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Next month, with Meg 342, you will be bundling the Lobster Random: Tooth & Claw story in the floppy reprint. This is of course the SECOND Lobster Random book. Until now, the only Lobster Random story to see reprint was the first book, No Pain, No Gain. Which was collected in Hard Cover waaaaaaaaay back in 2005(!!!) Undoubtedly your decision to skip over Book 1 for rereprinting with the Meg stems from you still having copies of the HC taking up warehouse space. Understandable.

But, could you do us digital-only readers a biiiiiiiig solid? Could you please release a digital edition of No Pain, No Gain to compliment the digital edition of Tooth & Claw (and presumably future Meg floppy reprints of Lobster Random)?

Personally I have never reader No Pain, No Gain (it having run just before I started reading 2000AD) and I've always held out hope that the series would get a proper paperback collected edition (during the period when I still read print). Now that I've entirely given up on print, its unlikely that I will ever be motivated to get the print copy of No Pain, No Gain. But would buy a digital edition instantly.


Just thought I'd throw this out there...

So for the last 10 months I've been sort of cheating on 2000AD with another weekly anthology on the side. Weekly Shonen Jump. The digital only English edition bringing us Japan's finest weekly. Its pretty sweet. (And in this American's opinion makes for a nice complement to 2000AD in my international reading diet)

What's interesting about WSJ, at least to me, is at the end of every issue there is a link that takes you to an online reader survey. Where you can rank your favorite strips of the week, answer some survey questions from the publisher, and leave feedback. Also, every week the publisher gives out a prize to a randomly drawn survey participant.

While I know 2000AD and Jump are a bit different from each other in a lot of respects, it strikes me that 2000AD could benefit from the same kind of weekly metrics a new survey every week could provide. Judging strip popularity, getting direct feedback on current matters, etc... Maybe host it on the website here, or integrate it into the App. Include survey questions about the Meg the week it comes out too.

I don't know, but for some reason I really love filling out the Jump survey every week, like its part of the whole reading experience.

Just an idea.

[Black Siddah: Bad Karama]

I just got caught up on the Meg last night, read both 339 and 440. I also got to read Black Siddah: Bad Karama for the first time. I had mentioned that I had only gotten to read Book 3 ages ago, and found it to be incomprehensible (combination of coming into the book late, and some weird chopping up of its proper structure at the time, I believe).

But this first story, it's pretty good! I'm usually pretty critical of Pat Mills, he as a tendency to introduce wild ideas without any build-up, or pay-off. And also tends to go for allegory in the most 'bludgeon the audience over the head' way possible.

But Black Siddah: Bad Karama works. It takes its time to introduce its cultural matters organically and gives you time to process the implications as new elements are introduced. And any kind of hallow cultural/political digs are tied up more in the humor then the plot.

On top of that we get Simon Davis at one of his best periods. Lush painted art that isn't a bunch of heads floating in a void. Lots of detail, and variety of god and creature designs. Visually Bad Karma is a serious treat.

If I had one complaint its that this story is almost all origin story. All the action happens in flashbacks as Rohan learns about his past lives. Maybe that ties into its 'super-hero' themes, but for as long as the story runs it did feel a little unsatisfying to have to wait till the next book to see Rohan actually tackle his current mission. But spending so much time on set up does mean I'm pretty invested in the cast, which is a plus. Especially where Pat Mills is concerned.

I do hope Book 2 sees a reprint before too long. We're getting Detonator X in Meg 341, which is something I've wanted to reread for a while, so I won't complain. But I seriously want to get Black Siddah Book 2 in front of my eyeballs while I'm feeling it.

EDIT: Oh and the Dredd one-off we also got in this reprint was also really fun. Seeing Judge Giant and Judge Rico team up was fun. Its unfortunate that both characters haven't quite gotten page time since Rennie stopped being a regular Dredd script contribute. For a while there he was building quite the little supporting cast around Dredd. And again, more lust Simon Davis artwork.

Just saw this pop-up and could find it posted Bout anywhere else yet.

D'Isreali talks a out his and Rob Williams' upcoming creator owned comic, Ordinary, coming the Judge Dredd Megazine

It sounds really neat (and can't possibly be worse then Sexy Ostriches) looking forward to it.

