Post by mctoddridesagain on Jul 26, 2006 20:12:50 GMT
First, before I tackle Little Timbo's warped comparisons website (www.martianinvaders.com), as it is clear that Timmy Boy has been reading some of the reactions to his latest bizarre publicity stunt, I would like to point out that I am in no way affiliated with any of the following organisations:
- Dark Horse Comics
- Paramount Productions
- Asylum Films
- The H G Wells Estate
- The Freemasons
- The Illuminati
- The Bilderburg Group
- The Priory of Sion
- The Knights Templar
- The Elders of Zion
...or whichever other group that deluded crackpot Hines claims that I am in league with (including Satan and all his demonic minions). In fact, given his obsession with 'shells' and 'shelling' (by which I assume he means 'shills' and 'shilling' and is not indicative of an obsession with artillery and its use in battle, the syntactically-challenged moron), perhaps he might like to put his money where his mouth is and actually come right out and accuse me by name (Roger Todd, London, England) of being a shill, instead of making spineless insinuations on his joke of a website. So, let the bunfight commence...
Little Timbo Versus Dark Horse
Right, here’s a list, with responses, of the so-called ‘similarities’ between Little Timbo’s shysterwerk and Dark Horse’s graphic novel, as delineated on Little Timbo’s website:
www.martianinvaders.com
Some images will be skipped, lest this become too much of a borefest. Of course, it goes without saying that as Little Timbo claims that his adaptation is ‘100% faithful’ to H G Wells’s magnum opus, and Dark Horse’s graphic novel is also a faithful adaptation, then the fact that there will be similarities is as obvious to anyone but a talentless boggle-eyed cretin as the fact that night follows day, but there you go, that business called show is a funny old world…
Mars as seen through the telescope
Little Timbo says:
For this through-the-telescope view of Mars, Pendragon’s artists [*cough*] puzzled over how to represent this, as the tube inside the the eyepiece and outerspace would both be black. So a thin reddish circular line was inserted to bring out the eyepiece for the Pendragon movie. Such a line is an artistic representation and would not be seen looking through a real telescope eyepiece. The Dark Horse comic follows the same technique, using an identical thin red line.
I say:
Given that Mars has been known since time immemorial as the Red Planet, D’Israeli, Dark Horse’s artist, has logically depicted the view with a red cast to it to heighten the mood (unlike the inexplicable choice of poo-brown Pentimbo used). It is only natural to make the edge a different shade of red to provide the necessary boundary - after all, electric pink or baby blue would have spoilt the mood somewhat. Apart from anything else, big fat hairy deal.
The first falling star
Little Timbo says:
Dark Horse chose to display the meteorite in the same direction and approximate size as the Pendragon Pictures movie.
I say:
Blimey! Amazing! H G Wells described a green meteor shooting overhead and both Little Timbo’s ‘artists’ and D’Israeli portray… a green meteor shooting overhead! As for the motion being from left to right, this is a fairly natural direction to depict. Given that this is the direction in which we read text, it is natural for us to scan in that direction. Of course, Little Timbo fails to mention that the landscape seen under the meteor is completely different from his. The cretin.
But hang on, what green light from yonder Martian cylinder breaks...? Good Lord, in depicting the same scene, the artist Tom Kidd painted this...
...for the Harper Collins edition of WOTW published in 2001, some years before Little Timbo made his so-called movie! Oh dear, perhaps someone should call Tom's lawyers!
The Writer and his wife at tea
Little Timbo says:
For this scene with the Writer and his wife at tea, the Dark Horse comic uses the same composition as the Pendragon movie. They simply reversed the characters, the Writer where the wife is and the wife where the Writer is. The book gives no description of the wife. Dark Horse made the wife a thin blond haired woman in a purple dress in likeness of actress Susan Goforth, who played the character in the Pendragon movie.
I say:
Tricky one, this... Both sets of artists face the phenomenally difficult task of depicting two people sitting down together to tea in a room. Hmmm, gosh, there are so many ways to approach this: 'Do I put the Writer on the right and his wife on the left? Or vice versa? Hmmmmm...' Well, you've got a fifty-fifty choice, Mr Artist, so get on with it...
