2000 AD Online Forum

A colleague of mine is an ex-squaxx and when we went for a curry a while ago we got to talking about how he'd like to read old stories again. I told him about the reprints but he said he never goes to comic shops and wouldn't be able to pick a single volume anyway. 2k's variety was part of the appeal so a whole year of Dredd reprints wouldn't recreate the buzz of all the different stories and styles. And an anthology would have all the great artists and writers in it.

He said he'd buy in an instant a compilation book with, essentially, 2000 A.D.'s greatest hits in it, especially if it were sold in Smiths next to the Viz annuals. So we nattered on about what it should have in it. Our suggestions were confined to the first 6 or so years and tried to cram as much into one 300 or so page book as possible.

Stronty and Robohunter were guaranteed places. Full stories for them. He remembered Deaths Head and Football Crazy fondly so they were in. That's 50 pages already.

Slaine was tougher to pick stories for but we plumped for Shoggy Beast because of the McMahon artwork and you've got to have McMahon. Another 25 pages.

Dredd was harder to decide. In the end he suggested the first Death story. I said it's been reprinted ad nauseum. He pointed out he'd not seen it in 25 years. I also suggested Sob Story, and though it didn't ring a bell the mention of Otto Sump got a smile so that was included to. Another 20 odd pages. That left us with a third of our hypothetical page count already taken by 4 strips, but 4 major strips. You could probably justify having a lot of Dredd in the collection, stories like Vienna, The Return of Rico, or with Don Uggie Apelino in.

Rogue Trooper needed to be included. Preferably with Kennedy and Gibson artwork. Didn't matter which stories. Another 20 pages or so.

There was a long arguement over whether to have Robusters or the A.B.C.'s. In the end the RoBusters with Big George won. Another 20 pages.

Nemesis caused a problem cause he had to be in but his series were too long. The two pilots got picked cause of the O'Neil factor. 15 more pages.

I wanted Ace Garp in the mix, and the firs episode is a perfect read by itself. 7 pages. The prologue to Halo Jones with the historian talking to a student got in too. That's another 6 pages.

By now we we're about half way through. Episodes of M.A.C.H. 1, Invasion and the Harlem Heroes took up another 30 pages.

Halfway through the main course Dan suddenly remembered Shako and said he had to be in the book. We both remembered being freaked out by the Future Shock with the pineapple headed alien and the hungry astronauts, other memorable Future Shocks involved huge spikey aliens (The Plaquw?') and the one with the sun spots. Ant Wars and The V.C.'s were talked about. Flesh had to be included. Dan didn't mind if they weren'r complete stories but felt an intro page for each strip would be nice, especially if they were written by Tharg himself. At which point we both thought that Eric Bradbury was the man for Tharg.

Anyway we passed the meal discussing a hypothetical book. Mainly discussing old comics, which is as pleasant a way of spending an hour or so as any, I suppose. Possibly a no goer but a chunky book about ?15 or so with bits and bobs of early 2k might sell well to the many, many people who don't read the weekly anymore.

Anyone agree/disagree? Suggestions for what would have to be included?

God. What a hideously long post. Short version.

What would you put in a Greatest Hits collection of the first few years of 2k.

Great idea.  I've had my fill of the really early stuff (in recent EEs) and I'd definitely go for something that encapsulates my personal golden age of 2K.  In my choices, I've also put aside the shorter Future Shocks style stories, nabbed some of your ideas and come up with the following 300pp behemoth of thrill-power:

Brand new multi-character cover by Bolland: 1pp
Intro by Tharg: 1pp
Cosmic Contents: 1pp
Judge Dredd - The Graveyard Shift: 45pp
Strontium Dog - The Killing: 51pp
Ro-Busters - The Terra-Meks: 27pp
Terror Tube [+ 167 cover]: 7pp
Slaine - The Shoggey Beast: 23pp
Ace Trucking Co. - Too Many Bams: 31pp
Rogue Trooper - All Hell On The Dix-I Front: 48pp
The ABC Warriors - [Mad George]: 18pp
Mad George [138 cover]: 1pp
Judge Dredd - The Starborn Thing: 38pp
Killer Watt: 7pp
Back cover - ad for the weekly: 1pp

At 300pp, you could take out Killer Watt and then have room for a splash intro page for each story, which might help new readers get to grips with things.

I've tried to mix it up so that the more serious tales are juxtaposed with lighter fare, whilst giving most of the 2K classics a good showing.

