2000 AD's Best/Worst Eras?

[Dog Deever]

Agree with Jim on the best era. I started at 214 and it just seemed to get better and better.

Worst for me was the nineties too. I stopped at 866 because I couldn't take it any more- there was nothing to read and I couldn't justify spending money on it when it was getting more expensive and I had a rake o' kids tae feed and no job.
Out it went.

Since I've been back reading again, it's been much stronger and I'd agree that we're currently experiencing a second 'golden age'.
With the exception of one or two strips it's been really strong for a good few years now.

[Dandontdare]

I find it so hard to pin this down - every era has happy memories as they all remind me of a different time in my life, and there was always something that kept my love of Tharg alive, but I guess the Starlord merger in prog 86 up until about 250 is my particular "golden age", though it continued to be excellent for a long while. Roughly 800-1000 was the low point, but I wonder if that's partly coloured by my own circumstances, which weren't as happy around then as now or in my childhood....naaaahh, I've just checked a selection of covers on Barney and I think this was the shittest period!

But that's the beauty of a weekly anthology comic as opposed to the American model - out of five strips, there's always one that keeps you coming back!

'tis true that we've never had it so good - I'd nominate the last five few years as a second golden age. We'll look back at this time at some point in the future when it's gone shite and wonder why we ever bitched about the slow pace of that 'ecstasian' story!

[Minkyboy]

It was when the Men In Black took over from Tharg for a spell that scraped bottom for me.

As for the ecstasian story, I loved it. I thought the weirdness of the Alien, the freakiness of the killer and all of the bit characters were excellent. And the ending was awesome, just loved the humour in all of those teams of Judges sent to rescue each other, all coming round at the same time totally clueless and Dredd being so unimpressed. AND I thought it was good how Dredd didn't get a ricochet off at the last second to kill the creature before it overwhelmed him. It is times like that when Joe is as human and vulnerable as the next man which separate him from all those heroes in tights.
I don't know what you lot were complaining about!

Anyway, back on topic sorry.

[Mike Gloady]

I'd have to say the current run is actually the best period for me.  Obviously there are plusses and minuses in all eras, but right now it's just got more consistency and fewer strips that you know upon first reading are utter dross and that you don't need to stick with (the last one for me was necrophym - utter bilge).

[Emperor]

It was when the Men In Black took over from Tharg for a spell that scraped bottom for me.

The whole MiB take over and Vector 13 was an... "interesting" one. I think the unseating of Tharg was unwise and pandered to passing fads but the series provided some good stories. I think it is interesting to look through them as the line-up changes from the first instalment (#951, 1995) to the last (#1083, 1998) ending up largely written by Dan Abnett along with Gordon Rennie and Robbie Morrison. In some ways it might chart the evolution of 2000 AD and the slow climb out of the pit it was in.

When did that period in the early 90's begin?

It is difficult to draw a line in the sand but, with hindsight, there might be some red flags:

• Michael Fleisher's Rogue Trooper (1990-1995, start Rogue Trooper Annual 1991 and #712-880)
• Mark Millar's Robo-Hunter (1991-1994, #723-884)
• No John Wagner Dredds (1991-1994 a gap from #753-889) - granted Garth Ennis covered a lot of this gap but with hindsight his complete absence was missed
• The Summer Offensive (1993, start #842) - not that bad itself but like the non-Wagner Dredds a bad sign (as a reflection of the "out with the old in with the new" hype)

At the time I hoped that all the piss and vinegar was just growing pains and it'd settle down but it was more like the bit in Road Runner when Wily Coyote runs off the cliff and his legs keep pedalling away in mid air. It then got worse because folks like Grant Morrison then upped sticks and were gone by 1996-1997 (last Morrison/Millar story ended #1031) and this left a vacuum that appeared difficult to fill, so we had misfires like The Spacegirls (#1062, 1997). It all started to turn around with Sinister Dexter (Winter Special #7, 1995 and #981, 1996) and Nikolai Dante (#1035, 1997) but it still took a while for the percentage of quality stories to rise. I think 1999 was the year when the changes really started working with the return of some classics: Nemesis (#1165, 1999), Strontium Dog (#1174, 1999) and Devlin Waugh (#1149, 1999). Prog 2000's triumphant raising of the flag was not just a great cover but a statement that you should put on your most thrill-proofed undercrackers.

Looking at that I am surprised I hung on in their so long (I was mainly drunk during that time, so perhaps that took the edge off) but some creators managed to hang on in there and the clearing away of the dead wood did allow some people the room they needed to shine (Abnett, Morrison R. and Gordon Rennie), so it was never completely hopeless, but it was still diamonds among the dung.

[Van Dom]

I acquired a complete set of progs from issue 1 to 1100 back in February and have been making my way through them at a tremendous pace since then (not very busy in work, these days, unfortunately, so plenty of time to read them).

