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Lack of love for the bundled "floppies"?

Started by sheldipez, 18 December, 2012, 12:52:06 PM

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Dog Deever

Quote from: The Adventurer on 04 June, 2013, 10:33:04 PM
... Its too great to be relegated to Meg Floppy status...

Whilst I DO understand that view- if the good stuff doesn't get into the floppies, what does that leave for the floppies?
The meh & pish stuff?

If that's the case, and now that the GN line is well and truly improved, might it be an idea to just drop the floppies altogether? I see no point in grinding out the stuff that few liked just to fill a floppy.
Just a little rough and tumble, Judge man.

Dandontdare

nah it's still a good idea - there's loads of stuff that just isn't commercially viable for a TPB release, but still has a lot of love amongst the fans - Night Zero being a case in point. I love the fact that this stuff is being given away to Meg readers 'free', sdo new readers get to enjoy old thrills for the first time, and we get a nice nostalgiathrillboost (yes, that IS a  word).

Lobster Random has potential for an actual TPB, but there are still loads of gems in the thrill vaults - Mach 1 and Mach 0 for example.

Sheldipez - I'm no completest, and I'bve gor all the original progs, so which is the 327 floppy? Unless it's a particular favourite, I may be able to part with mine.

sheldipez

327 is Marauder

He looks like some weird superhero to me

Dog Deever

Well- whilst there have been a few good ones, less than half of mine have been read.
And I recall a substantial price rise upon their inclusion, so they might be cheap, but they sure aren't 'free'.

That's an old argument though- I'm not really caring about new readers getting to read old stuff tbh- I'm more interested in not sticking away a complete comic, completely unread, month after month. This has been especially irritating alongside Sexy Ostriches infinity-arcs, as it means month on month I keep shelling out for very little comic. At it's lowest common denominator, it makes little sense for me.

As I said- there have been a few really good ones I was glad of.
Still preferred Extreme Editions though- I liked the larger format and it allowed for choice- if people didn't like it, they didn't have to buy it which afforded some measure of quality control- apparently proved by the readers voting with their feet over the Mean Arena run of 3 back to back (which pales into insignificance  next to the 4-issue snore-fest that was the Mercy Heights run*). The GN's seem to have removed that option and, for me,  the quality plunged very quickly- leaving me with little I can do about it except either whine about it at every turn or stop getting my Meg.

*I can't help but feel that if this had been done in EE's they would only have gotten half ways through before the title collapsed. A more cynical man might see some sort of corporate dirty trick in there...  ;)
Just a little rough and tumble, Judge man.

Dandontdare

the price rise vs floppies argument has been done to death, which is why I put 'free' in inverted commas. The cost saving of not doing the floppies wouldn't reduce the cover price much, or pay for new original strips, so I think it's worthwhile. If they get chucked away unread, donate them to somewhere and spread the word of thrillpower!

Sheldipez - Marauder is a recent strip that I've no particular attachment to, so PM me your address and I'll dig that one out for you.

Dog Deever

Sure- but the real argument gets diverted away from the crux of the matter by bandying about of 'facts' about the economics of it all, when the actual £'s and pence are not the real issue (If they were, I would have stopped buying the Meg by now). If we're talking economics then it would be more sensible for the consumer to save the money they spend on the Meg and buy the good stuff as GN's when they get released. All well and good right up until the Meg goes the way of Extreme Editions...

My viewpoint is merely one of concern for quality. Perfectly simple- 'I would rather see them drop it than fill it with shite, because filling it with shite may affect the Meg's readership figures' is all I'm saying. I can't see any logic in doing that from either Rebellion's POV or the readers. Why reprint the stories that nearly buried the parent comic? The Meg has never had the readership of the weekly- why risk cutting it down by watering the quality of it with Tharg's barrel-scrapings? If Medivac 90210 was worth 4-floppy reprint, why is it not economically viable to do a GN? Because too many people know it's not worth buying, thus sales would be low?
That leaves the choice of either not reprinting it at all, or else forcing current readers to buy it along with their Meg or Prog. The floppies are more in line with the latter choice.

Granted, there are a few of them I would happily have paid way more than £1 for, but there's been soooooo many I wouldn't take off you for free. I just don't understand the argument for choosing the dross over the decent stuff when the cost of reprinting is the same for both. Would you buy a beer with pish in it just because it has a half-pint more fluid and is only 20p more expensive?

Where do we draw the line- before or after Junker, Chronos Carnival, The Mike Fleischer Collection, Blood of Satanus or , god forbid- American Reaper gets floppied? Or are we not to draw a line at all- just buy it, smile and say 'please sir can I have some more pish in my beer'?

There's nothing at all unreasonable in a consumer having concerns over value for money- it's no less reasonable than a commercial company desiring to maximise their profit- these are the balancing factors in any market. I don't think 'make them good, or get rid of them' is a particularly polar viewpoint and it's a perfectly valid one. Whilst it may not be your view personally, there's no merit in tying to brush it aside as nonsense.
Just a little rough and tumble, Judge man.

