2000 AD Online Forum

Suh-poy-uh-ler-ers.

Cover - A lovely retro cover from the John Burns. Beautiful artwork and we're luckt to have him working for 2k. Simon Fraser might disagree there but I don't.

Dredd - I'm loving the art on this, the last panel in particular, but thinking Dredd giving Guthrie too much leeway with the new power thing. I sense trouble ahead there. Still this is quality Dredd and I'm glad we've got more episodes to come.

Lobster Random - I wasn't too taken with the first run but thought the audience appreciation alone meant it deserved more episodes. I can now see exactly why people liked it. Last week ended with the best jaw dropping imge since the cliff hanger episode 2 of Cabals 'Moving in'. Spurriers script is inventive and funny and if Pratchett has already done the Miss Teak joke we can forgive him that.

Nikolai Dante - Like it's never been away. Of course I'd have liked the last few runs to be closer together but as Tharg promises this arc to wrap up over the enxt few months at least we're guaranteed more for now. The Centre spread is lovely, the plot looks fun, and perhaps we'll see more Dante in the future with multiple artists bringing us the next chapter in Dantes life. Last year we had a dozen episodes in a run, perhaps we'll see the same again leading up to 1500?

The V.C.'s - I'm still enjoying this series, sorry this is the last run. Nice art, clear story telling.

Low Life - Not enjoying this as much as I should be. I thought the Christmas episode was great and hoped it would match that standard. Still, it's not actually bad and the last page is fun.

A quality prog all round.

Haven't read mine yet as it arrived soaking wet : (

Any chance if I call subs they'll send me out a fresh one?

They have done that for me in the past. Mine got damaged when being stuck through the letter box.

My prog, wils.

Likewise, annoyingly. Well done, Royal Mail! Idiots.

And a cover scan...

Wow.  That's really nice.  Roll on tomorrow, for Tuesday is Norway-sub-delivery-day!  Saw John Burns here in Bergen before Christmas (at Raptus, quite a nice low-key comics event here).  Here he's best known for his work on Modesty Blaise, which is all anyone wanted him to talk about.

Cover of the Year. Beautiful.

I can't look at that cover without thinking:

YO!
Yah-yo, yah-yo!
Dreaming!
(Don't give it up, Luffy!)
Dreaming!
(Don't give it up, Zolo!)
Dreaming!
(Don't give it up, Nami!)
Dreaming!
(Don't give it, give it up, give it up, give it up, give it up, give it-- NO!)
Here's how the story goes, we find out
?Bout a treasure in the Grand Line, there's no doubt
The Pirate whose eye is on it, he'll sing,
"I'll be King of the Pirates, I'm gonna be King!"
Yah-yo, yah-yo, yah-yo, oh-oh!
His name is Luffy
(That's Monkey D. Luffy)
(Gonna be King of the Pirates!)
He's made of rubber
(How did that happen?)
(Yo-ho-ho, he took a bite of Gum-Gum!)
Yah-yo, yah-yo!
His name's Zolo, he's just like a samurai
And a L-A-D-Y Nami's not shy
The Pirate Crew comin' through doin' their thing*
With the King of the Pirates, he's gonna be King!*
Yah-yo, yah-yo, yah-yo, oh-oh!
Set sail for One Piece, it's the name of the treasure
(In the Grand Line)
Yah-yo, yah-yo
Set sail for One Piece!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe I watch too many cartoons...

Otherwise, not being a subscriber monkey, I can'tcomment 'til Thursday.

See you then, then...

"Tuesday is Norway-sub-delivery-day!"

You get your copies delivered by submarine or submersable then?

...and for me, yet another reminder of how much more I prefer John Burns' linework to the painted strip he's been turning out over the past few years. Compare the delicate, well-defined portraits on the cover to their painted counterparts inside - no contest as far as I'm concerned.

Perhaps if he were to return to the line & wash (I think that's the right term...) work he started out with on Dante? It would seem to be the best of both worlds - the definition & grace of his linework with the striking colours of his painted work.

DANTE IS BAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Can someone pay John Burns the difference so we can see more black and white pen and ink work like the pirates faces on this cover.

His pen line has been lost under paint in the colour work he has done in the last couple of years.

IMO.  

yep, I'd agree Rio. His penwork is charming whereas his paintwork becomes smaltsy.

Look! Its the mutant gang leader from The Dark Knight Returns!

Sea Change is also a name of Becks most recent album which is a return to minimal accoustic sounds.