Astonishing! Once you take into account the reverse angle and totally different composition, the Writer and his wife are sat in the same position relative to each other! Except they're not - in Dark Horse's frame, they sit at opposite ends of a table; in Little Timbo's shot, they sit at right angles to each other at the corner of a table. Wow, suspicious! Or something. Maybe, in order to totally differentiate itself from Little Timbo's shot, Dark Horse should have had the wife crouching under the table and the Writer hanging off the chandelier making gibbon sounds. As for any similarity between D’Israeli’s depiction of the Writer's wife and Susan Goforth, well, it doesn’t need me to point out that D’Israeli did not draw the wife wearing a Mick Hucknell Ginger Fright Wig…
The crowd at the Pit
Little Timbo says:
In these crowd scenes at the pit of the fallen cylinder, notice the similarity to the white hat with the maroon band. This hat was chosen for the Pendragon Pictures’ movie by actor Jack Clay, from a variety of hats available. The book does not describe a white hat with a maroon band. A small detail, but point after point, we find such details mysteriously matching our production choices.
I say:
So what? Dark Horse’s Man With Hat is a different character. With his striped blazer and crooked leer, he looks like a squiffy Victorian ‘swell’. In keeping with the blazer, the hat is an Eton boater, common headgear for a hot Victorian summer. Perhaps Little Timbo’s lawyers should make representations to Eton School?
The Heat Ray
Little Timbo says:
Notice the design similarities of the heat-ray arm and the screen direction that the device pointing. The three victims being incinerated are grouped the same in both versions. Note the largest, center victim’s spine and rib cage as well as the position of the legs, which in both version are slightly spread and pivoted to the left.
I say:
Little Timbo may not realise this, as his grasp on reality is tenuous at the best of times, but the Heat Ray arm is a copy of the earlier WOTW sequel Scarlet Traces, by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli, scriptwriter and artist respectively of the Dark Horse WOTW (we shall return to Scarlet Traces later). Scarlet Traces was published in 2001, years before Little Timbo even thought of making a ‘faithful’ period version of WOTW. Who has copied from whom…? As for the positioning of the victims, far be it for me to note that it is also similar to the victims of George Pal’s Martians in his famous 1953 film. Perhaps the lawyers of the late Mr Pal’s estate should write to Little Timbo…
The Martian tripod
Little Timbo says:
Two images depicting Pendragon Pictures’ fighting machine designs. The black and white Pendragon art was widely published in 2001. And LOWER RIGHT: The Dark Horse fighting machine from the comic. The organic, bone-like structure of the Pendragon fighting machine was the result of incorporating organic Art Nouveau into it’s structure. Art nouveau was one of Wells’ favorite design styles.
I say:
Deja vu, given that the Dark Horse tripod is a copy of the tripods from the earlier Scarlet Traces, which predates Little Timbo’s cinematic efforts and plans thereof. So let's have a closer look, shall we?
Little Timbo - the final Meccano Chicken tripod as featured in his fillum:
Little Timbo - the earlier, concept art, from 2001, of what resembles a rancid mushroom on legs threatening Seattle:
Dark Horse:
Now, given that the Rancid Mushroom looks completely different from the Meccano Chicken, I fail to see what point Little Timbo is making. Is he saying DH ripped off the Rancid Mushroom? If so, why show the Meccano Chicken? Is he saying they ripped off the Meccano Chicken? If so, how, there's no resemblance whatsoever, except that they're tripods - and H G Wells thought of that.
If he's whinging about the Looming Overhead pose being similar, then let's have a look at some other images through the ages...
Loom loom...
Bert Bakker, 1978
Overpower overpower...
Joseph Miralles, 1997
Tower tower...
Random House, 1991
Menace menace...
Famous Fantastic Mysteries Magazine, 1951
...and so on, ad infinitum.
Shepperton...
As for the ‘similarities’ involving the destruction of the Martian at Shepperton, let’s look at the images:
Little Timbo:
Dark Horse:
And from the Moby Books edition of 1983, illustrated by Brendan Lynch:
Also:
Little Timbo:
Dark Horse – where are the background trees?
Oh, here are the background trees, in Brendan Lynch’s illustration from 1983:
Oh dear Timmy, I hope Brendan’s lawyers don’t see your film…
The Martians in London
Little Timbo says:
Here the fighting machine positions are the same. One small in the background one large in the foreground. Even the perspective view above the rooftops match. Note the small sharp peak on the left of the background fighting machine and the church steeple in the Dark Horse comic placed where Big Ben is, to the left of the background fighting machine as it was in the Pendragon production. What are the chances of the Dark Horse creators coming up with such similar composition by chance?