JD gets two tales because he's the cornerstone of the comic.  I think The Graveyard Shift is a fabulous introduction to Mega-City One, and The Starborn Thing is one of my all time favourites, whilst also taking us out of the city.

With both The Terra-Meks (crowd pleaser) and Mad George, we're not short of giant stompy robots.

In terms of artistic talent, there's a good mix there, with Ron Smith, Carlos Ezquerra (twice), Dave Gibbons, Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon (twice), Massimo Belardinelli, Colin Wilson, Cam Kennedy, and Brett Ewins.

I just wish I could have fitted in Nemesis Book II, with that gorgeous art from Jesus Redondo.

Holy smoke! What a great idea! I will have to be soberer before I consider this properly, but The Midnight Surfer is a shoo-in.

Oh, and why do people love McMahon so much?

It's a great idea, there was a nostalgic 'Jackie' magazine compilation came out a while back, I saw it in the book section, probably full of Wagner and Grant writing. The distinguishing feature would have to be, I think, the nostalgia factor as with the Jackie book rather than another format of reprints, so plenty of quaint dated stuff like letters and cutaways etc rather than the focus being on complete stories which have/can be reprinted anyway with slicker packaging.

ADE

Link: Best Of Jackie Magazine

"Oh, and why do people love McMahon so much?"

Because... Oh, you tell 'im, Rufus...

Because he is GOD.
If he can't draw it, probably wasn't worth drawing....
Nuff said.
Rufus

And...

Yup, That's hanging near my desk...
Beeeeautiful...mmm

That's an okay cover, but I've just never been keen on his style at all: it often looks like he couldn't be bothered to finish it.

I haven't read it for a long time, but I particularly remember absolutely hating his work on Slaine.

Many readers didn't like Mick's style, c'est la vie.
Some prefer a more realistic style, personally I love Mick's work.
Nearly all the artists I know love his work too.
   Mick's got a unique take on things,always pushing past the comfort zones of the reader, a bit like the Picasso of Comics.
 He could so easily have just turned in the same thing over and over as many others do (and it'd have made his career easier), but he really is an inquisitive and brave artist.
That's why I love 2000AD more than any other comic, where else would you find such diversity?
 I'm kind of pleased others don't like his work, makes his work feel even more special.
 Still...
When I'm put in charge....
You'll all kneel to him!!
:-) Rufus
 

I remember hating his Slaine stuff as well- and couldn't believe that anyone could draw so badly.  I look at it again now and wonder what I was ever thinking about- it's fantastic.

I guess your artistic eye changes over time.  Well mine did, anyway.

Clearly, Deadlock needs to operate on your brain.

I mean...



...and...

Great if you could arrange bespoke editions of your favourite thrills rather than have someone else's choice being thrust upon you - no Slaine thanks very much. What I'd want would be longer, but not too long, adventures of our favourite, and classic characters.

Some examples would include:

Strontium Dog : The Moses Incident - Real emotion there and best baddie ever in Malak Brood

Rogue Trooper : To the ends of Nu Earth - Real exitement, top Cam Kennedy Artwork and the natural end for the GI.

Ro-Busters: Bax The Burner (1982 Annual) A less seen outing but one of the funner ones. 'Just an old flame' - classic!

Dredd : Wounded Knee, Zombies, Un-American Graffitti and Alien Zoo (1982 Annual good one that!) Various sides of the lawman and a cracking Bolland outing on the Alien Zoo.

D.R. & Quinch Do Hollywood : Best of a cracking bunch. Never watch the Godfather again with out the oranges coming to mind.

Anderson : Shamballa - Her first real solo outing with cracking art and a sad ending.

Future Shock : The Hunted - First 2000ad memory was of that alien realising it was in a spaceship jungle hunting game. Hooked for good.

Each to his own. After all, Simon Harrison is still one of my favourites...

I totally agree about the diversity of the artwork being one of the big strengths of 2000AD and it's often very interesting to see different artists takes on the same character, with Slaine being a particularly good example of this.

So, while we're on the subject, here's something else that has surprised me in the short time I've been frequenting this board. Everyone loves Carlos Ezquerra, but I've never thought he was particularly great. I don't actively dislike his work, it's usually nice enough, but it just doesn't "pump my 'nads."

A mate (who used-to-be-a-reader-but-gave-up-around-800) was round at mine, flicking through some recent progs and sagely observed:
"I don't remember being particularly keen on Ezquerra back in the day, but it's kind of reassuring to see he's still there."

