Messages

1

Announcements / Re: 2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

« on: 22 July, 2019, 02:28:16 pm »

When was the Dredd extension announced? Around issue 60?

I don’t recall, but the Transformers one just went out, and that series is in the mid-60s. If the 2000 AD one works similarly, that suggests we’d find out if there’s an extension around the end of the year – or the beginning of 2020.

At least two volumes of John Smith stuff is required. Indigo Prime, Revere, Leatherjack....plus somebody on here keeps banging on about Firekind, they may have a point.

It me! And others also. Firekind’s never had any proper reprint (just one of those Extreme Editions), and it’s a classic. Needs doing properly.

Oh, and in news that will shock no-one, 49/50 aren’t here on time. SURPRISE!

2

Off Topic / Re: Marriage guidance for collectors of tat

« on: 21 July, 2019, 05:05:26 pm »

Basically volume. Which is fair enough. We have four Billy bookcases in our TV room that are part miniature branch of Forbidden Planet, part her books, and part our old CDs. That plus the space under the spare room bed (currently housing a full set of 2000 AD and Megs) is it. Once that’s full, decisions need to be made. (We have no other obvious usable space. I have a large office but the floor isn’t strong. Same goes for our loft.)

3

Off Topic / Re: The Political Thread

« on: 21 July, 2019, 11:27:46 am »

The UK’s now basically in the same space as the US, despite claiming otherwise. We have a broken electoral system (and, sorry, Labour, but you are very responsible for this after kicking the Jenkins Report into the long grass, due to your own arrogance), which is cementing arseholes in power; and we have a sizeable number of people now worked up into a frenzy to not only vote against their own best interests, but also in favour of the dismantling of democracy. This has turned from something merely deeply depressing (leaving the EU) to something that is getting genuinely fucking scary. I’m not sure there will be enough MPs to stop the UK heading somewhere very dark.

It says everything that 274(!) MPs voted against legislation designed to stop an executive coup that would literally cancel parliament, and that people were shocked at the scale of the defeat. TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FOUR MPs voted to make themselves irrelevant. And every day this kind of shit is in the conversation, the more it is normalised.

4

Announcements / Re: 2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

« on: 19 July, 2019, 02:53:33 pm »

Ten Seconders reads nicely as a single volume. It’s only fully in digital, too, right? But that means the repro’s there. Ideal fodder for an extension, then, since it’s obviously not viable for Rebellion to release as a trade, yet could form part of an ongoing collection. Same also with Red Seas, although I’d only want that to be in the UC if said collection was confirmed to include all of it. As in, please don’t extend by ten books and bung one Red Seas volume in there.

5

Announcements / Re: 2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

« on: 19 July, 2019, 11:14:10 am »

I’ve not heard that before. My understanding was it was supposed to cover everything from G1 they could get the rights to, but that would fall short of the ending of IDW’s run – which was bonkers. And there is no ‘standard’ partwork length. It’s just Hachette’s been launching with 80 volumes for a while now. The Marvel run was originally 60, remember (and then extended to 120, 170, 200, 220, and presumably soon beyond).

As for another 20 books for the 2000 AD run, I wouldn’t hate Dark Jimbo’s selection, although I don’t really care for Defoe and Sin/Dex. One Indigo Prime book seems at least one too few, though! (The one that will annoy me if there’s an extension and it’s omitted is Firekind. I’ve also said that twinned with Leatherjack would be fab. I’ll put up with 19 books of Mills rants if I can get that volume.)

6

General / Re: When did 2000ad get good again.

« on: 19 July, 2019, 09:23:03 am »

I like the whimsical Hogan of Timehouse and RoboHunter very much.

Yep: Hogan/Hughes Robo-Hunter was solid. I’d have liked to have seen that in the Hachette run, but in colour.

7

Announcements / Re: 2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

« on: 19 July, 2019, 07:51:55 am »

Four. Or three if they go for really thick volumes, but they might breach the 250pp rule then.

8

General / Re: When did 2000ad get good again.

« on: 18 July, 2019, 07:29:25 pm »

Steve White’s Rogue, I agree, isn’t bad, but it mostly for me seemed good by comparison to what went before it. In mashing together the various Rogues, we just ended up with a mess. Tor Cyan was, to my mind, more interesting, but then that just kind of stopped.

As for Strontium Dogs, I think it warrants a re-read at some point, when I get through the pile of doom. As I’ve said elsewhere, I’ve really grown to like Hogan’s work (Resident Alien is wonderful, for example), and suspect some of his 2000 AD output would read better to me now I’m an old git.

9

Announcements / Re: 2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

« on: 18 July, 2019, 07:11:56 pm »

Not entirely on-thread, but Hachette’s Transformers series has been extended to 100 issues.

