Prog 2233:Regened - Ready to face the law?

[Tjm86]

Mm. It’s hard to know where Dept K is going or where it wants to be. I’d assumed Black Science meets Dreddworld was on the cards, with the crew hopping dimensions and having adventures ...

To be fair that does appear to still be possible.  I'm personally glad that they didn't plump for the Sliders rip-off.  Actually being able to control the dimension-hopping makes for interesting potentialities (dare I say it, alternates?)  Then again, who's to say this is a permanent state of affairs?

[broodblik]

The cover in B/W:

[DrJomster]

This was an excellent regened prog, I have to say. They’ve been improving as they go along, but we’re really cooking now. A hearty congrats to all involved!

[Sean SD]

My Top 3 for Prog 2233 Regened

1st - Cadet Dredd - Loved the colour change when Rico and Dredd were back in their quarters and also next page when there was some snooping around in evidence room. (Cadet Wagner Guilty lol)
2nd - Pandora Perfect - fun strip with plenty more stories to tell
3rd - Anderson Psi Division - You may be clever but Anderson and her Padawan outsmarted you

Future shock was fine but Department K didn't really work for me.

Finder Keeper was fun in previous Regened issues so hope it comes back in the next one

[CalHab]

The cover in B/W:

Tharg really needs to be putting a lot more work Neil Googe's way.

[Magnetica]

I have previously cast doubt on the interest of children in 2000AD.

I now take it all back. My eleven year old son has now read the lastest Regened issue and loved it.

Loved it so much he asked me if there were any more. So I have now dug out all the previous Regnened issues and given them to him.

He particularly liked Cadet Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper and Pandora Perfect.

I am planning on weaning him into Full Tilt Boogie and Department K in the full Prog. Plus the current Chimpski story should also be suitable.

So yeah….a big hit…belatedly.

[CalHab]

That's good news! Great to hear that its working with its target audience.

I genuinely think that kids still love comics as much as ever. The trick is to get them into their hands with the right stories and in the right format.

[IndigoPrime]

I genuinely think that kids still love comics as much as ever. The trick is to get them into their hands with the right stories and in the right format.

This. As I’ve said a bunch of times here, few of mini-IP’s friends get comics. Why? Because their parents don’t get them comics. Why? Probably because they never had that habit themselves or just aren’t aware there’s good stuff out there.

Occasionally, people nonetheless make an effort. I might have mentioned here before about a guy I saw in the library pre-COVID, looking confused at the graphic novels section for nippers. He said he didn’t really know about comics but thought his kids should experience them. (I happily recommended a bunch of stuff!) But that’s rare.

All that said, it’s great to hear about one-off stories like this about children enjoying the new Rebellion material. It won’t be for all of them, but I hope it will be for enough of them. Here, mini-IP just turned 7 and so I’d say is probably still a bit young for Regened. Still, she got Chibi Usagi for her birthday and the entire Zita the Spacegirl set. She loves anything by Jamie Smart. ‘My’ Cor/Buster and Tammy/Jinty comics are now in her room, permanently. But much of that is down to me having introduced so many comics to her—and knowing about them in the first place. Newsagents and modern publishing trends have a lot to answer for…

He particularly liked […] Pandora Perfect.

Good call, mini-Magnetica!

[broodblik]

Is it not the principle behind the FCBD concept to get people to start reading comics as well?

[CalHab]

Possibly. The reality of FCBD unfortunately seems to be filling shops with "customers" who are looking to flip rarities and aren't interested in actually buying anything.

[CalHab]

This. As I’ve said a bunch of times here, few of mini-IP’s friends get comics. Why? Because their parents don’t get them comics. Why? Probably because they never had that habit themselves or just aren’t aware there’s good stuff out there.

We pass on bundles of The Beano to my daughter's friends. It's very popular with kids when they actually get the chance to read it. Distribution seems to be the issue. Before we got the subscription (which is excellent) I would only see every third issue or so in our local shop. It just isn't widely available like it used to be.

[IndigoPrime]

Is it not the principle behind the FCBD concept to get people to start reading comics as well?

I wonder how many people outside of the comics sphere even know about that, though—and, for that matter, how many people have an LCS that actually does FCBD. Mine doesn’t.

I personally like FCBD a lot, but I always just grab stuff off of eBay and use the comics as testing grounds for things I might like to buy. (Chibi Usagi was rather delightful last year, and now mini-IP owns the trade.)

We pass on bundles of The Beano to my daughter's friends. It's very popular with kids when they actually get the chance to read it. Distribution seems to be the issue. Before we got the subscription (which is excellent) I would only see every third issue or so in our local shop. It just isn't widely available like it used to be.

Pot luck, I suppose. I’ve only ever once seen The Phoenix in the wild—we had to drive to Reading to get it. No-one should have to drive to Reading. But The Beano can be bought in at least two or three shops in our town centre (pop: ~40k) and also in one of the housing estate supermarkets.

A sub’s a smarter move, mind, with The Beano, not least because you get the thing for half price.