2000 AD in Stages

[IndigoPrime]

Mm. It's still all a bit underwhelming, but I'd say at this point there's at least nothing that's outright shit. The problem is classic characters Sláine and Rogue are being mined well past their prime. I quite liked Strontium Dogs, but Hogan didn't ever get the chance to play things out — and 2000 AD didn't have patience for him back then. I need to re-read all of Armoured Gideon, but I recall this arc being quite the WTF? mis-step.

I liked Mambo (and Tao De Moto), and it's a pity it never went any further.

[Funt Solo]

It was interesting to see The Collector again: it's incredibly meta(physical), perhaps positing the idea that the extra-dimensional beings that created Armoured Gideon are actually John Tomlinson and Simon Jacob (although it's not that explicit).

The Collector of the title is a being who saves what were, at the time, relegated characters, from being destroyed / forgotten by Armoured Gideon - a new character. Is The Collector an embodiment of fandom?

Like, you can't destroy Shako as long as I have copies of those progs and continue to talk about Shako, or think about Shako. There's a scene where Shako shreds Bill Savage, but then a frame or so later he's fine again: because these ideas aren't something you can destroy.

Sadly, Frank Weitz tells this to the characters, saying that they can't be destroyed as long as someone remembers them (the same idea that drives Gaiman's American Gods), but he's saying it, I think, to Rick Random.

As I age, I've started to think about my mortality, and how much 2000 AD means to me - and how much value I put in a resource like Barney. But Rebellion (quite rightly) are a company that to a necessary extent lives in the here and now. If it's not being published (or re-published) then is the information useful, or relevant? When I die, and others of my generation, some of these characters may be forgotten.

How old is Dredd, really?

[Colin YNWA]

The Collector of the title is a being who saves what were, at the time, relegated characters, from being destroyed / forgotten by Armoured Gideon - a new character. Is The Collector an embodiment of fandom?

That was always my take. I really enjoyed this story, even if it was absolutely an indulgence.

I think this period has a lot to offer. Mambo was really ggod, just a shame it didn't last. I enjoy this period of Slaine. Dredd shows the green roots of recovery and there's much to enjoy in this era of Strontium Dog. So while its appeal if grearly enhanced by what it follows its also not that bad.

[Leigh S]

I also recall prog 883 getting "World Beating" status when last we delved into the murky depths of this Era.

Didn't this coincide with the "change in distributors" that lost 30,000 readers overnight?  Perfect storm if so....

[Leigh S]

Apolgoes - 20,000 according to TPO.  And since the 889 relaunch with TV advertising was designed to try and put that right, presumably the change must ahve happened earlier in 1993, though again, anywhere in the 800s is not a good time to be actively shaking off readers

[The Monarch]

this was the period in time where 11 year old me ditched the prog for sonic the comic as i was that age when the blue hedgehog was at his biggest. I did manage to read this period in time a few years later when i was given a large chunk of post 800-999 back issues. Aside from wagners scant few dredd tales and armoured gideon i recall this period in time being very poor

[Funt Solo]

2000 AD Stage #32: 3-Prog Mini-Series
(Progs 901-903, 1994)

This was a second attempt at that idea from progs 850-851 to do a super-tight run of thrills: this time a three-parter. I guess the idea never took off, as it never happens again.




Judge Dredd
Judge Death: The True Story is a light, frothy two-parter with far too many gradient-fill backdrops in which Comedy Death briefly goes back in time to 20th century Bexhill. It sounds ripe, but is a damp squib and only manages to fill two of the three progs. The third prog gives us Part Exchange, where muggers and organ leggers have joined forces to optimize their business practices.
Tis inter-planetary mega-epic crossover time next stage as we quest into the Wilderlands...


Durham Red: Mirrors
Naval-gazing imagineering of what it means to be Durham Red, with a dream sequence that's not too far off the plot of 1998's The Scarlet Cantos. As with most dreams, ultimately nothing happens.
Durham has some one-offs in upcoming specials before another mini-series in '95, but this tells us to look out for her next in Strontium Dogs (also in '95)...


Rogue Trooper [Fr1day Supper]: G.I. Blues
Retcon update: as with the return of the chips, now the Norts and Southers are suddenly back in the story, and Fr1day "knifes" his hair into a Rogue-hawk. The story is an intriguing three-parter (with gorgeous Chris Weston art) whereby Fr1day actually loses a fight and ends up in the OR. Then he gets better and a big fight starts.
Fr1day's back in '95...


Bradley: Master Of Martial Arts
The Karate Kid, but with Bradley and dominoes.
Bradley ends his run in the 1995 Yearbook with Bradley & the Baby Sitter.


Nemesis: Hammer of Warlocks
This is the history of Nemesis in three parts. Otherwise, it serves only as a precurser to a new book slated to begin in 1995...
...which doesn't get published until 1999...