Can anyone bring me up to speed on Dante's (post War) adventures? I only vaguely remember stuff like 'The Romanov job'.

Quite liked the cover but not overly excited by it, although the Dante episode was good. That mutant guy has a lot of comic potential!

Dredd was great this week, particularly the prison break and suicide implants. Very cool.

Lobster is still full of great ideas and it's nice to see a proper battle kicking off in V.C.s, which I still love.

Low Life was great, with a good "Swakkk" kick, and the last page was one of the highlights of the prog.

I've got a very bad feeling about Guthrie since reading this episode...

A cracking prog with Dante being the highlight. Even though this arc isn't a fave it's still quality and I'm dying to see how things play out with Nikolai and his Ma. I forsee another Dante tearjerker!

Lobster was crackers in a great way (as oposed to the ABCs), Dredd was ok, VC's did nowt for me and I hate to say it but I was confused by the first half of Lowlife. Still, a good un!

Pete.

DXB: I know what you mean about Guth. Although I was thinking that since the first episode.

Also got a feeling I've sussed Low-Life out.

Ming: Delivery day is Monday in DK (normally) skulle du ikke flytte sydp?????

So it's not just me. It just remains to be seen if we're right. If we are will this be a dangling thread or wrapped up this story? And that's why Gordon is such a good writer, quality stories leafing to speculation and interest as well as cliffhangers.

Want to mail me your Lowlife speculations? Can't read it or reply until the morrow but I'm interested.

I'll read this week's first ;-)

The feeling I have about Guthrie, will probably be just that though.

Could be Grennie is cleaning house before Origins???

Or could he be getting him back on the streets prior to Origins?

It was a bad feeling that I had though.

A great Prog this week (and for some reason it actually did get here on a Monday in Norway, so it's a fast-attack sub).

Cover Love it.  I too would love to see John Burns back on black and white strip work.  Next time someone sees him, can they ask him nicely please?  I really like the subdued logo, and pirates and mutie shark-men must translate to a few extra sales this week, shurely?

Dredd Like it.  Guth and Joe cracking heads and then the Meg's toughest attempts to defuse a difficult situation with the House of Pain case...  Seems a bit familiar, but I'm enjoying the ride.

Lobster Random Love it.  This just gets better.  The sneaky old perv is really firing on all cylinders.  Liked the touch where Toby appears in the ecstasy-hypno-imagery thing.  Best thing in the prog by a neck.

Dante Love it.  Great to see him back, really.  Very nice double-page splash.  I can't remember exactly what's going on these days, but I seem to recall some kiddies, blackmail and the usual intrigue.  Nice set up for a big brawl next prog.  Yo ho ho!

The VCs Like it. Not as much fun as last weeks opener, and I really feel like I'm reading a watered down re-tread of the original series.  I wonder if Hoff will save the day in the first page of the next installment...?  He just might, y'know ;-)

Low Life Love it.  Maintaining my interest again, and the art's top-notch.  Bit of a jump from the end of last prog - how did Nixon end up on the roof?  Where did the other guy (Blackbird?) go?  Great stuff with Ronson, and the tension's now building.

Well worth the 21.875 x 8p that it costs these days.

Cover - Lovely Dante, nice to see other people agree with me over Burns's artwork (his painting)

Dredd - It's a good story but wondering where it's going to go in terms of the end of the story. Nice cliffhanger :)

Lobster - Yeah enjoying this :)

Nikoli Dante - Still not liking the artwork in places but better than Half-Life. But I'm not enjoying the story. I liked Dante when it was the family battle, when it was in new interesting places, now he's an old pirate rather than a modern day pirate.

VC's - Not going anywhere that I can see and not a patch on the original in art or script. Not awful though, just not getting the pace so easily.

Low Life - Bit more confusing than normal, and I was liking it up to last week. Justice Dept must be desperate to have someone as weak as that guy joining a Wally Squad member.

Cor, it seems like ages since I've found my way onto this site, let alone a prog review thread.

I'm quite enjoying things at the moment.

Rennie's hand on DREDD is mostly steady - I'm enjoying this House of Pain thing even if some of the connections seem slightly forced and compressed. I genuinely don't know what Guth is up to and whether Dredd is with him for a reason or it was just coincidence.

