Prog 2350 - 2000ad Battle Action*

[JudgeJudi]

This didn't work for me - I vaguely remember battle action and some of the strips but not all so it was all a bit random to me.

[Woolly]

What a wonderful prog!

As many have said, I'd be very happy indeed for some of these strips to continue (albeit in their own little bubble universe, outside of the main continuities).

Only one that didn't really click for me was Hellman of Hell Force, but the idea is still solid. I'd still happily take more!

Extra oil rations for whichever droid came up with this idea, and hats off to all the droids involved in creating this one. You all played a blinder!

[GoGilesGo]

Only one that didn't really click for me was Hellman of Hell Force,

-- spoiler --

I was hoping the prisoners in the cages would turn out to be Constanta and his Fiends. But happy with how this panned out.

[nxylas]

This didn't work for me - I vaguely remember battle action and some of the strips but not all so it was all a bit random to me.

I read Action regularly, but was only an occasional Battle reader, usually when I found a copy in a doctor's waiting room or similar. It didn't matter to me, as the strips didn't really rely on memories of the originals. Presumably if the merger had happened in real life, the stories would have been unfamiliar to a significant number of the 2000AD readership.

[Jim_Campbell]

Presumably if the merger had happened in real life, the stories would have been unfamiliar to a significant number of the 2000AD readership.

True. I'd never read a single issue of Tornado when that merger happened... but I remember being creeped the fuck out by several episodes of 'Wolfie Smith'* and 'Blackhawk' became a solid favourite as the series went on and it leaned more and more heavily into just giving Bellardinelli increasingly weird shit to draw.

*"Freedom for Tooting!"

[scrotnig]

I'm going to have to say it... I wish they would use the chrome logo on the regular Prog again... along with all the other stuff like the "Earth money" and "in orbit every Wednesday" etc.

I know it won't happen. But having seen it, it reminds me just how great the progs of that era looked. That *is* 2000AD for me. It looked like that for a very long time, and it was fantastic throughout. I don't think that look has dated at all (whereas the recreation of the very first logo, as used on Regened, DOES look dated for some reason).

Bring back the Chrome logo! The campaign starts here! (Even though it will likely be a one man campaign that everyone will laugh at).

[The Corinthian]

I liked this but it kicked off my inner pedant, a little nagging voice that kept saying that if Battle had been merged into 2000AD in 1982 then none of the featured strips would have made the cut. 'El Mestizo', 'Hellman' et al hadn't been in Battle for years by that point and mergers always picked up current strips. 2000AD and Battle in 1982 would have had skiffy spins on 'Truck Turpin' and 'The Fists of Jimmy Chang' not 'Dredger'.

It also gives the impression that Tharg would have dropped 'Charley's War', which would be almost as wrong as trying to give it a Tooth spin.

But now I'm wondering what would have happened if 2000AD, not Eagle, had swallowed up Scream! in 1984 and if Tharg wants to have a crack at that for Prog 2400.

[broodblik]

Bring back the Chrome logo! The campaign starts here! (Even though it will likely be a one man campaign that everyone will laugh at).

Second

[GoGilesGo]

2000AD and Battle in 1982 would have had skiffy spins on 'Truck Turpin' and 'The Fists of Jimmy Chang' not 'Dredger'.

Grab a copy of The Meg - Jimmy makes quite a significant appearance.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Bring back the Chrome logo! The campaign starts here! (Even though it will likely be a one man campaign that everyone will laugh at).

Second

Thirded

[Richard]

I prefer the rectangular logo which came after it. The current logo resembles that. But I agree that the chrome logo would look better on the Regened progs than the 1977 one.

[norton canes]

as a prog this is one that delivers in spades.  It's packed with cracking ideas, amazing artwork and a mixture of the familiar and new. Certainly the strongest it's been for a while for my money

Just want to join the chorus echoing this sentiment. Last prog rightly got a lot of plaudits here for the bleak tone of some very adult stories but to be perfectly honest... this is what we want. This is 2000 AD. This captures its tone and spirit perfectly. Short, sharp strips absolutely bursting with with Action. Ideal for the regular prog, ideal for Regened. We talk a lot here about the rights and wrongs of Regened, but maybe we actually need to look at the regular progs and see what needs to change. For me, these one-shot format stories are spot-on. To be honest I don't read 2000 AD for protracted, slow-burn epics. Sure, it's great when something like Brink comes along and takes that idea to the extreme. But for the most part my prog is all about that 15 minutes of concentrated thrill-power that ignites my Wednesdays, and this crossover has fulfilled that function perfectly.

Maybe 2000 AD has grown up a little bit too much and needs to rediscover its youth.

[nxylas]

I liked this but it kicked off my inner pedant, a little nagging voice that kept saying that if Battle had been merged into 2000AD in 1982 then none of the featured strips would have made the cut.

My inner pedant chafed more at the Spielberg reference. Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 1981.

[GordonR]

I liked this but it kicked off my inner pedant, a little nagging voice that kept saying that if Battle had been merged into 2000AD in 1982 then none of the featured strips would have made the cut.

My inner pedant chafed more at the Spielberg reference. Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 1981.

And this What If merger happens in 1982 or 83.  The set-up Tharg story even begins 'Another 1982'.

Not sure what problem you're highlighting here.

[Max Headroom]

This didn't work for me - I vaguely remember battle action and some of the strips but not all so it was all a bit random to me.

I must say that I agree with the above and that I didn't like it too much. Maybe it's just me, as it seems to have gone down well with most on the forum.