Main Menu

Prog 2206: Regened - Five Roarsome Thrills

Started by JimmyNailz, 03 November, 2020, 09:10:21 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Tjm86

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 07 November, 2020, 02:43:17 PM
Do bear in mind that's like a parent in 2000 AD's early days saying "I wish this comic was like what I grew up with in the 1940s. Things change. Tastes change.

Ironically enough there is a historian of comics that makes that charge against the tooth in his book (wish I could remember his name and I'm sure it'll come to me or someone here will fill in the blanks).  He is incredibly disparaging of Mills' creation and what he sees as an abomination in the Dare reboot.

I'm currently working my way through the original Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers newspaper strip collections from Titan and Hermes.  If anything these show how far things have come in the 3/4 of a century or so of regular / high profile science fiction comic strips.  We comment on the racial insensitivity of early tooth at times but Buck Rogers takes it to a different level.  Some of the female figures in Gordon would have incensed Mary Whitehouse (and quite possibly did).

It's worth remembering the impetus behind Eagle, to create something to combat the tide of those 'horrible American things' polluting our children (just wait 'til you see what Kevin O'Neill can do with a pen!).  Dare is often the only strip remembered despite the fact that it was often just the front page.

The only thing I do find baffling is why Rebellion isn't doing more with Tammy/Jinty, Cor/Buster and much of the stable of material they've now got access to.  How many of us have kids that lapped up the meagre output so far and clamour for more?  Surely that's your 'entry drug'?  Not to mention the 'county lines' of aged comic officiando's ready and willing to push the product and then some  ("you like that?  Get a load of ...").

IndigoPrime

Money is the main reason. Launching a new comic is colossally expensive. Rebellion is clearly testing the water to see what works, in an extremely challenging environment. And which comic do you go for? Cor/Buster? Tammy/Jinty? A mix of them all? Then you're up against The Phoenix and The Beano. And as much as I liked Cor/Buster, it felt quite rough and ready against those publications. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was much more uneven.

FWIW, mini-IP (6; Phoenix and Beano fanatic) now 'owns' both my Cor/Buster specials. She adores Gums and Sweeny Toddler and likes some of the other bits. I'm sure she'd lap up a monthly along those lines. (As I've said elsewhere, I really wish the Sweeny Toddler HC didn't have all the slipper smacking stuff. Without that, I'd have bought it for my kid for Christmas. But we've already had a couple of discussions about how things 'used to be', and she's really not thrilled about the notion of adults beating children, as you can imagine. So I don't want to turn her off of a strip she currently loves.)

Tomontherun94

Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 07 November, 2020, 01:25:06 PM
However, the continued reliance on manga-esque art and shallow storytelling makes me weep.

One thing to bear in mind is despite kids and YA book sales being overall down in bookshops, graphic novels and manga sales in that demographic have dramatically risen over the past couple of years. That artstyle is what the target audience wants. Honestly I believe that if Rebellion put out OGNs of stuff like Finder and Keeper and Pandora Perfect they could do massive numbers.

scrotnig

Quote from: blixab on 07 November, 2020, 12:22:13 PM
Quote from: moldovangerbil on 06 November, 2020, 01:16:37 PM
No sign of my copy of this yet  :(

Anyone know the best email address (or other way of getting in touch) to use for missing subs copies these days?

Ta
I'm also prog 2206 less. There appear to have been quite a few people that haven't been sent theirs so they can't all have been lost in the post (as appears to be the standard answer!) I've been in touch with Rebellion about this missing prog amongst other items not despatched and one should now be on its way. So if anybody else is still waiting for theirs to arrive I'd suggest you contact them and get them to resolve.
I've not had this week's or the previous two. Ended up buying them in Tesco.

I'll fire off an email I think. There's no way all three were lost in the post.

scrotnig

I am all in favour of the re-gened progs.

They are a nice break from the 'norm', even though the current norm is astonishingly good.

I enjoy them in their own right, they work for me just like any 2000AD strip does, and there have been some real gems in the re-geneds this year.

If it is working for Revellion then keep it up, I say. We have to capture new, younger readers somehow.

Fenscape

1) I loathe these stupid breaks - why not either start up a new comic in parallel or sell them as holiday specials instead?
2) is that a typo on the Roy of the Rovers ad?

IndigoPrime

Quote from: Fenscape on 07 November, 2020, 10:23:38 PM1) I loathe these stupid breaks - why not either start up a new comic in parallel
Because that would cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds during a time when publishing is having a nightmare.

