Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Devlin Waugh Swimming in Blood by John Smith Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood by John Smith. DEVLIN WAUGH is a stunning, charismatic character He is a spiritual assassin and freelance exorcist, working mostly for the Vatican. Devlin Waugh is the creation of John Smith and Sean Philips. The pair have collaborated before. They first combined on episodes of New Statesmen for CRISIS and later created the controversial series Straitgate for the same comic magazine. But Devlin Waugh is easily their best work yet - blood claustrophobic thriller guaranteed to gnaw t at the imagination. Here's a few quotes from the description of Devlin in Smith's original synopsis: "Devlin is 59,tall and stocky, a build more like a wrestles than a priest. He smokes mentol. He's also terrified of growing old, and regularly using steroids. Devlin vaguely resembles a modern Charles-Brosnon" Above details came from article in Judge Dredd Megazine #1 Vol 2 A scene from Swimming blood - 682x408 JPG 71 KB. Delvin Waugh Series Index All Stories by John Smith Title First Published Art/Colour Reprints Swimming in Blood JD Meg. Vol 2, #1-9 Art by Sean Philips Graphic Novel Brief Encounter JD Meg. Vol 2, #26 Art by Sean Philips Best of 2000AD special edition #3 Fetish (with Judge Dredd) JD Meg. Vol 3, #29-31 Art by Siku Hamyln Graphic Novel ISBN 0-600-59432-7 Chasing Herod 2000AD #1149-#1157 Art: Steve Yeowell, Colours: D'Israeli Reign of Frogs 2000AD #1158-#1165 Art: Steve Yeowell, Colours: D'Israeli Sirius Rising 2000AD #1166-#1173 Art: Steve Yeowell, Colours: D'Israeli Spin-off Series PussyFoot 5 2000AD #11xx-#1188 Devlin Waugh Text Stories Body and soul. - Judge Dredd Yearbook 1994 Love like blood. - Judge Dredd Mega-Special 1993 No.6. The making of Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood. feature first appeared in Judge Dredd Megazine Vol II #25/#26. To look at the making of Devlin Waugh, this feature focuses on three specific pages from the 78-page, following them from John Smith's original script, to Sean Philips' initail page layout sketches, to the final, fully painted artwork. The creation of Devlin Waugh was the culmination of several previous collaborations between John and Sean. The pair worked together on material for CRISIS magazine, most notably the controversial Staitgate series. By the time they came to wrok on Devlin, John and Sean had developed a strong rapport. This enabled John to write tighter scripts, not needing to fully explain the sort of artwork and page layout he envisaged. The first page to be examined in detail is page two, from the third episode of the series. It cross-cuts between Devlin's quarters in the underwater prision nick-named Aquatraz, and the infirmary, elsewhere in the prison. Here is John's description of the final panel: 'Turning over a tall impressive picture, running the full height of the page. We've returned to Devlin, carrying on from the previous two panels. only this time we're looking at him straight on, fully visible. 'He's sat cross-legged in a wing-backed chair, holding a dainty China teacup between finger and thumb. He's surround by plants - ferns and orchids - adding an extra touch of colour. He looks almost angelic amongst the greenery.' Compare this with the 'thumbnail sketch and finished artwork. In the sketch's Devlin's loose outline is visible in the wing-backer chair, with the checkerboard floor pattern already obvious. In the final artwork Sean has added a table with teapot to explain why Devlin is drinking a cup of tea. All greenery is condpicuous by its absence! '2. A two-shot, moving round to look at both Devlin and Murray - sat beside him, stirring a cup of black coffee with a pencil. Maybe we're behind Murray, looking at Devlin in profile.' Here John suggests two different angles, which Sean combines by going for coffee is telling the artist more about the character of Murray, that what should be seen in this a single panel. '3. Back ro Devlin, looking at him straight on, from about the waist up. He's holding up a sawn-off shotgun, a squat menacing-looking thing with added Devlin touches:gold trim, jade intaglio. that sort of thing. Devlin is pointing the gun straight out at us, giving us a coy look, one eyebow raised.' In Sean's initial sketches, Devlin is simply holding his gun aloft. But for the final art, we've moved closer in, with the gun aimed straight at us, as per the script. Rather than a sawn-off shotgun, Sean paints something more tasteful and in keeping wit the character. The three remaining panels take place inside the the prison's infirmary, with Sean following the script quite closely. The second page to be examined is from the fifth episode of the series. John's scripts are ususual for being very specific about the nature of the violence they portray, with a mass of details included. Often these details don't make it to the final art, but contribute to creating the sort of scene he's after in the artist's mind. Often John's panel descriptions are as much about the mood and atmosphere of a panel, as about the specific nature of what he wants to be visible in it. The most interesting panel to compare and contrast from this page is the final one. It can be seen as part of the general page thumbnail above left and in a more detailed, seperate sketch made by Sean (above left) '7. Cutting to a front-on shot of Devlin. We're in one of the prison staffrooms: lockers, a coffee percolator and TV, table and chairs, posters on the walls. Maybe it's one of the staffrooms we saw earlier in the story: chairs overtuned, bloodstains dotted around. the aftermath of a fight. 