THARGSHEAD REVISITED 2?

Congratulations to us all on Prog 2000, due out tomorrow!

All these celebrations remind me of earlier – and less happy – anniversaries, such as my Thargshead Revisited, where I scripted and showcased the artists’ complaints.

One of them, involving plagiarism, it would still be inappropriate to talk about today. Having produced my subversive ensemble, I was gleefully looking forward to sharing it with the readers in print. Unfortunately, the publisher, John Sanders, intercepted it just before going to press and telephoned me early one morning to castigate me.

“Patrick,” he said in his nasal tones, “What is all this fuss?”.

He told me to pass on the message to artists like Brian Bolland that “All these stories about Judge Dredd making lots of money are simply not true.” I duly passed the message on to Brian and co., and we resigned ourselves to our penury.

Happier times now, of course, although I think none of us are close to digging our swimming pools. And the current, rather more benign regime is far too smart to ever allow me to do a Thargshead Revisited 2. I certainly wouldn’t if I was in their shoes – no one is that rebellious!

That’s why my forthcoming novel series, Read Em And Weep, with co-author Kevin O’Neill, lifts the lid on secrets that otherwise could not be revealed.

Read Em And Weep: Serial Killer, is out in February 2017.