Quoteor sell them as holiday specials instead?
And then people would gripe we're losing the other specials.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 07 November, 2020, 11:19:50 PM
Quote from: Fenscape on 07 November, 2020, 10:23:38 PM1) I loathe these stupid breaks - why not either start up a new comic in parallel
Because that would cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds during a time when publishing is having a nightmare.

Low budget option — and I mean the absolute rock-bottom minimum — is half a million quid. Doing it properly? £1M - £1.5M minimum.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

broodblik

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 November, 2020, 11:49:33 PM
Low budget option — and I mean the absolute rock-bottom minimum — is half a million quid. Doing it
properly? £1M - £1.5M minimum.

This is a lot of money to start a new publication. I am sure that Rebellion would not like to do it half-baked. The problem is that if your new publication "fails" it can potentially drag-down your whole business. 
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

MumboJimbo

 I find these Cadet Dredds so flat and dry. Situation arises, hubris from Rico, Joe and others save the day, the end. Not much exploration of their relationship, no real arc to their final bust-up. For me always the worst thing in the Regened progs and unfortunately the first thing to read.

Really hope 2021 has a different approach to these Regened progs rather than replacing 4 of the 50 annual progs. To be honest I can live with it as it is, and if it's bring in new readers then that's great as I don't know where 2000 AD will be in 10 or 20 years' time if it's currently being read predominantly by middle aged men like me.

I just think that All Ages shouldn't mean Dumbed Down and Cadet Dredd is running close to that, stripped of most of the nuance, humour and social commentary of regular Dredd.

IndigoPrime

Quote from: broodblik on 08 November, 2020, 05:43:14 AMThis is a lot of money to start a new publication. I am sure that Rebellion would not like to do it half-baked. The problem is that if your new publication "fails" it can potentially drag-down your whole business.
Exactly. This is also why even new launches tend to be assigned to existing slots. So you'll see a 'new' Lego magazine that will coincidentally launch the month another one of its stablemates was cancelled.

I suspect sales of the Regened books might provide an indication of what happens next. We see a BIG rise in children's GNs and manga. Indies are doing quite well. Traditional superhero fare... not so much. So there are opportunities in the books market. Whether Regened can stake a claim to a chunk of that, who knows?

Jacqusie

So keep the Regened progs, all four of them throughout the year, but don't land them in the middle of a run!

If they are placed just before the jumping on prog, there is no interruption and those who buy the Regened progs might just buy the jumping on prog and then boom, your into a fresh set of stories...

...but then that's logical

A.Cow

Quote from: Jacqusie on 08 November, 2020, 05:28:48 PM
If they are placed just before the jumping on prog, there is no interruption and those who buy the Regened progs might just buy the jumping on prog and then boom, [you're] into a fresh set of stories...

... erm, which are not aimed at the same age group.

The logic only works if we have at least one Regened-level strip running permanently in regular progs.  Best option would be carrying one strip forward in a separate story starting in the jumping-on prog.  That way they can keep the youngsters reading and wean them onto the harder stuff over time.

And if that story is something like the quality of Pandora Perfect then I can't see the older readers complaining.  (Heck, I didn't understand or enjoy Full Tilt Boogie but it's clear that lots of other old fogies did. :D)

Barrington Boots

I'm not a fan of these regened progs, but they're not written for me so my thoughts are not especially relevant and I can give up four progs a year if it's going to bring new readers in and keep things going for longer. It's mildy annoying when they break up a story but I'm an adult and can wait 2 weeks for continuation.

For what it's worth my niece has skimmed over them and she liked the stories where a new character was used (such as Pandora Perfect, Finder / Keeper) and didn't like the 'young versions of an existing character' much (Dredd, Rogue etc) and preferred it if the strips were light hearted.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Bolt-01

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 09 November, 2020, 02:49:02 PM
I'm not a fan of these regened progs, but they're not written for me

Actually, they are written for 'everyone'. There should be no talking down here, no treating the reader as anything other than articulate. All ages should be exactly that -- ALL ages.

Personally I've quite enjoyed these little breaks in my regularly scheduled mayhem, and would have no issue with TMO moving to this model from now on.

Apart from some nudity and the occasional 'real-world' swear there is little in the regular prog that needs to be censored.

If a team want to do something deliberately extreme - put it in the Meg - it worked for Realm of the Damned.