The Long Walk?

[esoteric ed]

Well I have to fess up I?ve recently stopped buying 2000ad (not the Megazine just yet though)?

2004 was a pretty unusual year for me and I missed a few issues during the summer months and found myself no being too concerned about the missing issues and gap in my collection even though this was during the Dredd/Total War saga.

I?ve collected 2000ad since Prog 1 (I still have it) and I had a collecting lapse of approx 2 years around the time of the Apocalypse War tale.
I?ve been thrilled with the many many classic antics over the years, Stonty, ABC Warriors, Nicolai etc and most of all I?ve always been a major Dredd head?

Ah good old Joe, I have to admit there?s been times when old Joe was the only reason I continued to buy 2000ad each week, I?m not knocking the standard of the other material and content as it?s always well produced, it?s just that much of it didn?t appeal to me personally for one reason or another and I feel that?s one of the reasons I?ve now recently stopped reading 2000ad, there's nothing I care for.

I do believe that when another event changing saga in Dredd?s world comes into play I?ll no doubt start buying and reading it again and for how long is anyone?s guess,
I did consider perhaps this was it because I?m now 39 and growing old of comics but realised this wasn?t the case (I?ve recently enjoyed the vintage MACH 1 reprints) and like I said a crucial Dredd tale would  entice me back each week as I feel I?ve grown with the character over the years enough to care where he heading and pick up again when there's major developments in his world.

Has anyone else honestly been through this kinda 2000ad lull? Did you stop reading for a particular reason and then return? Does the tooth still light your fire like it did in the past (depending on your age)?
Would you admit here that you?ve stopped buying it for fear of retaliation from the hive mind? ;-)


Still and seriously people, 2000ad is a top draw publication and after all these years the comic world is lucky to have it, it?s been great fun and I?m hoping by reading the boards and reviews here when I can that I?ll eventually start reading again if something catches my eye.

Sorry for the ramble folks and hope you don?t mind me fessing up here, I guess regular readers here are the only people who may understand as my pals here in Liverpool never read comic books (they certainly don?t understand).

Best to you all.
Ed

[Funt Solo]

Obviously a serious case of thrill-sucker infestation.  I recommend that you send me your entire collection of back progs.  This won't cure you, but I thought that in your condition I might be able to take advantage.

But seriously (sic), there have been lulls in quality throughout the years of 2000AD, but (for me, anyway) there's always been one story that kept me reading even if the other four were the opposite of shinola.  "Metalzoic" springs to mind as an example.  I really struggled to keep reading through the late 400s but then the early 500s contain some of the best material ever (Bad Company, Anderson Psi by Kitson, Zenith, Democracy in Dredd, the Judda, Chopper in Oz, Hickleton on Nemesis and the advent of PJ Maybe).

I'm always rewarded for my faith when the comic recovers from these lulls and hits another high point:  sometimes disappointed in the short-term but always rewarded in the long-term.

[This post taken from a sermon by the High Priest of Toothy.]

[therev]

er...Oi! AMENABLE if anyones quoting sermons round 'ere it's ME right?? Or "Brother Knukles" will pop round understand??
;-)

Yeah, know what you mean BUT I think for me personaly 2000AD is so ingrained in me/habit I HAVE to read it every week.
I've been doing that come rain or shine since Prog228 (Aug 81), well except during the early 90's when 'Tooth was shite and I got into recreational drugs. Thats almost every week for 24 YEARS.
24 Y-E-A-R-S.
E-V-E-R-Y W-E-E-K!
EEEKK!
I do understand what you mean thou.

[Bad Andy]

I've popped in and out a number of times. I think this is my fourth time as a Squaxx and the first I have been actually subscribed.

I can't really remember the reasons why I've stopped each time. Perhaps just once I thought it was time to 'grow-up' and stop reading it, but as I got into the tooth in the first place as a young teenager wanting to read something 'adult' (rather than the beano) those tow occassions cancel each other out.

Don't feel guilty. Something will trigger you to start collecting again when you least expect it. I started again when my girlfriend bought me a prog when I was ill once. Boy is she regretting that now!

[Leigh S]

There are sometimes lulls in quality have made me reassess whether I wanted to carry on buying - when teh comic was at it's lowest, it would greive me to buy the damned thing.  The thing that kept me going was the hope that it would all turn around and get back on track, which to a large extent it has done over the years, with the odd fallow period.

so why not buy it just when it's good? Two reasons.  Firstly, How would you know when it gets good again if youre not reading it?  There might be some hidden gem that you'd never pick up on.  

Secondly, and most importantly, I feel its worth supporting the progs when they're bad, so that its still around to be good.  If every reader became a fair weather Squaxx, I'm sure the comic wouldnt survive a month, so there'd be no comic left to undergo a quality revival.  And once 2000AD has gone, that's really pretty much it for the UK comics industry - where's the next Wagner/Moore/Milligan/Morrison (delete as applicable) going to come from?  no more strontium Dog, no more Dredd - period. Except maybe a bastardised DC version...!

Thirdly, you'll miss out on the fun of the next controversial Valkyries/Bison/Dead Man Walking debates!  

[Leigh S]

One desperate measure to stay on track might be a monthly subscription?  It takes away the apathy element, and is cheaper, so easier to justify....?

A fourth reason to keep reading is the fact that recent progs are a pig to get hold of - theres more prog 1s on ebay than you'll ever see prog 1400....

If all that hasnt convinced you, keep on dropping by here, and maybe we'll be able to convince you to pick up the latest run of fun!

[esoteric ed]

Thanks for the feedback people, of course I'll still look in here regularly.
I guess my trip to the US this June is taking up much of my interest and energy right now, hopefully I'll come back to news of a nice Dredd epic to get me back into the future.

Cheers
Ed

[ming]

You'll be baaaaack (I hope).

Still, at least you're still enjoying the Meg.  Be sure to drop by the site from time to time in case anything unmissable is in the pipeline.  Meanwhile, no 2000ad for you just means more time to spend on Back to Mine 3!  Get on with it, Ed!

[esoteric ed]

cheers mate I'll be looking in.
 
BTM 3 is actually in pre-production, you'll be hearing from me when it's complete :-)


Cheers
Ed

[Max Kon]

come back

[Dunk!]

I've sometimes wondered if Rebellion started publishing a Quarterly containing the previous three months of 2000ad Dredd would the weekly readership be seriously affected. The older i get the more i rely on GN collections for entertainment rather than regular visits to the comicshop for small bites.

Like you Dredd has kept me coming back for more, when the rest of the content has in my opinion been underwhelming and i can see why you'd choose to drop it now. Heck the last few years haven't been that great seen as a whole.

Just make sure you keep an eye on the website and hopefully see something that whets your appetite enough to pick up ya weekly dose again.

Tulkas - trudging on, looking to the horizon

[esoteric ed]

Cheers people, glad I'm not the only person who feels this way, I have to admit simply reading Dredd and then flicking through the rest of the prog over the last few months.

I'll still be looking over the site, I do like to read some of the threads/posts and I know I can rely on this place for news of anything exciting in the works, who knows... I may have to pretend this "lapse" never happened. ;-)

Ed

[Bad Andy]

Looks like you might be missing out on a good dante though...

[Trout]

There is no escape, Ed. Your addiction is permanent. :-)

See you again soon.

- Trout

[House of Usher]

"Would you admit here that you?ve stopped buying it for fear of retaliation from the hive mind? ;-) "


You're quite right, esoteric ed. 2000AD doesn't feature nearly enough stories with sharks in.


/retaliation mode off.