The Zenith promo redirects to the Zenith HC news item. As best I can tell there is no way to actually get to the 2000ADonline homepage. As all links to it redirect to the Zenith promo image. Which then redirects to the news item.

Just thought I'd point that out.

A quirk I discovered on how the 2000 AD Shop sorts its back comics, when you go to the main comics header (http://shop.2000adonline.com/categories/comics) sold out back issues are still available as digital purchases. But if I click the 2000 AD Prog sub head (http://shop.2000adonline.com/categories/2000_ad_prog), it removes all sold out books from the list, baring you from even buying the digital edition.

Just thought I'd point that out.

It'll be a while before Dredd's home video sales are made clear, but from the immediate outlook they're looking kinda strong. As we all know Dredd didn't make the box office explode like we'd all want. And even with solid retail sales the likelyhood of another boxoffice outing seems... unlikely.

But there is another place Dredd could make a go.

Direct to Video.

Now... I know that phrase probably just made you shudder (perhaps throw up in your mouth a bit?). The idea that DtVs are movies unfit for theaters, made on tiny budgets, and usually manned by hack directors and unknown actors is probably pretty strong.

And that... is often true. But its not always true. Recently Jean-Claude Van Damme has done a pretty snazzy job at rejuvenating the Universal Solider franchise with a pair of rather cool action heavy installments. Both of which are direct to video, action heavy, and getting rave reviews from people I trust.

There are other examples (I'm sure?). But it raises some interesting ideas. Dredd didn't cost a lot to make in terms of typical Hollywood anyway, and a lot of the preproduction design work is already done for props and general world building. On top of that, Dredd made a point of utilizing non-superstar talent for their lead roles. Actors that in the grande scheme of things are probably pretty affordable on a DtV budget. As long as the Dredd producers could retain their writing staff and director on a smaller scale production, I don't particularly see a difficulty in making an excellent DtV showing.

But of course the question becomes, should it be done? Certainly going DtV there might be a perception of cheapening the brand. And we're certainly not going to get a big spectacle sci-fi epic (or at least I hope not, DtV sci-fi epics tend to come out really bad. See: any Starship Troopers DtV films). But we'd get more live action Dredd, perhaps several times.

Personally I'm all for it (as long as the quality stays in line with Dredd and doesn't dip). And frankly I think its the smart choice considering how Dredd did in theaters vs how its doing on home release. And it'd be criminal not to give Urban another go at the character.

When I click 'Quote' on a forum post I want to quote, the text doesn't quote to the Quick Reply box like it used to. Is this a problem for anyone else?

So I just found out that Commando has a iPad app. As its one of those British comics I've always been curious about (especially since its still published) this is kind of a big deal. But I don't really know much about it. I get that it caters to war comics specifically, but is it worth reading? Does it publish new material, or reprint old war comics? The app came with a few sample issues, one is clearly labeled as a reprint, but another isn't.


Also, is this a small comic? The sample comics are really small on the screen, like... really small. I sort of get the sense that Commando might actually be 'ash-can' sized normally. So that's... different if the case.

EDIT: Like, there are some previews on their website of the latest issues, and the Previews are small too (if you go to full-screen mode). Is that how big they are physically in print?

Sky City in Changsha

Important bits

Will be tallest building in the world when completed.

Project plans to build it using prefabracted sections, within a construction window of only 90 days.

Is intended to house 30,000 people with both low and high income housing areas.

Sky City has been designed to house 31,400 people in its luxury and low-income communities. Residential area will occupy 83% of the tower, all serviced by schools, hospitals, offices, shops and restaurants within the building.

It really is a Mega Block in the Dreddworld sense.

Hey all, I'm looking to buy a few digital copies of Megazine issues i missed in the past because I want the floppy reprint material (looking at you Samantha Slade). But the 2000 AD store doesn't say specifically that they are included in the CBR file you get to download. I assume they are, but I just thought I would ask before buying.

[Dredd 3D]

I have it on reliable source that Dredd 3D will see home video release on DVD and Blu-ray (and probably Blu-ray 3D) come January 22nd. It was advanced announced to retailers, though no official announcement has been made yet.

