Threadjacking!

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Makes me glad I have never been on Facebook.

[IndigoPrime]

There's a certain type of 'fan' that baffles me, constantly spaffing on about how great 2000 AD was in the good old days, and how rubbish it is now. Despite having not actually read the comic in 15 years, they'll be convinced that Matt Smith is the ultimate evil, and that the comic is just days away from being rebranded WOKE AD. They'll gripe about Brink, and get all excited about Harry 20 On The High Rock.

It's just another extension of that weird aspect of the internet where people exist to be mean and negative, stomping about and shitting on things they profess to love, and claiming that everything would be wonderful if only they were in charge. God knows what we'd get if such people took over the Prog, but it'd probably make the Morrison/Millar takeover look like Watchmen by comparison.

[Colin YNWA]

So, a recent article on podcasts was advertised and then pulled from downthetubes.net, due to the inclusion of the ECBT. If, like me, you're more interested in the comic than the fandom-diaspora then you might not know that ECBT stands for Everything Comes Back to 2000AD, who appear to be at war with other fans of and many employees of the thing that "everything comes back to".

I was really curious about this one. Do we know why it was pulled - or if it was? There have been problems Downthetubes? I genuinely have no idea, it may well have been pulled but haven't seen any evidence that this is that case (not looked too hard). I did wonder of its just down and ECBT love that as it fits into their curious narrative of being so rebellous and anyone who like the comic, what Rebellion is doing with it etc etc are just sheep. Its such a weird stance... from what I understand of it. I might be misunderstanding but from the little I can gather this seems to be the attitude?

[Leigh S]

ECBT2K baffles me  - I was an interested listener to begin with, more for Rich than the Mrs Browns Boys fellow who seemed very sure of his opinions and how right they all were.  Once Rich went, it became an intolerable downer to listen to.  I tried a podcast thing the other day and I presumed they were making some kind of sneery joke about affirmative action as their opening gambit, so that one didnt get far.  compare and contrast with Space Spinner or MCBC where they focus on the positive, and are happy to express their delight and disappointments n equal measure, annd I canp;t see who gets enjoyment listening to fellow "fans" pissing on the thing they still like enough to buy (if they aren't current readers, then the psychology boggles).

I can find a good chunk, perhaps more than I'd like, of current 2K to be personally underwhelming, and there is no harm in expressing that (God knows I'm not averse to pointing out why, for example, I have struggled with Rob Williams Dredds).  But to dedicate you efforts to a whole show that seems designed to undermine the thing it is about?  Curious behaviour!

[judgeurko]

ECBT2K baffles me  - I was an interested listener to begin with, more for Rich than the Mrs Browns Boys fellow who seemed very sure of his opinions and how right they all were.  Once Rich went, it became an intolerable downer to listen to.  I tried a podcast thing the other day and I presumed they were making some kind of sneery joke about affirmative action as their opening gambit, so that one didnt get far.  compare and contrast with Space Spinner or MCBC where they focus on the positive, and are happy to express their delight and disappointments n equal measure, annd I canp;t see who gets enjoyment listening to fellow "fans" pissing on the thing they still like enough to buy (if they aren't current readers, then the psychology boggles).

I can find a good chunk, perhaps more than I'd like, of current 2K to be personally underwhelming, and there is no harm in expressing that (God knows I'm not averse to pointing out why, for example, I have struggled with Rob Williams Dredds).  But to dedicate you efforts to a whole show that seems designed to undermine the thing it is about?  Curious behaviour!

Yep, I listened to a few but its just so mean-spirited. Same type of 'fan' as a lot of those Doctor Who fans who claim they are 'true fans'.

[TordelBack]

I thought I was the one of the few who couldn't handle ECBT2KAD. I listened to it in the very early days but after the initial novelty (people talking about 2000AD while I commute!!!) I rapidly gave up. During lockdown I found a few episodes while doing a long-overdue tidy of my offline backups and hit play on one - I lasted 5 minutes.  Space Spinner I have enjoyed, but I'm still in the early years (so many podcasts, so little etc).

