2000 AD Online Forum

Hi.
Yesterday I received my monthly package of comics. It included a couple of comics I've been looking forward to for what seems like aaaages, Gutsville #2 and Astro City: The Dark Age book 2 #4.

The comics industry can be an absolute bugger when it comes to scheduling problems. I know how long League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes.

But I'd rather wait for quality than see creators change or standards slip.
Astro City is an excellent example. The original creators are sticking with it, and the readers simply have to be patient and wait until they can devote time to it. The results are very special indeed.

What do other boarders think? Creativity or punctuality? And when do delays make a change of artist inevitable?

- Trout

I've stuck by many "late" comics, and for the most part have been rewarded.
Planetary, Queen and Country, Rex Mundi, and various Vertigo titles, are prime examples.

HOWEVER, I'm looking to cut back on my monthly spend, so when it comes to making the chop, irregular comics to get moved higher up the chop-shop list.
Prime examples at the moment are Grant Morrison's WildCATS and Authoirty. If these don't get cancelled soon, I'll probably drop them anyway. There are plenty of other Wildstorm comics on my chop list too.

I have wondered if I should stop buying titles, because I've always bought them, and instead follow creators, and only buy comics produced by writers and artists I like.

I hardly buy any monthly titles anymore, or any "mainstream"* comics at all. I'd be upset if the option of 22 pages every 4 (or more) weeks went, but all my money goes on TPBs and graphic novels these days. As someone who's not all that aware of the industry, I would guess that it's not too controversial to suggest that more and more people are going to treat monthly comics as primers to a particular creator or series.



*By this I mean DC/Vertigo/Wildstorm and Marvel.

Grant Morrison's WildCATS and Authoirty

Are these still going? I think I got about two issues of each.

Also, does anyone know what issue Planetary got to?
The last one I got was 26, with the Grand Canyon finale and Snow saying he had one last thing to do.

- Trout

Exactly, WildCATS and Authority are still hanging on at issue 2. With no sign of the third. Why don't they just cancel them? The fact that these two titles were supposed to be the flagship titles of the relaunched Wildstorm line is probably what'll end up killing the line of 100%. Having said that I personally think that some of the 'smaller' Wildstorm titles have been the best (Tranquility and Stormwatch PHD for example.... watch in amazement, as these titles get cancelled in 2008!!)

Planetary was supposed to end with issue 27. It still hasn't arrived. IIRC Ellis has finished the script, but because Cassidy went Exclusive to Marvel, he hasn't had time to finish it- even if he had a clause that allowed it.

To be honest, I think the Exclusive deals are partly to blame for a lot of titles shipping late. I understand, from a creators perspective, that the money lies in being exclusive. BUT from a fans point of view, it stinks.

So many titles I've been getting have died, or started running late (having started off being very popular, and helping boost the creators status), because they have then been signed exclusively to other companies with a mind (to both parties) to squeezing as much money as possible from the fans.

Link: Wildstorm point in question.

Is Stormwatch PHD worth picking up?

Well, It was very good, but it's just been cancelled (might be relaunched as "Stormwatch" IIRC). So if I were you, wait until you find the trades cheap.
Stormwatch PHD, Welcome to Tranquility, and to a lesser degree Midnighter were the best of this bunch.

If you forget what was going on in a comic by the time a new one comes out then that's generally a bad sign.

If you forgot the comic was even still running before a new one comes out it's really bad.

Big Numbers #3...

The release schedule for Walking Dead is all over the place but I still enjoy it.

Allstar Batman on the other hand....

I'm waiting (hopefully) for a collected edition of Gutsville.  Oh, and that one about the martians - the sequel to the one in the Megazine.  By the same artist who did the one about the dinosaurs shagging and killing off humans.  Is that collected yet?  Published?

Jack Staff is always worth the wait, regardless of the usually 6 month gaps between issues.


Though Grist is promising that it'll be monthly come January. We'll see

jack staff is every 6 months!!!!!!!!!!!!! f*** thats a long wait for the next gn.

Funt, do you mean Scarlet Traces?

Empowered book 2 by Adam Warren such a ridiculous premises but it is brilliantly funny.
Every Invincible trade Robert Kirkman & Ryan Ottley (Book 9 in about 6 months or so) just a really good take on the super hero. Plus in EVERY SINGLE TRADE there is a section at the back that has the sketches for the colours, stuff from conventions and character development (normally most trade series stops doing that at book 2 or 3 but Invincible keeps giving you these gems with the writer and artist telling you about them)
Planetary will be worth it when book 4 is out.
Y- The Last Man trade

that one about the martians - the sequel to the one in the Megazine. By the same artist who did the one about the dinosaurs shagging and killing off humans. Is that collected yet? Published?

Scarlet Traces: The Great Game?

Last issue of Y The Last Man is out in January.

I actually still love ALL STAR BATMAN. Mainly for the art but also because of the totally psychopath that he's made of old Bats.

I reread ARKHAM ASYLUM yesterday while waiting for the electrician to come and fleece me.  It was good but a little bit of "oooh, me mum and dad have been shot, I'm slightly miffed" doesn't seem as right as "I'm the GODDAMN BATMAN!"

the totally psychopath that he's made of old Bats

What a hideous image - a psycho made of old bats...

Ah - yes - Scarlet Traces - The Great Game - that's the one.  The minute I see it on a shelf, it's all mine.

But... it's out. In a HC collection. Right now.

Link: See?

"Last issue of Y The Last Man is out in January."

Thank Larry for that. At last the thing will be finished, upon which point I shall grab the remaining trades, read the lot through again, and then bung the lot on eBay. (I can't say I've been enamoured by the story, which showed so much promise, but I do want to see how it ends.)