Chris and Steven descend into the futuristic cesspool of gangsterism and “a little of the old ultraviolence” that is SKREEMER (DC Comics, 1989), a noir-styled postapocalyptic science fiction comic that makes A CLOCKWORK ORANGE look G-rated*. An explosive precursor to Vertigo Comics, this series was created by Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins, and Steve Dillion.

* Please Note: Our YT video imagery displays comparatively tame examples of SKREEMER art in order to respect YT guidelines concerning violence and graphic content.

CRYB! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions) in a weekly podcast format.


SHOW NOTES

02:16 - A brief introduction to the world of SKREEMER — somewhere between James Joyce’s FINNEGAN’S WAKE and Stanley Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

12:08 - Celebrating the ahead of its time design of the logo and covers for SKREEMER. These are “pop comics”.

13:56 - An attempt to summarize the overarching narrative of SKREEMER

37:47 - Why you ought to buy the original floppies of SKREEMER (almost no ads!)

40:10 - The groundbreakingly transgressive nature of SKREEMER

40:42 - Dense, substantial storytelling in SKREEMER — a mark of the days before “decompressed stories”

53:47 - The poetry of Pete Milligan. Purple prose or evocative writing?

1:01:17 - Exploring the racial and sexual politics of SKREEMER

1:20:43 - The art of Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon on SKREEMER vs. Steve Dillon’s art on PREACHER; also, a discussion of Dillon’s early UK work for 2000 AD and DEADLINE magazine

1:22:44 - The extraordinary, nuanced, and sophisticated coloring choices of Tom Ziuko

1:40:19 - The modern day relevance of Vito’s evil masterplan

1:50:29 - Spoiler warning for Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s PLANETARY (Skip ahead 30 seconds if you haven’t read it!)

1:52:37 - Further discussion of the depiction of women and people of color in SKREEMER

1:57:02 - EC Comics’ “Judgement Day!” by Ray Bradbury, Al Feldstein, and Joe Orlando

2:16:58 - Final thoughts on the wildly ambitious SKREEMER — its place in the ‘80s comics canon and why it matters

2:25:50 - Grant Morrison and his love for the writings of Pete Milligan, specifically Vertigo’s ENIGMA



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