LOBSTER RANDOM has been typically Spurrier dense and enjoyable. You really have to pay attention and get right into the detail of the scripts and dialogue and narrations to get the most out of his tales.  Some people have been moaning that it's too dense and, perhaps, overwritten.  I disagree - I think the voice of each of the characters is unique even if they all love to hear themselves in caption boxes.  (Oh but I really disliked Harry Kipling - completely missed the point of the strip - it did nothing for me). But Kipers aside, I'm mostly happy to see the Double Ess in the script droid compartment.

DANTE lost it for me a while bck. And while I like John Burns art this week, I know that as soon as a a fight starts there will be loads of really craply posed figures, pastel explosions and poorly realised monsters (the mutie shark think looks particularly crap already).

LOW LIFE on the other hand has deeply lovely art that I could stare at again and again and again. It's a ashame the script doesn't do the same for me.  Have we seen Coleby let loose on a Spurrier script? It's take you weeks to absorb all the word and picture loveliness.

And I'm going to say nice things about VCs as well.  Ant Wills art has been fab; deceptively simple but great story telling and effective character sketches (and I liked his recent Dredd). Dabnett often leaves me cold but the change of tack in the script, though still vaguely cliched (aliens make us war for their pleasure) is better than the plain old gung-ho bolleaux it could have been.  

Yo!
Ya yo ya yo!
Dreamin'!
Don't give it up Luffy!
Dreamin'!
Don't give it up Zolo!
Dreamin'!
Don't give it up Nami!
Dreamin'!
Don't give it, give it up, give it up, give it up, give it-- No!
Here's how the story goes, we find out
'Bout a treasure in the Grand Line, there's no doubt
The pirate whose eye is on it he'll sing:
"I'll be king of the pirates! I'm gonna be king!"
Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go... uh oh!
His name is Luffy (That's Monkey D. Luffy!)
He'll be the king of the pirates!
He's made of rubber! (How did that happen?)
Yo-ho-ho! He took a bite of Gum Gum
Gotta go, gotta go
His name's Zolo, he's just like a samurai
And a L-A-D-Y, Nami's not shy
Usopp's doin' that marksman thing
Sanji's cookin', Chopper's doctorin'!
Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go... uh oh!
Set sail for One Piece!
It's the name of the treasure in the Grand Line
Gotta go, gotta go
Set sail for One Piece!

whistles innocently

It's not just me then :)

Wow. I read this last night while the missus was watching Wife Swop - some people, tut.

Cover - as I stated before - beautiful - John Burns is a pencil monkey god.

Stories in order of popularity:

1. Lobster Random. Si Spurrier + Carl Critchlow = best story this prog. A ripe combination of peachy pears, and rich apply story telling all wrapped up in a delicious pen and ink pastry washed with eggielicious coating of colour and baked in a synergy of talent - a tasty treat for this prog.

2. Dredd - Meat and potatoe pie. Rich and chunky an just what you'd expect from the gary Rhodes of story telling, but slightly let down by the art being a little bit undercooked. Still tasty but not as good as my mums.

3. Dante - The veg. Looks fantastic (what a superb!!! DPS of the new characters!!!) carrots are cooked just right, brocolli has been in long enough and the peas are mildly minted. But, with all veg it's just an accompaniment to the prog as the story is still not as good as previous Dante efforts, it's a tad one dimensional and launches straight into the duel without giving good reason apart from the starting narrative. Delicious looking veg, very tasty in the art department, but it's not asparagus accompanied by sweet potatoe mash with Creme Freche.

4. Low Life - Gravy. It's not instant stuff, it's made from the meat stock and tastes very nice. But it's just a coating for the rest of the food. the only thing that saves this for me is Coleby's art esp. the last page, it's as though someone has popped in that bit extra pepper and sneaked in a chilli to spice it up.

5. VC's - Big Mac, fries to go with a reg. coke. tastes OK when there's nothing else, but repeats on you afterwards and you feel empty a couple of hours later. Terrible art, lacklustre story, boring and tasteless. This repetitive repeating and regurgitation of old stories is getting intolerable for me, where's the originality. Let's hope that this is the last we see of this fast food.

A very good meal of a prog this week, great presentation and although it was mildly spoilt by a takeaway-or-leave it story midway I still felt full afterwards and went back for seconds.

Tasty

I really enjoyed this prog, even though it's not going to sound like it.

In no particular order:

Cover:
It's a good cover.  Not manna from heaven, though.

Dredd
The pay-off line at the end is excellent.  The art makes the story seem stale, though.  