This is also probably a US street date, so I don't know when it will arrive in the UK. Probably around the same time.

More details about Moore and O'Neil's next League of Extraordinary Gentlemen project, NEMO: Heart of Ice over at CBR

The longstanding links between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's U.K. publisher Knockabout and the London comic shop Gosh! mean that Gosh!'s blog is the place to go for news relating to Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's ongoing opus. The retailer has posted a synopsis and cover image for the next installment, the stand-alone Nemo: Heart of Ice:


It's 1925, fifteen long years since Janni Dakkar first tried to escape the legacy of her science-pirate father, only to eventually take on his mantle and accept her destiny as the new Nemo; the next captain of the legendary Nautilus. A thirty year-old Pirate Jenny, tired of punishing the world with an unending spree of plunder and destruction, is resolved to finally step from her forebear's lengthy shadow by attempting something at which he'd conspicuously failed, namely the exploration of Antarctica. In 1895 her father had returned from that ice-crusted continent without his reason or his crewmen, all of whom appeared to have mysteriously perished or to otherwise have disappeared. Now Captain Nemo's daughter and successor plans to take her feared and celebrated black submersible back to the world's South Pole in an attempt to lay her sire's intimidating ghost forever.

There are others, though, who have become as tired of Janni's freebooting as she herself. An influential publishing tycoon, embarrassed by the theft of valuables belonging to a visiting Ugandan monarch, sets a trio of America's most lauded technological adventurers on the pirate queen's trail, commencing a nightmarish chase across the frozen landscape with the pinnacles of the forbidding mountains where Prince Dakkar's sanity had foundered growing ever nearer...

In a fast-paced, self-contained adventure, Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill thrillingly expand on one of Century's most memorable characters, venturing into dazzling polar territories and fictional domains including those of Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, with all of these vectors headed for an unforgettable encounter at the living, beating and appallingly inhuman HEART OF ICE.

Hardcover, 48 pages, £9.99.
Due February 2013

48 pages for around $15 American seems a bit steep. But... eh... I still like LoEG despite everything.

Also real curious whom 'a trio of America's most lauded technological adventurers' are. Tom Swift maybe?!

So question. How would you guys reprint Tyranny Rex? While I was rereading Leatherjack, I scoped out John Smith's bibliography on the Barney Site on a whim, and was reminded that he had created/written Tyranny Rex. And then I was reminded that I actually owned the Extreme Edition that the first three stories were reprinted.

So after finishing Leatherjack I reread those. Since I hadn't in about 5 years (to the point that I'd forgot I even had them)

I...uh... am not sure what I just read. But it seemed interesting? No, I gotta be honest. I was down right confused most of the time. To the point where after three different stories, I still have little inkling of Tyranny's motivation as a character. She's some kind of extreme artist I guess? Who sometimes get hired as an extreme problem solver?

But anyway, my thoughts then of course turned to, 'how can I read the rest of this?' Between the two part Deus Ex Machina story that ran in the early 90s. The 'The Come Back'  one-off that never actually lead to a 2000s revival (I actually was getting into the Prog when this story ran), and a pile of one-off Annual/Yearbook/Specials. There's actually enough Tyranny Rex to fill a fat 'Complete' collection pushing 250+ pages.

But my question is, should it be a fat omnibust? Or maybe split into two smaller collections (Soft Bodies & Deus Ex Machina) using the one-offs as bonus strips to fill both books out.

But then again, I've got a feeling Tyranny Rex might not even warrant a full fledged collected edition. Maybe it should be relegated to Meg Reprints. But that's tricky, because the first three stories have already been reprinted in the EE. So should they skip ahead to Deus Ex Machina Book 1 and Book 2? That'll take up two Meg reprints minimum. Which just a little room for maybe 2 one-off reprints maximum. Which is going to leave it far from a 'complete' reprint.

What do you guys think? Does Tyranny Rex even warrant a reprint?

Soooooo... Diamond Previews catalog for September 2012 is out and turn to my favorite publisher in the back...



