Which thrills have you skipped?

[Richard]

I'll never skip anything in the Prog but I just read them as fast as possible and move on.

I saw this comment on another thread, and it made me think about how dedicated to the prog you have to be to read an episode of an ongoing story when you already know you won't like it, and -- if you're that kind of fan -- how bad a story has to be for you to decide that you're actually going to stop reading it.

For me, I hardly ever skip a story, and I'll usually force myself to read something I'm not interested in, but I did stop reading Space Girls.*

Which story made you think "nah, I'm done"?


_{* Sorry David -- if it helps, I really liked The Savage Amusement.}

[broodblik]

The only strip that I did not read at the end was Big Dave (and almost most of the Millar written strips). This was the strip that told me this is not for you and I stopped the whole prog. Today I will read everything. I might have a few stories I dislike but I will read it. The regen prog from last year was the closes I cam of skipping a whole prog, I read it as soon as I have downloaded it. In a few cases I start reading the regen prog days after I downloaded it.

[NapalmKev]

I read everything in the Prog, even Thrills I'm not keen on. Some strips have grown on me as a result.

Cheers

[13school]

There are some stories I'll read every week as they come in, and others I'll wait until a decent run has built up (or the whole thing is over).

It's not always a sign of quality either - Wagner Dredds I'd always read week by week (and found they worked well that way, even with long running stories), whereas the recent Ennis Rogue Trooper tale I decided to wait until it was complete and then read it in one sitting.

That said, if there's something that doesn't grab me I'll usually wait, in case concentrated exposure is what's required to make it click

[IndigoPrime]

I think I've read everything, with that just-in-case thinking lodging in the back of my mind. I'm aware I can come across as a grumpy sod here sometimes, but I do try to give every story the benefit of the doubt, and I am sometimes converted. (Or dragged back: see Azimuth.)

I'm due a re-read at some point of everything – something I've never done. And I'll attempt to read through everything again. But I imagine after that I'll never again waste time on strips I really don't like (vs things that are merely OK). Wireheads, say. And with the current Prog and Meg, I'm almost a cover-to-cover reader. (I'll admit to very occasionally skipping the odd text piece on the Meg, but only rarely.)

[Funt Solo]

Which story made you think "nah, I'm done"?

My pedigree is that I kept going through all of the 90s. I had a weird moment that lasted for eight years (about 2010 to 2018, kinda thing) where I stopped buying the prog (for financial reasons), then I got caught up again later.

But Tin Man stopped me in my tracks. I think part of it is that it's difficult for me to separate out the comic writer from the man on Twitter, who, when asked a perfectly reasonable question by another creator, responded with an entirely context-free "fuck off". I'm not sure if it's that or that the dialogue was risible (and rinse-and-repeatable). Maybe it's all of these things at once. It's like if you were being gas-lit by an over-eager drunk in a dingy pub. You'd try to get away. You wouldn't pay for more.

I have a couple of others I've not read this year, but with those I do plan to get around to them. It was just a weird year for reading.

[Magnetica]

I'll admit to very occasionally skipping the odd text piece on the Meg, but only rarely.

The text articles are often my least favourite thing. I don't skip, them but there have been some recently that I speed read. The ones I'm really not into are when it's some creator with little or no connection to 2000AD, and it's basically a list of comics they have worked I've never heard of with a bunch of other people I've never heard of.

[Barrington Boots]

I used to make a point of not skipping anything on the point that it might grow on me, there's definitely been some slow burners over the years, and the art is usually a delight anyway. Mrs Boots doesn't bother at all with stuff she doesn't like and as a result usuallt reads only about half the Prog most weeks, and I always felt she was missing out a bit.

I'm not sure when I started skipping stuff (possibly Regened) but it's a slippery slope: once you start, it's easy to keep going, because why read something you dislike? Nobody cares if I do or don't at the end of the day.

That said I always feel a bit guilty when I do just flick past an episode and I've made an effort to go back and read the two strips in the current Prog that I was skipping. As an irregular Meg reader I'm far more likely to skip stuff in that and quite often do.

Regened aside I think I gave up on Hope this year: I wasn't enjoying it on any levels, unlike previous series.

[Blue Cactus]

I don't skip any comic strips, although a few things recently have made me come close - Tin Man, lots of Regenened, City of Courts. There are very few things published by Tharg that I find so annoying or unenjoyable that I think about not continuing.

There are still a few thrills I've never read, or not fully - MACH 1 and 0, Angel, Dynosty, Universal Soldier come to mind. If they'd turned up in a Megazine floppy I'd happily have read them but I wasn't collecting the prog weekly at certain points and haven't gone out of my way to track them down. The second collection of Dan Dare is another. Thats not really skipping though, just I've never had them in my hands in order to skip.

I do skip a lot of the Meg text articles - they can be quite repetitive, or as Magnetica says about creators and comics I've not heard of and am not likely to read. Or quite often they're basically extended adverts for upcoming Rebellion products, which, if I'm interested in, I'll be buying anyway.

[Barrington Boots]

Dynosty! That's possibly the first strip I stopped reading and never went back to. Hated it.

[IndigoPrime]

Regened aside I think I gave up on Hope this year: I wasn't enjoying it on any levels, unlike previous series.

That's such an odd one for me. I loved the first two series. Bought both of the extremely skinny trades, even. But that last series left me cold. I still read it, mind.

That all said, I do wonder how much of this is a 2000 AD thing, to some degree. I think I mentioned elsewhere on the forum, but I'm currently working through boxes of Marvel Panini reprints. I've skimmed quite a few series, and have given up entirely on classic Spidey and also 2099, because I think both of those are unreadable tosh.

[Magnetica]

A slightly different take on the question: how many episodes does it take for you to decide to skip something?

And is there ever a point, when having decided to skip something you might give it another go? A new series or it perhaps?

[Blue Cactus]

Dynosty! That's possibly the first strip I stopped reading and never went back to. Hated it.

Not well loved, is it? I'd still kind of like to read it one day! Not sure what Langley's style was like early on but I loved that slimy oozing work he did on the three-part Nemesis story shortly after.

[IndigoPrime]

In 2000 AD, I'll usually give something three or four episodes before it gets shoved into a bucket of love/like/don't like. But I'll continue reading and those things can change. With Spidey, I think I gave up after four of five issues of barely readable Todd McFarlane comics. 2099: one series read fully. Half of one skimmed. Then I was done.

[Barrington Boots]

Good question. I think 3 or 4 episodes also.
At heart, I want to like everything in the Prog so I'm usually up for giving something another go. A new series will entice me to start afresh, or just an excuse (I picked up Enemy Earth again in the new year and read it all back for example)

The exception would be if I really found the content of the strip distasteful. This doesn't really apply to the Prog but I've read other comics where the subject matter is so unpleasant to me that I'd just mentally stick that in a 'never again' category.