Good, on the basis that the existing length was absurd. It was supposed to cover from the original Marvel books through to the end of the IDW run (pre-reboot), but there weren’t enough pages. Mind you, the repro was absolute dogshit on the Marvel US stuff, sadly.

10

Off Topic / Re: The Political Thread

« on: 18 July, 2019, 05:00:40 pm »

Yep. I’m in particular sick of the media getting sucked into the Boris thing. Stop using his first name, like he’s Prince or Madonna. He’s a fucking MP, like the rest of them. Use his full name!

Still, I guess he’ll at least get to go down in history now, probably as the last PM of the UK, if not the last Tory PM. (I’m not optimistic enough to think this will bring down that party.)

11

General / Re: When did 2000ad get good again.

« on: 17 July, 2019, 06:38:11 pm »

Millarhunter is deeply offensive in the same way as old episodes of Friends

They weren’t OK at the time either, in the same way it was never fine to use derogatory slurs. It’s just people thought they could get away with it. But as Greg notes, this is beyond Friends – there is a deep problematic undercurrent that runs through a whole lot of Millar's output for 2000 AD during that era. It’s more than “hey, we’re trying to be a bit edgy”. Whether through intent or incompetence, he became the thing he was apparently attempting to satirise or lampoon. His work therefore becomes laced with sexism, racism, and homophobia. It’s not a good look.

Big Dave suffered from similar problems, not least of which was it was in completely the wrong publication.  Re-reading some of that stuff is beyond embarrassing.

I never liked it at the time. That it still has fans today genuinely baffles me. Then again, people still like Ricky Gervais, so I guess there’s always a market for ‘humour’ that thinks it’s clever, but that’s brutally and repeatedly punching down.

12

General / Re: When did 2000ad get good again.

« on: 17 July, 2019, 05:20:53 pm »

Oh man. Some of those in the last list are even worse. The Skizz follow-ups were unnecessary and just didn’t work. Brigand Doom was OK, but mostly because of the art. I remember finding Soul Gun incomprehensible, and the Grudgefather among the absolute worst dross in 2000 AD’s history.

Urban Strike was appalling – Computer Warrior in Eagle showed that videogame ads dressed up as comics could work. This was just bilge. I don’t even recall Maniac 6, which shows the impression it left on me, nor Kid Cybord. Outlaw was a drag.

Pussyfoot 5, though… Wasn’t that in a floppy a while back? I recall that was OK, although left dangling in that way John Smith had a tendency to do.

13

General / Re: When did 2000ad get good again.

« on: 17 July, 2019, 04:15:25 pm »

Of your original list, I’d say some of those aren’t only poor, but are deeply offensive at times, not least Millar’s Robo-Hunter.

Wow - didn't know that. In what way?

Colin Smith’s book-like overview of Millar’s work sums it up nicely: http://sequart.org/magazine/29692/camp-as-christmas-but-good-as-gold-mark-millar-shameless-part-28/

Later parts also explore the sewer that was Big Dave. Number 25 delves into Babe Race 2000.

EDIT: SPOILERS in the above, obv.

14

Film & TV / Re: Star Wars Episode IX

« on: 17 July, 2019, 02:26:55 pm »

Quite. I’m not specifically against a podcast going on for an hour, but it has to have a reason for doing so. A good example is Infinite Monkey Cage. I’d happily listen to episodes twice as long as the extended podcasts, because they are superb. But so much stuff is just extended to fill the time, rather than edited to be better.

15

General / Re: When did 2000ad get good again.

« on: 17 July, 2019, 02:24:35 pm »

Everyone will have their own take on things. Of your original list, I’d say some of those aren’t only poor, but are deeply offensive at times, not least Millar’s Robo-Hunter. Universal Soldier, though, I thought was often pretty good – certainly readable – if derivative.

I’d agree with Frank on Slaughterbowl; even if it’s a bloody extended Future Shock, it was for me the one saving grace of the otherwise risible Summer Offensive. (Really and Truly was just dull. Maniac 5 was bereft of ideas. Big Dave is atrocious, unless you like a teenager’s take on satire, which totally misunderstands what satire is.) The Clown is one I had a re-read of quite recently. I didn’t like it at the time. Now… it’s fine. It won’t win any awards, but it’s not awful.

On your more recent list, Trash has nice art but is boring; Kola Kommandos has fairly nice art but is pointless; Kelly’s Eye is dull; Space Girls is dire; Blair-1 is a half-arsed one-Prog joke extended to a series; and Baberace 2000 would be Millar’s nadir had so many others not been battling for that crown. (Again, you don’t lampoon X by becoming X.)

Timehouse… I’d actually quite like to re-read that. It strikes me as a strip out of place in 2000 AD, by a writer out of place in 2000 AD. But I really like a lot of what Hogan does now, and so am thinking revisiting his 2000 AD output might be in order.