The opening shot of the prison riot looks like a fight in a broom cupboard.  Does Robo-Guth work as a catch wagon dude or in the iso-cubes?  What happened to special uniforms for iso-cube guards?  At least, if the guards had appeared to be somehow less than a full street judge, it might make the whole riot seem more plausible.  Why does Dredd have to ride to within two feet of the perps before shooting at them?  His bionic eyes playing up?

It's not a bad story - but all those things brought me up out of it and reminded me that I was reading a comic.

Lobster Random
This is very good, and here's why:  I hate Lobster Random - I want someone to rip his stupid fecking claws off and club his 'X' until his skull implodes, killing the smug, irritating, wrinkly old pervert off so that I never have to see any of his pastel-hued smugventures ever again.

Despite that, I'm really enjoying this series, so it must be bloody good.

VCs
Oh no - whatever will become of Squeegee?  Oh, wait, I was getting confused there for a moment and thought that I cared.  Good enough script and art, but really, who cares?  When you have to wait this long between series, all the momentum drains away.  From this, from Dante, from Sin/Dex, from Savage, from Red Seas ... all draining away ...

Dante
See above.  Whatever kick Dante once had, it's all been killed off by stretching the post Tsar Wars storyline too thin and leaving huge publishing gaps.  What now?  He's going to kill his mum, is he?  Well, clearly not.  We all know he's not like that.

Low Life
Good cliffhanger.  Otherwise, this seems like a high concept (Assassin Con) trying desperately to provide a plot, but failing.

"We all know he's not like that."

You're almost certainly right, but then again, once upon a time we all knew he wasn't the type to butcher his half-brother in cold blood.

If we do end getting another "Heroes be damned" moment, it'll go a long way towards restoring the strip to its former aceness.

Love it all APART from lobster random, each to their own eh

VCs
Oh no - whatever will become of Squeegee? Oh, wait, I was getting confused there for a moment and thought that I cared. Good enough script and art, but really, who cares? When you have to wait this long between series, all the momentum drains away. From this, from Dante, from Sin/Dex, from Savage, from Red Seas ... all draining away ...

I'm sorry, but when you sign up to read an anthology like 2000AD you should EXPECT to wait 6 months to a year for a new installment of a given story. The strength in 2000AD is that it has vast varity and doesn't focus on 5 or 6 titles all the time.

the fact that I only get one arc of Savage, or Red Seas, or Cabs Inc, or The V.C.s a year doesn't bother me. Because that's how a great book like 2000AD works.

It used to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Fair enough, you prefer this way of doing it, but it's not intrinsic to the format.

"Some people have been moaning that it's too dense and, perhaps, overwritten. I disagree - I think the voice of each of the characters is unique even if they all love to hear themselves in caption boxes."

For me,one of the problems of the dense strips is that they don't sound unique - Point, Random and now spygirl all have the same way of expressing things - that is, in as long winded a way as possible, avoiding the point as if their very life depended on it, and stretching metaphors to the event horizon.  There's a bit of variation in the tone (world weary gumshoe, old psycho, girlie girl psycho) but essentially, they seem to me to be speaking with one voice - the voice of the author trying to densify the strip where for my money, clarity would sell the concepts 10 times better (or expose the actual plot as a bit weedy, whichever the case may be!).

Of course, you can find other examples of people taking the same - Gordon rennie scripts could always be spotted by the "repeated phrase"  trick, there's Robbie Ms overwordy speech patterns that just about everyone from commoner to king has... but with Si's strips, it just seems to stand out even more - death by caption box in terms having to plough through these great gobs of 'witty' captions.

as for the prog.. erk.  Dante is the only thing that might have been of interest, but this pirate arcs all a bit meandering - be interested to see where it'll go afterwards though.

Talk of the Death penalty in Dredd always feels wrong - as did last weeks "Dredd turns a blind eye while Guthrie fries a captured cit" but - Currently the Dredd reminds me of that thing where you cut up sentences and rearrange them to form new sentences  - its a bit like someone cut up 3 or 4 old Wagner Dredds, but somehow a Millar one got in the mix at the same time.  And Guthrie does look clunky compared to the work that Mandroid had himself - Judges need a better insurance scheme it seems!

It doesn't help that Lob, Kipple, and Domino have pretty much run concurrently. There are differences I'm sure but taken together it blurs.

:: "It doesn't help that Lob, Kipple, and Domino have pretty much run concurrently."

That's a key point.  If Bolland had illustrated three strips in one issue*, I doubt you'd hear many dissenting voices complaining that his art was all a bit samey.