After Shakespeare -------------------------------------

After Hicklenton -------------------------------------

After not enough fiber -------------------------------------

References:
- Barney
- The 2000 AD ABC

[Funt Solo]

Stage #1: Launch (progs 1-35)
Stage #2: Settling In (progs 36-85) Stage #2.5: Starlord
Stage #3: Starlord Merger (progs 86-126) Stage #3.5: Tornado
Stage #4: Tornado Merger (progs 127-177) The Proto-Millsverse
Stage #5: Going It Alone (progs 178-221)
Stage #6: Key New Thrills (progs 222-272)
Stage #7: Post-Apocalypse (progs 273-307)
Stage #8: Mooreland (progs 308-334)
Stage #9: Golden Jump-On (progs 335-386)
Stage #10: Golden Stutters (progs 387-434)
Stage #11: Going Out (progs 435-467)
Stage #12: Rage (progs 468-499)
Stage #13: Bad Company (progs 500-519)
Stage #14: Transmute! (progs 520-531)
Stage #15: Wizards of Oz (progs 532-570)
Stage #16: Summer Magic (progs 571-588)
Stage #17: Unstable Growth (progs 589-613)
Stage #18: Split Tales (progs 614-649)
Stage #19: The Dead Man (progs 650-670)
Stage #20: Necropolis (progs 671-699)
Stage #21: Rough in the Diamonds (progs 700-722)
Stage #22: Full Colour Potential (progs 723-749)
Stage #23: Khronic Ills of Tooth (progs 750-779)
    Megazine: Vol. 1 (America) (1.01-1.20)
Stage #24: Don't Believe the Hype... (progs 780-799)
    Meg: Vol. 2.1 (Swimming in Blood) (2.01-2.09)
Stage #25: ...It's a Sequel  (progs 800-827)
    Megazine: Vol. 2.2 (Mechanismo) (2.10-2.26)
Stage #26: Spring Fever  (progs 828-841)
Stage #27: Summer Offensive  (progs 842-849)
Stage #28: 2-Prog Mini-Series  (progs 850-851)
    Megazine: Vol. 2.3 (Childhood's End) (2.27-2.36)
Stage #29: Drums in the Deep  (progs 852-872)
    Megazine: Vol. 2.4 (Bury My Knee) (2.37-2.49)
Stage #30: Hopes of Growth  (progs 873-888)
Stage #31: The Collector  (progs 889-900)
Stage #32: 3-Prog Mini-Series (progs 901-903)

[Funt Solo]

Meg: Vol. 2.5 (Postcards...)
(Megs 2.50-2.62, 1994)

"2.50 sees another surge" (Bishop 2020), and serves as a mid-volume re-launch and jump-on as the page count goes up (44pp to 52pp), we get a new logo and even a free skin transfer! It is a strong launch, with a Dredd featuring then Cadet Giant, follow-up adventures for Shimura & Missionary Man, highlights of Anderson's backpacking trip around (interplanetary) Europe and the gauche goings-on of the Creep. Postcards from the edge, indeed.




Judge Dredd
Giant lets us ride along on (young) Giant's final rookie test, which involves a new robot mini-revolution lead by ... Walter the Wobot?

Howler proved controversial in its time because McMahon had the temerity to have changed his art style significantly to something more abstract than people remembered from the big-booted Dredd era or Slaine's glorious sky chariots. Plot: the titular alien howls: and must be stopped, for 36 pages.

The Tenth Planet is a bit of a historical oddity, positing the notion of Hestia, the tenth planet of the solar system that hadn't been noticed hiding behind the sun - and isn't mentioned prior to this story or afterwards. McGruder arrests Dredd and then takes him and some Mechanismos on vacation to Hestia, which is populated mainly by deadly, hostile fauna. It's Death Planet meets Dredd!

The Hestia safari seques into the Wilderlands prog/meg crossover...


Shimura: Outcast
Shimura has turned ronin in order to take on the yakuza without needing to negotiate deep-rooted departmental corruption. Inaba is brought in (but shamed in the process) to investigate. There's a desperate bleakness here, with the heroes up against organized crime, corrupt Judges and underworld demons. Even when they succeed, they seem also to lose. 
After this, we get a lot of sporadic one-offs: the next one arrives in Meg 2.72, in the next stage...


Missionary Man
Bad Moon Rising is a poetic and disturbing monster mash in which Preacher Cain goes up against what seems to be a genuine devil: a horned monster that takes a gila-munja pack in thrall and sets out to do evil.

The '94 Mega-Special's The Undertaker Cometh adds to the mystical, mythical qualities of the strip with another supernatural-seeming villain: The Undertaker (who throws down a challenge for Preacher Cain).

Season Of The Witch is a haunting redemption story in some ways reminiscent of High Plains Drifter. Sanctuary is perhaps more straightforward, where a wounded Cain is cornered by a violent gang.

The '95 Yearbook does a crossover with Judge Dredd in Truegrit, providing the revelation that Marshal Cain has some sort of Cursed Earth jurisdiction that Dredd grudgingly accepts. It's tempting to see Cain here as a precursor of sorts to Cursed Earth Koburn.

