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Right ok...so that sounds like he is doing the job an editor would then(?)

I have a few of these and they are perfectly fine, but where there is a Mega Collection volume with the same content I will always* go for that instead as a) they tend to be cheaper e.g. £10 compared to £16 ish b) have an essay in the back and c) are hardbacks.

I don't care about spines matching up.


* apart from The Pit which I bought earlier and cheaper in the Rebellion half price sale.

I do think one of the key strength of 2000AD is that is it an anthology.

I read everything and that means I read stuff I would not otherwise if they were published separately. A lot of strips take a while for me to like them e.g. Scarlet Traces which I really disliked initially but now like.

I wouldn't be up for tracking them all down as separate comics. e.g. I have only just got the Last American, read Watchmen years after it came out, never read The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - despite all being by legendary 2000AD creators.

I'm not generally in favour of strips being written by writers other than the initial creator (apart from Dredd), but don't mind different artists.

IMO 2000AD has had very mixed results when different writers take strips on from the downright awful (e.g. Robo-Hunter, some 1990s Dredd) to the ok (Dan Abnett VCs) to the great (Al Ewing Dredd).  Apart from Dredd, the best strips written by other writers seem to actually be ones which are spin offs from the original not continuations of the original e.g Jaegir.

But I don't mind different artists at all and  think mixing the artists is generally a good thing. And indeed necessary if you want a high volume of stories (e.g. Dredd, Sinister Dexter, even Nikolai Dante - which my memory had down as only being done by Simon Fraser and John Burns, but a re-read shows that was far from the case).

I think that just you to be honest. I always remembered it as Ro-jaws and Hammerstein... because it sounds better that way.

Not sure the big guy always gets mentioned first. Little and Large for instance.

Hmmm really? I don't think it is that much of a stretch...especially for a pun(???).

I assume the guy at the end is TG

Seriously?! Like his face isn't distinctive enough?

Ok so less of the "seriously" please. I was attempting to clear up Colin's question from earlier in the thread.

Not sure what to make of this week's Prog.

The Dredd two parter felt quite lightweight. It was actually quite corny ...Dredd wins by using a keystone cops manoeuvre and we get a well used throw the victim in the cubes as well. Lightweight but some how not funny enough.

Brendan McCarthy is for me a classic Dredd artist, but this too Zaucer of Zilk for me.

Defoe carriers on as before. I'm not sure I see the same dip as Colin or that it makes any less sense than previous episodes - what I have found with this series is the need to keep referring back to previous episodes so that you can tell who is who.

Hunted - yes think I will have to get the back Progs out. I assume the guy at the end is TG but who was the girl with the blue Mohican and red strip on her face?

Scarlet Traces wraps up well enough but yes it is a middle of a story break not a conclusion.

Brink - again not a dip for me - indeed it seemed to move things on well towards the conclusion (of this particular story).

I am currently reading the Courtship of Jena Makarov which I borrowed from my local library.

One thing occurred to me this week. Shouldn't her name be Makarova rather than Makarov?

Also, I might have missed it, but Tsar Vladimir doesn't ever seem to be referred to as Makarov, but presumably that is his name given he is her father.

It's not usual to refer to dynastic rulers by their full names - when was the last time you heard someone talk about Elizabeth Windsor?  Then again, nobody talks about Charles Windsor either...

Ok fair enough on Vladimir. Still not sure about Jena and the Makarov v Makarova ( as in "a" ending for daughter of).

I am currently reading the Courtship of Jena Makarov which I borrowed from my local library.

One thing occurred to me this week. Shouldn't her name be Makarova rather than Makarov?

Also, I might have missed it, but Tsar Vladimir doesn't ever seem to be referred to as Makarov, but presumably that is his name given he is her father.

We seem to have had this debate a number of times.

The case for-

- He pretty much invented the Prog in the first place
- He thought up all the stories in the first Prog apart from Dan Dare
- his editorial stint at the start shaped what 2000AD was
- although not credited as a co-creator he had a huge influence on Judge Dredd
- he has created and written some of the all time great 2000AD strips: Nemesis, Slaine, ABC Warriors/ Ro-Busters, Invasion/ Savage
- he continues to come up with new stuff: Greysuit, Defoe, American Reaper

The case against:
- some of the old stuff isn't as good as it used to be
- you might not like some of the new stuff

Overall, for me.... I'll let you draw your own conclusions

I have the Queen Flash Gordon sound track and not just one, but two Babylon 5 sound track CDs.

I'm a huge fan of Ian Edginton's work, but he is perhaps guilty of trying to keep too many plates spinning at once. Granted, the Red Seas was wrapped up a while ago, but it's been, what...four years now since the last Ampney Crucis story appeared in the Prog; during which time Edginton has begun several new series such as Helium, Kingmaker, and (new to the prog) Scarlet Traces.

Yes that is rather a lot of series. I hope we get to see them completed. Personally I like Kingmaker the most, then Helium. Also I have gone from not liking Scarlet Traces to liking it.

I'm with Colin and Hawk on this. Not only is Brink the best thing in the Prog right now, it is he best "new" strip of the last few years.  Or possibly tied with Jaegir - but way ahead of say Brass Sun.

Personally I wouldn't say it was under rated.

What it is, in my opinion, is just not as good as TNG or DS9.

Still, it is Trek and so is worth watching and is a better than a lot of other stuff. It is just there is way better Trek out there and that is how I am measuring it.

Its normally a good sign when the Prog threads are very quiet. It tends to mean that the comics are in good form and no one can be bothered to pop along simply to heap the same old praise week in, week out.

Give people a below par Prog and they'll kick up a storm round these parts.

So judging by the recent attendance in this neck of the woods we're in rare old form and to be fair we are. Just wish people would take more time to come and acknowledge that.

So yeah I know there's a telly show down the pipe in a couple of years and everyone wants to get a name check like want happened with the Dredd film but come on when the Progs this good surely we can all take too minutes to sing its praises?

Yes that's about right. When I first got Prog thread posting privileges I was dead keen to post.

These days one or two reviews per series seems enough. Only so many times you can give the same review.

Defoe... is losing me ... it always does I guess, damn I got sucker in by the pretty visuals at the start of the story but found myself wondering whether we'd seen Defoe's [spoiler]family killed [/spoiler]in the strip. I assume so, in a previous story but I simply can't bring myself to pay attention and this week that came crashing home.

Yes this has been shown previously. Don't have the Progs to hand so I can't tell you when , but I definitely remember it.