Sure, if he had Slaine, Ace Garp and Johnny Alpha all wearing Dredd's helmet, there'd be raised eyebrows a go-go - but it's not as if Lob, Dom, Simp and Kips all have the same character anymore than Dredd and Alpha are the same (despite both being gun-toting, be-helmeted hard-asses).

With a lot to read, if you don't like it, you're really not going to like it and it'll seem like a chore to read - but if you get into the internal monologue of the characters, it's a value for money storytelling method.

Imagine if Slaine, Black Siddha and Finn all ran in the same issue.  You'd have three sets of evil gods with their evil human underlings being defeated by a pagan-esque reluctant superhero under the thrall of an attractive woman (be it goddess, head witch or, uhm, worker in the local newsagents).


* Oh frabjous day that would be!

posted by IndigoPrime

"Likewise, annoyingly. Well done, Royal Mail! Idiots."


C'mon... be fair. Don't blame us (i'm a postie). Lay the blame where it should be... at Tooth subs themsleves that send the stuff out with no ptotection other than a paper envelope. We deal in many, many subscription services.... some good, some bad... and Tooth is one of the worst i've seen when it comes to protection.

Even stuff like the kids Jackie Chan magazine was sent out in waterproof plastic envelopes.

I subscribe myself but any that's come damaged i've always called Tooth and gotten a replacement, an area where they are good in, but they should be as it's often their fault!

Alan!

Rain logged I can understand but I've chatted to my postie a lot and asked him not to bend the envelopes in two and elastic band them. Now he can't remember everyones foibles and it's probably the sorting office but still it irks/

Wrighty - how about this then.

Denise from subs phoned me on Monday to tell me that my Megazine was returned by the post office saying 'no longer at this address'?

:: C'mon... be fair. Don't blame us (i'm a postie).

I'm not blaming you specifically, but Royal Mail in this area is appalling, in terms of its service. The reason my sub was soaked is because the delivery people here wander around the entire street with "bundles" of post for a number of addresses, and if it's raining, everything gets wet.

However, it's probably worth noting that over the past year, I've had to make formal complaints about the service from our local depot several times (including complaining to my local councillor), because it's been so bad. The main issue I have is that the posties here were leaving mail in the letterbox (against company policy), which is a danger when you're away from home (in terms of saying "HEY! Rob this house!"); also, they got into the habit of ringing the doorbell and then immediately buggering off (and sometimes not ringing the doorbell at all) if large packages were being delivered. As someone who reviews software for a living, I've often ended up opening the front door at 2pm to find several hundred pounds' worth of software sitting on the doorstep. At Christmas, this was worse: I found seven large Amazon packages just sitting on the doorstep (and seeing as they were wet, they'd clearly been there -- in plain view of the entire street -- for hours). We've also had packages "delivered" by leaving them between our wheelie bins and at our back door (both areas of which require the postie to trespass on our property; and, of course, no notes were ever left to tell us where the packages had been left).

This may not be typical of Royal Mail service, but you can understand why I blame the post in this area, rather than Rebellion.

And those red elastic bands all over the floor everywhere you go. That ticks me off something rotten. Tidy up after yourselves.

So I went to the shop and got myself a nice clean copy at the usual price ...rolled it up and shoved it in my back pocket like a five year old. How nefarious am I? *snort*

So far I looked forward to Low Life for a read on the way back from the shop. Nice and light on the grey cells if not on the greyscales.
 Lovely shmooth akchun you've got ther Mr Coleby and Mr Williams.Shure to be sheeing you at Bristol draped with beyootiful women!

I had read Dredd with a bacon and egg.In a cafe with coke, not coffee and sauces brown and red.
Nope. The arts better but I disagree with the thread opener .The last page had too much work in the build up to the cliff hanger and not enough artistic spillings and the last page filling panel could have done with more background detail. Showing a little inexperience there is Ian. Don't let the pressure get to him!These droids will be straight to the bar,necking shorts and mopping their brows.

Lobster is not one to be read while walking.In fact it is hazardous to ones health.The humour in it's opening panels is liie a Fawlty Towers cheeky set up and the story winds into some Alan Moore homage a sweetly as the blossoming friendship Randam makes with each passing encounter. Definately find this lot of droids knocking back o.j.s and dark brews before sharking off for some scran/food.

