Main Menu

2011 in review

Started by Tjm86, 21 December, 2011, 03:25:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Tjm86

My solution to the 4 weeks enforced thrillstinence - read the whole year in as close to one sitting as possible (well planned to stretch it out over the 4 weeks but illness compressed it).  Reading the whole year this way has been quite an experience and some of the tales work far better this way.  It's been quite a year, notwithstanding the ongoing "Day of Chaos" saga.  But for me the highlights were:

Dredd - goes without saying but some of this year's stories have really raised the bar and that was before the master started on DOC.  Gallagher's and Willsher's renditions really do the character justice.  Still warming to Carroll as a new writer but for its flaws "California Babylon" was up there in my top tales of the year, up with Ewing's "Served Cold" and Rennie's "Scream".

Shakara - the insanity ends?  Personally I hope so, not because the strip was so poor but because it rounded out so well.  Flint's artwork was the perfect accompaniment to Morrison's warped imagination and it strikes me as a strip determined not to outstay its welcome.

Ampney Crucis - much as Lovecroftian 'knock off's' tend to lose their appeal very quickly and the old 'sorry, this isn't our reality?' conceit is starting to be a tad overworn at the moment (Sin / Dex) this is a strip that has grown on me on the re-reading.  Davis' artwork maintains an impeccable standard throughout and the pacing this year has definitely helped.

Kingdom - another strip that has grown on me as it has progressed and this year my only regret is we have seen so little of it.  The B movie feel to the flashback sequences worked nicely and although the denouement of the general staff wasn't a massive surprise it was still nice to see.  Think there's still some mileage left in this strip with some of the issues from lizzee sower and co to be resolved but if it has been wrapped up then not a bad ending all in all.

Necrophim - sorry but this still did not work for me this year.  Tried to but ... sorry.

Low Life - Dirty Frank as insane as ever, what is not to like.  Usual impeccable artwork and some absolutely superb 'mistranslations'.  A delight as always.

Flesh - as long as I can remember I have never been able to get Flesh and this year has been no exception.  Nothing about this made it stand out as a 'must read'.  For me, another of the lows.

Young Anderson - graced by Ezquerra on art duties so always going to a pleasure on that level at least.  Few nods to the roots of the issues that have led her into conflict with JD over the last few years.  Nicely executed all round.

The Red Seas - focusing on hard core action rather than hinting at 'grand conspiracies' has been its strength this year.  The consistency of artwork, and Yeowell is definitely the perfect artist for the strip, is another added bonus.

Angel One - female version of Mach 1 with alien implants instead of pin cushions?  Some aspects of Burns' art really suited the strip but on other levels it may have worked better with a different artist (would be an interesting take on the old director's cut?)  An interesting romp but not amazing.

Sin / Dex - seems to be starting to wrap things up and moving toward the end game.  A better year than some of late.

Indigo Prime - another strip that previously never worked but this year seems to.  Despite the usual 'quantum babble' the strip simply seemed to work better.  Bagwell's art definitely suited the strip and the plotting seemed tighter.

Absolom - Initial thoughts were "oh joy, another police procedural with a rip off of Ennis' Hellblazer work" but execution rose above initial reservations to deliver a quality read.  Looking forward to seeing where this goes next.

Then you count in the Thr3ller's, Future shocks, Terror Tales and Dandridge and it has been a hell of a year.  My only regret with having got through it all in such a short space like that is that there is still 3 more weeks to wait for the next prog! :| Bugger!  Anyway, feel free to ignore, dismember or stridently disagree with any of the above.  Here's to a hopefully as impressive 2012!  (although not interesting, please, definitely not interesting! )

Evil Pants

Quote from: Tjm86 on 21 December, 2011, 03:25:36 PM
My solution to the 4 weeks enforced thrillstinence - read the whole year in as close to one sitting as possible (well planned to stretch it out over the 4 weeks but illness compressed it).  Reading the whole year this way has been quite an experience and some of the tales work far better this way.  It's been quite a year, notwithstanding the ongoing "Day of Chaos" saga.  But for me the highlights were:

Dredd - goes without saying but some of this year's stories have really raised the bar and that was before the master started on DOC.  Gallagher's and Willsher's renditions really do the character justice.  Still warming to Carroll as a new writer but for its flaws "California Babylon" was up there in my top tales of the year, up with Ewing's "Served Cold" and Rennie's "Scream".

