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How did you first get into 2000ad?

Started by Michael Knight, 16 April, 2017, 07:18:42 PM

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positronic

Quote from: sheridan on 07 May, 2017, 04:41:14 PM
Quote from: positronic on 28 April, 2017, 03:52:45 PM
It's funny how "reprints" started out as such a good thing when a reader was young and new to comics, way back before trade paperbacks was really even a product category, but after a reader became one of the cognoscenti, a comics insider with an awareness of what's going on in the marketplace, "reprints" became a dirty word ("PFAH! ... reprints !"), and then once you become an older veteran, "reprints" are like meeting an old friend again.

I didn't know any other comic readers when I was a kid, so for me the reprints at the time were Titan and Eagle, which were both good quality reprints by people who obviously took care in their product.  Later on, Quality and Maxwell's Fleetway handled reprints, where quality (small 'q') took a nosedive.  I now live in typical pokey London quarters, and so can only really afford space-wise to keep originals (though make occasional exceptions for good quality reprints with additional material, or for something where it really is more convenient to have something in one package).

Titan and Eagle were "new material" to Americans in the 1980s, but the reprint material being produced by DC and Marvel Comics in the 1970s and early 1980s was kind of looked down upon as a cheat by the fans, a way for the publishers to generate money without paying creators (this was all before reprint royalties). Collectors were snobbish too, and only "the originals" would do for them. If you were young enough, none of that mattered to you, you were just happy to see old comics originally printed before your time, as long as the stories were good.

For a while there, the Megazine was doing regular reprints of older stories, but I have no idea of how this was generally received by the readers at the time.

Tjm86

Quote from: positronic on 07 May, 2017, 05:14:58 PM
For a while there, the Megazine was doing regular reprints of older stories, but I have no idea of how this was generally received by the readers at the time.

IPC had a long history of reprinting material.  Eagle (1982 run) included One Eyed Jack, Charley's War and even Ant Wars at one point.  The Magazine reprint stuff was occasionally a little controversial.  There was, to my recollection, a feeling that often too much of the stuff being reprinted had already frequently seen light of day. The Charley's War and Darkies Mob reprints were far better received.  Likewise some of the stuff they included from other publishers didn't always go over too well.  Exceptions being Scarlet Traces and some of D'israeli's earlier self published material.

positronic

Quote from: Tjm86 on 07 May, 2017, 07:12:40 PM
Exceptions being Scarlet Traces and some of D'israeli's earlier self published material.

I read a little about the long twisting pathway that led Scarlet Traces finally to publication in 2000 AD, and thus to a collected edition. I'd never heard of it before seeing the TPB listed. Needless to say I'm looking forward to Volume 2! (just saw it listed for an October 2017 release on Amazon).

I will definitely have to check out some of the other Edginton/D'Israeli collabs like Leviathan and Stickleback if they're anywhere near as good as Scarlet Traces (but of course they had me at "war of the worlds"...)

metalmarc

I saw the 1995 film in the cinema when i was 13yrs old and enjoyed it   :-[  ::) :lol:  what? I was young i didnt know the source material and i didn't know better, anyway went with my mates into town afterwards and he bought the Novelisation of the Movie,  as he always claimed the books were always bettervthan the movies, wanting to be cool i considered doing the same, but there was only one left.

A little while later i saw i think prog 950 with Stallone on the cover, not knowing much about comics i assumed it was a comic/magazine companion to the film, plus it was cheaper than the book as i never had much pocket money, so i bought it, loved it and bought it everyweek for about a year and a half to two years and the megazine too, but it started becoming harder to buy in the area i lived in as i had moved inbetween collecting it for the first time, plus my mother got on at me to get rid of my comics as i was 14/15 too old and had too many to take with us to our new home.


Eventually i saw they were making the new film about 2010ish i think on aint it cool news and i got ahold of a couple of case files and some of the graphic novels off ebay, read a few

Come back to these boards about a year ago, been buying up a small collection during the sales, just still havent got round to reading much yet, it's been a busy year lol. I will when i have time, and now the T.V series has me hyped

positronic

No one ever talks about what the movie got right. That was some impressive production design for 1995. Too many people trying to take control of the film, though. It was interesting reading about all the behind-the-scenes wrangling going on in David Bishop's book Thrill-Power Overload, which has an entire sidebar chapter on it.

Mardroid

Yes, I liked the look of the city in the Stallone film. Pretty close to the comics, I thought. I also really liked the ABC Warrior.

Actually, as a whole, I didn't dislike the film for what it was - a cheesy sci-fi Stallone vehicle. (Even back then, I got a bit confused about Stallone's Dredd and Assante's Rico being clones from the same material though. They'd pass for non-identical twins, sure, but that's not what a clone is.)

The Angel gang were also rather well depicted, I thought, although I don't think the originals were cannibals. (I haven't read the earlier stories concerning the Angel gang.)

In my defence I also watched it before I got into the comics. I thought the lawgiver design was quite cool too. I still quite like it, although it's a bit too plasticy. The shape and design is nice though.

Michael Knight

Personally I loved the Stallone Judge Dredd film as a 14 year old upon its release and I still do. Sure it very different from source material and I can see why many 2000ad fans don't like it, but I agree it did get so much right and its an entertaining film.
So many of my mates got into Judge Dredd and 2000ad after seeing this movie so that cant be a bad thing in my opinion.