I was ready to be disappointed by Dante but the story is roguish enough to drunkenly punch out at you and Burns droid has a large percent of fabulous workload. His ships are classic looking and clothing is meticulously observed.I tend to dislike his 1.5 metre distance shot(if you could bear with my camera allegory).These droids will be half cut by the time they get to the con and will be smuggling their own "stuff" into the hotel.Parkhouse is on the brandy already or is that ye olde privateer spelling of *decide* Annie-driod?


Nicely balance V.C.s gets you into the story from any distance. Abnutt is giving good direction and Ant02 is coming to the table with script met and then some. They must be bricking it when they saw Clembot and Bolt01 grafting a feat of their own over at the review station.
Yeah it'll look nice that *small talk* episode, in trades paper.These guys will be confined to taking notes on all the competition and be found in the function rooms.

Overall. Exceeding expectations. Which what I expect and get every week.HAIL  to the Thrillpower!

My postman hasn't given me any cause for complaint - apart from not showing up until 11.30 on a Monday morning.

I do sympathise with our resident Pat, especially regarding water damaged progs. When I first started to subscibe three years ago the progs came in plastic wrappers complete with a Cliff Robertson Dredd. I don't know if complaints from embarrassed squaxx led them to the now plain (and often soggy) paper envelopes, but clearly this change has led to the issue of the soggy issues.

Sorry, don't mean to be picky but:

The main issue I have is that the posties here were leaving mail in the letterbox (against company policy), which is a danger when you're away from home (in terms of saying "HEY! Rob this house!"); [...]At Christmas, this was worse: I found seven large Amazon packages just sitting on the doorstep (and seeing as they were wet, they'd clearly been there -- in plain view of the entire street -- for hours).

 If the packages had been there untouched for so long, surely the risk of robbery in your street isn't as bad as you think?

 I'll get on to the Prog tomorrow, after I've read it...

"If the packages had been there untouched for so long, surely the risk of robbery in your street isn't as bad as you think?"

They all hide in pretend Amazon packages, get carried into your house and then rob you blind.

The classic for me happened to my brother. He came home from work and found a note saying the parcel had been left...in his bin. Fortunatley the bank holiday had delayed collection so it was still there when he looked. Also lucky that he seals all his bags when he puts them in the wheelie and that the item wasn't edible.

He complained and complained but to no avail/

Boy, am I glad, i buy it from a shop! My hours on a Wed/ Thurs mean I cant get it til Friday, but at least it's in one piece! Long live my local thrillmerchant (which is in the next town...)

Phew... quite a response!  ;)

Bent Progs/Damaged items. Yeah, well you should complain as the items shouldn't be bent and damaged. That said, were they packaged properly, the postie wouldn't be able to fold 'em!  ;)

Amazon packages. Now this is a different kettle of fish. Many Amazon packages (especially the one's where you go for free postage options) and other online shops aren't actually delivered by Royal mail, but by private couriers. It's just possible (and in some cases probable) that you're blaming Royal Mail when they've had nothing to do with it.

If however it is a Royal Mail delivery, then they should not be left outside your door/in a bin etc under any circumstances and you should report any cases of this to your local PDO.

Wet Progs. believe me it's impossible to keep paper dry in heavy rain. Hold them in your hand and they get wet through. Keep everything in your bag and they get wet through because you're constantly in and out of the bag for said mail.

The only way round this is for Rebellion to send them out in plastic envelopes, and if these were hardbacked then it would also cut down on most cases of bent progs too!

Believe me guys, you don't have to tell me. I haven't done a delivery in years but know the score and i do see what goes on on the inside of the postal service. Remember, as well as being an employee, I too am a customer and there's no one who complain's more when a prog/item is damaged, but quite often the complaints aren't neccesarily Royal Mail's fault. They just get the blame by people with a misunderstanding of the asthetics of the industry.

Gotta hold my hands up regarding the red elastic bands tho!  ;)

Alan!

On the subject of crap posties, my postman will quite happily buzz my flat to get access, then after I've buzzed him in he'll slide a card under my flat door(knowing fine well I'm in because I just buzzed him in) saying he couldn't deliver the package because he couldn't get access. I must be awful to look at in the morning or something.
Saw this as an opportunity to get that gripe off my chest.

Never really had a problem with water damaged progs though, but I'd be all for plastic wrappers just in case. At least then people will know it's comics, I'm sure my elderly neighbours think I get a weekly porn delivery.

Well, 2000ad subscription service is still a hell of alot better than DC or Marvel.

