Concrete meeting other characters who subsequently have THEIR life story revealed reminds me of Gerber's Manthing series (but, then, so many things do. It's like the theory that the original Wizard Of Oz has had an influence on every movie that's come after it. You don't ever reinvent the wheel, you can only redesign the chassis).
Concrete. One of those books were you set whatever part of Chadwick's opus you're reading down, drink the last of whatever you're drinking, and reflect on it. Because the stories demand it.
I wondered if that was something Chadwick would address later. But the reworked origin explicitly says his friend dies. I'm guessing that's a thread he didn't want hanging around in the background.
Concrete is one of the finest series ever, and I can’t recommend it enough. Chadwick is such a wonderfully humane person that I forget how well he can also do body horror. His non Concrete work is chilling. When Ronks humanity is mixed with the horrors of Concrete’s body, it’s exquisite. Take as an example Concreteks antler story. It’s an example of what exquisite mysteries our bodies are.
I was just reading the 4th and 5th collections of Concrete recently. Killer Smile really does read like a movie. And reading Think Like a Mountain it becomes clear that Chadwick has a sense of maturity to his writing that's uncommon in the comic industry. Admirable character writing all around.
i've been reading Concrete for years and trying to tell people about it for as long and here you are with a perfect intro and overview. i love this channel. thank you for everything you do!
Concrete: Understated & Grounded indeed! Thank you for discussing one of my all-time favorite comic book series from Dark Horse! I will need to revisit them all soon.
Chadwick's line work with any alien material is always amazing. It's too bad we never got a story in which the character gets to finally visit the homeworld of his makers.
Chadwick is apparently working on another miniseries. But I saw that in an interview from some time ago, so I didn't mention it. It may be something that's abandoned.
Yeah I'd heard this and wait with baited breathe - Cartoonist Kayfabe have apparently mentioned a couple of times relatively recently that new materials is coming this year and this will be in line with new Library Editions of the existing material. If this comes to pass i might explode with excitment!
Chadwick said on social media he's completed the latest Concrete story, which is called Stars Over Sand. It doesn't have a release date yet, but it looks great. I hope the earlier Concret stories get reprinted in a larger format, like they were in the 90s.
Thank you for covering Concrete one of my absolute favourites - up there with Stray Bullets (hint hint) - no other channel cover comics like this is anything like the way you do which is why Strange Brain Parts remains my favourite RU-vid Channel. Keep on keepin' on and more video like this if and when you can. I really hope this finds the audience it deserves.
Damn I miss this era of comics... I grew up with them so of course it's all very much my bag, but there was something special going on back then, and I've been waiting for SBP's take on the series for a while! Would love to see something on The Goon at some point too :)
The late '90s/early 2000s were a Golden Age for small independent and foreign published comics/graphic novels! Marvel, DC and Image were putting out trash, so I switched exclusively to independent titles like Concrete. Also, you started seeing independents on sale everywhere, not just specialty shops but 7-11 newstands and book stores. Exciting times while it lasted!
I've done plenty in the past and I'm sure there will be more in the future. In fact, the forthcoming video will be about a very recent, obscure piece of work.
@@StrangeBrainParts glad to hear it, also I know you have a number of those types of videos I've watched almost all of them by now lol Also hopefully when everything gets sorted out with life for me, you'll review one of the stories I'll be putting out
God I have to give this read. I always thought Concrete was a more ground interpretation of characters like the Thing who go through drastic bodily transformations and what that entails. With no superheroes, you look inward and focus on the mundane.
There were so many great b&w series in the 80s. Concrete was the one I looked forward to the most. I have multiple copies of all 10 issues of the ongoing and all the trades. I sincerely hope that Chadwick isn’t done telling these stories and I sincerely hope your excellent (as always) overview inspires a few viewers to seek these out.
This is why SBP is my favorite comic book channel on YT. THANK YOU for covering Concrete and giving Chadwick some love. I think the character and books are wildly underrated vs. the other Legend imprint creators from Dark Horse in that era. I didn't know about Chadwick's Dazzler work or the Peter Jackson film option, I really appreciate this research. And I agree with you, I think the earliest stories/books are really the best ones in the whole oeuvre. I think it bears some mention that Concrete seems to be a down-to-earth version of The Thing from The Fantastic Four, at least in terms of character design.