I found the first 200 issues or so pretty hard going and it took me the longest time to get through this batch. I found it very patch and was actually surprised the comic survived past these first 4 years. The merger with Starlord helped, bringing in Strontium Dog and Ro Busters, but the merger with Tornado was horrible - ok, Blackhawk was alright but Wolfie Smith was kack, and then they had that Disaster 1990 shite and a few other really dud tales. It really started getting good though around the early 200s, when the Nemesis tales kicked off, Rogue Trooper and Ace Trucking Co started, and Strontium Dog and Robohunter became almost as regular as Dredd. With the exception of Mean Arena, pretty much everything that appeared from around issue 228 to prog 500 was top class and this is what I consider - so far - the best era.

There was lots of change in the 500s with the new logo and the new size and the extra colour. The quality dipped SLIGHTLY in terms of the stories as a lot of the old creators had moved in and it was all new guys coming in, but still issues 500 to 600 were pretty damn good. Just not as good as what had come before.

The 600s have been pretty patchy. I am up to 670 now and I have actually flown through reading the 600s, because there has been a lot of filler and not enough meat. Dredd is pretty much carrying the comic in this period, with Dead Man, Necropolis etc. I was actually buying the comic at this time, back in the early 90s, and I do remember it goes downhill from here ... I collected the comic up into the late 800s but by the end I was really only buying it out of loyalty and not even reading the issues I had bought.

So for me - best era 228 to, say , 520. Worst era....700 to 800 or so. I dont know what happened after that cos I didnt start buying again until a good ten years later...but ill find out soon enough!

[Dandontdare]

I found the first 200 issues or so pretty hard going and it took me the longest time to get through this batch. I found it very patch and was actually surprised the comic survived past these first 4 years.

Yeah but when it's the late seventies and you're twelve they were fucking mind-blowing!

[TheEdge]

WORST

this weeks prog.


I enjoyed 4 pages, 2 of those were the cover and the intro

[Jim_Campbell]

WORST

this weeks prog.


I enjoyed 4 pages, 2 of those were the cover and the intro

Constructive. You're a little ray of sunshine today.

Cheers!

Jim

[Tweak72]

Well the first part of the second wave was great - the problem came when they were getting reach arounds from the American market, they had an "out with the old in with the new" idea and editorial bought into the hype - leading to the Summer Offensive. Then they all buggered off leaving a vacuum that took a long time to fill. Dan Abnett and Robbie Morrison were the leaders of that third wave, who really helped carve out a new direction. Now I think everyone has learned from the mistakes (and triumphs) of the past and we have a solid mix of old and new that has me enthusiastic about the old girl again.

I think that is spot on and exactly why I stopped buying it every week at that point. That and Big Dave.

[locustsofdeath!]

Is the Necropolis arc as good as the Apocalypse War arc? I've heard some good things about about Necropolis, but so far have been unable to locate the graphic novel (if there is one). What progs does it show up in?

And thanks for your responses...I have in a short time managed to amass progs 400-900!

[Colin YNWA]

There's a few thoughts on Necropolis here.

http://2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,24054.0.html

Its good but for me not Apocalypse War good.

[SmallBlueThing]

Is the Necropolis arc as good as the Apocalypse War arc? I've heard some good things about about Necropolis, but so far have been unable to locate the graphic novel (if there is one).

The Necropolis collection is corrently available through Play.com, at the wallet-bothering price of ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY POUNDS. But fear not, it'll be in the Casefiles soon. (14?)

As for the "worst" era of the prog, I'd say around the 800s. I'm a bit hazy on what went where, but I remember a run of Timehouse, Kola Kommandos and the like that nearly- nearly I say- caused me to stop reading.

The "best" is either, for me, the first 50 or so (with Flesh), from 179 to the 400s and from about 950 to date. That's a lot of comics, I admit- but I tend to always find SOMETHING within the prog to like.

Certainly, this seven months since xmas 08 has been of outstanding quality- and I'd be hard pressed to claim it any "worse" than the classics of old.

Steev

[TordelBack]

If you have 400-900, you have Necropolis! The core of the story runs over 40 progs from 661-701, or more broadly 650 to 735, but see below...

I actually prefer Necropolis to the Apocalypse War, but it's a very different beast - the lead-in is spread out over scattered stories, and even different strips, stretching right back to The Warlord, Oz,  Democracy, the first Anderson solo series and even Question of Judgement.  This makes it (for me) immensely satisfying, as despite its epic quality, it evolves naturally out of the whole history of the strip with a horrible sense of inevitability.  It also makes it impossible to collect all the relevant material in a reprint volume, but the Casefiles are just about to catch up so it'll soon be all in print in the one series at least.  Also features one of my favourite covers (669), and two of my favourite centrespreads.  

[locustsofdeath!]

If you have 400-900, you have Necropolis! The core of the story runs over 40 progs from 661-701, or more broadly 650 to 735, but see below...

That's the best news of the day! Thanks TordelBack Now I have to resist the urge to skip a couple hundred issues to read it. And thanks as well, Spooky - but thank goodness I won't have to shell out that much cash to read it!