Which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter. Anyway, if I survive this one, next up is Colin MacNeil... ;-)

So... you don't like Mick.....
And....you're not ... keen on Carlos...hmmm
(sniffs...yup. That smells like a wind up to me...)
 Maybe Bunty would be more your show?
Still... I like Simon's work too.
R

I can only imagine that Carlos would consider himself very fortunate that he doesn't pump your 'nads.

>I haven't read it for a long time, but I particularly remember absolutely hating his work on Slaine.

Sky Chariots
Progs 352 to 360
This is simply not the best Slaine story, not the best thing Mike ever did but the best art 2000AD has ever printed. The storytelling is superb and if I was stranded on a desert island and could only take one thing out of my box's of progs it'd have to be....

Warrior's Dawn
Prog 335
Sky Chariots
Progs 352 to 360
Slaine the King
Progs 500 to 519
The Killing Field
Prog 582
Slaine the Mini-Series
Progs 589 to 591

I may be tempted to take the Rebellion version over the Titan one

as it contains more strips:
The Time Monster
Prog 330
The Beast in the Broch
Progs 331 to 334
Warrior's Dawn
Prog 335
The Beltain Giant
Prog 336
Bride of Crom
Progs 337 to 342
The Creeping Death
Prog 343
The Bull Dance
Prog 344
Heroes' Blood
Progs 345 to 347
The Shoggey Beast
Progs 348 to 351
Sky Chariots
Progs 352 to 360
The Origins
Prog 352

The book may have some other Slaine stories in but the Titan edition is the one I'd take for its glossy pages and its a hardback edition so good for fighting of those nubile female islanders whilst I'm trying to read it.

I'm a reasonable man and wil listen to other people arguments on many a topic and I'll even let you try and convince me that Siku can draw Dredd but lets not beat about the bush if you dont like Sky Chariots then your first against the wall and you can choose any one of 6 bullets to meet your maker.

Link: Slaine The King

I loves ya YT2...
 Err..not Cowboy love though...
;-) R

>Err..not Cowboy love though...

I now have an image in my head that I cant get rid of..............

++ if you dont like Sky Chariots then your first against the wall ++

Yes indeed.

*Sniff*

We still love you, George!

DXB: Not exactly greatest hits, but you might want to remind your mate about the Digital Archives, that reprint the first 20 issues in 2 volumes.
Also there are four bumper Best of 2000 ad's the profiles can be found on the link below.

Link: Bumper Collections

Oh I had a t-shirt if that... and got stared out by a GI on Crete because of it or was that my Sandino t-shirt?

I think this got me thinking progs are back on top again.

I know all the cool people are doing something far more wothwhile. But for those who are not...

Link: Feel the Force!

That link's trying to run something suspicious on my PC.

Im getting a tiscali broadband page and then a windows media player. Whats the slink?( Problem with your linkage?)

It works fine on my NTL broadband - do you have windows media player? It's a link to a trailer for a Star wars video game in case it's not worth your hassle.

I got that Jackie book for my sister in law for Christmas, and much fun it is. The idea of doing something like that for 2K is very appealing, with stuff like letters and star scans and reader art, maybe a few one-off strips or Tharg tales, all that stuff which will never get collected otherwise but was a big part of what made it all fun back in the day.

My reservation about this idea is that it encourages the perception of Tooth as a nostalgic thing from the past. It's amazing how often I get people saying something to the effect of "blimey, is it still going?". On the other hand, given that everyone seems to think it's long since bitten the dust, maybe any publicity is good publicity.

Funt,

to me there is a difference between the undeniably great design of those covers and their execution.

YT-2,

sorry but I can't agree: this is precisely the sort of adoration I was nonplussed by. I notice that you have (presumably deliberately) excised the definitive Slaine artist from your desert island prog. I enjoyed Belardinelli's take, liked the - at the time - out there work of Simon Bisley and I can see how Clint Langley is carrying on the tradition, but Glenn Fabry will always be the man for me.

I don't want to post a flippant response to "best art in the prog ever", so I shall think long and hard about that.

Cheers, Pete.

PS Sorry for the hijacking of this post.

Thanks Button. The ntl e-mail works fine. It is still accepting.

>I notice that you have (presumably deliberately) excised the definitive Slaine artist from your desert island prog.

