Is the forum getting slow to respond to things? The scifi special unexpectedly dropped through the letterbox yesterday, and was devoured last night.
100 pages, four new strips and features, a double page spread, and an interview- in total roughly a 50/50 new/reprint, £7.99. And while that may seem more expensive than usual in comparison to the similarly 100 page end of year progs, I have to say I enjoyed this one more than perhaps any similar 2000AD publication in memory. Going back to the original prog 2000, at least.
The reason? Two of the new strips- Dredd and Kingdom- are among the best of their kind I've ever read. The Dredd one will just make everyone smile, and Kingdom brought a lump to my throat, and made me briefly consider dripping writer Dan Abnett a line thanking him. How often does that happen? Fans of The Red Seas and Storm Warning, two strips I'm not usually enamored with, will be pleased to hear both are back in here, with new stories- and both are very, very good.
The reprints include my favourite Sinister Dexter episode, what is probably the best single episode of Dante, Al Ewing's first work for Tharg- a particularly effective Terror Tale- and 'Leaving Rowdy Yates', a Dredd that deserves to be read again and again.
The feature article on "the best strips of the Rebellion years" is considered and serves as a delicate pointer to readers that there is a hall of a lot more where this came from. And the interview with Jason Kingsley is candid and should placate a few worries when it comes to things such as sales and circulation, as well as the future- which is spoken of in terms far more specific than we are perhaps used to.
Theres a double page art spread, that in past years would have been a Star Scan, but these days does seem somewhat of a man odd relic of the days when we would have eagerly stuck these things on our walls. Lovely though.
I couldnt be happier. As a stand alone sample of everything the modern prog is, they couldnt have put together a better package. I hope it sells by the bucket load.
SBT
I think that my thrill-buffers were damaged by this episode of Kingdom as Storm Warning made me cry.
All of the strips were judged well and thoroughly deserving of being seen.
Thanks to Cyber-Matt for holding the command Module together and giving us such a fantastic treat.
It was indeed. Inwas reminded throughout of that old squarebound 'Best of 2000AD' special, that reprinted Red Planet Blues and The Secret Life of The Blitzspear- and which has always been my absolute favourite 2000AD publication, full stop- and the one "desert island prog" I'd always grab, if forced. That one was all reprint- that this one was half new, and the new half managed to be even better than the old, just makes this wary old squaxx beam from ear to ear.
As an aside- can we PLEASE have an "edit" function back? Even with the "preview" function on posts, typos still creep in when dealing with the eccentricities of smartphones, and I hate looking like someone who cant use the English language.
SBT
Perhaps we can look into expanding the edit window (which, IIRC, is currently five minutes). Although we are now in a good place with the forum, it's unlikely we will leave posts to be permanently editable.
Wow. Just wow.
When 2000ad gets things right it just gets things so very, very right. This years Sci-fi Special is one of those things and to be fair therefore encaptulates perfectly Rebellion's 20 years at the helm. 2000ad done perfectly.
Somewhere in these parts we (and I include myself) questioned quite why there was so much reprint in this comic. The answer is its just what it needs. The choices are just absolutely spot on. Worth noting was well it makes it a bumper package. So no one is being short changed.
Then there's a couple of text articles - but they don't feel like filler. Karl Stock puts his entry in for Broodblik's The Rebellion Years Top 10 Series - Tournament. Except he get it wrong, does a top 20, includes the Meg and doesn't add all the strips I love most (he gets quite a few mind). Its like he didn't even bother to read the opening post.
Then there is a nice interview with Jason 'The talky one' Kingsley. And it nothing new, but really rather nice. Just perfect warm fuzzes.