'We're concentrating on Devlin, at the moment. He's moved over to the table of the side of the window, sweeping everything off it in a sudden gesture of petulance. He'd consumed by self-pity, ranting on at the crowd. [The crowd being Murray, Essex, Kinsey and everyone else.]' In the full page sketch, Sean has included much of the background detail, like the lockers, posters, incidations of other characters in the room. However, he was obviously undecided about how to visualise Devlin sweeping everything off the table, with the table being tried at the different angles within the panels. From here Sean did a more defined sketch of just the final panel, closer to the final version. Devlin is sweeping the items away behind him, papers and other items flying into the air. By the final version, a few background characters have been added butthe lockers and posters have disappeared, as has Devlin's cigarette holder from the second sketch. This page presented several challenges for Sean, as John asked for seven panels involving five changes of scene and up to a dozen different images to included in the final artwork! John Smith's scripts are well-known among British comics' artists for providing such challanges. Sean needed several attempts just at drawing out layout sketches to get an idea of how to set out the page, as is the finished artwork. Here is the panel descriptions for the first panel. '1. A shot of Kinsey, sat in front of a computer terminal, his back to us. On the VDU in front of him is the futuristic equivalent of a criminal mugshot: two photographs of Landis - front and side-on - with a brief list of pertinent details. It starts off with the emblem for the Bahamas Justice Department, and under that the legend - LAW:NET CENTRAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.' This panel is actually one of three set in Devlin's quarters in the underwater prison in Aquatraz. At first Sean tried laying out the page as a conventional, sequential comic strip. Unsatisfied witth this, he decided to focus on the three panels (panels 1,4 & 7), palcing them to form a symmetrical layout. Sean attempted this by running the three panels diagonally down and across the page. Finally he settled for a montage of images making up the other four panels, which would be 'bleeding' off the page at the top and sides. Here is how John requested the use of the montage. '2. First in a sequence of flashbacks, as we illustrate Errol's story. We should use some nifty technique to seperate the here and now: colour-coding the pictures, or filling the gaps between the panels black. or red or brown or whatever. maybe the colours becoming bloodier as we progress.' In the end Sean used a photo-montage technique with airbrush colour over the top to differentiate from the strip panels set in the prison, as he seen in the finished artwork shown on this page. Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood. A study in the subtle art of dispatching unspeakable malevolence with style! The Mega-Cities that are home to the last vestiges of humanity are constantly preyed upon by bestial forces from beyond the realms of decency. Thankfully such monstrosities are kept at bay by spiritual envoys employed by Vatican City such as Devlin Waugh - a Brit-Cit born bon viveur and jolly good fellow to boot. When Vatican precognitive telepaths predict a horrific presence at the underwater prison of Aquatraz, Devlin is sent in to investigate and uncovers an uncompromising evil which will cause him to cancel elevenses and abandon the Queensbury rules in order to survive! Created by the pairing of distinguished scribe John Smith (Indigo Prime) and the illustrious artist Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies), with additional art from Steve Yeowell (Zenith), Swimming in Blood sets the precedent in elegant, pugnacious fiction! Devlin Waugh. Born somewhere around 2075, the Eton-educated son of an actress and an Egyptologist, Devlin Waugh is a sadistic vampiric gay exorcist who works on a freelance basis for the Judges of Vatican City. Best described as a cross between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Noel Coward with the face of Terry Thomas, the camp vamp has had a interesting