Everything comes back after 20 years: The Prog's New Dark Age

[Magnetica]

Ok fair enough but I guess that kills off the idea of a house character that others have suggested.

Unless...one can be picked from the existing stable that is a) flexible enough and b) isn't going to upset the original writer/ the original writer is happy to allow to be used in that way. Sounds like a tall order.

I vote Halo Jones.  That won't get anybody's backs up ;-)

Yeah but he's never going to write for 2000AD again so what does it matter? 

[TordelBack]

In all honesty I can think of very few things that would make me drop 2000AD faster than a non-Moore Halo Jones. Non-Smith IP wears on my soul quite enough (and I'm a Kek-W fanboy),  and I haven't even glanced at non-Smith Devlin... Even the idea of
Halo without Moore makes me recoil.

[Magnetica]

Thing is Tordels, we were both joking.

[sheridan]

I like the idea of Star Scans returning.Three page future shocks in every prog trying new creative teams.A letters page is compulsory.Pull a few surprises.Those cover stories that appeared in the very first progs were wonderful.The artwork is just as good now as back in the day.

I'm still waiting for the reader-submitted stories for the Tornado cover features :-)

[TordelBack]

Thing is Tordels, we were both joking.

Never doubted it,  just registering my visceral rejection of the notion!

[sheridan]

As Magnetica says, we were only joking, though...

I actually have doubts that even Moore could come back to Halo after three decades and carry on the same streak.  Best he concentrates on League, sock puppets and doing what he's doing now (as much as I'd still like Halo to have been continued).

[TordelBack]

I bet it would still be extraordinary, but equally the original arose at the perfect moment in both Alan and Ian's work (Alan really spreading his linguistic wings and weaving the complex into the mundane, the epic in the everyday;  Ian achieving an incredible mastery of light and shade to add his already amazing characterisations and designs), and it's unlikely that synergy could be recaptured.

[Leigh S]

Interesting feature on new creators due to appear in the foreseeable future.... Good timing from Tharg, that one!

[Colin YNWA]

Interesting feature on new creators due to appear in the foreseeable future.... Good timing from Tharg, that one!

What where - when.... hold on am I missing something obvious again???

[Taryn Tailz]

(Just to preface this post...I have absolutely no experience in writing comic strips and am under no illusions that I would in any way be good enough to write for the Prog.)

I've often thought about having a crack at submitting a future shock to Tharg. I've got a modest number of professional publications to my name now, as a poet and a short story writer, and really would love to have a shot at writing for comics.

The thing that puts me off trying however is the length of time any potential submission would be sitting at the bottom of Tharg's slush pile. Of course, I appreciate that Tharg likely receives a lot of submissions, most of which will inevitably be quite poor, but it's never seemed worth my effort to expend so much time and energy on a project for which I'll have to wait well over a year in order to receive a rejection. That and not being able to simply email submissions.

Again, there's absolutely no certainty that anything I submitted would be good enough in any case. I have been turned down for enrolling on a MA in Creative Writing on two separate occasions, both of which saw me turned down by the Prog's very own David Bishop. (I'm sure, quite rightly so at the time.) But as I forge forward with other creative endeavours, which are paying off to a certain degree, I do wonder how many other potential creators are being turned off by the lengthy process of first submissions.

[Richard]

If the problem is too many submissions, then anything which keeps the number of submissions down must be a good thing.

Imagine how many they'd get if you could just email them?

[Taryn Tailz]

If the problem is too many submissions, then anything which keeps the number of submissions down must be a good thing.

Imagine how many they'd get if you could just email them?

That is the flip side of the matter, of course. Even then, I'm sure the vast majority of submissions they do receive are completely unusable.

[Leigh S]

Interesting feature on new creators due to appear in the foreseeable future.... Good timing from Tharg, that one!

What where - when.... hold on am I missing something obvious again???

oops this months megazine - thought I had included that!

[The Legendary Shark]

Getting scripts into Zarjaz and DogBreath gives me a real thrill and is great practice. It took me a while to get good enough and I still get rejections but it's really cool to see a 2000AD character strip with my name in the credit box. Many of the strips in those comics are progworthy, both script and art wise. Not mine, of course (well, possibly the odd one), but there are some real talents on display there. Seriously, if you've never read these excellent fanzines you really should give them a go - either as a reader or a creator looking to hone your craft. I bet Tharg even glances at them so if he sees your name there he might give a script you submit to Twoothy or the Meg a slightly more attentive look. Even if he doesn't, it's still a pretty cool process - and Dave and Rich set the bar pretty high so it's in no way an easy alternative but is very valuable experience. So get involved!

[Steven Denton]

Sad to hear that Zarjaz's popularity has dwindled in recent years. Zarjaz and Dogbreath are great and they have been a vital part of the fan conversation for me.