So all of that before you get to the real highlights. There's no need to give blow by blow accounts on how good all this is, you simply have to name the strips, all built on the simple premise of what if Rebellion 2000ad met pre-Rebellion 2000ad. So we get:
Kingdom vs. Shako
Storm Warning vs Blackhawk
Red Seas vs Ant Wars - f**k me, have you ever heard of anything more perfect than Red Seas vs Ant Wars - oh that this was 8 parts not 8 pages!
and the absolute highlight of all this Dredd vs Zombo. Simply the funniest things I've, seen / read / heard / consumned in any form in a long time (well this isn't true as I watched a Bill Hicks documentry recently, but aside from that). Its just perfect. Page 4 alone as Dredd makes it clear that 'Mister Helmet' isn't a name that's going to carry, is worth the cover price along. 12 perfect panels. Al Ewing and Jake Lynch just deliever it so perfectly. Oh and they pack quite the fantastic punchline too.
So yeah this is the perfect Special and not too damned far off the perfect comic. If you haven't buy it now. In fact buy 4 and give three away - just superb.
Okay I'll stop saying 'Perfect' now...
Oh and you know what the cover just sums it up. Its so exciting to see Jock draw Dredd on a cover again. But he's looming over the famous panorama of... Oxford... that shouldn't work. But a magnificent creator, like those inside of course pulls it off perfec... sublimely.
I really enjoyed this. Four new stories, five very well-chosen reprints, an interview, a best-of-the-last-20-years feature, and two star scans. It's nice to see Al Ewing back, and his Judge Dredd [spoiler]vs Zombo[/spoiler] story is mental.
Unexpectedly, though, the highlight for me was the interview with Jason Kingsley, because he reveals that four times more people are reading 2000AD now than when Rebellion acquired it 20 years ago. Yay!
The Kingsley interview might be nothing new in terms of subject matter, but some of the pieces of information — as noted earlier — were surprisingly candid. Also, if retail has only dropped slightly (COVID aside), that's a big deal for any publication over the past 20 years. (Most I work on have lost anything up to 50%.) If subs are ramping up, that can only be a good thing. (Subscriptions mean more of your money goes directly to the publisher, rather than to a retailer, and is more likely to help keep said publication alive.)
Cover and link to Jock's process breakdown (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-covers-uncovered-jock-returns-for-the-2020-2000-ad-sci-fi-special/)
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Screenshot-2020-06-08-19.59.12-784x1024.png)
I am loving this issue. It was delivered to my neighbour by mistake and I'm sure she had a good 'ol peek before letting me know.
I've not read the Terror Tale before and it is quite something. Dredd interacting with Zombo was hilarious and yes the Kingdom strip makes me yearn for more of Gene!
Top notch stuff all round!
too late to edit now - sorry if saying who Dredd is interrogating is a spoiler!
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 20 June, 2020, 01:07:50 PM
The Kingsley interview might be nothing new in terms of subject matter, but some of the pieces of information — as noted earlier — were surprisingly candid. Also, if retail has only dropped slightly (COVID aside), that's a big deal for any publication over the past 20 years. (Most I work on have lost anything up to 50%.) If subs are ramping up, that can only be a good thing. (Subscriptions mean more of your money goes directly to the publisher, rather than to a retailer, and is more likely to help keep said publication alive.)
Yeah and more significently the assumption has always remained that numbers have dropped - as most publications I think (???) over the last 20 years but 2000ad numbers - during the 20 years of Rebellions time are up overall. This includes physical sales being up overall and subs and digital being four times as much.
That's got to be great news right? Or have I misread / interupted that?
Short of what's being said in the interview being wildly misinterpreted, you're not missing anything. Kingsley states that readership is up on when Rebellion took over. By any measure, that is against the grain of publishing, whether that's comics or beyond.
Physical sales in shops are actually slightly down, but not by much. But subs and digital are up fourfold.
Is the Summer Special not on the App yet, or am I missing something?