career during which he has fought everything from other vampires to a supernatural assassin, and has even teamed up with Judge Dredd. although the pair got off to a bad start during a brief encounter at customs when Devlin attempted to gain entry to Mega-City One for a cat breeders' show. Devlin will not hesitate to risk un-life and limb for the sake of the greater good, though he does insist that everything stops for tea at four o'clock. His hobbies include bodybuilding and flower arranging. Powers and abilities. Powers. Standard vampiric powers. Abilities. Torturing captives; unarmed combat; painting; playing the piano; mastery of Kem Kwong killing techniques; administering first aid; interior decorating. Strength level. Stronger than an average human. Weaknesses. Used to have a problem with sunlight, before being bitten by the daywalking vampire Lilith. Still needs to drink blood daily to stop himself going on an uncontrollabe murderous rampage. Paraphernalia. Equipment. Cigarette holder; cigarette lighter; snuff box; extensive collection of vintage European erotica; pet cat called Grendel. Devlin Waugh. Devlin Waugh (a play on Evelyn Waugh) is a fictional character who has appeared regularly in 2000 AD (comic) and in the Judge Dredd Megazine . The character was originally created by the writer-artist team John Smith and Sean Phillips. He is part of the world of Judge Dredd, originally created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, and set 122 years ahead of our own time. Contents. History. Devlin Waugh was deliberately created to be a distinctly new breed of hero. 2000 AD had until that point been mainly notable for monosyllabic tough guys, in the mould of Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper – driven by either a sense of duty, or honour, or revenge. Waugh, by contrast, was a camp homosexual exorcist priest, employed by the future Vatican City, with medals in flower-arranging and Olympic high-diving, a bodybuilder’s physique and a cutting line in humour – and his main motivation was simply to do “Anything to offset the dreadful ennui of it all!” Smith's initial proposal described Waugh as a cross between Charles Bronson and Noel Coward; Phillips visualised him as a cross between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Terry-Thomas. The first series was painted by Philips. Other artists to have depicted Waugh include Siku, Steve Yeowell and Colin MacNeil. His first appearance in 1992 (posing in the doorway of a vampire-infested prison with the line "You can all breathe a sigh of relief, gentlemen. Fingers off the triggers, sphincters unclenched. The name's Waugh. Devlin Waugh. I'm here to steal the show. ") was an instant success. In the annual poll of readers' opinions, Waugh became the first and last character ever to knock Judge Dredd off the top spot as Favourite Strip. However, the first full-length follow-up strip, an Africa-set Judge Dredd crossover titled Fetish , was plagued with so many problems that the then- editor David Bishop took to referring to the "curse of Devlin Waugh". [1] [2] After the script had gone through a lengthy re-write, it turned out that Phillips would not be available to draw the character. Artist Ashley Wood also dropped out of the project, which was eventually handed to Siku. In the end, it would be seven years between Waugh’s first and second appearance, and Siku’s radical style was not to the tastes of many readers. These two factors may have contributed to the relatively small number of strips containing this initially popular character. Background. Smith’s narrative style, which is fragmentary and often reminiscent of William S. Burroughs or Iain Sinclair, contains many short allusions to Waugh’s background and story, from which a sketchy narrative can be built up. Devlin was born around 2075 to the famed actress Stella Waugh and magus/Egyptologist Magnus Waugh, and had a brother, Freddy. His education was at least in part under the tutelage of nuns. As a teenager Devlin was sent to Eton College, on whose playing-fields he "splinted more legs as a schoolboy than Florence Nightingale did during the whole of the Crimean War" ( Red Tide , Judge Dredd Megazine issues 201-213). With life made a hell by his mother and his father descending into alcoholism, it was here he felt most happy at the start. He took up occult activities as part of the four-boy "Caliban Club", eventually masturbating a homunculus into being (losing his virginity to it). ( Innocence & Experience , Megazine #253-256) Due to heavy bullying and the poltergeist activity caused by the resulting emotional turmoil, Devlin was reduced to a physical wreck. His father stepped in and had him to the time-travelling Kem-Kwon Monastery, where he learned Kem-Kwong killing techniques which stood him in good stead in his future life. Following her husband's death, Stella burnt all his artifacts and brought Devlin and Freddy to Castle