I say:
Funny how Little Timbo harps on the similarities, and then explains away the discontinuities by making ever narrower partial-comparisons. What next? 'Look how that section of the sky in DH's frame has a cloud in it, just like in mine!' Note how Dark Horse uses the Black Smoke in this image, just like in Little Timbo’s still. Er, wait, no, Little Timbo didn’t bother with the Black Smoke… And the way DH place Big Ben in between the two tripods like in Little Timbo's. Er wait, no, there's no Big Ben but the alleged stand-in for Big Ben, the church steeple, is in between the tripods. Er no, wait, it's on the right, well away from either of them...
But let’s also look at Tom Kidd’s illustration from the Harper Collins edition of 2001. Notice how Kidd has cunningly ripped-off Little Timbo four years before Timmy’s film was released by placing the Tower of London to the left of the Tripod, just like in Timmy’s still, except in Timmy’s still it’s Big Ben, and it’s on the right, and, er… Anyway, it’s absolutely identical, and Kidd had better quake with fear as he anticipates a letter from Little Timbo’s ‘lawyer’. Written in crayon. Green crayon.
The Thunder Child
Little Timbo's so-called film treats the Thunder Child battle in suitably epic manner. No, wait, it doesn't, it's a bloody travesty. However, ignoring, if we can, the artistic merits of his cinematic tour de farce, Timmy Boy claims that Dark Horse copied this shot...
...like so:
I wonder if anyone else ever thought to show the battle from a Martian viewpoint? Hmmm...
Good Lord, it's that plagiarising git Warwick Goble, pioneering illustrator of the original Pearson's serialisation of WOTW in 1897! Ooh, what a blooming cheek!
Little Timbo also says that this still…
…is also ripped off by Dark Horse:
Oh dear, Little Timbo, we’ve slipped up here! That frame is closely based on a frame from Scarlet Traces, published in 2001, some years before Timmy’s travesty was released.
The only difference is that there is only one Martian in the distance, exploding. Who copied whom? I think Dark Horse’s lawyers would be interested in that question…
Right, I’m bored with this, so I will now pretend that all along I was going to do this in two sections, making this the…
END OF PART ONE
- Dark Horse Comics
- Paramount Productions
- Asylum Films
- The H G Wells Estate
- The Freemasons
- The Illuminati
- The Bilderburg Group
- The Priory of Sion
- The Knights Templar
- The Elders of Zion
...or whichever other group that deluded crackpot Hines claims that I am in league with (including Satan and all his demonic minions). In fact, given his obsession with 'shells' and 'shelling' (by which I assume he means 'shills' and 'shilling' and is not indicative of an obsession with artillery and its use in battle, the syntactically-challenged moron), perhaps he might like to put his money where his mouth is and actually come right out and accuse me by name (Roger Todd, London, England) of being a shill, instead of making spineless insinuations on his joke of a website. So, let the bunfight commence...
Little Timbo Versus Dark Horse
Right, here’s a list, with responses, of the so-called ‘similarities’ between Little Timbo’s shysterwerk and Dark Horse’s graphic novel, as delineated on Little Timbo’s website:
www.martianinvaders.com
Some images will be skipped, lest this become too much of a borefest. Of course, it goes without saying that as Little Timbo claims that his adaptation is ‘100% faithful’ to H G Wells’s magnum opus, and Dark Horse’s graphic novel is also a faithful adaptation, then the fact that there will be similarities is as obvious to anyone but a talentless boggle-eyed cretin as the fact that night follows day, but there you go, that business called show is a funny old world…
Mars as seen through the telescope
Little Timbo says:
For this through-the-telescope view of Mars, Pendragon’s artists [*cough*] puzzled over how to represent this, as the tube inside the the eyepiece and outerspace would both be black. So a thin reddish circular line was inserted to bring out the eyepiece for the Pendragon movie. Such a line is an artistic representation and would not be seen looking through a real telescope eyepiece. The Dark Horse comic follows the same technique, using an identical thin red line.
