Prog 2246 Regened - It's a Monster

[judgeurko]

These things must be successful I guess. But 2000Ad should just bite the bullet & create a separate comic rather than disrupt the regular prog again

Seriously. Do all you folks have me on ignore, or are you actually just trying to wind me up…?

I don't come here very often so don't know people here

[Jim_Campbell]

I don't come here very often so don't know people here

My apologies. Sometimes it feels like I have to post the same thing, replying to pretty much the same people every time a Regened issue comes out.

Apologies also for the cut and paste from earlier in this very thread, but the quoted text contains a link to one of those explanatory posts plus, as noted, some useful additional comments.

I'm not sure if this meant to be humorous, or if you're really expecting me to paste in the same explanation of the costs/risks of launching a new title into the high street, and the additional massive problems the pandemic has added in on top again…?

(For what it's worth, there's as good a version as any of my multiple posts on this subject here with useful additional commentary from IP in the posts that follow on the same page.)

I'll also add a final thought from my recent repetition of all that on the 2000AD FB groups: Personally, I'm happy to pay for four progs a year that aren't targetted at me, if it improves the financial health of the product as a whole and makes it more likely that we'll continue to get the other 40-odd progs for the rest of the year.

[Tjm86]

It's a fair point Jim.  At least we've reached a point where the focus of the discussion is more on the merits of the material than endless debates about whether or not it should be a semi-regular prog.

For me the beauty of the approach is that we get to see artists and writers trying out different ideas that might not get an airing otherwise.  There are going to be misses as well as hits, especially as the added challenge of trying to find material to grow an audience in a challenging demographic is factored in.

Perhaps what we need to do is pin a thread to the top of the prog review thread that contains some of the key comments from the various debates and a ... "read this before commenting on whether 2000ad: Regened should be a stand alone"?

At the end of the day I think it's fair to say it is something we would all love to see happen but for the time being this is a happy medium.

[broodblik]

I also see the regen as a point to experiment and trying something completely different. Some will work and other not - we might end up with a new jewel.

[Jim_Campbell]

Perhaps what we need to do is pin a thread to the top of the prog review thread that contains some of the key comments from the various debates and a ... "read this before commenting on whether 2000ad: Regened should be a stand alone"?

I'd hesitate to give anything I say that kind of weight, TBH — it's not like I have any inside info on this, and I certainly don't know what Rebellion's actual thoughts are with respect to Regened. I'm just trying to make logical inferences based on having worked in comics (with a fairly heavy emphasis on all-ages/YA titles, thanks to my work with BOOM) for over a decade, and magazine/newspaper production for a lot of years before that.

(And I once contemplated launching a high-street-distributed monthly comic, which got as far as a fully-costed business plan… which is how I know the kind of hoops you have to jump through to get a product on the shelves. Although that was —Christ— twenty years ago, I guarantee that the undertaking hasn't got any cheaper in the intervening years. I could have actually done it, but the only way I could have raised the money would have involved sacrificing more of a stake in the proposed company than I was prepared to give up.)

[Tjm86]

It's not so much giving privilege to your perspective Jim although you clearly have a greater understanding than quite a few of us in these parts.  It's more that we've, as you said, done the debate to death. 

That is not to say that we are not going to get the occasional newcomer inadvertently stepping in.  Given the rather off-the-wall humour (remember the old iPod / cheese thread?) that quite a few folks round here tend to exhibit it is a little difficult to tell when people are having a giraffe, being a wind-up merchant or genuinely unclear.

On the plus side the discussion this time round has shown an acceptance, even a more supportive voice for the efforts than with previous editions.  Personally I just think it would save a lot of time and effort every couple of months rehashing an old, and generally futile, debate.

[Jim_Campbell]

Personally I just think it would save a lot of time and effort every couple of months rehashing an old, and generally futile, debate.

I had thought about typing up a redux version of my various posts on the subject and just saving it as online google doc so I could link to it whenever this comes up. I may well do that, and just post a link whenever have a Regened review thread!

[broodblik]

An interesting article related to regen:

https://downthetubes.net/?p=130245

[Jim_Campbell]

An interesting article related to regen:

Thanks for that — I'm managed to miss it. That's very interesting, particularly with reference to my previous thoughts about using 'Regened' as a sub-brand to help differentiate the all-ages fare from the decidedly-not-all ages material in the regular Prog and Meg.

The use of all-age and YA imprints within their publishing line-up has certainly been a core part of BOOM's push into these markets, so hopefully it'll serve Rebellion well, too.

[IndigoPrime]

Mini-IP now only gets one title that has a covermount with plastic—and that’s Lego Explorers. I’m OK with that, because Lego—it’s something she will keep and play with for ages. And even if she decides she no longer wants Lego, all those pieces will go to some other kid, who’ll be able to play with them for years.

But for almost everything else, just no. There are so few publications that can justify covermounts and the sheer waste they spew out on a monthly (or more frequent) basis.

[Sean SD]

My Top 3 for Prog 2246 Regened

1st - 'Splorers - Top thrill for me by some margin. Art was spot on, story was fun with 'in' jokes for us oldies. Perfect all ages material. I preferred 'Splorers to Survival Geeks actually.

2nd - Mayflies - Gritty future war adjacent story with Coleby and Teague reminding me I should buy the Jaegir trade. Nod to Ace Trucking at the end 

3rd - Chopper - Was a fun story touching on Chopper's origins etc. Chopper is great for Regened IMO

Also will add that Finder and Keeper is still one of my Regened faves so more Finder and Keeper pls Tharg