Welp. Prog Packs are back apparently. Not sure how to feel about that, not that changes much since the whole 'weekly prog' thing never... panned out.

And another thing, is there going to be a Rebellion edition of The Ten-Seconders GN? I ask because I know there's suppose to be an S&S edition, but if you look at the listing is has the code (C: 0-1-2). All Rebellion books have that code. Its been my experience that S&S editions have the code (C: 1-1-2).

Since I'm not buying S&S trades any more (not a fan of their cover stock. Or paper stock for that matter. It curls pretty bad) I'd like to know for sure since I would like to get it.

So with the announcement of the new Indigo Prime trade collection I got a hankering for some John Smith madness. So I pulled down my copy of Leatherjack since I hadn't read it in a few years.

One thing I had forgotten was that my copy had a series of page misprints. Specifically a handful of pages where the color layers were offset, making the artwork to appear very blurry and dark. And worst of makes text nigh unreadable.

Also there are a series of pages with fine creases running across the page, like the paper was bunched up when it ran through the printer. Resulting in fine white lines running through some of the pages.

I assume with was a problem with my specific copy (as can happen) but I've never been sure it was a unique foul up. Especially where the messed up coloring is concerned.

It really sucks when a Rebellion trade I receive as a rather noticeable misprint. As replacing it in rather impossible. I know I have another book somewhere with rather garish black streaks running down a few pages. Can't remember specifically which book it is at the moment. I want to say Kingdom: The Promised Land, but I'm not sure.


Also, this thread will be for reminiscing about Leatherjack once I finish rereading it.

It feels like it was solicited ages ago, and been out in the UK for a while. But still no signs of it in NA comic shops. Has anyone seen it, or have any notion of when its suppose to come out here?

[Thieves & Kings: The Red Book HC]

Favorite fantasy series of mine, Thieves & Kings will be getting republished at Archaia Studios in full color this summer as a series of Hard Cover collections. Which will hopefully lead to the series final conclusion in 2014 after many many delays.

Series creator Mark Oakley talks about the announcement on his blog

I first met the affable, polite and enormously talented Mark Smylie many years ago in San Diego. He'd just put out his first book, Artesia; a lushly illustrated, fully water-colored graphic novel which impressed the socks off both readers and industry power-people. That was his first book. Not bad for a newbie!


Everybody wondered what his next step would be and it was with some raised eyebrows that Mark accepted the challenge of that singularly heavy task which so few creators have the right stuff to take on. That of publishing other people's work. That was fifteen years ago.


Phew! Not a year goes by when I do not receive a small pile of submissions from other authors and illustrators, looking for work, hoping that maybe I Box Publishing might be a port in a storm for them. Alas, it has been my standing rule that I Do Not Publish Other People's Work. The simple reason being that I know how much effort it takes just to get my own work out there, I'd hate to be responsible for serving another creator. I'd have no time for my own comics! No way.


But Publishers are necessary. We need them. The world needs them. And the very best, most capable and aware of publishers are those who are powerful creators in their own right.


When Mark Smylie, (and you gotta love that name!), agreed to undertake the coloring and re-publishing of Thieves & Kings through his company, Archaia Studios, it was with a great sense of relief that I let other talented people shoulder the load with me. I simply don't have the reach or the money to get my books into the larger distribution chains; bookstores, libraries and schools. (I've tried!)


Mark and his staff of excellent employees have put in the time and effort over the years to build a respected stable of high-quality publications. I am very excited that Thieves & Kings will soon be numbered among them.


The books going to press are going to be about an inch smaller than regular comic book size. They'll be 6″x9″, aimed squarely at the popular segment of the bookstore market; young adult adventure books. The Red Book will fit right into that nicely. But with full graphics! Ha ha!


I re-did the cover of the first book, made Rubel bigger and easier to see from across the aisle, and brightened the color scheme. Brought it all up to date. Below is a non-finalized version. (I put it next to the original cover from 1996 so you can compare.)


Another change you will see is in the text portions of the book. Real kerning! None of those home-made gaps between words. Actual typography experts are re-doing the text. Awesome!