I say:
Given that Mars has been known since time immemorial as the Red Planet, D’Israeli, Dark Horse’s artist, has logically depicted the view with a red cast to it to heighten the mood (unlike the inexplicable choice of poo-brown Pentimbo used). It is only natural to make the edge a different shade of red to provide the necessary boundary - after all, electric pink or baby blue would have spoilt the mood somewhat. Apart from anything else, big fat hairy deal.
The first falling star
Little Timbo says:
Dark Horse chose to display the meteorite in the same direction and approximate size as the Pendragon Pictures movie.
I say:
Blimey! Amazing! H G Wells described a green meteor shooting overhead and both Little Timbo’s ‘artists’ and D’Israeli portray… a green meteor shooting overhead! As for the motion being from left to right, this is a fairly natural direction to depict. Given that this is the direction in which we read text, it is natural for us to scan in that direction. Of course, Little Timbo fails to mention that the landscape seen under the meteor is completely different from his. The cretin.
But hang on, what green light from yonder Martian cylinder breaks...? Good Lord, in depicting the same scene, the artist Tom Kidd painted this...
...for the Harper Collins edition of WOTW published in 2001, some years before Little Timbo made his so-called movie! Oh dear, perhaps someone should call Tom's lawyers!
The Writer and his wife at tea
Little Timbo says:
For this scene with the Writer and his wife at tea, the Dark Horse comic uses the same composition as the Pendragon movie. They simply reversed the characters, the Writer where the wife is and the wife where the Writer is. The book gives no description of the wife. Dark Horse made the wife a thin blond haired woman in a purple dress in likeness of actress Susan Goforth, who played the character in the Pendragon movie.
I say:
Tricky one, this... Both sets of artists face the phenomenally difficult task of depicting two people sitting down together to tea in a room. Hmmm, gosh, there are so many ways to approach this: 'Do I put the Writer on the right and his wife on the left? Or vice versa? Hmmmmm...' Well, you've got a fifty-fifty choice, Mr Artist, so get on with it...
Astonishing! Once you take into account the reverse angle and totally different composition, the Writer and his wife are sat in the same position relative to each other! Except they're not - in Dark Horse's frame, they sit at opposite ends of a table; in Little Timbo's shot, they sit at right angles to each other at the corner of a table. Wow, suspicious! Or something. Maybe, in order to totally differentiate itself from Little Timbo's shot, Dark Horse should have had the wife crouching under the table and the Writer hanging off the chandelier making gibbon sounds. As for any similarity between D’Israeli’s depiction of the Writer's wife and Susan Goforth, well, it doesn’t need me to point out that D’Israeli did not draw the wife wearing a Mick Hucknell Ginger Fright Wig…
The crowd at the Pit
Little Timbo says:
In these crowd scenes at the pit of the fallen cylinder, notice the similarity to the white hat with the maroon band. This hat was chosen for the Pendragon Pictures’ movie by actor Jack Clay, from a variety of hats available. The book does not describe a white hat with a maroon band. A small detail, but point after point, we find such details mysteriously matching our production choices.
I say:
So what? Dark Horse’s Man With Hat is a different character. With his striped blazer and crooked leer, he looks like a squiffy Victorian ‘swell’. In keeping with the blazer, the hat is an Eton boater, common headgear for a hot Victorian summer. Perhaps Little Timbo’s lawyers should make representations to Eton School?
The Heat Ray
Little Timbo says:
Notice the design similarities of the heat-ray arm and the screen direction that the device pointing. The three victims being incinerated are grouped the same in both versions. Note the largest, center victim’s spine and rib cage as well as the position of the legs, which in both version are slightly spread and pivoted to the left.
I say:
Little Timbo may not realise this, as his grasp on reality is tenuous at the best of times, but the Heat Ray arm is a copy of the earlier WOTW sequel Scarlet Traces, by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli, scriptwriter and artist respectively of the Dark Horse WOTW (we shall return to Scarlet Traces later). Scarlet Traces was published in 2001, years before Little Timbo even thought of making a ‘faithful’ period version of WOTW. Who has copied from whom…? As for the positioning of the victims, far be it for me to note that it is also similar to the victims of George Pal’s Martians in his famous 1953 film. Perhaps the lawyers of the late Mr Pal’s estate should write to Little Timbo…
The Martian tripod
Little Timbo says:
Two images depicting Pendragon Pictures’ fighting machine designs. The black and white Pendragon art was widely published in 2001. And LOWER RIGHT: The Dark Horse fighting machine from the comic. The organic, bone-like structure of the Pendragon fighting machine was the result of incorporating organic Art Nouveau into it’s structure. Art nouveau was one of Wells’ favorite design styles.
