Mega City Zero (IDW)

[Dark Jimbo]

The French read comics in industrial quantities, but 2000ad books are about as popular there as Marine Le Pen's sex tape.

With the very notable exceptions of Slaine, and ABC Warriors since Langley's been on it.

[Frank]

2000ad fans use Robusters as a palette cleanser between re-readings of Proust

Not that type of palate

Balls! I proof read that, too.

Wagner and/or Grant would certainly convince me to buy IDW's Dredd, but I'm not sure how many US readers that would be worth. It does make me think that one thing IDW, DC and even the Quality/Eagle reprints haven't tried is big name creators.

Does Ennis still have enough of a following to bring new readers with him when he signs on to a book? Mark Millar Presents* above the title of a US Dredd book might only cost Tharg as much as returning the copyright to his old 2000ad strips.

Doesn't it seem like a no-brainer to make the IDW Dredd title a co-production with Rebellion, sharing costs and running it as either the main strip or the back-up strip in the Megazine? The Meg gets a cheap strip and IDW get cash to attract creators with a profile.


* He wouldn't be interested in writing it - I mean as an Executive Producer, with a cheap newbie scribe adding flesh to his plot outlines and tone guidance

[dweezil2]

I remember mentioning Ennis' name a while back in relation to a U.S Dredd title- might bring some of his Punisher readers along, if nothing else.

[dweezil2]

Get Steve Dillon back on art duties and ker-ching!

Surely IDW could use some of that filthy TMNT's money to fund such an enterprise?

[Jim_Campbell]

Get Steve Dillon back on art duties and ker-ching!

Having his name on the strip hasn't made much of a difference before. Neither has putting out books with Morrison and Millar's names prominently featured on the front cover. I'm not sure what's being proposed here that would make a new venture featuring the work of now-much-more-famous 2K alumni any more likely to sell than attempts to promote books using their names in the past, other than throwing a large amount of money down a hole commissioning new material from them.

[I, Cosh]

2000ad fans use Robusters as a palette cleanser between re-readings of Proust, but my question about what aspects of Dredd chime with current US reader tastes was a genuine inquiry, rather than an attempt to summon The Pub Landlord.

Ha. As I'm sure you're aware, I don't have a problem with the question*, just some of the inevitable responses.


* I lied. I do have a problem with the question. It's that I really don't care that American readers have failed to take the various incarnations to their collective bosom and whenever the question is raised it just goes round in the same circles. If the IDW Dredd was good I'd feel obliged to buy it and nobody needs that on their conscience.

[Magnetica]

Now I know next to nothing about the American comics market, but looking at the sales list Butch posted what strikes me is the sheer number of titles - 430 of them. It seems to me it must be hard for any new comic to break into that market. Sure it can happen but that is surely the exception not the rule.

Also the thing about the various IDW Judge Dredd comics and to a certain extent the previous DC ones is that they are just not very good (in my opinion). They seem to lack excitement and humour.

But - dumb question- does it really matter ( to 2000AD readers) if they aren't successful? Does Rebellion's financial success depend on this? (I wouldn't have thought so). I am wary of what Kevin O'Neil said on the recent documentary- you might think you want 2000AD to have mainstream success but you don't really as it would then have to have mainstream content.

BTW way what was that Rogue Trooper comic BPP posted a link to?

[sheridan]

Get Steve Dillon back on art duties and ker-ching!

Having his name on the strip hasn't made much of a difference before. Neither has putting out books with Morrison and Millar's names prominently featured on the front cover. I'm not sure what's being proposed here that would make a new venture featuring the work of now-much-more-famous 2K alumni any more likely to sell than attempts to promote books using their names in the past, other than throwing a large amount of money down a hole commissioning new material from them.

The slight difference is that putting a now-internationally-famous person's name on a reprint might catch the attention of people who see it, but having that same creator publish new work makes headlines (on the various comics / geek websites) which will prompt enquiries at comic shops and orders through online sellers. 

[TordelBack]

Also the thing about the various IDW Judge Dredd comics and to a certain extent the previous DC ones is that they are just not very good (in my opinion). They seem to lack excitement and humour.

This is the key thing alright: I'm a pretty ardent Dredd fan, but the only IDW title that I've read and actually enjoyed enjoyed enough to buy until the end was City of Courts. So if I, predisposed to the character, can't be arsed to buy the stuff, why would prospective US readers? Make a good US format comic, that would seem to be the first step in attracting an American audience.