I'm not going to comment much further on the Facebook groups, they are what they are, but I will say that in their general bustle and banter they remind me of how this place was over a dozen ago, which makes me a bit sad about how and to where the baton of online fandom has been passed. Unfortunately I don't think the Facebook groups have moved beyond that level of immaturity, that peculiarly modern type of targeted nastiness that masquerades as a knowing impishness, which for me overshadows the frequently solid reviewing, reporting and discussion (on the Megaverse in particular). Maybe this will change, as it did here, but I don't have the will to stick around around and see.

I'm pretty sure you could trawl the archives here and find a post from me that would easily match the most sexist or insensitive one you could find on Megaverse (please don't!), but I like to think I've grown a little as a person through the events of the intervening quarter of my life, or at the very least become aware that I'm posting in a public place where my words can have real impact on others, and not just raving drunkenly to myself in a corner. This isn't to suggest those were teenage indiscretions, much of it dates to my 30s, but still: watching the 2020 iterations of my younger self shitting on the comic while making 'I fucked your mother' jokes, nah, just too painful to revisit.

[CalHab]

I've got to agree with the above.

The Facebook fan pages are never more than a post away from descending into a cesspit of misogyny and hate. Best avoided.

I don't know when ECBT2K was worth listening to, but it's been horrific whenever I have heard it. Really, really awful. I assume that they're some sort of weird social club, because god knows they're not interested in the prog or in providing an engaging listen.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I used to like ECBT a lot when Rich was around - his funny, laid-back attitude was a nice balance for Flint's ranty intensity. I listened to a lot of them when I was living in China, and they brightened up what was a very dark period in my life.

When Rich left, it started getting a bit odd - there were a few decent interviews and the like, but it seemed to become more deliberately obnoxious, and finally I just couldn't listen any more. 

[CalHab]

The last ECBT I listened to (this would have been a few years ago), one of the contributors happily stated that they hadn't read the comic in years and had no intention of doing so. It was utterly baffling. Between that and the general level of obnoxiousness, I didn't listen to it for long.

There are plenty of good podcasts out there, and the standard is generally rising. Even something as niche as 2000AD has lots of good options now. Mega City Book Club, Space Spinner and the Thrillcast are all obvious and good quality alternatives.

[TordelBack]

Mega City Book Club is reliably great - and I caught Eamonn's new Sandman pod last night, which he is making with his equally eloquent daughter Jenny.  I'm in a halfway pause in a Sandman re-read at the moment (the often-fatal point where I've run out of trades and have to re-excavate the floppies), so it's right on time for me.  The man is a marvel.

[CalHab]

I ended up buying them (again) in a Comixology sale for my re-read earlier this year, so I now have the original issues in the attic somewhere, well-thumbed paperbacks in a bookcase and a digital version. Neil Gaiman and DC have done pretty well out of me.

[Link Prime]

I'm in a halfway pause in a Sandman re-read at the moment (the often-fatal point where I've run out of trades and have to re-excavate the floppies)

Can confirm I've also encountered the same dilemma.

I wonder if the introduction of the Vertigo banner increased floppy sales of Sandman.
I know a few fellow geeks who started reading it monthly with the 'Brief Lives' arc.

[TordelBack]

I know a few fellow geeks who started reading it monthly with the 'Brief Lives' arc.

Precisely this in my case.

Although in my defence, I had been cadging reads of most of the earlier issues from friends as they came out in that informal exchange library that was my late teens/early 20s. I can clearly remember having Issue 1 pressed enthusiastically on me, but I was deep into late Moore Swamp Thing and early Delano Hellblazer and couldn't justify the extra spend.

[IndigoPrime]

Sandman's finally being collected in OS HC as of this year. I've been working my way through my trades collection, replacing softbacks, and that's one of the few remaining series I really want to shift format for. (Others would be: Brink—on its way From Hachette; Fantagraphics-era Usagi Yojimbo; Lucifer; and Atomic Robo.)

EDIT: Deluxe Edition is the moniker. Volume 1 is #1–16. Vol. 2 will be #17–31 and a few other bits. That suggests there will be five in all, for a total outlay of about 200 quid. (Way cheaper and smaller than the Absolutes; but also more manageable than those monstrous omnibus editions.)

[Link Prime]

Sandman's finally being collected in OS HC as of this year.

Good to know, it's definitely one series I would consider upgrading for.

I also have a constant, constant, battle with my spend-demon regarding the purchase of the over sized Sandman Gallery Edition.
So far sanity has won the struggle, but loses ground by the day.