Neuschwanstein, according to Devlin 'Freddy loathed it with a vengeance but I thought it was just divine ." ( Chasing Herod , 2000 AD progs 1149-1157) Grief-stricken, Devlin attempted to solve the mystery of the Black Pyramid of Ptah idol that had confounded his father; in doing so he neglected his friend and unrequited love Conrad, and didn't realise until the boy's suicide that he was being molested by the Eton chaplain. When the chaplain tried this on Devlin, he caved the man's skull in with the Pyramid. It opened in response, revealing the Eye of Sekmet that he would use in later life. Waugh became a priest and then an exorcist, part of a team of outré characters controlled from the future version of Vatican City – others from this team include Pussyfoot 5 (a group of feisty female fighters which had its own spin-off series) and The Catechist, who later went rogue. He would face many dangers, such as the Anti-Pope in 2109, but his attempts to stop the vampire infestation at Aquatraz saw him infected with vampirism. He later became a Daywalker vampire. He is independently wealthy and a world-famous celebrity for his exploits. He has fought the Leopard Men of Mado Gashi, cults (including the Cult of the Purple Fist), and psychically powerful individuals including the Jack of Mice, Mr Bliss and Kurt Jester. He has teamed up with notable figures such as Judge Dredd. Following the events of Swimming in Blood , Waugh left the Vatican to go freelance. Freddy Waugh. Freddy Waugh, Devlin's brother, remains in the background, arguably Mycroft Holmes to Devlin's Sherlock. He is described as the black sheep of the family. He worked with Devlin on at least one occasion, helping him deactivate the deadly and destructive Herod, in which "Freddy sold his soul to the Devil to find out its protoccult codes " ( Reign of Frogs , 2000 AD progs 1158-1167). A professional gambler and pornographer by the age of nineteen, his behaviour estranged him from his family: Devlin described him as "a roué and a libertine" and Stella felt forced to disown him, claiming that the strain nearly killed her. He disappeared under circumstances unknown in a skiing accident in Kilimanjaro, back in 2105. This incident is referred to twice, first in Devlin's debut story Swimming in Blood (Judge Dredd Megazine issues 2.01-2.09) and again in A Mouthful of Dust (Judge Dredd Megazine issues 3.72-3.73). Waugh’s world. The strip is set about 120 years into the future. The Earth has been badly damaged by a series of international conflicts, much of the Earth is desert and populations have tended to come together in enormous cities. Europe has suffered considerable reshaping, especially the south. A desert covers much of eastern France, extending south into Spain and across to cover much of Central Europe. Classical Greece is gone, as are parts of Turkey. The Black Sea and the Caspian are now joined. In Europe the major cities are Brit-Cit (covering all of southern England), Euro-City (eastern France), Vatican City (most of Italy) and Ciudad Espana (eastern Spain). Ireland is now known as the Emerald Isle, essentially an enormous theme park recreating a stereotypical view of traditional Irish life. Further east into Asia are further nuclear deserts, the ruins of East-Meg One (destroyed by a massive nuclear strike at the climax of the Apocalypse War) and further east the megapolis of East-Meg Two. Despite its frequent disasters the American Mega-City One stretches from around Boston to Charlotte. It was established in 2031 and at its height contained a population of about 800 million; the current population is less than half of that. There are two other major population centres in Northern America - Mega-City Two (from around San Diego into Baja California) and Texas City (formerly Mega-City Three). The centre of the continent is a nuclear desert called the Cursed Earth. Nuclear deserts and destruction elsewhere are also extensive. In South America a new desert extends from Nicaragua, covering Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and pushing far into Amazonas. Cities in South America are Brasília, Ciudad Barranquilla, and on the western side the Pan- Andes Conurb and South-Am City. The majority of the Caribbean islands have gone and the water there and across much of the north Atlantic is severely polluted, and is called by some the Black Atlantic. In Asia, separated from East-Meg Two by an extensive nuclear desert, are Sino-City One and Two in eastern China; Hondo City on the remains of the islands of Japan; and Indo City in southern India. Into the Blue Pacific cities survive in south-east Australia, Oz, the Sydney-Melbourne Conurb, and on a number of Pacific islands. Borneo has been covered in mutagens. The Middle East is without major cities, being either nuclear or natural desert, the Mediterranean coast is heavily damaged by mutagens. In Pan- Africa much of the south is nuclear desert, South Africa proper has been shattered