 Marvel ships their comics out in a bag with board. Still, my copies would always arrive  bent or damaged. My 2000ad issues always arrive in much better shape.

Plus, I always get my progs on time. Marvel could never pull that off. I'd always get my issue a week after it originally came out.

I don't subscribe because I only receive bills. Anything looks remotely interesting gets stolen by Royal Mail long before it gets anywhere near my door.

Yes I have complained lots. Yes it achieved fuck all.

Yours,

Seething from Glasgow

:: If the packages had been there untouched for so long,
:: surely the risk of robbery in your street isn't as bad as
:: you think?

Not the point, really, though, is it? Just because some scumbag isn't checking out houses 364 days of the year, that doesn't mean they won't be for one day. And leaving a pile of Amazon boxes on our doorstep (and, frankly, everyone knows Amazon ships books, DVDs, CDs, and so on) was just taking the piss.

:: That said, were they packaged properly, the postie
:: wouldn't be able to fold 'em! ;)

One of our posties had a habit of folding magazines lengthways and then leaving it in the letterbox, so it had a lovely fold when you managed to free it from its trap. Pissed me off no-end, which (along with the aforementioned issue of stuff sticking out of the letterbox while we're away) is why I ended up putting a small sign on the front door, saying "please ensure all deliveries are pushed right though the letterbox". Amazingly, I heard the doorbell one day and answered to find a Royal Mail postie standing there, who then grumpily exclaimed (while pointing at my sign): "I suppose we can't just leave stuff on your doorstep, then?" My retort that he wasn't supposed to do that anyway was met with a grumpy "hmph!" and he stomped off after practically throwing my mail at me.

:: Many Amazon packages [are delivered by] private couriers

Without exception, Amazon packages in this area that have arrived when I'm in have been delivered by Royal Mail *if* you chose the "first class" option. The "free delivery" ones are delivered by private courier. It's not like this is the first time this has happened anyway. One of my "favourite" occasions was hearing the doorbell and then running down the stairs to see the Royal Mail chap already walking down our path (meaning he had to literally have started walking away after ringing the bell); as soon as he heard me, he turned and ran(!) back to the door and then picked up the package to give it to me, with a sheepish expression on his face. And that's the thing: the staff that aren't doing things right in this area mostly know that's the case -- they just don't seem to give a shit. (To be fair, we have one fantastic postie, but, sadly, he's not on every day.)

:: If however it is a Royal Mail delivery, then they should
:: not be left outside your door/in a bin etc under
:: any circumstances and you should report any cases of
:: this to your local PDO.

So far: two direct complaints to the PO, two to "head office" and one to my local councillor. In return, two form letters and two books of free stamps. No direct correspondence from the depot itself. To some extent, the letters have made a difference, thankfully. Apparently, when the Royal Mail person trespassed and placed our package between our bins, and when another left it by our back door (without leaving a note), it was "due to poor training". I suggested that, in reality, there are surely only really two rules: 1) all deliveries should be pushed right through the letterbox, and; 2) if a delivery doesn't fit through the letterbox, alert the house owner and wait for an answer?if they don't show up, bung a card through the door and get them to pick up their mail from the depot. Since then, nothing's been left out back, but we still get the odd package just left on the doorstep (sometimes after the bell has been rung, sometimes not).

ANYWAY, as for the PROG(!), I quite enjoyed it this week. VCs still leaves me utterly cold, but Dredd's decent enough; Lob's enjoyable and suitably different to other fare; Low Life's readable, if unremarkable; and Dante could be a return to form. One thing Dante has sparked in my head is a hope that Tharg will perhaps start commissioning fewer strips, or at least enable those that are ongoing to show up more regularly. I remember "back in the day" that strips with long arcs (Stronty Dog, Nemesis, etc.) were semi-permanent fixtures, but these days the momentum is lost. (Of course, this isn't entirely down to Tharg?some of those creators take extended breaks *cough*Rennie/Cabs/just write some more, dammit!*cough*, but it'd be good if he could persuade those who are willing to keep the momentum going to do so, and then bend the schedule to suit.)

as I've mentioned befor I think there's a big break between books generally so we can have the same artist all the way through.  = longer waits between books but look better when collected.  I personally dont mind change of artist as long as the ones used compliment each other(which I think Burns and Faiser do quite well, hmmn would be nice to see some more Fraser on Dante wouldn't it).

CU Radbacker

Cover:

See Above (The pirate whose eye is on it he'll sing: "I'll be king of the pirates! I'm gonna be king!")