ZenArcade

Interesting how many posters came upon this fairly recently.  Like many hoary old battle horses I came upon this really early on....good to see the next generation of readers giving their views. Z
Ed is dead, baby Ed is...Ed is dead

Rogue Judge

I saw Dredd 2012 first (loved it), and wanted more so then I watched the Stallone film...not a recommended order to watch the films as it made the Stallone film eye-rolling difficult to watch. It did have some enjoyable parts (I liked the futuristic depiction of MC1 and the Angel Gang/cursed earth), however Rob Schneider should serve time in a cube for his role in the film. And the way Sly smiled at the end...just no.

Still, it was entertaining and  fun to see Dredd in action and I'm pleased they included Hershey in the film. I think those of you lucky enough to have seen it first years ago had the benefit of being young(er) at the time and now nostalgia.

Anthony Garnon

As a kid I was a big fan of Batman. A grandparent found Judgement On Gotham, clearly didn't read it, and gave it to 6 year old me! Needless to say I didn't appreciate it at the time!!

Years later, it was the Mega Collection that got me reading and buying properly. I'd wanted to read Dredd properly for a long while, but didn't know where to start. This collection was perfect for introducing me bit by bit into Dredd's universe! :D

SIP

#40
My first experience of 2000ad was around 1982/83 with my dad bringing piles of comics home from work....I read them all and fell in love with Dredd with the Apocalypse war storyline - wow! Still my favourite Dredd epic. Had to buy the prog after that and quickly filled the gaps. Dredd, Rogue and later Alpha were my immediate favourites. Now, 35 years later,  it's a close call between Dredd and Johnny for my favourite, though Joe slightly edges it....though I think Carlos' run on Johnny Alpha is the consistently the best that 2000ad has ever produced. The quality and interest in Dredd can.peak and trough in any given year
I have lost interest in Dredd of late, probably since day of chaos, but I am always hopeful of more Strontium Dog.






.

SIP

Such terrible grammar in that last comment. Sorry, it wouldn't let me modify the post to correct!

Stu101

I have my wonderful Granddad to thank for getting me into 2000ad, he used to bring over copies when he came to visit (my brother got Shoot the footy mag).

It was the mid 80's and I was about 10, I used to love seeing the issues he had picked up for me, eventually I couldn't stand the odd missing issue so I asked my local newsagent to get it in and every Saturday morning I had a little rush of adrenaline as I went to get my weekly dose of Thrillpower.
He still got me the Annuals for christmas.

I collected for about ten years then stopped in the mid 90's

Now I rely on graphic novels and Case Files to get my fix. Would love to afford the money and space to start up again though, but I have neither... :)

positronic

Quote from: Rogue Judge on 12 May, 2017, 10:58:56 PM
I saw Dredd 2012 first (loved it), and wanted more so then I watched the Stallone film...not a recommended order to watch the films as it made the Stallone film eye-rolling difficult to watch. It did have some enjoyable parts (I liked the futuristic depiction of MC1 and the Angel Gang/cursed earth), however Rob Schneider should serve time in a cube for his role in the film. And the way Sly smiled at the end...just no.

Still, it was entertaining and  fun to see Dredd in action and I'm pleased they included Hershey in the film. I think those of you lucky enough to have seen it first years ago had the benefit of being young(er) at the time and now nostalgia.

I disagree about Schneider. I think he added a necessary comedic element reflective of the "comic" aspects of the earlier (1980s) Dredd stories, which often had incidental citizens playing comical roles, and pointing out the absurdity of 22nd century life in Mega-City One. Things like the League of Fatties come immediately to mind.

Things like the Angel Gang (most especially Mean) and the A.B.C. robot came off quite well (although this was my first inkling that A.B.C. Warriors was considered part of the Dredd-verse). Having Armand Assante play Stallone's "clone" was a big weakness -- it would have been better if Stallone had played both Joe and Rico (with makeup), because the idea that they're clones is never quite convincingly put across. The idea was later repeated in 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis, with Tom Hardy playing the part of Shinzon, a supposed clone of Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, where it played just as unconvincingly.

The first 20 minutes or so of Judge Dredd is actually quite good, but then the movie veers off on that tangent of Dredd being imprisoned. That kind of plot is something you save for a later sequel, after you've well-established the world of your future sci-fi universe. And of course, removing the helmet was an absolute no-no, but I don't think anyone believed that they'd hire an actor of Stallone's box-office stature and not have him play a significant chunk of the movie showing his face.

I've read that Stallone actually had tons of Dredd comics in his trailer and had done his homework on the character, and was quite serious about the role and willing to portray him as he appeared in the comics (helmet and all), but obviously the powers-that-be (money-men) felt otherwise, and the director (himself a 2000 AD fan) lost control of the film.

sheridan

Quote from: positronic on 13 May, 2017, 11:07:19 AM
I've read that Stallone actually had tons of Dredd comics in his trailer and had done his homework on the character, and was quite serious about the role and willing to portray him as he appeared in the comics (helmet and all), but obviously the powers-that-be (money-men) felt otherwise, and the director (himself a 2000 AD fan) lost control of the film.

The director was Danny Cannon, who had a spoof Dredd movie poster published in the prog about half a decade earlier and is now behind the Gotham TV series.