and is entirely uninhabitable. The major cities are Umur (Libya), New Jerusalem (north-east Ethiopia) and Simba City (Cameroon). Lake Victoria is enlarged and has been renamed the Kenyatta Sea. Complete bibliography. He has appeared in individual episodes as well as being collected as trade paperbacks. Comic Book Review – Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection – Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood. When Vatican precognitive telepaths predict a horrific presence at the underwater prison of Aquatraz, Devlin Waugh is sent in to investigate and uncovers an uncompromising evil which will cause him to cancel elevenses and abandon the Queensbury rules in order to survive.. For those unversed in Devlin Waugh perhaps the best description given was from the artist – and co-creator – Sean Phillips, is that he is a cross between Arnold Schwarzenegger (physique) and Terry-Thomas (head), if you get that image in your head you’ve also got this Vatican hired, extremely witty, camp, homosexual, medal winning (Olympic High Diving and Flower arranging), European Pornography loving, fine art collecting, part vampire, arse-kicking English Gentleman. In this issue we are given four tales revolving around Devlin’s travels, two linked but separated by years and the other two tied into Dredd and Mega-City One. Swimming in Blood – written by John Smith and the rather fantastic artwork through this tale provided by the talents of Sean Phillips, Colin MacNeil and John Burns. Our first chapter to the Mega-Collection is a rather brilliant introduction to Devlin’s occult world as we step into the isolated underwater High-Security prison called Aquatraz, which has recently taken on board a high ranking Vampire that has broken free and is making an army of the inmates and slaughtering the staff. Devlin was initially sent to investigate – via the Vatican – the Cult of the Purple Fists actions in the Prison, and he is soon leading a rescue mission with the remaining few survivors. An excellent gruesome opener to this book, bringing the main protagonist to the front and showing exactly who he is, what he does and how he does it. Brief Encounter – written by John Smith and the art once again by Sean Phillips. All be it this tale visually looks good this is more of a humour story, highlighting the more lighter side to Devlin’s life as he attempts to enter Mega-City One and bring his Cat in to help kick start the cities failing cat population, with his high quality sperm. Other than irritating Dredd with his copious amount of Euro Gay porn there is nothing really to this story. Red Tide – written by John Smith and with some excellent artwork given to us from Colin MacNeil. Red Tide follows on from Swimming in Blood , however where as we’ve had to flick through about ten or so pages for this conclusion the normal reader had to wait near enough eleven years! A lot has happened in those years, the remaining vampires under the sea have begun to rapidly evolve to their new environment as well as that their numbers have increased greatly, not only this rather unbelievably the public have set up a holiday complex on the coast and regularly go out “Vampire Fishing” for fun. However it’s come to light that a new form of Vampire has emerged and Devlin and Prof. Helsing must get this daywalker away from the nightwalkers before they can drink her blood and rule the world. Again as with Swimming in Blood this chapter is another brutal episode and pulls no punches as the vampires dispatch their human prey, nor when Devlin himself removes the Vampires from existence. Bite Fight! The final chapter in this collection written by John Smith and with the art given to us by John Burns. In this fairly nasty illegal pit fighting arena competitors are only allowed to bite their opponents, doesn’t sound overly bad, but when their teeth are being filed to fangs and they are going for the throat it’s brutal. In this tale an undercover Judge’s cover is blown and his final fight is against a kidnapped Devlin Waugh who has been deprived of blood for over three days. Again this isn’t an overly strong tale for Devlin and it only adds mystery around the necklace he’s been wearing – for the previous chapters – near the end, however as this is the last chapter we’ll never actually know where this breadcrumb trail will be going. Overall Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood was an enjoyable read the strongest two tales were clearly Swimming in Blood and Red Tide , both brutal in story and showed Devlin’s character off well. The two fillers – albeit okay – didn’t make an overall impact on his evolution. In two weeks’ time we have Shimura arriving in the Mega-Collection so look out for the review here at Flickering Myth . Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection – Devlin Waugh is available to buy now priced £9.99 or online here. Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.