This probably goes somewhat against the spirit of a weekly comic. but I'm going to streamline my 2000 AD experience by only reading each story once they are complete, from start-to-finish in one sitting. My MO will be the following:
1. New prog arrives: leaf through and make a note of any new stories in the Notes app on my phone (together with prog number)
2. Read any standalone strips, Tharg's intro, letters page etc.
3. If any stories have completed this week, check my Notes app, dig out the necessary back progs and read the whole story in one go.
Is this sacrilege? Do any of you guys do anything similar (like, for example just wait until you have a pile to read, and then devour them in one go)?
I used to read in order of preference - least favourite first, ending with top thrill (usually Dredd) - I abandoned this when I lost out on the amazing Trifecta reveal, so now it's traditional front-to-back with the prog.
As for the Meg, I read the Dredd, realise I don't remember what happened in the rest and put it to one side for a reread at some unspecified point in the future.
Week to week I'm a straight front to backer - with the odd exception if I'm particularly excited about an episode of any given story, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
I do however really like a story in one go approach from time to time. Done an entire Prog Slog that way a few years ago. I'd take a years Progs read all the Dredds then go back and read each story, or book / volume / phase there of. This gets a little slippy on thrills like Sinister Dexter but I read those in clumps.
I will also add specific stories to by read/re-read spreadsheet to read them in one go. Particularly ones I've enjoyed but don't think I've fully got to grips with. Can take 2 or 3 years to get to these but its fun when they land.
Occasionally when I'm struggling with a story I will go back and read from the start in one go to see if that pulls it all together as well.
So basically I true all sorts as suits. I do find you get a very different view of the pacing etc when read as one.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 12 November, 2019, 12:00:55 PM
I used to read in order of preference - least favourite first, ending with top thrill (usually Dredd) - I abandoned this when I lost out on the amazing Trifecta reveal, so now it's traditional front-to-back with the prog.
Same here - I didn't spoil myself for Trifecta, but I always have it in the back of my mind that if I read stories in an order different to how they're published then something like that could happen.
As soon as I downloaded the latest prog I will read it from beginning to end in one sitting. If you wait for stories to end you can not really participate in the weekly prog review (you might read a spoiler or two). I will before I start reading the prog just scan tough the previous week's prog.
QuoteWeek to week I'm a straight front to backer - with the odd exception if I'm particularly excited about an episode of any given story, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
This is what I do, except that at the moment I'm skipping Defoe and reading it last.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 12 November, 2019, 01:05:53 PM
I do however really like a story in one go approach from time to time. Done an entire Prog Slog that way a few years ago. I'd take a years Progs read all the Dredds then go back and read each story, or book / volume / phase there of.
Probably my fave memory of reading 2000 AD when I was a kid was actually when I stopped getting it regularly for a couple of years, and then a mate lent me - I don't know - maybe 80-100 back-progs (from around 580 to 680), and even a trolley bag to get them all back to my house! I remember being so excited to get home and just cherry-pick the stories I wanted to read, and experience them from start to finish. It really made me realise what I was missing and I ended up getting it weekly again.
Dredd first, then whatever other strip has my full attention (right now that's Brink). Then any one-off's. Strips I'm unsure of, or feel I would need to re-read the previous episode to fully appreciate, wait until they're complete. (Ironically this is more friction-free since going digital.)
My favorite prog reading experience was when I lived in Scotland still, and I'd get myself set up at the back window of my flat overlooking the garden, with a cuppa. Such lovely.
Now it's all PDFs.
(I remember when it was all paper round these parts etc.)
I just read mine on the bog, Grud knows what you lot are on about! 😉
I tend to read it the week it comes out and in the order in the Prog.
I recently fell behind on my Megs. When I read them I got the last few months together and read each story from the start up to the point it had reached. That worked really well.
It varies for me. Sometimes – mostly – I'll read it straight through. Sometimes, if I'm particularly into a strip, I'll skip to it first. Occasionally, I'll not read the Prog for a while and then have to catch up. The Meg is more of a problem, because I'm finding it hard to keep track month to month. In part, that's down to storytelling. Some strips right now just aren't that memorable. But probably also I'm just losing track due to a million other things going on!
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 12 November, 2019, 01:05:53 PM
Week to week I'm a straight front to backer - with the odd exception if I'm particularly excited about an episode of any given story, but that's the exception rather than the rule
Yep, same for me too, I'm a straight front-to-backer (hmm, one for the 'things that went over your head' thread there)
Usually buy the prog on a Wednesday and curl up with it last thing that evening.
I just laze in bed on Saturday morning until the letterbox goes, then grab the prog, make a cup of coffee and go back to bed and read it :)
Unless the prog doesn't arrive, in which case it's just not worth getting out of bed anyway...
