D.R. & Quinch | |||
---|---|---|---|
Created by | Alan Moore Alan Davis | ||
Publication information | |||
Publisher | Originally IPC Media (Fleetway) until 1999, thereafter Rebellion Developments | ||
Schedule | Weekly | ||
| |||
Genre | |||
Publication date | May 1983 –August 1987 | ||
Creative team | |||
Writer(s) | Alan Moore Jamie Delano | ||
Artist(s) | Alan Davis | ||
Letterer(s) | Steve Potter | ||
Editor(s) | Tharg (Steve MacManus) |
D.R. & Quinch is a comic strip about two delinquent alien drop-outs. It was created by Alan Moore and Alan Davis for the British weekly comics anthology 2000 AD . It first appeared in 1983. The strip was the tale of how two alien teenage students Waldo "D.R." (for "Diminished Responsibility") Dobbs, a scheming criminal mastermind, and Ernest Errol Quinch, his muscular purple-skinned companion in crime, have influenced Earth's history in various anarchic ways.
D.R. and Quinch began in 2000 AD as a one-off comic in the Time Twisters series titled “D.R. and Quinch Have Fun On Earth”. The characters were initially meant to only appear once but they proved so popular that they were given their own semi-regular series. [1]
D.R. and Quinch were inspired by the National Lampoon characters O.C. and Stiggs . [2] The film Animal House has also been cited as an influence. [3] Alan Davis took visual inspiration from the cartoon style of Leo Baxendale’s Grimly Feendish . [3] Alan Moore has described D.R. & Quinch as belonging to the tradition of British teenage delinquency comics, comparable to Dennis the Menace except with “a thermonuclear capacity”. [2]
The pair's last storyline, "D.R. and Quinch Go to Hollywood," ran from progs 363 to 367 and is considered to be Moore and Davis's finest D.R. and Quinch story. [4] However, at the time, the Moore/Davis partnership was undergoing strain due to Moore refusing permission for their Captain Britain work to be reprinted. The pair's last D.R. and Quinch work together was in the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special in 1985.
D.R. and Quinch continued to appear in 2000 AD from progs 525 to 534 in the form of an advice column with readers sending in letters with personal problems solved by D.R. and Quinch in their own way. One such column was "hijacked" by D.R.'s girlfriend Crazy Chrissy. These later episodes were written by Jamie Delano.
In 1986 Titan Books released a collection of all D.R. and Quinch stories from 2000 AD called D.R. and Quinch's Totally Awesome Guide To Life. It became one of Titan's best selling books in their lines of 2000 AD reprints. The book went out of print several times and it has since been collected as The Complete D.R. and Quinch ( ISBN 1-84023-345-1) in 2001.
In 2018, INDIO comics released a story, "D.R. & Quinch Hijack Free Comic Book Day", which was part of a "2000 AD Regened" all-ages comic created for Free Comic Book Day. The strip was created by Owen Michael Johnson and Colin Bell. [5]
D.R. & Quinch's anarchic humour was popular with its original audiences — the feature won the 1985 Eagle Award (for comics published in 1984) for Character Most Worthy of Own Title; and the supporting characters Pulger and Chrysoprasia were both nominated for Favourite Supporting Character. [6] In addition, the first collection of stories, D.R. & Quinch's Totally Awesome Guide to Life, won the 1987 Eagle Award for Favourite Comic Album. [7]
The series has had a strong reputation since it was first published. It stands out as something so obviously different when compared to the rest of Moore’s body of work that it is worthy of attention. [1] It has been called the "absurd, cartoony, delightfully vicious other side of Halo Jones ". [8] Writing for Time , Douglas Wolk described it as, for the majority of its run, "one of the funniest comics ever" [4] and Neil Gaiman has credited it with being one of the greatest 2000 AD stories. [9]
In a later interview, however, co-creator Moore expressed discomfort with how the series exploits violence for comic effect, claiming that it has no “lasting or redeeming social value”. [10] [2]
There have been three trade paperbacks:
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic magazine. As a comics anthology it serialises stories in each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. Since 2000 it has been published by Rebellion Developments.
Kevin O'Neill was an English comic book illustrator who was the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the Eagle comic series Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future from 1950 to 1967, and dramatised seven times a week on Radio Luxembourg (1951–1956).
The Ballad of Halo Jones is a science fiction comic strip written by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson, with lettering by Steve Potter and Richard Starkings.
Ian Gibson was a British comic book artist, best known for his 1980s black-and-white work for 2000 AD, especially as the main artist on Robo-Hunter and The Ballad of Halo Jones, as well as his long run on Judge Dredd.
Tharg the Mighty or The Mighty One is the fictional editor of the British science fiction comic 2000 AD. The character was introduced on the cover of the first issue in 1977 and is one of only two characters to appear in almost every issue of the comic, the other being Judge Dredd. Tharg occasionally appears in stories and strips involving him have been written by such notable writers as Alan Grant, Alan Moore and John Wagner, albeit usually credited to "TMO" – "The Mighty One".
Mark Farmer is a British comic book artist. He is best known as an inker, often working with Alan Davis.
Alan Davis is an English artist and writer of comic books, known for his work on titles such as Captain Britain, The Uncanny X-Men, ClanDestine, Detective Comics, Excalibur, JLA: The Nail and JLA: Another Nail.
Garry Leach was a British comics artist and publisher.
Jamie Delano is an English comic book writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers which started to feature in American comics in the 1980s. He is best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, featuring John Constantine.
Boo Cook is a British comic artist, whose work mainly features in the comic 2000 AD.
James George Baikie was a Scottish comics artist best known for his work with Alan Moore on Skizz. He was also a musician.
The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic Eagle, the awards were launched in 1977 for comics released in 1976.
Paul Neary was a British comic book artist, writer and editor.
Tharg's Future Shocks is a long-running series of short strips appearing in the British weekly comic 2000 AD since 1977. The name originates from the fictional editor of 2000 AD and the book titled Future Shock, written by Alvin Toffler, published in 1970.
John Higgins is an English comic book artist and writer. He did significant work for 2000 AD, and he has frequently worked with writer Alan Moore, most notably as colourist for Watchmen.
This is a bibliography of works by British author and comic book writer Alan Moore.
Nick Percival is a British graphic artist and graphic novelist primarily known for his published comic book, concept artwork and career in computer animation directing.
"Monster" is a British horror comic strip character, appearing in titles published by IPC Magazines. The strip debuted in the weekly anthology Scream! on 24 March 1984, before continuing in Eagle until 30 May 1985. The opening episode was written by Alan Moore, with the remainder by John Wagner and Alan Grant; art was provided by Alberto Giolitti, and later Jesus Redondo. The story concerned a young boy called Kenny's attempts to get his deformed, abused uncle Terry help.