The NEW new prog....

[Leigh S]

Got a copy of 1294 from Comics 2002

Not going to spoil it for anyone by revealing the end of Death, just to say this is a corker  - Superb. Congratulations to the Wagner and Irving droids.  

And the ending of this prog's Sin City will hopefully silence those doubters who've been saying this isn't going anywhere!  Again more "Wow" moments.

The only real loose link is the 'nuff said' Sin/Dex - even the FS reaches the heady realms of alright, which is praise indeed given the usual standard.

Having got "Jack Bison" coming up, which sounds like a modern day cop thriller, there's an advert for what looks like a straight pirate romp by Ian Edgington and Steve Yeowell called "The Red Seas".  And from speaking to the guys on the stall, it sounds like Mr Mills has not quite abandoned us....

PS. if you can make Comics 2002 its worth the visit just for the bargains on the 2000 stall - both RainDogs + Glimmer Rats for ?12, The RPG for ?20 and the supplement for a fiver, and the "Matter of Life or Death" T-shirt and beanie hats for the same.  Advanced copies of the Meg and 2000AD, the postcards for ?3, TCUs and a batch of other knock down goodies.

And Glimmer Rats really improves when printed on this quality paper - much, MUCH clearer.

[The Amstor Computer]

Good to hear Death gets a good sendoff - the cliff-hanger with Death & Anderson in 1293 was spectacular, but it left me wondering how the story could be wrapped up in just 5 more pages.
Without spoiling it, could you tell us whether the story is wrapped up or whether something is left hanging?

Sin City has been excellent from the start, and with 7(?) episodes still to go, it looks set to be the best Dredd tale since The Pit.

How's 13 coming along? Good story, though I'm not convinced the tone is right for 2000AD.
Not surprised that Sin/Dex is the weak link - with the shite alien revelations in the last tale, I don't expect it get better any time soon either.

BTW - I remember Borderline saying "Red Seas" was a Devlin Waugh tale... still, Ian Edgington is a damn good writer (check out Kingdom of the Wicked) so I'll be looking forward to that.

[Buddy]

I couldn't get to comics 2002 - If anyone out there IS going could they pick me up a DEATH T-Shirt and a DREDD badge Key-Ring and I'll bung them the cash.  
This is an honest request.
No pissing about.

Link: http://www.ximoc.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.ximoc.co.uk

[Leigh S]

Blackblood - don't worry - The Death story is obviously a lead up to something much bigger.

As for 13, the plot moves on, with a few revelations about what is going on

IIRC "Red TIDE" is the delayed Devlin Waugh return to Aquatraz story.

[The Amstor Computer]

>>>Blackblood - don't worry - The Death story is obviously a lead up to something much bigger<<<

Excellent. Maybe a linkup with the Justice Killer storyline? There are so many different strands floating around, and knowing John Wagner, I wouldn't be surprised if they're related.

>>>IIRC "Red TIDE" is the delayed Devlin Waugh return to Aquatraz story<<<

...Hence my confusion :-) Last I heard of that, John Smith was rewriting & Jock was considering starting over on the work he'd already done, so God knows when it'll finally appear.

BTW - how many more episodes does 13 have to run?

[DavidXBrunt]

I'm assuming it's running until issue 1299. I think I've read that somewhere.

[Tu-plang]

It'll run to 1299 definitely, because Tharg wants 1300 to be one of those "all new thrills" progs.  Too many of them lately.

[ukdane]

True, there have been too many. However if the current idea is to build up readership, then you need to provide easy access- and that means plenty of jumping on points.
There should be at least one a year (for the benefit of new readers).

[DavidXBrunt]

One a year? There should be at least 4 or 5. If there's only one jumping on point a year it makes it a lot less likely that people will jump on board.

If people want longer stories then they could run a ten parter with a ten parter that follows directly on from that. So although they are two seperate stories there could be longer elements carried on, in the way 'Block Mania' and 'Apocalypse War' carry on threads.

[ukdane]

How many Episodes long aws 'Apocalypse War'? - Bad example this, but I know what you mean. In any case you misunderstood me- There should be at least one a year for jumping on- if they are going to do epics- I would rather have mega epics that run one after the other as in the example you gave than story arcs which are broken up into books, with a year between when they each see print, although this is only how I feel right now- next month I might want separate books again:-)

[DavidXBrunt]

Yeah, it was a bad example but I couldn't think of a better one. I still like the fact that there are restarts every 8 to 10 weeks.

[DavidXBrunt]

Yeah, it was a bad example but I couldn't think of a better one. I still like the fact that there are restarts every 8 to 10 weeks.

[Oddboy]

I don't think the 'jumpon' progs need to be five new stories... usually one or two are Future Shocks or a 1 episode Dredd anyway...
Do people really see a comic & think, "Nah I won't get that because I won't understand what's going on"?  When I came back to 2000AD it was for prog 1051 - nicely missing the jumping on point.  I quickly picked up what was going on in Dredd "Mad City", Anderson "Crusade", "I Was A Teenage Tax Consultant" and "Witch World" without too much trouble (even though the last I saw of Cass she was star trekking accross the universe & had sworn never to judge or hurt anyone ever again).

What I'm trying (but probably failing) to say is that the jumping on progs could have one or two stories that are already half way through their run - especially if they are longer (i.e. 10+ episodes) stories.  We haven't really had a good long story for a while... Tsar Wars was too split up.

[DavidXBrunt]

On the other hand when I decided to get back into the mag, I did wait for the jump on issue. That was last Autumn, during 'Helter Skelter' and several other long stories. So it seems some people do wait, others don't.

But the reason I like the idea of multi book stories following on directly from each other is so you can tell longer stories more often. Although long stories seem to be out of vogue at the moment.

[JayEales]

>BTW - I remember Borderline saying "Red Seas" was a Devlin Waugh tale...


Just thought I'd check, since it was I who would have written it! Borderline Issue 1 - page 15. "Devlin Waugh - Red Tide"

Phew! Mind you, it was down for publication on May 1st, along with the first instalment of '13', but that's how it was scheduled at the time...

Jay

Link: http://borderline.mediahall.co.uk" target="_blank">BORDERLINE - The award winning FREE PDF Internatio