I say:
Deja vu, given that the Dark Horse tripod is a copy of the tripods from the earlier Scarlet Traces, which predates Little Timbo’s cinematic efforts and plans thereof. So let's have a closer look, shall we?
Little Timbo - the final Meccano Chicken tripod as featured in his fillum:
Little Timbo - the earlier, concept art, from 2001, of what resembles a rancid mushroom on legs threatening Seattle:
Dark Horse:
Now, given that the Rancid Mushroom looks completely different from the Meccano Chicken, I fail to see what point Little Timbo is making. Is he saying DH ripped off the Rancid Mushroom? If so, why show the Meccano Chicken? Is he saying they ripped off the Meccano Chicken? If so, how, there's no resemblance whatsoever, except that they're tripods - and H G Wells thought of that.
If he's whinging about the Looming Overhead pose being similar, then let's have a look at some other images through the ages...
Loom loom...
Bert Bakker, 1978
Overpower overpower...
Joseph Miralles, 1997
Tower tower...
Random House, 1991
Menace menace...
Famous Fantastic Mysteries Magazine, 1951
...and so on, ad infinitum.
Shepperton...
As for the ‘similarities’ involving the destruction of the Martian at Shepperton, let’s look at the images:
Little Timbo:
Dark Horse:
And from the Moby Books edition of 1983, illustrated by Brendan Lynch:
Also:
Little Timbo:
Dark Horse – where are the background trees?
Oh, here are the background trees, in Brendan Lynch’s illustration from 1983:
Oh dear Timmy, I hope Brendan’s lawyers don’t see your film…
The Martians in London
Little Timbo says:
Here the fighting machine positions are the same. One small in the background one large in the foreground. Even the perspective view above the rooftops match. Note the small sharp peak on the left of the background fighting machine and the church steeple in the Dark Horse comic placed where Big Ben is, to the left of the background fighting machine as it was in the Pendragon production. What are the chances of the Dark Horse creators coming up with such similar composition by chance?
I say:
Funny how Little Timbo harps on the similarities, and then explains away the discontinuities by making ever narrower partial-comparisons. What next? 'Look how that section of the sky in DH's frame has a cloud in it, just like in mine!' Note how Dark Horse uses the Black Smoke in this image, just like in Little Timbo’s still. Er, wait, no, Little Timbo didn’t bother with the Black Smoke… And the way DH place Big Ben in between the two tripods like in Little Timbo's. Er wait, no, there's no Big Ben but the alleged stand-in for Big Ben, the church steeple, is in between the tripods. Er no, wait, it's on the right, well away from either of them...
But let’s also look at Tom Kidd’s illustration from the Harper Collins edition of 2001. Notice how Kidd has cunningly ripped-off Little Timbo four years before Timmy’s film was released by placing the Tower of London to the left of the Tripod, just like in Timmy’s still, except in Timmy’s still it’s Big Ben, and it’s on the right, and, er… Anyway, it’s absolutely identical, and Kidd had better quake with fear as he anticipates a letter from Little Timbo’s ‘lawyer’. Written in crayon. Green crayon.
The Thunder Child
Little Timbo's so-called film treats the Thunder Child battle in suitably epic manner. No, wait, it doesn't, it's a bloody travesty. However, ignoring, if we can, the artistic merits of his cinematic tour de farce, Timmy Boy claims that Dark Horse copied this shot...
...like so:
I wonder if anyone else ever thought to show the battle from a Martian viewpoint? Hmmm...
Good Lord, it's that plagiarising git Warwick Goble, pioneering illustrator of the original Pearson's serialisation of WOTW in 1897! Ooh, what a blooming cheek!
Little Timbo also says that this still…
…is also ripped off by Dark Horse:
Oh dear, Little Timbo, we’ve slipped up here! That frame is closely based on a frame from Scarlet Traces, published in 2001, some years before Timmy’s travesty was released.
The only difference is that there is only one Martian in the distance, exploding. Who copied whom? I think Dark Horse’s lawyers would be interested in that question…
Right, I’m bored with this, so I will now pretend that all along I was going to do this in two sections, making this the…
END OF PART ONE
Together we can beat Timmy! Or something...
