1 August 1916 ), Kevin O’Neill (Nemesis,  Marshal Law: The Deluxe Edition ),  Slaine: The Horned God, Vol. 3 (A 2000AD Graphic Novel)  (Simon Bisley, Glenn Fabry, Mike McMahon and Clint Langley among others) can easily be held up to the same respect that greets artistic works by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ( Captain America by Jack Kirby Omnibus (Marvel Omnibus) ), Jean Giraud and Alejandro Jodorowsky ( The Incal ), Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ( Watchmen: The Deluxe Edition ).Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave! reveals the fascinating history of the comic Pat created -2000AD - and the turbulent times it has endured.I first started reading 2000AD as a boy.There was nothing like it in the shops and I would eagerly look forward to whatever mind blowing stories each issue would contain, spending my hard-earned money from my newspaper runs.It’s hard to overestimate the excitement I felt when each new issue - or Prog as the weekly comic is known - arrived.The stories were explosive, each new creation seemed to top the last. Judge Dredd, the Lawman of the Future, M.A.C.H 1, a secret agent superhero, the reimagined Dan Dare, the bloodthirsty dinosaurs of FLESH, the V.C.s, Ace Trucking, Robohunter…the list went on and on…inspiring me to me to read as much sci-fi and fantasy I could lay my hands on.I started to learn who my favourite creators were, thanks to Kevin O’Neill slipping credits into the comic (an interesting bit of information from Be Pure).Writers like John Wagner, Alan Grant, Gerry Finley-Day and of course, Pat Mills.Artists such as Brian Bolland, Cliff Robinson, Ian Gibson, Cam Kennedy, Dave Gibbons, John Hicklenton, Carlos Ezquerra and Massimo Belardinelli…Pat’s contributions go far beyond simply being an editor. What’s discussed is the struggle he had to endure and ultimately win in order to produce the galaxy’s favourite weekly.Be Pure covers this essential part of comics history, discussing the creators, the suits who ran comics publishing, the social mores of the time and also the fight for creator rights - a never-ending struggle.The book is revelatory and made me feel disgusted at how prominent creators were discarded and treated poorly by both publishers and hack editors.He covers his time freelancing on the British weekly humour comics, his partnership wth the great John Wagner and the formation of 2000AD and Misty, all the way up to present day under Rebellion’s ownership.Pat’s a passionate creator and pulls no punches with his views which makes for a wild ride of a read.Especially fascinating is the untold tale of the dark ages of 2000AD, a period that led Pat to create the amazing  Resurrection (Requiem Vampire Knight Book 1)  for the French market.I was so engrossed in the book, I read it through in one sitting and really wished it were longer; there was simply so much fascinating material.The section where Pat talks about his creative process and influences is gold for budding writers and could easily be expanded into a book of its own!Highly recommended. Get Be Pure! for a fantastic look into creating 2000AD and more!

I was at a comics convention this past weekend and picked up some 'Marshal Law' comics to fill in my collection.I returned home with Pat Mills' work fresh on my mind as a result. I happened to see online that Mills had a new e-book available of his memoirs with 2000 AD.Without hesitation, I purchased the e-book off Amazon and began devouring it immediately.I must say that I was extremely satisfied. Immensely.If you've ever seen or heard Mills in interviews, you already know the passion, enthusiasm and sardonic wit that he always relays. It was no different here in the book and it seemed as if I could almost hear his voice and cadence as I was reading (as odd as that sounds). Also, I can already see some people complaining that the minutiae of creators' rights and creative development make the book seem slow. That would be a falsehood. As a freelance artist myself, I find myself constantly engrossed in reading experiences of the pragmatism it takes to makes one's living as a creative person. It's a rough business and being a gentleman is not always advised as Mills relates with entertaining and informative anecdotes.Much like his legendary comics work, there's an immediacy that crackles off Mills' prose and it will keep the pages turning.And if that's not enough, Mills adds in a link to an extra story regarding an episode in the book where he and other creators concoct a plan to get their past due payments from a publisher. I won't spoil but it is a very funny story and a nice touch that adds value to an already great package. It's got plenty of Thrill Power!!!Highly recommended!ADRIAN JOHNSON

Great, informative Pat Mills rant. I read it in a day. I’ve dipped in and out of 2000ad all my life, so this was an real eye opener for me - not only about the development of the comic and characters but also how poorly artists are treated. I probably buy half a dozen 2000ad collections a year, various bits of merchandise etc and assumed the creators got a reasonable share of money spent. Not so - capitalist pig dogs!