Shakara - the insanity ends?  Personally I hope so, not because the strip was so poor but because it rounded out so well.  Flint's artwork was the perfect accompaniment to Morrison's warped imagination and it strikes me as a strip determined not to outstay its welcome.

Ampney Crucis - much as Lovecroftian 'knock off's' tend to lose their appeal very quickly and the old 'sorry, this isn't our reality?' conceit is starting to be a tad overworn at the moment (Sin / Dex) this is a strip that has grown on me on the re-reading.  Davis' artwork maintains an impeccable standard throughout and the pacing this year has definitely helped.

Kingdom - another strip that has grown on me as it has progressed and this year my only regret is we have seen so little of it.  The B movie feel to the flashback sequences worked nicely and although the denouement of the general staff wasn't a massive surprise it was still nice to see.  Think there's still some mileage left in this strip with some of the issues from lizzee sower and co to be resolved but if it has been wrapped up then not a bad ending all in all.

Necrophim - sorry but this still did not work for me this year.  Tried to but ... sorry.

Low Life - Dirty Frank as insane as ever, what is not to like.  Usual impeccable artwork and some absolutely superb 'mistranslations'.  A delight as always.

Flesh - as long as I can remember I have never been able to get Flesh and this year has been no exception.  Nothing about this made it stand out as a 'must read'.  For me, another of the lows.

Young Anderson - graced by Ezquerra on art duties so always going to a pleasure on that level at least.  Few nods to the roots of the issues that have led her into conflict with JD over the last few years.  Nicely executed all round.

The Red Seas - focusing on hard core action rather than hinting at 'grand conspiracies' has been its strength this year.  The consistency of artwork, and Yeowell is definitely the perfect artist for the strip, is another added bonus.

Angel One - female version of Mach 1 with alien implants instead of pin cushions?  Some aspects of Burns' art really suited the strip but on other levels it may have worked better with a different artist (would be an interesting take on the old director's cut?)  An interesting romp but not amazing.

Sin / Dex - seems to be starting to wrap things up and moving toward the end game.  A better year than some of late.

Indigo Prime - another strip that previously never worked but this year seems to.  Despite the usual 'quantum babble' the strip simply seemed to work better.  Bagwell's art definitely suited the strip and the plotting seemed tighter.

Absolom - Initial thoughts were "oh joy, another police procedural with a rip off of Ennis' Hellblazer work" but execution rose above initial reservations to deliver a quality read.  Looking forward to seeing where this goes next.

Then you count in the Thr3ller's, Future shocks, Terror Tales and Dandridge and it has been a hell of a year.  My only regret with having got through it all in such a short space like that is that there is still 3 more weeks to wait for the next prog! :| Bugger!  Anyway, feel free to ignore, dismember or stridently disagree with any of the above.  Here's to a hopefully as impressive 2012!  (although not interesting, please, definitely not interesting! )

Great recap. I'm new to 2000AD, so this year was the first that I read prog by prog, and I only started that half-way through the year. Highlights for me, were: Shakara, Ampney, Kingdom, Low Life, Red Seas, Absalom.
My opinions on comics can be found here: http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/

Webcomics, as written by me, can be found here: http://condoofmystery.com/

The Adventurer

I wanted to say a few words about 2000 AD 2011. 2011 saw my return to 2000 AD after an unintended two-year hiatus (long story short, when Clickwheel rolled out in 2007/2008, I had the bright idea of dropping the print comic going digital. For a while it worked out, but I found myself falling more and more behind as the months went by. Then I lost my job for two months, which but a halt on all comic buying. And it wouldn't be until the end of 2009, that I would finally finish 2008's Progs. And it wouldn't be until the end of 2010 that I would feel financially stable enough to again beginning buying 2000 AD in print regularly. Story over.) My return brought with it a few story gaps, particularly in stories I really REALLY liked, like Shakara, Kingdom, Nikolia Dante, Red Seas, Sinister Dexter, and Judge Dredd. Fortunately Dante and Dredd had the stuff I missed collected this year. But I had to grin and bear it with Shakara and Kingdom (missing stories I should have filled in soon, since I bought all 2009 progs in the 2000 AD Store Sale). But to be fair, this isn't a new position for me. I only started reading 2000 AD in 2005, and to say there were a few stories in mid stride at that time would be but of an understatement.