More Cain & sidekick in the next stage...


Creep
Creep's Day Out sees Creep creep-out the Dark Judges during Necropolis. True Love is a four-parter in which a psychotic Undercity Judge and Creep fight over the lost Psi-Judge Casey. Fun, if you like psychotic magical bastards fucking everyone over and getting away with it.
I think this is it for Creep, except for a Dredd crossover in Meg 2.70...


Anderson, Psi-Division: Postcards From the Edge
An unusual series in which Anderson has retired from being a Judge and is wandering the galaxy, like, looking for herself, man. Wo-man. And she's sending literal postcards through space. Probably in '94 that didn't seem totally odd. Five artists lend their skills, so it's a bit like an Anderson's Future Tales anthology (with a mid-stream Orlok team-up).
Anderson returns in 2.73, but will she ever return to the Big Meg? Nobody knows...


Harmony *NEW THRILL*
Blood & Snow, with great Trevor Hairsine art, introduces Harmony Krieg of Misery (north of Uranium City, in what was Alaska). She's a rogue, always on the make: but being tracked by bigger bastards. The 1995 JD Yearbook gives us Snow Blind, which suggests that Harmony always wins out in the end, but then Meg 2.62 throws that on its head with Homeward Bound, leaving us on a cliffhanger that makes it look like its curtains for Krieg.
Harmony returns in Meg 2.73...


Karyn: Skinner *NEW THRILL*
Psi-Judge Karyn first turned up in Raptaur (Megs 1.11-1.17), then there was Beautiful Evil (a quick "possessed object" action-thriller) in the '94 Mega-Special, just before this first solo series. Skinner is a serial killer jimp investigation.
Karyn's back in Meg 2.67...


Brit-Cit Brute: Trilogy
Super-heroic Judge Newt takes down super-villainous enemy and opera singer (with special sonic powers) Lucio Borgia. Wait: what are non-ironic superheroes doing in my 2000 AD spin-off comic? I would write to my MP to complain but this happened twenty-six years ago (and MPs are notoriously shit at editing comics because it involves actual work and at least occasionally telling the truth). In part two, the super-villain is a celebrity chef named Quentin Freud. In part three, it's an Elvis impersonator named Elvis Wincebottom (The Shocker Rocker).
Editorial must have realized that non-ironic superheroes and supervillains had sneaked into the comic through the back door and put a stop to these shady shenanigans. This is it for the Brit-Cit Brute. He even had a cape, FFS!


O'Rork *NEW THRILL*
O'Rork is a private eye located in Oz. He solves a case involving a psychotic psychic kid.
Tis a one and done (although for completists there's a text story in the '95 Mega-Special)...

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References:
- Barney
- The 2000 AD ABC

[The Monarch]

Brit cit brute will return....sort of in the next stage

[AlexF]

The Tenth Planet needs a super convoluted story to explain its existence today, given that, since Wagner wrote this story, Pluto has been downgraded to a dwarf planet, and at least 4 more dwarf planets have been spotted beyond Pluto's orbit. Making Hestia either the Ninth planet, or, more likely, the 5th Dwarf Planet (not including that one asteroid in the asteroid belt that's quite large).

No-prize solution: Various Mega Cities tested out planet-destroying missiles on Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake (I'm not making these names up, honest) to establish a new form of mutually assured galactic destruction treaty, leaving Hestia as the 10th (biggish) rock from the Sun.

Meanwhile, back in the real world of 1994, this was the point when teen me was losing patience with the Megazine (Too pretentious! The stories are hard to follow! Gah!) but was not even slightly noticing that 2000AD was literally at its lowest ebb. If 1977 Tharg was aiming for 8 year olds, and 1995 Tharg wanted 16 year-olds, he was still doing it right as far as I'm concerned. I would've dropped the Megazine if it hadn't been for that pesky Wilderlands crossover. OOh, Bish-Op, your cunning editorial skills win again.

[Tiplodocus]

At the end of 1994 I felt somewhat peeved with life, chucked my job and went travelling for a year. I never realised until now that it was because the Prog was in the doldrums.

[JayzusB.Christ]

This was around the time I started buying the Megazine regularly, finally being able to afford it (kind of - my student account was ridiculously far into the red).  Though it didn't seem to have the energy of the first couple of years, it kept me riveted, and John Wagner was back writing the Dredds. 
I did prefer Tharg's sarky, bombastic editorial style to Bish-OP's self-confessedly po-faced one - I remember the latter scolding a reader for 'mixing his metaphors, to unsavoury effect' - but there were more than enough stories to keep my interest (even if the title page of Cal Hab justice said for the best part of the year that Schiellion's son must 'die to dave the future Scotland).  It was, I seem to remember, a better read than the prog of the time.

[davidbishop]

dave the future Scotland!

[The Monarch]

god i wish i had friends who read the meg at the time i would try to get that as my nickname in school