I left out Bisley because unlike most comic fans I havent been blinded by the emporers clothes that is Simon Bisley. If anything his pumped up Frazetta rip off was the start of the decline of Slaine, instead of being an ordinary looking person who had warp spasms he was pumped up all the time in some conan style rip off which every following artist tried to copy. Because of the fan reaction to very bad artwork we had the muddy brown period of Bisley clones and although we've come through that period Bisley is still producing very bad artwork that people still seem to think is great. The only thing that made his recent outing on The Authority V's Lobo comic was that his work was inked by Henry Flint.
Whilst peopel are prepared to pay over the odds for bad artwork and tempremental late artists the myth of Bisley will continue and they'll be some very bad comics out there.

Personally, when I came to choose the line-up for my fantasy Bumper Prog, I limited myself to everything before prog 500.  Given that 400-500 idisplays something of a lull in energy, and that 1-100 has been reprinted ad infinitum (and also displays the comic's teething troubles), you'll find nearly all my suggestions in the range 100-400.

So, no Bisley.

Glenn Fabry - excellent artist.

In fact, Cosh - let's see your list for a bumper prog, then.  This is all imaginary - so you can put your Fabry Slaine in there, miss out McMahon - whatever you like.

(We'll have to agree to disagree on those McMahon covers, though - I find them beyond reproach, whilst you clearly feel differently.)

Jeez, this has taken all morning! I know it's just a bit of fun, but I found myself getting all worked up about striking the right balance between humour and more serious stuff as well as trying not to miss out any of the classic characters, writers and artists. Unfortunately, a lot of the really good stuff is too long to fit into something like this, so no Bad Company, no Anderson, no Halo Jones, no Bryan Talbot, no Arthur Ranson and so on.

JD: Destiny's Angels           - 50
DR & Quinch Go Straight           - 12
Zenith: Prologue: Ground Zero   - 6
Slaine: The Beltain Giant   - 6
Slaine: The Bull Dance           - 6
Hewligan's Haircut           - 44
Leviathan's Farewell           - 8
Revere Bk 1: Finder's Edge   - 37
Ace Trucking: Too Many Bams   - 31
Bonjo from Beyond the Stars   - 10
Zenith: Interlude 3: Maximan   - 8
SD: The Shicklgruber Grab   - 36
JD: The Midnight Surfer           - 43

I went for two different Dredd tales to bookend the collection with the beautiful Leviathan's Farewell (interestingly one of only two comic stories my mum ever admitted to liking) in the middle as a surrogate Anderson story.

Go Straight is a laugh-riot from the minute Quinch pulls off his plaster and eats it, while Hewligan and Revere are just two of my favourite writers working with two of the coolest artists in the business. On the subject of cool artists, I couldn't leave out Kevin O'Neill and the Comic Rock stories have been reprinted to death, so I went for Bonjo instead.

I went for two one-offs to try and give a flavour of early Slaine (and I know McMahon drew The Beltain Giant, but it's still a quality story.)

ShicklGruber Grab demands inclusion just for the Sternhammer Silencer and while any Ace Trucking would have been welcome, Too Many Bams was the shortest one I could find.

Finally, I wanted to find a way of including Zenith. I'm not sure if I got this right, but I was trying to get the two stories which show the historical Masterman/Maximan bit of the story in isolation.

All this adds up to 297 pages, so we should still have room for a Nerve Centre and a good old fashioned Input page. To top off the retro feel, this should reprint all those letters from Simon Pegg, Warren Ellis and the like which somebody has collated on a website somewhere.

>I notice that you have (presumably deliberately) excised the definitive Slaine artist from your desert island prog.

I left out Bisley because unlike most comic fans I havent been blinded by the emporers clothes that is Simon Bisley

Emm, I was talking about Glenn Fabry... Although on going back to check my facts, I notice that you included Slaine the Mini Series which he drew so now I look stupid.

;-)

Nice list Cosh!
  The Cover from 'THE BELTAIN GIANT',by ...err Mick 'God' McMahon,(as well as some other great 2000AD Art by Gibbons,Bolland,O'Neill etc.) will be on display at the new CARTOON ART TRUST MUSEUM, in Little Russell Street,W1, from next week.
 Support this space (it's a couple of quid to get in), it's the Capital's first Exclusive Cartoon/Comic Art Museum space, and they are interested in a 2000AD Show...so updates soon I hope!
Rufus

Although it serious;y needs updating heres a few well knowm Squaxx

Link: Letters To the Green Dude