I may be in a minority, but I'd really love the Tharg strips brought together and reprinted in a graphic novel.
They were - for me at least - as much a part of 2000ad's history as every other strip or character that's seen a reprint.
I know some stuff has been reprinted before - I have a 2000ad Monthly that was dedicated to the Mighty One - but it's not extensive and I doubt anything currently out there that's similar will be.
I know these strips aren't as dramatic and edgy as your collected Judge Dredds, Rogue Troopers and such, and there may not be as much interest, but they were fun and imaginative and were as zarjaz as anything else 2000ad put out.
Just me then...?
I think maybe a Meg floppy is not out of the question, but a gn might be pushing it!
That's a pity, since just about everything else is getting a gn...
Not much love for those strips, then...
I'd be up for a collected trade. They were vital in managing to half-convince me at an early age (would it be too much to say "half-convince all of us?") that Tharg was indeed real and behind the scenes at the Nerve Centre was just as interesting, funny and important as whatever Dredd was up to that week.
So yeah, definitely.
SBT
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 26 May, 2019, 12:38:31 PM
I think maybe a Meg floppy is not out of the question, but a gn might be pushing it!
I can see it at most as a Meg floppy but GN not really, so I am must agree with Jimbo
I suspect these may of decidedly niche interest when it comes to an actual book. Personally, I'd not be overly thrilled with a floppy myself. Best of 2000 AD Monthly #63 wasn't exactly a favourite of mine, coming after some classic Dredd and Anderson, McMahon Sláine, Outlaw, and Torquemurder... As a relative youngling (early teens) at the time, I was a bit: what the fuck is this?
Those stories are pretty much the worst the prog has to offer. There have been one or two good ones,ike A History of 2000AD In Five Pages, but generally they're pointless. If there was a free floppy collecting them I wouldn't read it.
They do seem aimed fairly and squarely at ten year olds (only today I've reread Alec Trench and the Day In The Life from the floppy 6 months ago). Nostalgia-value goes so far, reading a collection not so much?
The Curse Of Completism! ::)
Ah well, I figured I'd be in the minority - at least, I'm not entirely on my own (cheers SBT!).
I thought those strips were fun...
I'd buy this. I know the Spacespinner2000 guys hate them but I always saw them as a bit of fun and satire based on the office politics of the day. may it happen Tharg - the ideal vanity project for you!
I've a soft spot for the Tharg strips - I think the floppie would be the best home for collections of them. That being said - I'd love for there to be new ones every so often.
I liked the Ezquerra, Belardinelli and Bradbury strips - the more recent ones we've had don't seem quite the same to me. I really liked the various thrill-sucker strips that came out when I was a kid! Having said that, I can't imagine myself actually buying a graphic novel collection of them, though would be happy seeing them in floppies.
Going through old Fanzines, W&G are credited with writing a lot of them.
Good to see a bit more support for a Tharg reprint - whatever the format. I'd prefer a gn myself, but would settle for floppies.
I'd get it mind you I'd like to see a collected banjo and captain clepp and any thrill sucker strip
Quote from: moly on 29 May, 2019, 03:43:13 PM
I'd get it mind you I'd like to see a collected banjo and captain clepp and any thrill sucker strip
*pssst* it's Bonjo (took me about ten seconds to work out who you meant!)
I'd buy a copy if it was ever released, not for the stories but definitely for the art :)
filippo
Count me out! I have some fondness for the Tharg strips when they turned up once every few years and were mostly about behind the scenes droid shenanigans, but the ones where he speed-dials Thatcher and beats up aliens did nothing for me, even as a 10-year-old. I don't mind them turning up when I'm reading old progs but wouldn't go anywhere near a complete collection...
That said, I'd be quite keen on a floppy that charts the history of Tharg, including snippets of some of those stories from the Prog, but moreso anecdotes from MacManus about dressing up, and lots of bits of art showing Tharg over the years from the Nerve Centre / House ads. There's something about the artists picked to illustrate Tharg that acts as a bit of a 'what's the tone 2000AD is trying to set just now' stand-in.
