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Very well argued! I have no stake in the X-Men - I was always more of a New Mutants kid. The X-Men pinged off me I think precisely because they're designed to speak to the outsiders of the world, and frankly I can't claim to have ever seen myself as an outsider (except maybe as a fan of comics in general, which even now in the era of geek is still niche).

I did eventaully read pretty much all the Claremont stuff as an adult, thanks to the Panini Pocket Books (excellent value comics in small size!), and it's good clean superhero soap opera comics. I think I like it a fair bit more than you, Colin, althoguh I cannot argue with your observation that Claremont overwrites and underlines where Wagner might just have a silent panel...

In terms of 'importance', I guess for me it's that Claremont may have been the first superhero comics guy who managed to sneak in issues here and there that were pretty much just characters hanging around and chatting, or a single character going on some dreamlike empitional journey (LifeDeath) and those ARE the best ones, especially the 'Classic X-Men' back ups. But I find these were more of a signpost to me that I should read more Vertigo comics, that do this kind of thing better, and in more depth.

Everyone knows that Nightcrawler is the best, right? He just looks (and, frankly, acts) cooler than any other Marvel character by miles.

Honestly, I am both excited by the Sci-Fi special mash-up idea, exactly the sort of thing Sci-Fi specials should be for,
and also tickled by those instant AI efforts, Funt! But I'm aware it's going to be a rather steep slope from me pointing and laughing at the AI crudeness today, to me licking the (rust-proof) boots of a robot master tomorrow.

I'm gently predicitng that AI art and writing will be fashionable for a couple of years, and then human creativity will come back to the fore, and then we'll settle down into a sort of hybrid thing where we all accept that a human prompting and tweaking an AI generator is still art.

This is a genuinely great interview, Mark Millar is one of those enthusiastic chaps who wants to be liked so much he puts people at ease which works well for Pat Mills. Much as I don't love Millar's comics his energy and passion for making popular comics is joyful. Same for Mills, who clearly still wants to find ways to reach a mass audience with whatever kinds of comics he can. He may be a world class moaner but he's also not JUST moaning, he's still following his dreams, too.

What's become of the fine, upstanding munitions-sales people who used to be able to outfit a band of Cursed Earth muties with extreme firepower once a year or so? Now that muties are allowed in, who are they selling to?

More love for Inaba!

My own rough scribbles -and i'd really have to cehck this but as you say it's tricky! - put the Neimand Count at 138 episodes for 2000AD/Megazine/Specials. One day I'll have to read over the lot and write up a 'Heroes' entry for him.

You make a compelling case that he IS the best non-Wagner to write Dredd, he sure evokes the early-ish funny ones in ways that few others have, without getting bogged down in telling his own long-running mini-sagas (coughWillimasWyattCarrollcough).

Can it be Inspector Inaba next to Slaine on Prog 2016? Doesn't seem likely though...

As for Prog 500, honestly, it's a pretty solid top 20 of both artists and characters even now.
Obvs would swap out Bad City Blue (and maybe Robin Smith); and an Arthur Ranson Anderson over Kitson. But everything else is spot on!

Ah yeah this is a great comic. I've only read the trade collection of the first bit, and remain deeply sad that the story was never finished. I guess I should get the digital comics of the ones that were made! Cannot overstate how great the art is on this. (And I don't have to! Colin as ever doing fantastic job on bigging up the art)

For what it's worth, I was a big reader of 'normal' Archie comics in my youth (age roughly 10-13) - for some reason, they were readily available in India, where my best friend used to go (or his uncles maybe) to bring and share massive bundles of them. They're kind of like if Whizzer and Chips had a rom-com story that was less stalker-ish than 'Crazy for Daisy'. At the time I couldn't quite undersatand why Archie was so into VCeronica when Betty was right there, but I get it a bit more now. The TV show Riverdale is much kinder to Veronica than the comics ever were!

Anyway, this Zombie-version of the characters I'd say IS faithful to the basic setup, if that's a concern you have. It shouldn't be.

On Kyle Baker, i love his artwork and the stories are pretty fun - but I can't get on with his default style of putting all dialogue and text underneath each panel, Rupert the Bear style. It feels almost as if it isn't comics, and pulls me out of the reading experience. anyone else bugged by that?

Still, he's a great cartoonist and worth the extra bit of effort to read. Strong recommends for Truth: Red, White and Black and Birth of a Nation (both illustrated by Baker but written by others). And also Plastic Man, of course! - Colin's original Baker rec.

