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Not seen this posted here but Bluemeanie has put a post on his ECBT 2000ad with an interview from the fella's making the Dredd fighting fantasy game type thing.

http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/interview-with-new-dredd-game-developers-tinman-games/

I'm strangely excited about this... well when it reaches Android that is!

(I know there's another thread about this somewhere, but I'm too lazy to dig it out!)

I was going to simply add this to the 'What's everyone reading' thread but hoped it'd start some discussion so decided to give it its own thread.

Anyway Paul Gravett's '1001 comics to read before you die' has been by toilet companion for the last few months. Its a fascinating and infuriating read in equal measure. As with all these sorts of lists sometimes I was bewildered about what was included and what was omitted (I mean are Asterix the Gaul and Asterix the Gladiator really the two books (only!) you'd say are the best of the series... really!) but that's just the nature of the beast and no ones fault... well except Button Man being the last 2000ad entry... honestly?!?

I was often annoyed that so many entries had no accompanying image. In a book about such a visual medium that was pretty poor. But then there could well have been all sorts of rights issues behind that?

The most interesting thing was how few of the titles I'd read (maybe 10%) and in some cases even heard of. Now I may well be 'Mainstream Billy' but I liked to think I have a pretty good knowledge all things comics, but this made it clear that there are vast gaps in what I know.

Here's the list:

http://www.paulgravett.com/index.php/1001_comics/1001_atoz/

Its pretty cool that its so diverse and the big areas of my ignorance are the earlier stuff, I've heard a lot but far from all and the international stuff, though often I'm not sure if a translation in English for a lot of this stuff exists.

Anyway I'm curious do other 2000ad fans here think they have a good knowledge and if you have time to look at that list (I'm going to do a head count when I get the chance) does that chance that idea?

Well blow me down who'd o' thunk it. it would appear that we'll be getting new Mysterious Cities of Gold, what 30 years after the originals. How cool is that!

http://www.comicsbeat.com/2012/05/29/mysterious-cities-of-gold-cartoon-sequel-is-actually-happening/

What an interesting Prog 2 beginnings, 2 endings and... well we'll save the best foe last.

Alan Grant gives us a solid opener in Durham Red taking us back to her first day on the Dog House and revealing more about why she might be so disliked, steady but no real clues as to where this might go yet. He end Anderson very strongly for me, this is solid old school stuff and welcome.

Grey Area is another steady start with great art, well aside from the fact that if the script says they have post coital grins the art should reflect that. Anyway that aside solid. Flesh was a solid if unsurprising ending EXCEPT... well look I know most of you don't like this but do you see, do you see what we get if this comes back. PLEASE THARG ignore the naysayers as I want whats promised at the very end to come true.

Dredd though is just devine a wonderful and welcome character piece and Mr Bagwell is becoming a bit of an artist titan. Genius.

Very solid this week and while I enjoyed it all, it lacked the variety and balances of previous weeks that make the Prog so special, a few highlights aside just a steady one.

Read this trade as well (as well as Insurrection that is) while on holiday. Arh Si Spurrier how you have hits and misses, this one however is a mighty hit, a mighty mighty hit. Maybe not quite on a par with the genius that is Lobster Random but its as close as he's got I'd say.

The structure is so perfectly refined form the noir detective novels he emulates, but twisted perfectly into 2000ad territory and so perfectly and atmospherically realised by Frazer Irving. Not really a great deal to say about this except so glad to hear recently that its coming back and hope they get enough new stuff to put another trade out as this is a perfect addition to Dredd's world.

I'm currently on holiday in County Wicklow and will be visitin Dublin a couple of times (though one will be a visit to friends in Malahide so not sure how close to the city centre I will get. Anyway if I only had time to visit one comic shop in the city can people recommend which one?

Not seen mention of this. Comic book writing type Tim Callahan is doing a re-read of Alan Moore's work and it can be found here.

http://www.tor.com/features/series/the-great-alan-moore-reread

He has some interesting things to say about Skizz (though forgets to find it bloomin' great!)

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/12/the-great-alan-moore-reread-skizz

and also covers Halo Jones, Future Shocks as well as lots of over cool stuff I've not had a chance to read yet. Worth a look?

Apologies if there's already a thread for this can't see if so. Anyway the latest attempt to get a DC hero to the screen. By the team who did Green Lantern (don't know if that's a good thing but Mark Guggenheim is a good writer at least). Got the loom okay in my book. Anyway a long way from being anything but one to watch.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37663

... not much else to say really...

What it says really (apologise if this is elsewhere already not seen it if so)

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37333

Much the same ground as covered in the Podcast but good read none the less. Also more to come from CBR it would seem

Stay tuned to CBR News all year for more conversations with the minds behind "2000 AD" in our year-long 2012 AD series.