We've had Henry Flint's Tharg for quite a few years now, and it's a great Tharg, but I'm ready for someone new to take on the mantle. Simon Davis, perhaps..?
That brings up a whole other issue about whether it is LONG OVERDUE that the prog has a complete redesign? How long has it looked like that, been that size, had that paperstock, and had the same interior "branding" (Tharg, Nerve Centre, text print size, etc etc)?
But that may be for another thread?
SBT
Quote from: AlexF on 24 June, 2019, 12:00:36 PM
That said, I'd be quite keen on a floppy that charts the history of Tharg, including snippets of some of those stories from the Prog, but moreso anecdotes from MacManus about dressing up, and lots of bits of art showing Tharg over the years from the Nerve Centre / House ads. There's something about the artists picked to illustrate Tharg that acts as a bit of a 'what's the tone 2000AD is trying to set just now' stand-in.
We've had Henry Flint's Tharg for quite a few years now, and it's a great Tharg, but I'm ready for someone new to take on the mantle. Simon Davis, perhaps..?
That's a great idea.
Regarding the Tharg illustrations; hard to beat Brett Ewins. The quintessential 'Thargs head' artist.
I've a real fondness for the Paul Marshall fanged Thargs head from the original run of Terror Tales too.
Simon Davis is a good idea as successor, I think Boo Cook could do a great job of it too.
Always keen on a redesign - the more drastic the better!
Feels like it was fiddled with recently, but I suspect if someone listening put together a graph of redesign over time, it's been overlong. When the strips feel samey, redesign helps jolt the reader?
Different world now, but it was great to see big changes every couple of years, back when the prog started. Short/long stories, experimental stuff, etc. It never settled, even once the Golden Age kicked in.
Rambling now, and as a bog paper fan I am hopelessly out of touch ::)
I've long thought it should go to Beano dimensions and paperstock, which feels both like it stands out more on the shelves (the prog and meg always look weirdly short and small in WHS) and should be cheaper to produce. Although it should be noted that I have no idea if it would be.
This kind of ties into my wish that US comics, instead of being printed on shiny paper, would go back to something a bit cheaper for the monthlies, so as to further reinforce the longterm collectability of the trade editions. Stick them back in normal shops, drop the monthly price, and allow more people to see them as affordable entertainment, with the trades/ hardbacks for we collectors.
But as I say, I know nothing about how this works. All I know is that 2000AD used to stand out on the shelves (or at least hold its own) and now it does look a bit hidden. And don't get me started on putting The Meg in an opaque bag.
SBT
From what I understand in my dealings in the industry:
- Stockists get really fucking grumpy when you change a publication's dimensions
- Paper stock adjustments can be used to cut costs, but tend to impact very badly on the feel of a product – I can't imagine that doing well for a modern comic, where detail legibility is of paramount importance
- The lion's share of income is in editorial costs, rather than e.g. number of pages and such
Ultimately, though, unless you have a lovely indie comic store nearby, your best bet to keep 2000 AD in rude health is to subscribe.
The main design change I've noticed recently is crazy subtle - the design droids have given their text boxes a super-skinny white outline, at least in the digital edition. I thought it was a mistake at first but it feels deliberate now.
As a digital prog reader, the paper stock and page dimensions are somewhat irrelevant to me...
Quote from: AlexF on 26 June, 2019, 08:11:22 PM
The main design change I've noticed recently is crazy subtle - the design droids have given their text boxes a super-skinny white outline, at least in the digital edition. I thought it was a mistake at first but it feels deliberate now.
As a digital prog reader, the paper stock and page dimensions are somewhat irrelevant to me...
This one has been covered a couple of times. I've been a digital subscriber over 2 years and have always been slightly distracted by those outlines. Not new, and surely they're down to text being dropped in but retaining the outline, annoyingly. Something I don't see in print - though haven't checked that for a while.