[Frank]

does it really matter ( to 2000AD readers) if they aren't successful? Does Rebellion's financial success depend on this? (I wouldn't have thought so)

The current owners seem to run 2000ad as an indulgence, but it's a good idea for Tharg's books to be in the black, in case of freak jousting accidents or the games industry experiencing the kind of decline the music, print, and home video industries have seen in recent years*.

Click on the third link in my signature to see Tharg hinting that - like every other newsstand title - 2000ad's readership isn't growing. Assuming 2000ad runs at break-even, it probably costs around 2 million quid per year to keep the prog on shelves and dropping through letterboxes.

You can see a friendly proprietor subsidising a small proportion of that, but not if reader numbers and revenue keep declining. Assuming Tharg is on 10% of IDW Dredd's cover price, it's worth around the same to him as 150 new subscribers - without costing him a penny!


* Doesn't seem to be a problem - nerds love shooting zombies with sniper rifles: https://www.endole.co.uk/company/02770940/rebellion-developments-limited

[dweezil2]

Get Steve Dillon back on art duties and ker-ching!

Having his name on the strip hasn't made much of a difference before. Neither has putting out books with Morrison and Millar's names prominently featured on the front cover. I'm not sure what's being proposed here that would make a new venture featuring the work of now-much-more-famous 2K alumni any more likely to sell than attempts to promote books using their names in the past, other than throwing a large amount of money down a hole commissioning new material from them.

The slight difference is that putting a now-internationally-famous person's name on a reprint might catch the attention of people who see it, but having that same creator publish new work makes headlines (on the various comics / geek websites) which will prompt enquiries at comic shops and orders through online sellers.

That was precisely what I was getting at sheriden.

I admit to not understanding the inner workings and contractual machinations of the U.S comic book industry, but I would think that a new U.S Dredd title from Punisher and Preacher stars Ennis and Dillon would generate some buzz from comic buyers if nothing else.
Even if it was just a mini-series.

[blackmocco]

Get Steve Dillon back on art duties and ker-ching!

Having his name on the strip hasn't made much of a difference before. Neither has putting out books with Morrison and Millar's names prominently featured on the front cover. I'm not sure what's being proposed here that would make a new venture featuring the work of now-much-more-famous 2K alumni any more likely to sell than attempts to promote books using their names in the past, other than throwing a large amount of money down a hole commissioning new material from them.

The slight difference is that putting a now-internationally-famous person's name on a reprint might catch the attention of people who see it, but having that same creator publish new work makes headlines (on the various comics / geek websites) which will prompt enquiries at comic shops and orders through online sellers.

That was precisely what I was getting at sheriden.

I admit to not understanding the inner workings and contractual machinations of the U.S comic book industry, but I would think that a new U.S Dredd title from Punisher and Preacher stars Ennis and Dillon would generate some buzz from comic buyers if nothing else.
Even if it was just a mini-series.

Well, now we're into the other and more general problem plaguing the comics scene: How much is IDW willing to pay to secure the likes of Ennis and Dillon's services...? Answer: not fucking much. There's a reason the likes of Dredd (but look at a lot of the titles across the board) doesn't get the top-notch writer or artist. Like anything else in life, you generally get what you pay for.

[sheridan]

The current owners seem to run 2000ad as an indulgence, but it's a good idea for Tharg's books to be in the black, in case of freak jousting accidents or the games industry experiencing the kind of decline the music, print, and home video industries have seen in recent years*.
* Doesn't seem to be a problem - nerds love shooting zombies with sniper rifles: https://www.endole.co.uk/company/02770940/rebellion-developments-limited

An important difference is that once you've pirated an album, book, comic, film or tv series, it can be shared ad infinitum - games these days generally need a constant (and verified) connection to a server to be able to work (or at the least to use the networking modes).  So as long as Rebellion keeps putting out games people want to play, the source of our indulgence is going to be constant.

[sheridan]

Well, now we're into the other and more general problem plaguing the comics scene: How much is IDW willing to pay to secure the likes of Ennis and Dillon's services...? Answer: not fucking much. There's a reason the likes of Dredd (but look at a lot of the titles across the board) doesn't get the top-notch writer or artist. Like anything else in life, you generally get what you pay for.

There's another potential problem.  It came up in another thread where a 2000AD creator had an exclusive contract with a US publisher, which didn't preclude them from working on Tooth - but presumably it would cause friction on that side of the pond?

[Link Prime]

As this is officially coming to an end after issue 12, anyone heard any rumours regarding IDW Dredd V3.0?