Interesting about the digital sales - since I shifted to digital (against my will), I find I'm buying a lot more Rebellion downloads with the savings - so for example I've started getting the Meg too, for about the same money I'd spend in a month on just the physical Prog, and I find myself grabbing Specials and back-Megs I've missed every few weeks. I haven't really been buying the Treasury volumes physically (just Charley's War and Marney), but having really enjoyed the Valiant 'origin stories' in this week's Meg floppy I'm becoming seriously tempted to do so digitally.
That's not doing my LCS any good, and I do intend to buy up the physical progs I've missed through them when all this shite is over, but it has to be a lot more moolah going direct from my bank account to Rebellion than there has for many years.
Hrmn...I'm wondering if this is going to be available digitally ... shop currently says no.
I dont think it's actually on sale til Wednesday. I was floored when it dropped through the door. Would imagine the digital version will be available then.
SBT
Quite possibly the best description of Dredd ever on page three of that first strip! 😆😆
Worth buying just for that.
Maybe the collapse of American comics will lure Al back to Dredd for a while, because that was fantastic.
And the Red Seas was lovely, Yeowell's Classic pensmanship always a joy and the effects-bubbles only page a pure comics thrill - kudos to Jim if he was involved in that. Just great.
Thanks Cyber-Matt, you're a man of fine taste.
I loved the whole thing, a perfect special
Finally read beyond Kingsley's interview (while catching up with a month of 2000AD).
I'll be honest about this: I had no idea it contained reprint before the issue landed, and so I was initially a bit miffed. But on reading it, the mix of old and new really worked. The only one that didn't really click was Nikolai Dante (a massive spoiler for those who haven't read it; robbed of its impact out of context for me). But the other strips were excellent selections.
Dredd/Zombo was great—really funny, and some knowing nods to plot-threads dangling. Kingdom was superb. Red Seas was fun. I'm no fan of Storm Warning/Blackhawk, but that landed well also for me. Stock's best-of was pretty solid. I don't agree with all of it (I don't imagine any reader would go 20 for 20), but he hit many of the right notes there. (Niemand deserved a mention in the list of Dredd writers, mind.)
I don't think there was anything I didn't enjoy in this one, probably making it my favourite of all the specials I've so far read from this year and last.
Just started reading it last night - the Dredd story is laugh out loud funny and I don't think I've ever laughed at a Dredd strip before.
Loving the mash-ups in the strips - a fun idea
And there's a Dan Cornwell piece in there too! (I've updated my guide to Dan's 2000AD work here - https://boysadventurecomics.blogspot.com/2020/06/updated-dan-cornwells-work-for-2000ad_23.html (https://boysadventurecomics.blogspot.com/2020/06/updated-dan-cornwells-work-for-2000ad_23.html)
So, yeah, all in all, really good and much better than I thought it would be based on the idea of <yawn> celebrating 20 years on ownership by Rebellion
Ha! I knew it would be back! I knew it!! (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=45580.msg997507#msg997507)
This hasn't dropped on my doorment yet so I'm meticulously avoiding spoilers.
Nope, it's a prequel!
Bought the special but the digital version is not available for download, hopefully will become available during the day.
Dan Cornwell's pin-up:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbON_slXgBI1hVz?format=jpg&name=large)
Quote from: broodblik on 24 June, 2020, 04:46:41 AM
Bought the special but the digital version is not available for download, hopefully will become available during the day.
Seems to be working now - I had a brief read of the first few stories at lunch.
Got it downloaded and I enjoyed the special especially the Kingdom and Red Sea strips. The Terror Tale from Al Ewing I never read so that was nice as well.
I will now be disappointed if Shako does not appear in a Rebellion special. PUT SHAKO IN TAMMY & JINTY YOU COWARDS :D
Shako in Tammy & Jinty will volt that right on top of the best specials ever !!!!
Quote from: SpaceSpinner2000 on 25 June, 2020, 03:23:33 AM
I will now be disappointed if Shako does not appear in a Rebellion special. PUT SHAKO IN TAMMY & JINTY YOU COWARDS :D
Oh my giddy aunt yes that would be absolutely fantastic.