Simon Beigh

To mis-quote Forrest Gump - "The Meg floppy is like a box of chocolates...". One man's coffee cream (yuck) is another man's caramel swirl (mmmm - caramel....). I enjoyed AHAB, Night Zero, Marauder and Disaster 1990 to name a few. Others may have detested them all. But I am a returning Squaxx, so have no history with most of them. I also have a dreadful memory for comics, so even something like Disaster 1990 which I probably read the first time round I enjoyed as if it were brand new to me.

I don't think the pish in beer analogy works, Dog. You are saying it pollutes the whole thing. The Meg still carries four strips, interviews and articles. And its the same with every comic anthology, different will people will enjoy the different parts of it - well - differently! Hence the American Reaper "marmite" discussions of late... I much prefer to think of it as the box of chocolates. I always chuck out the coffee creams because they are the work of Satan - others will disagree...

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2013, 10:38:27 PM

Lobster Random has potential for an actual TPB, but there are still loads of gems in the thrill vaults - Mach 1 and Mach 0 for example.


Yeah and since Si Spurrier is starting to make a name for himself in the States maybe it could get a US release?

...then he'd come back and write us some more too!

sheldipez

Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 July, 2013, 12:54:45 AM
Sheldipez - Marauder is a recent strip that I've no particular attachment to, so PM me your address and I'll dig that one out for you.


Quote from: SimeonB on 24 July, 2013, 06:47:55 AM
To mis-quote Forrest Gump - "The Meg floppy is like a box of chocolates...". One man's coffee cream (yuck) is another man's caramel swirl (mmmm - caramel....). I enjoyed AHAB, Night Zero, Marauder and Disaster 1990 to name a few. Others may have detested them all. But I am a returning Squaxx, so have no history with most of them. I also have a dreadful memory for comics, so even something like Disaster 1990 which I probably read the first time round I enjoyed as if it were brand new to me.

As a newcomer to 2000ad (early 2012 -I've since caught up with most of 2011) I have to agree. I've read some criticism of the floppy bundled each month often to read it myself and to come away thinking "that was a lot of fun" even when the material has been a bit dumb (the story from this month's for e.g. but some nice art - and a fun ride). Disaster 1990 took a bit of a bit of a battering on here yet I thought it was a nice romp and a nice bit of Savage backstory that would of been too costly to hunt down old progs for.

I see the point of peeps that have been with the prog since the early days, even the beginning (how I envy you) and you automatically think "not THAT strip AGAIN" but as a reader it's really appreciated.

There's a bunch of well received stuff in the prog that struggle to shift a great deal of copies of graphic novels like Red Seas (Dante was even name dropped on the recent ECBT2000AD podcast when asked about Dante case files) so you have to appreciate how much of these b strips would die on their arse.

I guess what I'm saying is that 2000ad has a lot history (mediocre or otherwise) and it's good that it doesn't all die in long time fans' memories or in over priced progs on ebay.

hippynumber1

In short, I would always choose having the 'floppies' over not! I enjoy the cheesy old strips, I like that this stuff is unlikely to get collected otherwise, I'm pleasantly surprised by some of the newer stuff that I haven't read and, ultimately, if I don't like it, there's always next month. I was an EE subscriber and was sorry to see it go, the floppies make up for its absence, and I enjoyed both 'Mean Arena' and 'Mercy Heights'

Mabs

Quote from: hippynumber1 on 09 August, 2013, 04:02:28 PM
In short, I would always choose having the 'floppies' over not! I enjoy the cheesy old strips, I like that this stuff is unlikely to get collected otherwise, I'm pleasantly surprised by some of the newer stuff that I haven't read and, ultimately, if I don't like it, there's always next month. I was an EE subscriber and was sorry to see it go, the floppies make up for its absence, and I enjoyed both 'Mean Arena' and 'Mercy Heights'

I concur; I finished Mercy Heights Book 4 last night and I enjoyed it immensly. Some of the artwork on show especially from Kev Walker is outstanding. I'm also reading Tor Cyan right now, again some great stuff from Kev and Colin Wilson. I mean just check out this page from Kev;



Wow.
My Blog: http://nexuswookie.wordpress.com/

My Twitter @nexuswookie

Simon Beigh

One thing I've noticed on my Meg Odyssey is that's the early Megs had introductions to the stories in the reprint section (called Gold and pre-dating the bundled floppy). I find this enhances my enjoyment of the story, knowing a bit about where it came from, whether it was a follow up to a previous story and so on. As an example, the Slaine Time Killer story that was reprinted talked about the previous Slaine stories and a bit about how Slaine came into being.

In recent Megs, you get chucked in at the deep end a bit. Do I need to have read Nemesis in order to appreciate the Deadlock floppy, for example? If so, a quick synopsis would help new readers like me...

Skullmo

I think it would really enhance the floppy to have some context about the story. If the team do not have time to write one I would be happy to research and write one for free to include as I seem to know everything anyway!



I like supporting the Meg, and for me a floppy makes me happy!

It's a joke. I was joking.

Proudhuff

Quote from: Mabs on 10 August, 2013, 12:03:35 PM

I mean just check out this page from Kev;



Wow.

Yeah we need Kev back on Dredd, his post DoC Megacity in the rain would be a doozie!
DDT did a job on me

Goaty


Love Kev Walker's artworks, one of my fave 2000AD artists, check his Future Shock Red Moon, and one of my fave Dredd stories, Mandroid Book 1.



Here a brilliant image from Mandroid by Kev Walker;