2011 managed to bring me back to the fold in a big way. I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed 2000AD in my regular comic reading diet. No where else can you get the regular variety of stories, characters, writers, and artists all in one place. Not everything is perfect, but the great always seems to out weigh the bad by a large margin.

This year saw the return of a stable of my favorite strips. New entries to Kingdom, Zombo, Red Seas, Sinister Dexter, Nikolia Dante, and Low Life. What I found most impressive was, though I've missed several installments of many of these strips, I picked right back up without too much trouble. There's something to be said about comic accessibility to new and lapsed readers. And I think 2000 AD manages to keep itself very accessible despite it's massive stable of new and ongoing strips.

On that topic 2011 also saw the conclusion of Shakara, a strip that I have been following since nearly my beginning on the title. I'm once sad to see such a stalwart title end its run, but also completely content with how it ended. It was, big, bold, beautiful, and completely bananas. Just as its always been when it captured my imagination.

We also saw the return of a few strips I've never cared particularly for; Savage (which I've not cared about since Charlie Adlard left), Necrophim (which maybe I would have liked better if I'd read the first series? I doubt it), Flesh (how can time traveling Dino violence end up so static and boring? The art weaving from note perfect to muddy mess from panel to panel. Such a let down), and Ampney Crucis Investigates (which to be fair, has captured my imagination a little more then its first strip did that ran back in 2008. But still not enough to really wow me. Simon Davis seems to be a bit off his game on this strip though. Lots of flat backgrounds and talking heads does not an engaging story make.)

We also saw the return of Indigo Prime. Who's set up, for those paying attention, was teased out allllll the way back in 2008 at the end of Dead Eyes. Which means, though I was away for two years I didn't miss the fireworks. Which is both good (for me) and bad (for what will clearly be a snail crawl for more Indigo Prime in the future). The new Indigo Prime was largely fantastic, with a stronger focus on the origination and the characters that work for it. All against a back drop of typical John Smith pseudoscience mumbo-jumbo. Bagwell's art really brings it all together. The fact that there is no planed follow up yet, is a bit of a sad state of affairs. This should be a 2000 AD stalwart. Not a sometimes guest.

2011 saw the launching of new series by returning script droid Gordon Rennie, Absolum. Which brings us back to the dark supernatural investigative style that Rennie started in Caballistics, Inc. While I would much rather have new Cabs, because we were left with a billion dangling plots threads (way back in 2008 again), this has been a solid substitute. Good to see Rennie back in 2000 AD too.

Other new strip Angel Zero, by yet another returning script droid, Kek-W (loved Second City Blues btw) was largely a rather by the numbers 'action girl' story. With average John Burns art (he's done a lot better before). The 4-page installment format with an interesting experiment. Though I fear we will be seeing more of it as a cost cutting measure. Not a bad strip, just not an inspiring strip. I will say this, Angel Zero is better then Synnamon. And I'll always welcome Kek-W back any time (howsabout Second City Blues 2 at some point?!)

Judge Dredd has been generally enjoyable this year. Micheal Carrol has been the break out not-Wagner writer this year. His Judge Dredd strip Downtime. Might be the single greatest 2000 AD strip of the entire year. The Day of Chaos Epic has been ongoing since the middle of the year, and while its been fun and good, and generally solid Dredd. It does seems to be a bit of a slow burn, and not pack nearly the punch as Tour of Duty did. I do sort of like the fact that these epics are made up of many smaller stories all tied together to make up one big story arc. I'm just not sure if this go around is getting to the meat of the matter fast enough.