Interview with Dan and Richard on the Kingdom strip:
https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/ (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/)
Something interesting is that Dan mention that Kingdom is not done which is great news and I felt that the last series the last episode was very much disappointing and a too abrupt ending
That's good news! Thanks for posting that.
Quote from: broodblik on 25 June, 2020, 01:14:31 PM
Interview with Dan and Richard on the Kingdom strip:
https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/ (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/)
I think that Kingdom returning was mentioned in a letters page a while back. It seems much like the interview about Grey Area its just having a 'between seasons break'. It speaks wonders of Dabnetts ability (and I'm not trying to influence the final Ultimate Not Wagner vote here!) that he has the confidence to rest two popular strips - in Kingdom and Grey Area - leaving him only Sinister Dexter, Brink and Lawless (as well of all the work he does in America and in Prose) then rattle off two strips that have made confident starts - all be it one only an episode old.
Also good to hear we might be getting more Feral and Foe as I really warmed to that by the end.
I actually like it as a conclusion. But I'm also happy with "if there's a tale to tell" (much like, say, Fargo on the telly).
So much that is great in this Summer Special - it actually felt special! I think Rebellion are getting the hang of this comic thing.
Never thought I'd be saying this, but I didn't begrudge a single page of the reprint, it was all the Good Stuff and somehow felt fresh in its new context. A genius mix of art styles to add to the pot as well - Dom Reardon, Andy Clarke, Simon Fraser - and what even is a Special without Carlos. A really great showcase for what's best in the Second Half: all that was missing was something from the Edginton stable and maybe a Manco starscan of Sláine for some modern Mills representation.
Anyway, worth the cover price for the Kingdom 'prequel' alone (and although I'd like to have seen the pack again, I can see why they wouldn't have fit into the space). And on the showing of that Dredd how incredibly good has Jake Lynch become.
Picture of a comic in rude health.
(Only one slightly sour note struck in the piece on Cradlegrave - was it necessary to talk about 'cajoling' work out of Smith? It obviously became a difficult working relationship, but the loss of such a unique talent from the comic is something to be regretted, not raked over).
WHERE'S THE BLOODY EDIT BUTTON: I meant "...all that was missing was something from the Rennie stable...", not Edginton, obviously.
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 June, 2020, 03:42:59 PMwas it necessary to talk about 'cajoling' work out of Smith?
TBF, this isn't the first time this has been mentioned by Matt Smith, and it's not like John Smith shied away from his sporadic productivity. I think it's a crying shame John appears to have left the Prog for good though, given how important he was, and how he could still hit it out of the park during the Rebellion years.
As for the reprint, I have now seen one person quite upset by this — a friend who's very hard up for money right now, and wasn't thrilled about paying eight quid for 50% stories he's already read. Which is fair enough, to some degree.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 25 June, 2020, 04:21:58 PM
As for the reprint, I have now seen one person quite upset by this — a friend who's very hard up for money right now, and wasn't thrilled about paying eight quid for 50% stories he's already read. Which is fair enough, to some degree.
Totally fair, and there's lots of that about sadly. Not trying to change anyone's mind (if you don't have the money, these Specials are a big outlay, no question), but padding has ever been the fate of the Summer Special/Annual: in this one there are still 40 pages of brand-new top-quality strip (versus the weekly's usual 26, and the Meg's what, 44?), two very decent features and two glorious star-scans. It might not be quite at Christmas prog levels of page-per-groat value, but it's not far off.
If you view the 'curated' strip as a freebie that doesn't add to the cover price, in the manner of the Meg Floppy, it doesn't seem so bad.
(In my unexpected role as digital evangelist, I note that the download is less than Euro€5).
I chose not to go with the specials bundle this year. It was too much in one go for a start and there were a couple on the list that I really did not want (sorry but ROTR has never been a strip I've had time for).