Dredd:

Scriptwise, I've nothing more to add this week that  I haven't said about the last two eps. Artwise, I seem to be in the minority here, but I quite like it, it's kind of reminiscent of Alan Davis or Barry Kitson in places, how can that be a bad thing?

Random:

Still firing on all cylinders, I liked the Toby cameo, the profusion of captions can be a bit wearing but at least they're not....

Late 80's...

Frank Milleresque...

Fragments.

(Now we get to the meat)
Dante:

Why are Pirates so much fun?

On this evidence the answer would have to be a Scooby Dooesque 'Rrry Rrrunno?'

I know, in reality pirates are grim, vicious, villainous scum, who'd think nothing of blowing up your plane crash survivours group raft and stealing your bizzarely pschicly powered kid (As I understand, they're killing music too :) )...

But this is fiction, I want fun pirates. (More Red Seas Soon...)

The whole swinging from the rigging, high seas adventure in the future thing doesn't sit right with me either. If they were space, air or land pirates, that'd be a different story, but the mix of old fashioned and super space age ships doesn't work for me.    

It's not that I dislike Burn's art, I just don't think it's suited to Dante, especially when he's painting (Burns that is not Dante :) ).

V.Cs:

Chugging away nicely, see below :)

Low Life:

myeh.

And now,

[SPOILERS] Re: Prog 1486 - Lock and Load........ posted by fate amenable to change on 4 May 06 at 10:15
In reply to [SPOILERS] Re: Prog 1486 - Lock and Load...... posted by scutfink on 4 May 06 at 10:04

:: "to my mind a 10 pager doesn't take much longer to read than 5 pages"

Twice as long, on average, would you say?

[View messages by fate amenable to change] [Reply] [ Scroll]


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[SPOILERS] Re: Prog 1486 - Lock and Load........ posted by scutfink on 4 May 06 at 10:18
In reply to [SPOILERS] Re: Prog 1486 - Lock and Load........ posted by jont on 3 May 06 at 11:52

No, actually I wouldnt, that's kind of my point...

[View messages by scutfink] [Reply] [ Scroll]


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Last week (whether you meant it or not :) ) a challenge was raised so, For the Benifit of Mr fate :), let me introduce to you (Help I've got the Beatles stuck in my head!), the one and only...

GREAT V.CS TIME TRIAL EXPERIMENT.

(You may drink your weak lemon drink now, or save it 'til later.)

The Hypothesis:

It takes less than twice as long to read a double length episode.


The Experiment:

I intend to time myself reading last week's episode of The VCs then repeat the process with this weeks episode, enabling me to compare and contrast the times.

Equipment:

Progs No. 1486 and 1487
My Eyes
My Brain
Moblie Phone Stopwatch

Procedure:

I've already read last weeks prog once, so to compensate for any unintentional skim reading on my part, I wait until I've read this weeks prog before beginning the experiment. In the interim I watch Shaolin Soccer, it's ace.

Then I re-read last weeks episode. Having experienced difficulty with the stopwatch due to unfamiliarity with the equipment, the time comes out at over 6:00 mins. I abort the experiment to try again later.

Having watched an entire episode of One Piece, that I videoed earlier in the evening,and read a chapter of the Star Trek Novel Federation I restart the experiment.

I re-read Last weeks installment again, working the stopwatch properly this time, then I watch the episode of Rescue Me I taped while watching Shaolin Soccer, that Tommy Gavin eh?

Finally I re-read this weeks episode, I like the big Geekfest at the start (That reminds me, have fun in Bristol everyone:)), and I note the time.

The Results:
 ________________________________________
|Issue No. of episode. | Time(Mins:Secs).|
 ----------------------------------------
|        1486          |     4:09.07     |
 ----------------------------------------
|        1487          |     1:29.86     |
 ----------------------------------------
|     DIFFERENCE:      |     3:20.79     |
 ----------------------------------------

Conclusion:

Bizzarely, it seems to take more than twice as long for me to read the extended episode.

Approximately 2 2/3 times as long, for the sake of scientific accuracy, lets call it 2.68 times.

I can only conclude that my feelings of the Prog being shorter are a result of my peculiar reading practices, breaking up the Prog with bursts of other media.

(If you haven't drunk your weak lemon drink yet, DO IT NOW!)

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I've not written anything like that in 14 years :)




 

I recognise the weak lemon references, but alas cannot place them...

Simon Quinlank - Duke of Hhhhobbies.