And that's my look back on 2000 AD in 2011. With my return now firmly behind me, I'm looking forward to delving into 2012 as an old hand again. Right from the start, I'm slightly worried as I sort of didn't read the first half of The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha. Which might be important leading into the second half. But like I said, I'm no stranger to coming into 2000 AD strips half way. I'll deal. Ditto for Age of the Wolf Book 2. New strip Grey Area looks to be right up my alley. More Absolum, more Dante (perhaps even the conclusion of the whole strip this year  :o) more Day of Chaos. Right off the bat things are looking good. I hold out some hope that we might see Indigo Prime again (maybe Prog 2013? Please?) If not The Zaucer of Zilk will probably hold me over in the bonkers department.

So yeah, things are looking as great as ever in the land of Tharg. I'm so glad I'm back reading this book. There is nothing else like it. Anywhere.



THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

The Adventurer

If anyone cares, I took the time and wrote up a break down of everything that ran in 2000 AD in 2011. You might find it useful. I wrote them down in the order their first strip of the year appeared in.

2000 AD LINE-UP 2011

JUDGE DREDD
The Chief Judge's Speech (Prog 2011)
Salvage (1715)
Creatures of Habit (1716)
In Control (1717)
Served Cold (1718-1725)
Persistent Vegetative State (1726 - 1727)
What the Hitler Saw (1728-1729)
Caterpillars (1730)
California Babylon (1731 - 1734)
How to Get Out of Debt (1735)
The Pusher (1736)
Scream (1737 - 1739)
The Further Dasterdly Deeds of PJ Maybe (1740 - 1742)
Day of Chaos: Nadia (1743 - 1749)
Day of Chaos: The Fourth Faction (1750 - 1751)
Day of Chaos: Downtime (1752)
Day of Chaos: Elusive (1753 - 1758)
Day of Chaos: The Assassination List (1759 - )

ROGUE TROOPER
Dead Ringer (Prog 2011)

JUDGE ANDERSON
Cadet Anderson: Big Girls Don't Cry (Prog 2011)
Cadet Anderson: Teenage Kyx (1734 - 1739)

SHAKARA
Avenger (Prog 2011, 1715-1727)

AMPNEY CRUCIS INVESTIGATES
The List of Ten (Prog 2011, 1715-1723)
The English Assassin (1750 - ??)

NECROPHIM
Civil Warlord (Prog 2011, 1715-1723)

KINGDOM

His Master's Voice (Prog 2011, 1715-1725)

FLESH
Texas (1724-1733)

TIME TWISTERS

The Time Crystal (1724)

THARG'S FUTURE SHOCKS
The Last James Drillard (1725)
Trading Faces (1726)
Survival of the Fittest (1738)
Hacked (1754)

DANDRIDGE
The House that Dripped Devilry (1726-1730)

THE RED SEAS
Gods and Monsters (1728 - 1739)

BOB BYRNE'S TWISTED TALES
Tale #12 (1729)
Tale #13 (1730)
Tale #14 (1755)

NIKOLAI DANTE
The Memoirs of Nikolai Dante (1731)
Bad Blood (1732-1736)

ABSALOM
Noblesse Oblige (1732 - 1739)

THARG'S TERROR TALES
Birth of the Mazzikim (1737)

THARG'S 3RILLERS
The Silver-Tongued Exploits of Cosmo Nibs (1740 - 1742)
Six Brothers (1743 - 1745)
Wolves (1746 - 1748)

INVASION
Book Seven: Secret City (1740 - 1749)

SINISTER DEXTER
Apocalypse Schtick: Charon's Crossing (1740 - 1744)
Apocalypse Schtick: Inverse Ninjas Rule (1745)
Apocalypse Schtick: The Dead-End Job (1746 - 1749)
Dirty Deeds Done Cheap (1761 - 1763)

ZOMBO
The Day the Zombo Died (1740 - 1749)

INDIGO PRIME
Everything and More (1750-1753)
Anthropocalypse (1756 - 1763)

LOW LIFE
The Deal (1750 - 1761)

ANGEL ZERO

Angel Zero (1751 - 1763)


THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK