Forthcoming Thrills - 2022

[Colin YNWA]

Oh and Hookjaw in the floppie already!

[broodblik]

Oh and Hookjaw in the floppie already!

Little bit disappointed about that. 

[Colin YNWA]

Oh and Hookjaw in the floppie already!

Little bit disappointed about that.

It deserves a better showcase for sure and does suggest that we won't be getting any more?

[broodblik]

It would be a pity if we do not get more

[Richard]

It might suggest the opposite. But it's too soon for a reprint.

[BPP]

Whose done that cover? I can't shake the feeling it looks a bit Frank Quitely... but I'm not convinced it is?

My guess is Dylan Teague.

It’s lush.

[The Mind of Wolfie Smith]

i'm starting to wonder if the never-ending skip tracer is actually some huge postmodern joke on all of us.

[broodblik]

i'm starting to wonder if the never-ending skip tracer is actually some huge postmodern joke on all of us.

It should be the last one, the grand finale. Maybe the forum does not like it but for its longevity it must have some fans out there somewhere

[IndigoPrime]

Does anyone on the forum like it? It’s not unusual for a strip to be divisive but I can’t recall another recent one met with almost unanimous negativity here. (And that bloody fridging grates in a comic that even 45 years in still has clear problems with gender balance.)

[Colin YNWA]

The weird thing with Skip T is its not objectively bad as such, fridging aside, the art is great, there have been moments and even whole stories that are decent and one (the second one) was pretty good.. its just so... forgetable. Nothing in it grabs you and each time you think it might be shifting to an interesting place it drifts away. There have been much 'worse' strips in the comic, but few that leave such little impact. Even terrible strips at least have that, the fact they are terrible and instill something in you.

It reminds me most of Killer. Its as if folks sat down and wrote a list of all the things that can make a 2000ad story work and try to build a series from that, without working out how those individual elements need to piece together to become a satisfying whole. When I reread it recently I really tried to engage with and understand what it was about it that worked and didn't work... but I just couldn't. Even when consiously trying to 'read' it, to explore it I found it slipping past my attention, drifting away and I just found myself not able to pay it the time I was consiously trying to. Then without really realising it I was barely reading it at all and skimming through to get past it.

Such a shame as somewhere there's a decent story in there, a decent setting and a character that could be made interesting (as it got so close to in the second story). It just tries to do so much it completely fails to do anything well.

[The Mind of Wolfie Smith]

the strangest thing of all is that i think james peaty is a decent writer. i like diamond dogs. and his doctor who comics are often excellent. maybe the whole problem here is the premise, the pitch? also, comics, for me, as with all storytelling, only work when there is a sense of character and character development. all the characters in skip tracer are mere ciphers.

[Blue Cactus]

Oh and Hookjaw in the floppie already!

Oh really? Too soon!

[Richard]

I don't think I have liked anything by James Peaty.

[IndigoPrime]

The weird thing with Skip T is its not objectively bad as such, fridging aside

Honestly, the fridging aside should have been enough to have some alarm bells go off. But beyond that, it’s so obvious and cliche-ridden. Perhaps it needs a re-read, but I just don’t care enough to do that when there are so many objectively better comics that demand by time.

It must have fans though, because otherwise it would make no sense to keep running new series of the strip. (And I’m fully aware of how a forum can be an echo chamber and not necessarily indicative of what a wider audience wants and enjoys.)

[Blue Cactus]

I have wondered, based on absolutely nothing, if Skip Tracer was commissioned as some kind of bridge between Regened and the regular prog. Action-packed, easy to follow at any point for new readers, appearing very regularly, nothing challenging for younger readers (not that I think younger readers can’t handle and enjoy a challenge). But who knows. It has felt to me like someone made a list of stereotypical ‘elements that go into a 2000ad story’ but without the weirdness, wildness, humour, surprise, subversion or off the wall stuff that really constitutes 2000ad. Nice art and colouring, mind.