In my first draft I discussed the Thing/Concrete connection. Meaning, there isn't one beyond a surface level observation. Since I thought that was pretty obvious to anyone who reads even one Concrete story I just cut that from the final version. I was surprised Jackson/Walsh did a draft too!
Yes! Always glad to see more people shout-out Concrete. Now I have a reason to not bother you to do this video every chance i get. (now, i'll have to bother you with Stray Bullets!)
And now I add Concrete to my "to read" list. I just finished "Jack Staff", awesome comic, thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to take a look at "Kane" as I really like how Paul Grist tells his comics.
Hes a character who remimds of the thing and the hulk the concept is not unique but hes an awesome character And ideas always come from other ideas when it comes to character development
I have highly enjoyed what I've read of Concrete, but never heard much about it from others. I'm glad you gave it some attention here, as I feel it, along with Boris the Bear (shoutout to that book, if you ever feel like covering it) were early highlights for Dark Horse, before their licensed comics, Manga, and other ventures.
Thank you! I'm glad I've helped install a little more respect for the medium. I may critique (and sometimes harshly) but I do try to do it with a level of respect and admiration.
Love this channel! How about covering Sergio Aragones Groo? He might hold the record for most publishers. Hell, I first remember seeing him in Mad magazine.
I haven't looked up the number recently, but last I looked there were over a hundred issues, so it might be a tricky one to figure out how to approach for a short video. But yeah, worth examining.
Really love your content man! Really extensive and inspiring! One of my favorite channels that showcases the comic medium that I love with all my heart! Keep up the good work my brother!
Seems interesting, I'll take a look at it. Also if you take recommendations, I would suggest you take a look at Lone Sloane by Philippe Druillet, his art is quite outstanding imo
¿Have you thought of doing a video on Marvel Prototypes? Many Marvel heroes had prototypes in other comics. Examples being Dr Droom (a Doctor Strange prototype; he appeared in Amazing Adventures #1), Tad Carter (a character whose story served as an X-Men prototype; he appeared in Amazing Fantasy #14), The Monster in the Iron Mask (a Dr Doom prototype; he appeared in Tales of Suspense #31), Xemnu (A Hulk prototype; he appeared in Journey Into Mistery #62) and Madame X (a Black Widow prototype; she appeared in Tales to Astonish #36). It would be interesting to analyze how prototype versions influenced on future characters.
Concrete is everything I hope for in underground comics, a passion product, where everything is thought out and detailed, telling stories that we have not heard 1000s of times already, but still very relevant, very human. Good stuff.
Mentally playing the "If you had __, BUT you __" game, I wouldn't have Ron Lithgow's powers if it meant the loss of so many senses, even if he's functionally immortal, and even if it meant the fibro and connective tissue crap weren't so &@#%$! inconsistent. The tradeoff just seems too great. I'm guessing that thinking about things like that with Concrete was one of Chadwick's goals. Mission accomplished. Well done. Thank you for the review, Mr. Brain Parts! Always a pleasure :)
This idea is very attractive to me. Imagine that the thing we think we are -- human beings -- is actually just a shell and the thing we actually are (?) is unavailable to our senses. Imagine that we placed ourselves in these shells to grant us protection from (insert threatening thing in the universe here that humans don't care too much about) and that many of our anxieties and neuroticisms come from an attachment to our identities as they were expressed before we were in human bodies. The various means of expression humanity comes up with might come from an attempt to overcome our inability to do the things we could do before.
Thank you for a *fantastic* video! It's great to see that I'm not alone in my love for Concrete and hope that we'll someday get more of his story. I had the privilege of meeting Paul Chadwick once at a convention in Seattle, and every year I pore over the guest list in hopes that he might return. Hasn't happened yet.
I’ve been collecting Concrete and I really enjoy what I have so far. I believe my earliest Chadwick may be a Blackthorne 3D book called Salimba of the Jungle.
YOU DID IT !!!! Thank-you so much, I knew you’d do it justice and have an interesting take. That was absolutely superb. Now to put my money where my mouth was + sign up to patron with my next pay check. Waking up to coffee, cigarettes + this was perfect. Excellent SBP, thank-you.
I do read comments! Well, not always as I have videos to produce. But I do try to respond when I can. I'll think about Tales. It's such an oddball comic that I'm not even sure where to begin talking about it. But considering Larry Marder's career, it might be something that's worth trying.
I'm amazed by Concrete - normally "What if --- was in the real world?" is a limiting concept but Chadwick went with this perfectly. I keep going back to Fragile Creature as I loved MOTU and it's both a parody/tribute to that - and in light of Kevin Smith's butchery of it I'd rather see literally "Ruler of the Omniverse" made into a legit movie though yes I know it's a parody/tribute to avoid CopyWRong hassles. The human dilemma and fragile creature on the other hand are some of the best works. IMO you need to see it in color though so reprints B&W = cheap cheap cheap. Just one man's opinion.
I think I've only read one Concrete story. It was in one of the very few issues of DHP that I ever bought. I don't remember much about it but I recall liking it and really enjoying Chadwick's art. The only other Chadwick thing I read was that short Superman story he did for DC CHRISTMAS WITH THE SUPERHEROES special. It was a well-done and quite moving piece.
I loved this series, there were so many comics the were not superheroes, and that seems like a goodness. And you have reviewed so many of them, the vertigo stuff, black kiss, swamp thing, stangehaven, puma blues, luther arkwright, mister x. Thank you
I love Concrete. I read all my Concrete back issues a few months back. Probably for the 3rd or 4th time. I would love if Paul Chadwick made more comics.
A few months back I read most of the Concrete, going through the collections. Really liked it. Right up until I hit Think Like A Mountain and bounced off *hard*. To me, it crosses the line from “waxing philosophical” like the previous stories into “preachy lecture.” Maybe I’ll revisit it some day when I’m in a better mood. And I did appreciate Chadwick’s willingness to engage with the more radical side of environmentalism, especially in the wishy-washy political worlds of todays mainstream comics.
I always referred to Concrete as "Gen X's take on Jack Kirby's 'The Thing'" and while that is reductive/dismissive, it's not wrong. Still a much richer work than people would think.
I remember seeing the previews in those paperback previews that Dark horse would give at comic con and as well in the myspace version of Dark horse presents.
Thanks again for another great video. To know that things like this can happen, gives you a spark of hope for the future. One day the epic multiversal crossovers waiting to become the next full-length feature divided in 3-parts with 3-7 tie-in series and specials will finally fall, I hope people like Chadwick will still be there waiting to get the chance and seize it. The medium deserves a rebirth, not the final DCU, I mean, nail in the coffin
Started to have an inkling of interest in comics when I come across this video. I've never heard of Concrete but it sounds very unique and interesting! As an outsiders point of view, it sticks out to what seems to be a medium thats primarily of heroes and villians in wonderous tales, or those with such powers in hiding or secrecy. Would love to go and buy the first issue of comic collections, when able!
It is interesting to look back on all these Indy comics that were so well known and read back in those days and not well remembered now. A shorter series that reminded me a lot of CONCRETE was COFFIN except more of a thriller than a character study.
My diehard Chadwick fans: it's worth tracking down his old Salimba 3D comics from Blackthorne Publishing. The stories aren't as strong as Concrete but we get that wonderful PC line work. Just imagine how stunning Concrete would be in 3D!
I’ll be honest, I had no idea what this was about, but that video title made me click. I love stuff like this and I’ll have to give this a go! Awesome video.
Since you're on Chadwick, have you looked at his short series "The World Below"? It's nothing like the greatness of Concrete, and never got the length it needed, but it's a weird enough diversion for something a little different... nothing groundbreaking... the flavor is something like a fifties sci-fi monster movie set underground.
This is a great video, since I have overlooked Concrete since its inception. You've piqued my interest. I will definitely seek this title out now. With similar themes (the real-world scenario) I really enjoyed the early 80s title "Elementals" by Bill Willingham. It covered the story beats of Watchmen, Dark Knight and Squadron Supreme (by Mark Gruenwald) well before those titles debuted. Besides that, I will also contribute a request for Stray Bullets. In my humble opinion Stray Bullets is the greatest crime comic ever, eclipsing 100 Bullets, with only Ed Brubaker's and Sean Phillips' Criminal giving it substantial competition. Continue the great work, I appreciate all of your videos!
Great, great video. It's truly terrible that Dark Horse has not kept Concrete in print, nor have they given the character deluxe releases. Maybe it's appropriate given the themes of ecology and anti-consumerism, but still.
I’ve tried a couple of books you’ve recommended I haven’t allways liked them straight away but your one of the most thought provoking channels on you tube first volume of concrete is ordered I tried copra strange enjoyable and a beautifuly presented book I’d love your option on 2000ad the weekly British comic that has judge dredd in it among other strips
