Best 2000 AD strips of 2023 (non-Dredd)

broodblik · 15 January, 2024, 01:06:41 PM

Azimuth was a big surprise but for me it is the first time where I can say that I cannot wait for the return of a Sin/Dex strip. The whole way that this strip has been done to I am not sure what is the right word reset/reboot/re-image/restart the franchise was quite brilliantly done.

Another thing thank you for running this mister Canes

IndigoPrime · 15 January, 2024, 03:11:02 PM

Notable with The Out that it appeared to be marginally more loved than Azimuth, but the latter got more lower votes. So fewer people who didn't love The Out had it in their lists at all. I'm sure that'll give Dan Abnett #1 a lot to mull on while he and Dan Anbnett #2 scrap over which clone gets to take the prize back to their recharge station this year. (Seriously, the man is a machine, with his output. As a writer myself, I find it deeply inspiring.)

Link Prime · 15 January, 2024, 03:55:07 PM

Feck sake, who had Nu-Sinister/Dexter as the Forum's favorite strip on their 2023 bingo card?

No one could argue that at least the top 5 places in this survey deserve their kudos - great material all.

Thanks also to our favourite Stinkin' Nort for running the show once again.

Le Fink · 15 January, 2024, 04:02:33 PM

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 15 January, 2024, 03:11:02 PMNotable with The Out that it appeared to be marginally more loved than Azimuth, but the latter got more lower votes. So fewer people who didn't love The Out had it in their lists at all.

I was about to make the same point - I think The Out is a bit marmitey. I don't want to be too down on it as it's rather beloved by many here, but it's not for me.

broodblik · 15 January, 2024, 05:52:33 PM

So if this was the Olympics then The Out with 7/2/2 would have been placed first and Azimuth second with 6/6/2

norton canes · 15 January, 2024, 06:04:50 PM

Quote from: broodblik on 15 January, 2024, 05:52:33 PMSo if this was the Olympics then The Out with 7/2/2 would have been placed first and Azimuth second with 6/6/2

Very true! I hope I make it clear enough in my intros that 3/2/1 points will be awarded.

Quote from: Link Prime on 15 January, 2024, 03:55:07 PMThanks also to our favourite Stinkin' Nort for running the show once again

Stak! It was no trouble. I managed to find an online Excel to BBCode converter this time, which made constructing the results table easier.

Jim_Campbell · 16 January, 2024, 11:48:01 AM

Just to add to the thanks, norton!

I feel like the polls, and the not-really-a-poll favourite covers thread have been quite illuminating, in respect of the '2000AD isn't as good as it used to be' crowd. A decent mix of new(ish) and classic thrills — although it's hard to know how to categorise Azimuth, since it's such a ground-up revamp of the strip-formerly-known-as-Sinister-Dexter. A year of largely well-received Dredds without a Wagner story in sight. The top three covers would (I think) poll strongly against the covers from many past years, even some of the 'classic' years.

I mean, obviously, we're hardly a statistically representative sample of the readership at large, and the moaners are always gonna moan, but looking back over 2023, it looks like a pretty damn good year for the prog. IMO, at least.

Funt Solo · 16 January, 2024, 07:20:28 PM

Aye, thanks, Norton.

So much great content in the prog and the Meg - I mean, we're spoiled, really! If you think about the amount of work that goes into coming up with the characters, and the dialogue, and then the story structure and the framing, the lettering and the special effects - it's a bananas amount of thrillage for not much in the way of spondulacks.

I had a weird prog-year, though, and didn't start reading the weekly until Azimuth launched in prog 2337. That cover literally lit a thrill-fuse in me and got me back into comic-reading. So, playing catch-up, I decided to only read what I wanted to, and some thrills fell by the wayside and remain (for the moment) unread.

Tin Man I started and then simply couldn't bring myself to continue reading past the first episode. I don't know if that's to do with Mills' behavior in the meta, or the continual retreading of once-beloved characters. I do feel that at some point the polemical Rubicon was crossed and it became obvious that the characters only serve as mouth-pieces for a dogmatic authorial voice. I'm a huge fan of Mills' early work - without which perhaps no comic at all etc. So, mostly, this is very disappointing.

Heart of Darkness I've avoided because I'd gotten to the stage with the last couple of series where I wasn't following who anyone was anymore. This has gone into the "deserves a re-read and perhaps a spreadsheet" bucket. I've always loved the art, but the story lost me eventually, and I need to start again.

Enemy Earth feels like a Regened invasion. I tried my best with Regened, but the quality of storytelling, in general, is very poor, in my experience. Maybe it's not quality - maybe it's content. I just don't like Regened. My kid pushed a recent copy of the Phoenix in front of me the other day, where a character was infected by a poop-Pokemon and then everyone was chanting "you've got poop on your brain"! It was really, really funny. You should track it down. It's got a punk attitude to storytelling that early 2000 AD had in spades. Regened is missing the punk gene. It's like "2000 AD Sanitized for Clean Middle-Aged Moms 'n' Pops Who Like Clean Surfaces and Clean Minds and Well-Behaved Honorable Surfers". Scrappy Doo in comic form, basically. (Enemy Earth might be absolutely amazing - I haven't read it beyond the first book, so I have no idea. I'm ranting about Regened.)

I'm also avoiding The Devil's Railroad - but I want to give it a fair go at some point. Honestly - I was so turned off by the reboots of Bad Company - that's why I'm avoiding it. A bit silly, but there you go.

Sorry if I've offended any creators - I'm just one reader, and opinions are like arseholes - everyone's got one. Don't pay me too much heed.

Richard · 16 January, 2024, 09:22:20 PM

QuoteRegened is missing the punk gene. It's like "2000 AD Sanitized for Clean Middle-Aged Moms 'n' Pops Who Like Clean Surfaces and Clean Minds and Well-Behaved Honorable Surfers". Scrappy Doo in comic form, basically.

This sums up my view of Regened completely.

(To be fair, there are still some Regened stories I have liked. But overall, it rarely feels like 2000AD.)

Tjm86 · 17 January, 2024, 07:50:25 PM

I think for me one of the big problems is that there is a tendency to think, "oh, kids love Harry Potter, we need to pull on that." So we end up with the likes of Lowborn High which reads like Harry Potter meets Waterloo Road. Sorry, but that doesn't work too well.

The best strips have been bonkers or managed to find a new twist on old ideas. Pandora Perfect captures that manic, mischievous fervour that gives the old Cor / Buster stuff a sci-fi twist and then cheerfully rams it down your throat! Enemy Earth took the old Survival and crossed it with Day of the Triffids on steroids with a dash of Independence Day crossed with the Fly.

The biggest disappointment with EE has been the artwork that shows so much potential but doesn't quite deliver. Mind you, when you look back at Henry Flint's early Rogue Trooper work you wouldn't think it was the same artist who is giving us the latest Dredd strip.

There have been some good Regened issues and some quality strips in individual issues but for me the trend has been downward over the most recent ones. I'm at the point now where I groan at the prospect rather than look forward to it. I know I'm not the target audience but simply looking at them as a supportive critic I'm finding that a challenge.