What have I missed between 1992 & 1999?

[paulvonscott]

That roughly is how long I've stayed away from 2000AD, I quit round about the robohunter parody and started getting it again when they brought Nemesis back for the final series.  Would anyone like to fill me in on what classic series I've missed in the meantime?  

[Leigh S]

The truthful answer is not a lot...  

In fact the Megazine was of much higher quality for the majority of this period, and there are some out and out classics here - Dredds Mechanismo epic, Devlin Waugh, return of the taxidermist...  Over in 2000AD you had The Pit and all subsequent stories that led from that, as well as Nikolai Dante, which, despite a number of throwaway stories, has been the most involving new thrill since Halo Jones IMO.

It was time when quantity reigned over quality.  If they had took the best from both mags and had issued only a single weekly prog, the quality would have been more apparent.  Instead it was diluted by the filler that surrounded them.

[paulvonscott]

I did occasionally pick up a copy but it didn't seem to be my kind of stuff, though it is difficult to tell looking at a one off episode in the middle of a series and make a decent judgement.

I have intended to get The Pit in trade paperback for some time now.  Anything by Wagner is okay by me.  I wasn't keen on Devlyn Waugh, it didn't look a bad strip and I know a few people who like it, just not to my tastes I guess.  Same goes for Nikolai Dante, I bought the first book in paperback, it had a lot of promise but the story never seemed to get too involved in later stories I read.

The taxidermist?  That wasn't the Italian guy who stuffed people was it?  I used to love that guy, such a great story.

[Leigh S]

Devlin Waugh probably is an acquired taste.  Dante does have a tendency to meander every now and then, but the unfolding nature of the story, especially the recent Tsar Wars stuff have been gripping.  The scene in "Battleship Potemkin" with Dante and Konstantin is probably one of my top ten 2000AD moments.

[paulvonscott]

For me personally, no, if it had closed in 1990 I would have been pretty gutted at the time but with the benefit of hindsight, maybe it would have been a good thing. Someone (like rebellion) could have bought it up and started afresh.

I think 2000AD is an entirly different comic now and it has been frustrating for me that there hasn't been any new strips I've really gotten into, some okay ones, but no great ones.  Of course I realise that 2000AD has a whole new set of fans with different tastes, so I'm just a bit of a fossil now.

[Thread Zero]

Hey PVS, you love stirring it up, dont ya?

When I said something vaguely similar elsewhere people called me a c##t! Not this site of course!

But I wasn't banned from this site for nothing too you know!

Must be geting paranoid in my dotage!

Anyway, some readers here are relatively new so they may not love or know the old 2k. I think 2k did lose its way during the mid 90's but Mr Bishop came to the rescue. He brought us Sinister Dexter, Vector 13 (well I liked that!) and Nikolai Dante.

The previous editor, I think it was Alan Mckensie, didn't have a clue how to edit the comic. Or was it John Tomlinson?

Well we all know the bad strips, such as Death Race 2000 etc. There was some pretty ropey stuff but I loved it!

Plus the old colour stuff was often blurry when printed!

Venus Bluegenes with quadruple breasts was quite a sight, I can tell you.

scojo

[paulvonscott]

What!?!  Venus Bluegenes with quadruple breasts & Death Race 2000 (surely not based on the ace movie?), what have I missed?  (Would you please xplain more scojo as I am now very interested!).

As someone who was away for seven years without caring if I ever saw another 2000AD prog ever again (a sort of polar flip from the days when i used to get up at 7.30am to sit and wait by the door for it to come through the letterbox)I just wondered, were the few good stories in this time worth all the rubbish (and the 'well, it's okay')?  Would 2000AD have benefitted from being shut down for a while.  

Obviously it isn't really up to me to decide this as I was away for most of it so i thought I'd ask what people thought.  If you say 2000AD cost ?1.50 on average at today's prices for those ten years, the you've spent about ?800 on 2000AD alone (insert comment by Matt et all, here).  Was it worth it?  You could have seen 160 films or bought 120 books.

Perhaps if it had closed down it would never have been reopened of course, but Rebellion knows the value of the licensing over ten years after 2000AD's height of poularity(I still bought 2000AD merchandise when I didn't like the comic) and I think that had all been very poorly handled in the past, there was the potential to make an absolute bloody fortune (and pay writers and artists).

I take your point Scojo, I wasn't trying to be inflammatory -

"More petrol boss?"

Er... sure, put it over there.  Anyway I think too many people on forums see a point being raised, get annoyed and attack the person who made it (I call them harpies, sent to curse men with their incessant attacks).   Instead of saying 'mmm... intersting point, but I think...' they call you a c**t (a clot?, you aren't a clot scojo) and stick the boot in.  The problem is I make the titles provocative so people will have a look while I try to stay reasonable on the comments.  It's probably a bad mistake!

[Thread Zero]

Well it wasn't clot my pvs shopping buddy!

It is called pvs, isn't it? Or is it another name, that shopping channel? Psv? Or isn't that some football team?

Listen, Venus Bluegenes was so hot I actually wanted to step into her blue genes myself!

I have stayed with 2k through the lean times coz I love it. Simple really. 2k grabbed hold of me when I was 10 and it still hasn't let go.

Babe Race was some naff chase thing. Best left forgotten me thinks.

There was some great stuff in the 1990's and er..mmm.....yes... well must go, things to do!

scojo who speaks in code sometimes