Hello Squaxx!

[Vector14]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a while here and now is the time to emerge from the shadows.

I've recently started getting back into 2000ad after a long long time away. I originally started reading back in 1994 and carried on until the early 2000s when I kind of "grew out of" the prog in my uni years.

Reading here and other places online has informed me that I started reading 2000ad during its nadir. Its funny because at the time I found it mindblowing.
Some of the stuff that people deride now, like all the muddy fully painted art, was what made young me think I was reading something super adult.

I should add that I was reading all the classic 2000ad and Dredd comics then so I was getting the good stuff too. But somehow I didnt see any difference in quality between the old stuff and the new. It was all good to me.

Also funny that I got bored of 2000ad when it was on the up!

Anyway the thing that got me back on board was buying one of those humble bundles a couple of years pack.

I loved all the new Dredd stuff and especially liked Brink and Kingdom. I think Brink might be my favourite series ever published in the prog.
Dan Abnett has really come on since I was a regular reader!
I bought the first Lawless book recently and its great too.

I must admit I don't actually buy the regular progs. I'm just picking up graphic novels every now and then.

Anyway, I hope I can add a bit to the discussions here. Thanks for having me.

[broodblik]

Welcome, always great to here from likewise people whom started stopped and returned. Dan Abnett is a real talent his Brink is awesome but then please pick-up The Out (super awesome we even start comparing this to Halo Jones)

[Colin YNWA]

Getting trades and collection is the smart way to go while you are getting onboard again. Hopefully that will suck you back into the Progs themselves soon enough.

As you and Broodblik say Dan Abnett is a writing supremo the moment. Brink, The Out and my personal favourite Lawless are all really top draw and amongst my favourite thrills of all time. I miss Kingdom to as that feels like the quintessial 2000ad thrill in so many ways.

Enjoy catching up, have fun and welcome to the chatter.

[Vector14]

Thanks for the warm welcome. A large part of my lurking on here was reading the great Best Thrill/Droid tournaments you ran Colin!
The Out is definitely on my list of things to check out next.
I'll probably pick up book 5 of Brink and the next Lawless first though.

I just had a look at the first prog I ever bought. It had mother earth, big dave, soul gun warrior and revere in it... And then I didnt buy another issue for about half a year!
So I suppose I can't say I had my mind blown at first prog.

[Trooper McFad]

Welcome on board Vector14. Enjoy your catchup. I'd recommend reading Insurrection which is really a prequel to Lawless and another Avnet classic with Colin MacNeil on art duties.

Also if you are a lurker you will know about the boards Advent thread 😁 which is currently looking for Squaxx to fill the dates. So if you fancy introducing yourself as a hidden talent join in ( the thread is in the "General" topic section)

[JohnW]

Glad to have you, Vector14.
You may have picked a bad time to stop lurking, though.
Trooper McFad knows you're here now, and Advent is coming...

[Colin YNWA]

Welcome on board Vector14. Enjoy your catchup. I'd recommend reading Insurrection which is really a prequel to Lawless and another Avnet classic with Colin MacNeil on art duties.

That's a very good call. While not in anyway essential for Lawless it does add a bit of ... flavour to the story.

Thanks for the warm welcome. A large part of my lurking on here was reading the great Best Thrill/Droid tournaments you ran Colin!

Ohhh Cool Beans that's good to hear - thanks for saying that. I do plan to get back to all that nonsense at some point. I'm currently distracted by top 100 comic runs, on number 130 as I type (look I do explain honest!) and have just today finished typing up my first 2000ad entry in that list. And without too many spoilers both Brink and Lawless will be appearing in the list ... but not for some time!

I just had a look at the first prog I ever bought. It had mother earth, big dave, soul gun warrior and revere in it... And then I didnt buy another issue for about half a year!
So I suppose I can't say I had my mind blown at first prog.

Boy that's such an interesting line-up! A real sign of the times. Mind both Soul Gun Warrior and Revere are good thrills from that era in my book.

[Vector14]

I wouldn't mind giving revere a proper read as I ended up really liking John Smith.
But a single isolated episode in the middle of Revere made absolutely no sense to me back then!

[Vector14]

Welcome on board Vector14. Enjoy your catchup. I'd recommend reading Insurrection which is really a prequel to Lawless and another Avnet classic with Colin MacNeil on art duties.

Also if you are a lurker you will know about the boards Advent thread 😁 which is currently looking for Squaxx to fill the dates. So if you fancy introducing yourself as a hidden talent join in ( the thread is in the "General" topic section)

Thanks for the recommendation. I have Insurrection in digital format but haven't read it yet. I might pick up a physical copy at some point instead. It can be hard to get into comics reading on my phone.

I'll have a look at the advent thread. Maybe I can draw something for it. I used to sketch a lot but less so in recent years so it'd be a good excuse for dusting off my sketchbook.

[Trooper McFad]

Welcome on board Vector14. Enjoy your catchup. I'd recommend reading Insurrection which is really a prequel to Lawless and another Avnet classic with Colin MacNeil on art duties.

Also if you are a lurker you will know about the boards Advent thread 😁 which is currently looking for Squaxx to fill the dates. So if you fancy introducing yourself as a hidden talent join in ( the thread is in the "General" topic section)

Thanks for the recommendation. I have Insurrection in digital format but haven't read it yet. I might pick up a physical copy at some point instead. It can be hard to get into comics reading on my phone.

I'll have a look at the advent thread. Maybe I can draw something for it. I used to sketch a lot but less so in recent years so it'd be a good excuse for dusting off my sketchbook.

I'll look forward to seeing your name on the list 😁

[Tjm86]

I'd have to say that if you are enjoying Lawless then you'll probably also really enjoy Strontium Dog.  The early stuff (particularly the Starlord run) has a real Western Vibe to it.  Not to mention some of Ezquerra's best artwork (for my money). 

[Vector14]

I'd have to say that if you are enjoying Lawless then you'll probably also really enjoy Strontium Dog.  The early stuff (particularly the Starlord run) has a real Western Vibe to it.  Not to mention some of Ezquerra's best artwork (for my money). 

What would be a good book to buy with some of the best early stuff in it?
I was never a big Strontium Dog fan because Johnny Alpha was already dead when I started reading 2000ad.
It was Strontium DogS at that point.

I used to pick up random back issues from second shops so I have seen fragmented bits and pieces of classic stront stories but not enough to fully get into it.
I remember loving the Top Dog crossover with Dredd though. Great art from Colin MacNeil and der Sternhammer Silencer!

[Tjm86]

Rebellion are reprinting them all in order.  The first 2 hardback volumes are out already, starting with the StarLord strips.  Volume 2 carriers the Journey to Hell storyline with the full colour spreads in colour.  It does have the rather weaker Wolrog strip from the merger as they tried to shift its sensibility a bit more toward the SF sensibility of Tooth. 

Volume 3 is due out in the new year and it looks like they're going to do the full run in hard back.  As editions go, this is one of the best to date.  The repro is pretty good although the colour pages show some of the weaknesses of the original colour process back in the day.

[Vector14]

Thanks Tjm86 for breaking down whats in each book.
I'm not sure i want to go all the way back to the starlord strips at first so maybe I'll start with volume 3.
I can always pick up the earlier stuff later if I'm enjoying it.