But other than those changes, (and the coloring, of course), I resisted the nearly over-powering urge to alter and touch-up any of the original artwork in the story itself. I know going back in to 'improve' upon the wobbly early efforts of the younger version of oneself is perhaps at the very top of the DON'T DO THAT list. One of the very biggest no-no's an artist can ever make in the whole creative field. Lucas did it with Star Wars, and it hurt, -literally hurt- for an old fan to see. So I have learned from the trials of others, and I can promise that Thieves & Kings will be otherwise untouched.


The Second Volume, The Green Book, will be coming out later on this year, (or early next; the coloring work is backbreaking!), and then in 2013, volumes 3 and 4 and 5, if we can manage it, will be coming out. 2014 will see volume 6, and yes, yes, YES, volume 7 will be out as well. I'm working on it right now, and it is some of the best work I've ever done. It has been slow, due to my other projects, (Jenny Mysterious), but it is happening.


So that's the Big News. The book is being solicited This Month in the Diamond Comics Distributor's guide. Go order it! Go tell your comic shop to order it!


Stay tuned for more news. There's a lot coming over the next few weeks!


Cheers, and happy April 26th to all!


-Mark Oakley

Original Cover to the Red Book compared to the new


I'm not super thrilled about the books being smaller sized HC (T&Ks should be printed in Oversized format if anything) but I'll take it. Thieves & Kings: The Red Book HC is solicited in May's Previews for July shipping.

So I'm working my way through my pile of 2010 Progs that I'd missed during my wilderness days (gotta get up to speed on Age of the Wolf before continuing with my 2012 pile you see...) and I was happily following Damnation Station throughout the year. But as I reach the end of the 2010 pile I realize... its not coming back, as I know it didn't have any installments in 2011.  Which sort of sucks! It ended on a cliffhanger in 1692 and I was enjoying how it was a regular feature throughout much of the year, coming and going. It reminded me how Harry Kipling was handled back in 2006, but like Harry Kipling it seems to have ended just as suddenly.

I mean, it wasn't great and had a few problems (had trouble keeping characters straight in Simon Davis drawn installments) but I liked its premises. Any word if its coming back ever?

[FCBD 2012 2000 AD JUDGE DREDD SPEC (NET)]

My local shop owner informed of this yesterday...

As we mentioned earlier this week in the New Comics post, last week there was a tragic traffic accident involving a Diamond Comics Distributors delivery truck. This is causing some books to not show up in certain regions of the country.

Here's the official statement from Diamond:

   

On April 21 at approximately 3:30 a.m., a Diamond truck was involved in a horrible head-on collision caused by a car driving in the wrong direction on Interstate 71. The driver of the car died at the scene, while the two drivers of the truck sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

    Please be aware that, due to this tragic accident, a number of titles and items that were on the truck and scheduled to arrive for sale on May 2 will be unavoidably delayed.

    These items –- including new product, reorders, and Free Comic Book Day titles — are now scheduled to arrive in stores with an on-sale date of MAY 9.

    A partial list of the affected product, grouped by New Product and Reorders, and alphabetized by description, is given below:

    AVENGERS X-SANCTION HC
    BELA LUGOSI TALES FROM GRAVE #2 (RES)
    DANGER CLUB #1 VAR CVR 2ND PTG
    DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES TP
    FANBOYS VS ZOMBIES #2 MAIN CVRS
    FCBD 2012 2000 AD JUDGE DREDD SPEC (NET)
    FURY MAX #1 (MR)
    GARFIELD #1
    MARVELS THE AVENGERS AVENGERS INITIATIVE
    MIND THE GAP #1 CVR A
    MIND THE GAP #1 CVR B
    MIND THE GAP #1 SHARED EXC CVR
    RICH JOHNSTONS THE AVENGEFULS #1
    SPAWN #219
    STAR TREK ONGOING #8
    X-O MANOWAR (ONGOING) #1 20 COPY INCV AJA CVR (NET)

Something similar happened back in January of 2010.

So if you live in the affected regions (at this point we know it's definitely effected parts of the northeast) then hang tight. Your books should arrive next week. And remember, having to wait an extra week for some of your comics pales in comparison to what the families of the victims of the accident are going through.