Pat Mills, creator of 2000AD and writer of many of the magazine's best series (including Slaine, Nemesis the Warlock, and A.B.C. Warriors) presents the history of "the Galaxy's Greatest Comic." Mills offers insights into how he developed 2000AD, what it takes to create a successful new strip, and the origins of some of the best-known characters featured in the magazine. He also discusses the indifference and even hostility of publishing management to editorial staff, writers and artists, as well as the small to nonexistent royalties that creators receive for reprints or merchandising of their work. Despite the demanding schedules, generally not great pay, and sometimes contentious working conditions, Mills and his fellow creators have given us so many memorable, mind-blowing, subversive and thrilling stories over the years. This memoir tells the true stories behind the fictional stories we know and love. Highly recommended.

A really interesting and informative journey through the creation of 2000AD, and beyond, from the man who started it all. Pat Mills doesn't pull any punches in telling it from his point of view, giving his thoughts (positive and otherwise!) on the events and people in his 40-year involvement with the comic and the industry overall. If you've seen the excellent 'Future Shock! documentary (especially the highly recommended 2017 blu-ray release with a ton of extras, including an 84 minute interview with Pat Mills), you'll read this just like I did, with his brutally frank tone running through your head. I was a die-hard 2000AD reader as a kid, so reading this "secret history" as an adult just added to its legend, and for me made the names on the 'credit cards' into very real people. Recommended.

Like a few reviewers here I was unaware of this. I only have 1 negative, again as commented on by several others, could've had a better cover.If you've seen FUTURE SHOCK- The story of 2000ad you need to read this book. If you haven't seen FUTURE SHOCK, watch it first- then READ THIS BOOK.Chronicling legendary creator PAT MILLS long and celebrated career. Chapters detailing the early years working with John Wagner in a garden shed through to the creation of 2000ad, Starlord, Misty, Toxic and numerous others.Pat states several times during this entertaining and gripping recollection that this is his point of view and recollection of events. He acknowledges that some of the other people involved may have different opinions and recollections of the details.Related in an almost conversational manner this really goes behind the scenes and manages to shine a light on some of the unsung heroes of the British comic industry. Pat is also very honest about his own failings and mistakes.My view from what I've read is that Pat really does know what he's doing when putting a comic together and how to target an audience. He does come across as hard but fair. On the flip side, as a creator he sounds like a very understanding and accommodating sort.A few bridges have been mended and are detailed in the course of events and there are also some warnings for British publishers and the future of the industry.Great food for thought.Really, really enjoyed this and having read Steve MacManus bio on his time as the Mighty Tharg it did round out the events of the 80's and 90's. There is so much info and background in this book it's difficult to encapsulate in a review.Buy this and judge for yourself.Buy it too as this is one of the few works by Pat that he's getting a FAIR percentage of the sales of. (Once you've read the book you'll understand why that is so important)Splundig vur Thrigg!!!

Pat Mills is a great comics writer but this book is terrible. It reads like an over-long blog post that got wildly out of hand. At the start, Mills attempts to live up to the promise of the title, but keeps getting diverted onto side topics which almost entirely consist of him pointing out why everyone except him was wrong about everything. By the middle, the side topics have taken over and the entire structure of the book collapses into an endless series of rants and score settling. By the end Mills is devoting several pages to complaining about the small print and page rates in his current 2000 AD contract. He's a clever guy, but his self regard is endless and as he never met a conspiracy theory that he didn't like, he can only explain failures as being the result of other peoples deliberate attempts to foil him. It's a fascinating view into his head, but it's a lousy book