Our local Smiths was totally flooded out back in February and they've spent the last few months working hard to get things back together. Considering how run down our town centre was before the floods / Covid-19, i do worry that they might not last much longer.
So this is one of the reasons why I try to pick up the specials from them. Plus the fact that it justifies their stocking it, raises the profile and hopefully provides a bit of space for growth. [interesting how the article by Kingsley covers the state of tooth these days]
As a long time reader I felt a little disappointed at the quantity of reprint material initially. On reflection though I would agree that there is a good balance here. Standalone strips that highlight some of the strengths of the prog, the quality of artwork and writing and the diversity of characters on offer.
The price tag might be a bit off-putting though. Especially right now (granted when it was being planned for last year a global pandemic might not have been a factor [oh look, something else Kingsley mentions!]). Then again the last reboot of Wolverine by Marvel was £9 IIRC and nowhere near this level of quality.
... and as Tordel's quite rightly points out, historically Summer Specials / Annuals have always carried a large quantity of reprint material. Granted back in the early days we didn't have quite the array of options we have today so it was much more of a novelty to bask in past glories.
I'm going to agree with the positives outweigh the negatives ...
Quote from: broodblik on 25 June, 2020, 01:14:31 PM
Interview with Dan and Richard on the Kingdom strip:
https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/ (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/)
Something interesting is that Dan mention that Kingdom is not done which is great news and I felt that the last series the last episode was very much disappointing and a too abrupt ending
Ha! I knew it would be back! etc.
I don't go along with the "reprints were always part of a summer special/annual". Thirty years ago, in the IPC days maybe, but it's a very different landscape now, and not something Rebellion have done before.
I get the reasoning for it here, and I think the curation theme works, but 8 quid is really stretching what I can spend on a single 2000AD, (even if it had been all new)
That said, the new stuff that's there is really really good. Al Ewing is just sublime on Dredd. Please get him to do more. And total hat doff to Jake Lynch for not making me miss Henry Flint - no easy ask.
There haven't been that many Summer Specials in the intervening years, mind.
In terms of new content, a quick thumbing shows the 2018 Special was 45 pages of new strip, and last year's was 40 plus the Wagner script pages. So not wildly off there.
But was the newsagent cover price really STG£8? Cos that IS a big leap, and one I wouldn't have been able to make myself. The digital cost me no more than a Meg, for a similar amount of content.
I should point out that Meg #400 was also £7.99 two years ago. That surprised me too.
SBT
Ouch. I confess to bring a bit drunk on digital pricing at the moment - I normally can't stretch to a regular Meg, so essentially bring able to get one free with my progs is also leading me to gradually buy up all the specials I've passed up over the years... It'll never replace the physical experience for me, but by Grud is digital good value
What a brilliant sci-fi special!
Message ends.
Actually, no it doesn't. That was a great mix of pairing up thrills and curating classic thrills. Hopefully lured a few new people into subscriptions. Really loved that! Right, I'm off to the digital shop to buy another special.
Yeah great stuff, though I get the point about the price and the inclusion of reprints. For me, as someone who wasn't reading 2000 AD from 2000-2017, they were really welcome though.
Dredd/Zombo and G-Dog/Shako definitely the best of the new thrills.
Interview with Ian and Steve on the Red Seas strip:
https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-ian-edginton-steve-yeowell-when-pirates-need-the-industrial-ant-powder/ (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-ian-edginton-steve-yeowell-when-pirates-need-the-industrial-ant-powder/)
Ian also mentioned that he is working on more Scarlet Traces and Kingmaker plus more Fiends of the Eastern Front with Tiernen Trevallion.
I'm only about 3/4 way through at the moment; but am being driven insane by the typos, particularly the repetitive one. Mek-Quake sort it out please.
Still not able to buy this via the iOS app. The price label is continually refreshing and has been all week, despite multiple restarts and refreshes.