Big Krazy Kat fan here! Can't think of anything to say to persuade non-fans to give it another go, I suspect the reality is that I was exposed to it really quite young (my Dad had an old collection), and first read bits of it as a sub-literate and as such did not understand the lettering or the dialogue well at all, but fell in love with those weird visuals (shades of Dr Seuss?). Which all meant that when I gave it a prpoer go as a teen then an adult i was primed to enjoy it. It very much feels to me like an extended arthouse Road Runner cartoon, which is totally my cup of tea. That said, I don't sit and read Krazy Kat very often - definitely one to enjoy in small doses, occasionally.

Honestly, the whole 'widescreen comics' thing that got going in the late 90s, esepcially in superhero comics, has slightly ruined a lot of comics reading for me, as I expect to be able to race through them. It's just not the case with most British comics (especially the Beano!), and most US comics from the 80s or earlier.

Maybe it's the Manga influece? They're often a real breakneck read.

Have not read Liberty Meadows but anyone who loves Calvin & Hobbes as much as that can't be all bad!
On the cheesecake art thing, I definitely recall being actively put off by Cho's Marvel covers. Feels like a dare, sometimes, like 'you like sexy women, right? How about having them right on display on the cover of an action comic?. FEEL SHAME!'
-and for some reason, Cho's work always seems a bit more 'totally male fantasy' than e.g. Amanda Connor (queen of the Power Girl boob window) or indeed the much-admired Hernandez Brothers, who love busty and powerful women and are not shy of dabbling in actual porn comics. I wonder if they might appear in a future entry on the list...
-that said, I can stomach Cho's women far more than J Scott campbell, who seems to relish the back-breaking pose and weird pixie face style of superhero art.

See, this is a series (which I've only read very small bits of) that is my main evidence for the fact that Stan Lee defintely DID bring something to the table in his early Marvel days. I just find Kirby's dialogue a chore to read, it gets in the way of some fantastically weird and colourful ideas, and that puts me off trying to read the whole Fourth World thing. But there's no denying the staggering heights of his imagiantion, both in terms of plots and character but of course his art, too.

I can agree that the New Gods is better comics than e.g. Fantastic Four or Thor, but I'd reach for those books more quickly for a fun time.

LOVE Madman. I think I have read this same series as you, but didn't know about the non-Allred It Girl spinoff series, sounds fun! I remember the fun of picking up a new 'Atomics' issue alongside whatever Civil War nonsense I was also reading at the time. (Think Mark Millar messed up with the characterisation of Judge Dredd? captain America and iron man both want to fight you)

I got turned on to Madman way back in the 90s by a school friend - basically this and Bone and Concrete were my gateway away from Marvel superheroes (OK so I never stopped reading them but at least now I knew which comics were cool to talk about with non-comics people ).

The first (?) Madman mini-series, called the Oddity Odyssey, is likely still in my top 10 comics ever, and the series that came after - when it was pulished by dark horse, I think? is not half bad either. NB that first series is in black and white, and although it is a joy to gaze upon Allred's work in any comic, it really sings loudest in colour. Basically Madman looks and feels like a fun, breezy superhero comic, but it's more of a fun philosophical /surrealist romp. You can totally see why Allred and Peter Milligan mesh well together. No dark and broody nonsense, except where that can be poked with a stick for chuckles.

Bur frankly one of the most fun things about Madman is that the main character is, by design, someone who is never entirely sure who he is and what is going on, which means that picking up any given issue of the comic gives you a perfect taste. Almost because of this, I deliberately don't WANT to collect and read the entire sage, it's more fun to dip in and out occasionally.

colin, you're gonna have to work hard to persuade me there are 93 comics better than this 

Between Kiss My Axe and various Sláine collections intros, Pat has spilled an AWFUL lot of ink in prasie of that first episode of Sláine, the amount of effort Kincaid put into it, and how shabbily he feels she was treated by 2000AD at the time.

Anyway, totally agrfee it's an amazing one-off story and would have loved to see more.
Technically, she does have a second Slaine credit, as the author of the 'Killing Fields' sequence that came between Slaine the King and Horned God.

And yeah, would have been nice if more female artists had been attracted to / given a chance on the Prog back in the early days!

Top Prog all round, agree that the cover is a stunner! And yes please to more Joe Currie artwork, it reminds me of classic Ron Smith one-off comedy shorts in tone, if not even slightly in style.