I've been thinking about why it is Smith's absence bothers me - it's not just the fact that the strips are being farmed out to other writers, although it does make me sad that he appears to have severed ties with the comic entirely. I think it's just a loss of one of those creative voices that will be always be unique and always bring something unexpected to the table.
For me, 2000AD has always been at it's best when it's a constant churn of ideas, crazy, high-concept stuff no-one has thought of before. Writers like Smith and Si Spurrier and Al Ewing are masters at this. I mean, they might not always have a 100% hit rate but when they were on, they were on.
I'm always just waiting for the next Lobster Random or Revere or Zombo, the next something that makes you go, "Wooooah, now this is different." but that's a feeling I experience less and less these days. That's not to disparage the work of any of the current droids, but I do wonder where all the madmen have gone(to work for bloody Marvel, probably).