Quote from: I, Cosh on 30 June, 2020, 02:48:05 PM
Still not able to buy this via the iOS app. The price label is continually refreshing and has been all week, despite multiple restarts and refreshes.
Buy it via the web store and it will be then be available via the iOS app (that is how I do it)
I enjoyed this special a lot. I had mixed feelings concerning the reprint material, but it turned out that much of it was either published before my time, or I'd forgotten the stories. Either way, most of the reprint stuff was new to me. I do remember the Dante story, but that was welcome. That last panel hurts my heart to look at. In a good way, of that make sense.
I think the only story I wasn't so keen on was Dredd Vs Zombo. I DID like most of the story and I found their interaction very funny [spoiler] but then that super-zombo character turned up and it just got too silly for me. Or perhaps 'silly in the wrong way' would be more accurate as I do like some very silly stuff.[/spoiler]
Are you aware that [spoiler]that was an alt-universe version of terrible 2000 AD character Angel[/spoiler]?
Up with this kind of thing!
Really enjoyable new strips, in a daft and fun and one off kind of way. Perfect summer special stuff.
Great curated strips.
Interesting text throughout, not just the interview but also the intros.
Quote from: Richard on 20 June, 2020, 04:36:19 PM
Physical sales in shops are actually slightly down, but not by much. But subs and digital are up fourfold.
I'm the sort of person who still goes to HMV to buy CDs so I also like to get physical copies of 2000AD as well. My local newsagent has actually stayed open throughout the lockdown and I've made a point of keeping up going there every week so as to do my bit to support it.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 01 July, 2020, 09:53:44 AM
Are you aware that [spoiler]that was an alt-universe version of terrible 2000 AD character Angel[/spoiler]?
Nope, I definitely wasn't, and I don't know who that is. Before my time maybe? I figured it was supposed to be another version of Zombo what with the green skin colour etc. In my defence, it's the kind of shenanigans that would occur in the Zombo strip, what with the anti-zombo thing, etc.
So one for the 'over my head' threadmaybe, but thanks for the explanation. Or I'm just rubbish. 😄
Mardroid: [spoiler]He's a third-rate ancient 2000 AD character who's had the odd comeback, and also a kind of pseudo follow-up, in the form of Angel Zeri. So: one for the old gits to smile over, but probably a bit baffling for those without quite encyclopaedic knowledge of the Prog.[/spoiler]
Check out Barney for more info: http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=index
That would be [spoiler]2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=angel[/spoiler]
Edited link due to spoiler—IP
Angel is one of the most forgettable strip in the comics history. It was a bit rubbish and utter bland and i read it only a few years ago but can remember very little about it.
Curiously therefore it seems to get referred a bit. Its bland obsurity being its main point of reference!
OK, I'm giving up with the spoiler edits now...
In which progs did Angel appear ?
95–99: http://2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=angel
Angel was reprinted in meg 321's floppy, after the main event of Death Planet.
It's got the barmy conceit that during a jet fighter crash, the plane's computer melts into the pilot (Harry Angel) and they become a cyber-organic entity that makes him a bit like The Bionic Man. Now, Steve Austin's bionic leg allowed him to run at amazing speeds (even though the other leg wasn't bionic, so you'd expect him more to be able to hop at amazing speeds), but Angel's powers are even more mystifying: he can fall from space to earth and land safely because ... his computer thinks he's a plane! Logic, she does not live here.
He was (first?) brought back into the comic during Armoured Gideon series The Collector (progs 889-899), in which he features as one of the ideas that cannot die as long as we remember them (like in American Gods, sort of).
I'm not sure if he cropped up in the meantime, but he springs up again in 2017's 40th Anniversary Special in Al Ewing's Zombo tale - where he introduces himself (in his underpants) as Zombo Prime:
(https://i.imgur.com/obM1tdl.png)
Thanks for sharing Indigo and Funt I have Meg 321 so I will check it out