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Looks like most of the votes might be in, then. I'll give it a couple more days, try and tot up over the weekend.

Absolutely have to go with the general consensus here:

1. Machine Law
2. Guatemala
3. The World According to Chimpsky

This despite both Wagner stories having, I thought, slightly rushed conclusions.

My votes:

1. Absalom
2. Hope
3. Full Tilt Boogie

Absalom's final chapter was easily the best thing this year, and Hope massively impressed. In truth a few strips could have nicked third spot - Jaegir, Max Normal, Thistlebone - but Full Tilt Boogie really felt like a breath of fresh air and I can't wait for the full series.

[Important note on voting!]

It's that time again when I make a lot of work for myself 

Please rank your favourite three 2000 AD strips from 2019, from the list below. Your top choice will be awarded three points, your second choice two points and your third choice one point.

There are 21 strips in the running this year. I've taken the list from the strip breakdowns on the 2000 AD shop pages, so please let me know if I've missed anything. As with last year I've not included Dredd - that's because as an ever-present strip with multiple writers I think it would be better off with a story-based vote of its own (feel free to step into the breach!). But if you think it's better that in future Dredd's included with the rest let me know, I'm happy to go with the general consensus!

I haven't included any of the new stories from the current Xmas prog as I think it's better to let them bed in for next year's vote. I have included Finder & Keeper and Full Tilt Boogie from the Regened prog as I guess they're strips in their own right even though they were one-shots. I've lumped the 3rillers and Future Shocks together.

Absalom
Anderson - Psi Division
Brink
Defoe
Fiends Of The Eastern Front
Finder & Keeper
Full Tilt Boogie
Grey Area
Hope
Indigo Prime
Jaegir
Kingmaker
Max Normal
Scarlet Traces
Sinister Dexter
Skip Tracer
Survival Geeks
Tharg's 3rillers
Tharg's Future Shocks
The Fall Of Deadworld
Thistlebone


Important note on voting! So that I can total the votes accurately, please only vote in this format:

1. [Favourite strip - name of strip as in list]
2. [Second favourite strip - name of strip as in list]
3. [Third favourite strip - name of strip as in list]

No reverse orders please as it invites mistakes on my part. Also no joint rankings, thanks.

A reminder of previous results: 2017 strips | 2018 strips

Can anything break Brink's vice-like grip? Get voting!

Belated thoughts on the Christmas cornucopia...

A serviceable, knockabout Dredd - not sure a succession of over-the-top deaths is really enough to hang a story on though. A lovely Absalom epilogue leading to a bombshell preview page - surprised the return of (what's left of) Caballistics Inc. hasn't been discussed more! Probably on a thread I've managed to miss. In Zaucer Of Zilk and Proteus Vex, impressive starts to two new strips which I hope will be built on scripts as wonderful and imaginative as their artwork. Feral And Foe is as slick and humorous as one would expect from the Abnett Droid- just not sure how it's going to rub shoulders with Kingmaker, should they ever end up in the same prog. Deadworld delivers another stunner; and the Durham Red story was pretty decent, but she'll have to start doing other things than just losing her temper and biting people...

The Staz Johnson cover? It's brilliant!

So many great efforts to choose from. As ever, props to Tharg's stalwart regular cover droids - Cliff Robinson, Dylan Teague, Alex Ronald and the like - who have the unenviable task of churning out memorable covers featuring characters drawn by other artists in the strips themselves. Also to the one-off guest artists who have provided awesome variety.

On the shortlist, then - Tula Lotay's sultry Anderson from prog 2137 and Tiernen Trevallion's Absalom covers from the beginning ('Last Chance To Shine') and the end (er, 'The End') of this recent chapter's run - the latter of which I have to say might've been in with a shot of hitting the top three if they hadn't put the drokking logo over his farewell salute!

Anyway here's the big three:

3. Prog 2130



Yeah, I know the prog itself came in for a bit of stick (and lots of praise!) but that's a quality illustration, and Rogue's little grimace seals the deal.

2. Prog 2116



Top notch work from the Culbard droid who's reeled off a number of amazing Brink covers. Blood red and gruesome, with extra marks for the way the heads swamp the logo and the sensitive use of the 'official' cover font for the tag line.

1. Prog 2159



S'just gotta be - so original and distinctive with an exaggerated depiction of The Mighty One and incredible use of colours. Dear Tharg, please let Rob Davis write and draw a strip in 2020!

(Or if you want a version without the spelling mistake... https://i.imgur.com/5VN3Mty.jpg)

Damn! Was about to submit my effort before I noticed the rule about 'Entries must not bear any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead' - which rules out the use of all four of these characters

Sadly, the exhilarating roller coaster ride that's been this run of strips finally comes to its thrilling end.

Hang on, no. A roller coaster ride is ups and downs isn't it. This has been all ups. Is that even possible?

Anyway I've loved all the stories with very few reservations. Defoe has been Pat doing what Pat does best - extended fight scenes packed with splenetic political invective - but it's all been far less ponderous than his attempts to do the same in Slaine or The ABC Warriors and the Moore droid's frenzied artwork has helped enormously to enhance the sense of pandemonium. Deadworld suffered a little, I thought, from slightly shoe-horning in the Sov sub-plot but the final episode of this chapter resolves it brilliantly and I'm so pleased there's going to be an epilogue in the Xmas prog. 'Harvest' has done a great job of filling John Wagner's shoes after 'Guatemala' - the procedural aspect of the plot was a little clunky in places but the concept of a cabal of robots attempting to transcend their artificial status is fantastic, looking forward to seeing how it develops. Brink remains a pleasure to read even though 'Hate Box' has lacked the weirdness that the cult aspect brought to previous chapters. Got a feeling they won't be taking a back seat for long though! Best of all though has been Hope. For the first few installments I complained it was missing the kind of narrative hook that the kidnap plot brought to the first chapter but towards the end it absolutely blossomed into a total classic. I have to say, I love the way the final dialogue of both chapters has concluded with the chapter title. Wonderful touch.

Florix grabundae for an incredible last few weeks, Tharg.

It's a 2/3 split for me this week, Brian. The Dredd story is doing all the right things but not really hitting the spot; and elegantly readable as Brink is, I still can't shake the feeling that it's not living up to the macabre glory of previous chapters. And with those hate boxes installed all over the habitat, has no-one else ever thought of using the their voice recognition ability to track criminals?

Luckily we have three strips working their way to wonderfully gory conclusions, with Hope emerging at the top of this week's pile.

Not read the whole thing yet but I've got to say, any publication featuring the line "Someone replaced Baroocha's amputated arm with the exact amount of munce you ordered on the day of the amputation" is absolutely fine with me.

Also... er, is it 'Regened' as in 'regenerated', or 'Regened' as in 'having new genes'..?

Sorry if this has been mentioned already but what are kids supposed to do if they like the Regened stories? Wait three months for some more?

Four Regened progs? No. No, no, no, no, no. The last one was bearable - a decent Dredd and I really liked Full Tilt Boogie, but that was about it.

Four? Really?

Four??