‘Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!’ was the catchphrase of the villain Torquemada in ‘Nemesis The Warlock’, a Pat Mills series and is also the title for this history of the creation of ‘2000AD’, a British comic of some renown. Mills admits from the start that this is his truth, a popular conception today and that other recollections and opinions may differ, which is fair enough. Even if you haven’t seen him interviewed in person, it’s clear from the book that he’s a bombastic and forceful personality, not shy of airing his views in fiction or memoir.For example, some unwary minion at Titan Books referred to him as the co-creator of ‘2000AD’ and Mills chased them up. As it happens, Titan founder Nick Landau started out working on the comic. Mills demanded to know the identity of the other co-creator and insisted that he created ‘2000AD’ and no one else. On the evidence, this seems true because IPC executive John Sanders, who also has a book out, had to pay Mills £250 a week in 1976 to get him back on board when he quit as the comic was being developed. That was twice what Sanders himself earned. I started work in 1977 as an office junior and made £18 a week. A pint of beer was 25p back then, so £250 a week was a considerable sum and hard-nosed publishers would not have paid it if they didn’t need him.What does created mean, though? Mills would admit that he didn’t write every individual strip, but he emphasises development. Before the first script and first art pages, a character has to be devised and his background world thought out in some detail, especially for a Science Fiction concept. One of Mills’ main complaints here – and there are many! – is that publishers don’t pay writers for time spent on development. So Mills was the principal writer on many of the scripts but worked with both writers and artists in giving them a good foundation so that the characters might last a while. In some cases, notably Judge Dredd, it worked.‘2000AD’ was the third attempt by a new generation of comic writers to break away from the traditional British mould of staid characters and dull plots and do something that would appeal to teenagers. ‘Battle’ and ‘Action’ were the first comics to try a bit of subversion and violence. ‘Battle’ kept going for a while but ‘Action’ was cancelled after some controversy in the media, ripped up live on the BBC by Frank Bough! Then Mills realised that you might be able to get away with more violence and subversion, even satire, in a Science Fiction comic because Science Fiction isn’t so real. The new kids were fond of the excellent old stuff, like Dan Dare, but he wanted to do something relevant that wouldn’t fit in the 1950s ‘Eagle’ comic. British comics at the time were dominated by IPC/Fleetway in London and DC Thomson in Dundee, big companies with a conservative point of view. IPC management didn’t care about the comics at all as their primary income source was women’s magazines.Comics were deemed to be in decline, killed off by television and the man in charge, John Sanders, had a policy of ‘hatch, match and dispatch’. Launch a new title with a tacky plastic free gift because kids will buy something new. When sales inevitably start to flag, merge it with another title and ultimately close it down. Meanwhile, launch another new comic. It was a policy of managed decline, as some old civil servants once told Maggie Thatcher when she wanted to make Britain great again. Mills was the Maggie Thatcher of the comics world! I’m sure he’d love the comparison.While in charge of ‘2000AD’, Mills sought reader feedback to find out which strips were working. He distinguishes between readers and fans. Readers are the majority and fans are a noisy minority. He thinks too many editors listen to the fans’ tastes and sometimes lose the readers in doing so. I think he’s right. As he mentions, the ‘Doctor Who’ television series has this problem, too. In mainstream media, you want to keep the general reader. A publication is not economically viable if only bought by hardcore fans.Writer and artist credit boxes were introduced by artist Kevin O’Neill who snuck them in without consulting anyone. Management was opposed to giving creator credits on the sound principle that once the names were out there, other companies would try to poach your best talent. Perhaps they were right. One of ‘2000AD’s main problems is that British talent is lured away by the siren call of American comics, Marvel and DC. Mills was not so tempted because he is an anti-establishment rebel and dislikes superheroes who fight for the status quo. He’s very forceful on this point. Most young men give up their rebellious attitudes as years go by and settle for the way things are in the world or realise that if you get rid of ‘The Establishment’, you simply replace it with a different one that might be worse. Mills has not yet done this, perhaps to his credit.I enjoyed the book, which is written in a pleasant, conversational style. The first half focuses on the creation of ‘2000AD’ and has lots of behind-the-scenes information. I was glad to learn about Doug Church, art director on the first six issues, who laid out most of the stories to give the artists a design lesson. ‘He was my Obi-Wan Kenobi’, says Mills. The second half of the book is about the comic’s chequered history with a kind of happy ending when Rebellion publishing took it over. Mills has some complaints about Rebellion which may be why this book is self-published and not put out by them. There’s also plenty about how a creator’s lot is not a happy one because the publishers keep too much of the loot. He knows the industry well and makes some good points, but the book’s tail end is more griping than gripping.Even so, an entertaining and informative read overall and perhaps essential for anyone interested in the history of the Galaxy’s greatest comic. It’s reasonably priced, too. If you need balance, other books on the subject are available and I’ll be reading them soon.

