Just got back from a UK premiere screening in London of this documentary. This is one I've not only been excited about for a while (perhaps appropriately, the most excited I've been about any feature since Dredd), but also something I strongly suspected wouldn't get a particularly wide release, especially as there's no actual release date for it. So I was so happy that I was able to get a ticket for it (with a Q&A with not only the film's producers, but also two men who worked heavily on the comic, including creator Pat Mills. Being only metres away from fucking legends was so awesome). Add to that a packed screening with an audience that clearly enjoyed themselves, and you've got one happy fanboy!
Now, onto the documentary itself. As I said, I had high expectations for this documentary, but even I was incredibly impressed at just how in-depth it all was. At approximately 2 hours long, the documentary covered a great deal of the entire run of the comic, including its creation in the 70s, its incredible high volume of originality, excellence and influence in the 80s, its shocking lows in the 90s, and its return to form and brand new highs in the 00s to now. Also covered in all of this is the comic's influence on American comics, especially the creation of Vertigo, as successful 2000AD writers and artists like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrisson and Dave Gibbons came to the attention of DC.
What really helped make the documentary so interesting is that so much of the material comes first hand from so many people who had worked directly on 2000AD, and all these interviews are hugely and refreshingly honest about everything. Yes, there's a lot of praise for the comic and how influential it was, but there's also a lot of points made regarding 2000AD's views on creative ownership which a lot of writers and artists are clearly pissed off with, or how terrible some decisions in the 90s truly were.
I think what makes this documentary worth watching is, more than anything, the story it's telling of an underdog, of a comic that was so unlikely to last as long as it did that it had the "futuristic" title of 2000AD. Even with fucking awful publishers, censorship issues and a declining British comics market, it's clear that a lot of people who worked at 2000AD had a lot of fun, not just despite the difficulties they had to face but even because of them. There's a lot of love and passion by everyone interviewed (including Anthrax member Scott Ian, who seems like a big kid when talking about his love of the comic), and it comes across well.
If there's one slight niggle I have with the documentary, it's a tiny one, and something I perhaps wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been done so well at the start: namely, just a little more context of the times the comic went through. We got plenty of information and footage of what 70s Britain was like and how its numerous problems influenced the creators particular punk style for 2000AD, it's just a bit of a shame that this didn't carry on for the rest of the documentary, as it really helped make it incredibly clear how much of a product of its culture 2000AD was when it started. But like I said, this is a tiny complaint.
Honestly, this is a documentary I'd recommend to anyone, whether you've read any 2000AD or even if you've never heard of it. It's an incredibly in-depth feature that's honest, refreshing, and even at times absolutely fucking hysterical (seriously, I lost count at how many times we in the audience laughed our arses off because of an anecdote or very strong opinion of a writer or artist), and while I doubt it will get a wide cinema release, I hope others can check it out asap. 10/10
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