Digital copy on my commute. Always save Dredd to the end as it is my favorite strip.
Front to back for me, but with the occasional "Series so far re-read" if my memory fails me. Possibly more likely with the Meg though as it's less frequent.
Dredd is usually strong of course, which gets proceedings off to a good start with the front to back approach.
I read it in the order Tharg serves it, almost always.
Read it from front to back every week. Think the only exception to this in history was the last episode of Red Seas.
Every few months I'll do a full reread of every story which has finished recently, regardless of what I thought of it weekly. Depending on my mood, this will sometimes expand to reread of the entire strip to date. For example, I'm anticipating a Machine Law - Harvey - Guatemala feast on the train tomorrow night but I've been putting off a full reread of Michael Collins' Dredd for a while.
I read my Prog in story printed order and like to savour it over the week (can't have concentrated thrill-power, too dangerous) and usually finish it on the Tuesday ready for Prog release day on the Wednesday, where I pick it up from my local thrill merchant! :)
Always front-to-back for me, as Tharg intended (when I was still reading it). Feet up and a cup of tea on a Saturday afternoon, in the garden if the weather was nice. I do miss that little bit of routine.
Quote from: I, Cosh on 14 November, 2019, 10:45:41 AM
Michael Collins' Dredd for a while.
Hey,
Mike! I think I've found the culprit who wrote that letter telling you to keep republican sentiments out of your Dredd stories.
Quote from: Frank on 14 November, 2019, 01:27:33 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 14 November, 2019, 10:45:41 AM
Michael Collins' Dredd for a while.
Hey, Mike! I think I've found the culprit who wrote that letter telling you to keep republican sentiments out of your Dredd stories.
Arf. One story that benefitted from a reread was Age of the Wolfe Tone.
Like so many, I read the Prog in the order it arrives, invariably starting with the 'Damage Report' segment. Except on occasions when one particular story has some week-to-week thrills going on (that tends to be something written by Wagner or Abnett, who have that writing skill well-honed!), and I might jump straight to that. Reading out of order digitally is a bit of a pain - you have to take a bit of a stab at guessing which page from the list at the bottom of the screen will jump to the correct point. Trying to re-read each episode of a single thrill using my digital progs becomes a bit of a chore, which often doesn't do the story any favours. It's almost as if they want me to buy the collected editions.
Conversely, I get the Meg in original paper format, and typically read each thrill (and some of the articles) in random order, perhaps because I enjoy the ability to leaf through it in a way that I can't do digitally.
I'm also long overdue a Dredd re-read focussing on the Carroll-scripted efforts. I suspect he's been seeding certain plot elements for a lot longer than I've noticed.
Quote from: I, Cosh on 14 November, 2019, 02:06:24 PM
Quote from: Frank on 14 November, 2019, 01:27:33 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 14 November, 2019, 10:45:41 AM
Michael Collins' Dredd for a while.
Hey, Mike! I think I've found the culprit who wrote that letter telling you to keep republican sentiments out of your Dredd stories.
Arf. One story that benefitted from a reread was Age of the Wolfe Tone.
Ooh,
nice return. I read the first page of every story when Tharg posts them on social media, then tackle the rest in order of publication each Wednesday morning
*I've already seen the cover, too, so
Damage Report is my real landing point. Technically, Tharg's opening address should be the place to start, but
Damage Report occasionally says something interesting, whereas Tharg's intros are usually just boiler plate
**Tharg's intro bucked the trend this week, with TMO urging readers not to vote Tory (https://i.imgur.com/FUJlgSh.png?1).
* As a kid who was crestfallen when 2000ad didn't arrive on a Wednesday - and would sometimes walk 7 miles to the nearest big town on the off chance the problem was with my local paper shop - knowing 2000ad will be waiting there whenever I wake up is one of life's guaranteed small pleasures.
** Although the Damage Reports that are written in character - where the Nerve Centre is invaded or something (like the current ones) - are really Tharg text stories, which are exactly as thrilling as that sounds.
Quote from: Frank on 14 November, 2019, 05:28:31 PM
Tharg's intro bucked the trend this week, with TMO urging readers not to vote Tory (https://i.imgur.com/FUJlgSh.png?1).
The Johnson humanoid may never have picked his top three thrills, but has the Corbynlet? And were they Red Seas, Durham Red, and, of course, Antisemitic Wars?
Quote from: Greg M. on 14 November, 2019, 06:51:20 PM
Antisemitic Wars?
Gold Star * * If I were your editor, I'd have tweaked that to Antisemite Wars, but you're not getting paid, so do your own thing.