This book appeared suddenly on my radar a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised that it was appearing so soon after Pat's 'Serial Killer' novel, which is a fictionalised history of UK comics in the seventies. At the time of that book's release, I remember wishing that a more straightforward account was available. Pat has always been outspoken on so many subjects it seemed a shame that his views wouldn't be collected together in a single volume.aThis book does just that. Starting with the origins of 2000AD, the book is a subjective memoir of the history of the Galaxy's Greatest Comic. If you've seen the Future Shock documentary, you'll know where Pat is coming from. Highlights for me include - a positive portrayal of Gerry Finley-Day. he was a key player in the creation of 2000AD's strongest strips but was pushed aside by editorial. Attempts to continue his characters' adventures have tended to flounder as they lack his particular 'touch' - the rebuilding of a relationship between Mills & a former editor - Pat is not afraid to move on - an honest appraisal of the current 2000AD. Yes, we are in a second 'Gold Age', but there is still room for improvement. I like to think that in 10 years time the Sci-Fi Special issues will contain nostalgia-based strips on stories that are currently running today. - the free giveaway. Buy the book & sign up for the Millsverse letter & you can download an additional chapter detailing how the creators of the strips in 'Toxic!' managed to get paid!I don't always agree with Pat's view of when 2000AD's decline started. I admit my opinion doesn't match the common view that the decline started in the 90s. I first stopped reading it in the 80s, horrified that Bryan Talbot had taken over the Nemesis strip from Kevin O'Neill! I have since modified that view! I do still feel that the decline began in the late 80s. I agree with the criticism of 90s editorial in the book but think that some of the difficulties those editors faced were inherited from poor decisions prior to their taking the post. I think that the survival of the Judge Dredd Megazine during that time is almost miraculous.This books is definitely worth your money. If you're able, I'd snap up this digital edition as the author has stated that if a print edition occurs, it may have to be revised. Get in early and get the unexpurgated version!

What a mix this book is...It starts, with Pat Mills and John Wagner, churning out stories in a garden shed in Dundee, (between games of football, volleyball and feeding a pet spider). The humour and frustration of that situation really comes across. You fully understand the reason and drive to make something entirely different to what was around at the time.The explanations of what was then needed to develop, and bring to fruition, "The Galaxy's Greatest Comic", is quite an eye opener. It's a wonder that it ever happened at all, given the ridiculous practises at the time, that seemed more like obstacles than business plans.We get the initial growth and development, before entering "The Dark Ages", that almost killed it and then the rescue by Rebellion and future of 2000AD. It is all so enlightening not just about 2000AD, but the comic book world in general. From the way they are developed, run, royalties paid, comparing how markets in other countries operate compared to our own. (Did you know the US is only the 3rd biggest market, behind Japan and France? No. Me neither). It really does bring across how the people that work in comics do it for the love of it, far more than the money.If you have seen, "Future Shock!", the documentary about 2000AD, you will be familiar with some of this book, but what it does is add a lot of meat to the bones of Future Shock! and then also add a few more bones. And if you've read Serial Killer by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill, so see so much of that was based on real events, minus the killings, (I hope)Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! Is funny, thoughtful, provocative and informative... Just brilliant stuff and well worth getting