Well all the very interesting talk on comics and what motivates you to read them, that's been happening on this apparently suffering comics site, of late has got me thinking.

I put myself firmly in the writer/concept camp of what makes me get a comic and dismissed artists almost entirely. This got me to thinking, are there any artists I regret not having more stuff by, who a really really like and improve my enjoyment regardless. This turned my thoughts to Mike Zeck, an absolutely brilliant artist who I often forget, about as I have so little of his stuff, his classic Spidey issues and a few gallery items aside. The thing is he just hasn't do any significant runs on any comics I'm particularly interested in.

All of which rambling leads me to a specific question, I'm not the biggest Captain America fan but does anybody have Mike Zeck's run on the title and is it any good, storywise, the art as I've said I'm going to love? It seems to be by and large written by J.M. DeMatteis who's a very reliable writer normally. So yeah are these issue worth picking up?

Well a lot of people clubbed together for my 40th and got me a quite incredible present of a Cintiq, when I'd asked for a Bamboo. Its beautiful and I love already as its got me thinking about drawing all sorts again BUT I'm utterly ignorant of computer drawing packages to best exploit it with. I get the impression that for 'comic style' line art that Manga Studio is the way to go. Is that still correct and any tips and advice before I wade in?

While reading the BBC Entertainment pages just now I clicked on a linkie to an article

"How comics are adapting to hard times"

And low and behold who is one of the 'industry leaders' interviewed for the piece...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-16629705

Have to say the article is a set up from the norm in terms of mainstream coverage and very good.

Nice chunky interview front and centre at CBR with Alec Worley, focusing on the new 'Age of the Wolf' series.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36728

Come on America with all this exposure you gotta be listening by now?

So there we go 8 new Watchmen stories announced with teams... and you know what the world hasn't ended. The Internet hasn't broken and we're all getting on with our lives...

... I hope

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/02/01/before-watchmen/

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/02/01/before-watchmen-gallery-quote-file/

There's some very good teams on there too.

Well couldn't decide which of the various Cinebooks threads to pop this into so decided to start a none series specific thread for all Cinebooks conversations and see if that suits.

The reason, well I've just finished Leo's Aldebaran collections and just wanted to add to the chorus of praise over various other threads for this wonderful story. As has been mentioned it does have some pretty clunky dialogue at times, then so did the Scorpion series and it didn't stop me loving that either. At times it reminded me of the dialogue in various 80s kids cartoons that had been translated also, Cities of Gold and Dogtanian spring to mind. More than likely due to difficulties in translation. whatever, that aside an absolute delight.

So far series from Cinebooks have been two for two and I've heard good things about the other stuff I have creeping up my read pile from them. Anyway since I'm not going to a convention for a wee bit I'm off to Amazon to get Leo's sequel to Aldebaran, Belelgeuse lined up...

[Avengers: The Coming Of The Avengers! #1]

I'm going to have a rant.

Just had a nosey at the April solicitations for Marvel. Now its well recorded that Marvel charge more for books than the Distinguish Competition but they really have hit a new level with this one.

"Avengers: The Coming Of The Avengers! #1
Stan Lee (W)
Jack Kirby (A/C)
• Just In Time For Marvel's The Avengers, Relive The Story That Started It All — Digitally Remastered And Recolored In Modern Style by Jean-Francois Beaulieu (The Wonderdful Wizard Of Oz)!
• Loki Hatches A Plot Against His Hated
Stepbrother Thor, Drawing Earth's Mightiest
Heroes Into The Fray!
• Reprinting Avengers (1963) #1.
32 Pgs./All Ages ...$3.99"

So basically if that is all correct they're charging $3.99 for a reprint and a paint job! $3.99. Marvel are a business and as such if they can get away with it they are going to do it. But really that seems incredibly over priced, not sure how they keep getting away with this stuff!

(There may be more to this than meets the eye, in which case that'd be a relief!)

Was wondering if anybody has been reading the IDW Doctor Who stuff by Tony Lee (and co). I've finally got around to reading the collects of one shots and Forgotten which are good fun but have heard mixed things about the ongoing. So before I plunge in (and who knew there was so much of this stuff out there already!) I was wondering if anybody had any thoughts?

Well its a long way from seeing the light of day but CBR is reporting that a writter and director have been attached to a film version of 'Bone'

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36493

Its one of those films I've always thought was strange by its absence it seems to have so much going for it. Then you hear that it was being developed by Nickelodeon for 4 years, but they wanted to put pop songs in it and I remember that film makers can have a very different idea about what works than I do!

Was going to put this in the other Garth Ennis thread but thought it deserved one of its own.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/16/garth-ennis-writes-shadow-all-other-news-cancelled/

Now I'm trying to cut back but its announcements like this that just make that so damned hard to do. That's a pretty exciting combination there if you ask me. Looking forward to this one.