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Thing is, create something good for the kids, and there's a good chance we're going to like it anyway. I keep hoping they'll backfill Bunny vs Monkey in hardcover, because I'd like a collection of those alongside my Complete Peanuts.

That's it exactly. And I agree: it absolutely shouldn't ape the past. What worked in 1977 does not work now. If anything, Regened has been too reverential to 2000 AD's past. Things like that Sam Slade text story were just bizarre, for example. But I don't get the feeling what's there now is really working either.

Again, perhaps the sales say otherwise. Maybe Regened gives the Prog a nice uptick several times every year and the collected trades are doing well. I've no idea. And maybe it's just one of those things, but I am a bit glum that we're currently zero* for two with Rebellion comics in this household, with a 9yo who's a voracious reader.

* Well, half, perhaps. She will read bits and pieces, but there's little real enthusiasm for it. By contrast, her bedroom floor and half the kitchen are currently both littered with Phoenix comics, with her going for a masses re-read.

[are]

People with kids: what are they reading these days,more specifically than "manga", I mean? And if you were Joko-Jargo, what sort of strips would you commission for the Regened progs?

I read with interest that Kev F Sutherland piece, which broadly aligns with what I see with mini-IP and her 9/10yo friends.

There is, notably, a discovery problem, which now won't change. Most parents are unaware comics exist. When I've recommended The Phoenix to people and parents actually subscribe, they are by and large really happy with it. But if you don't know comics exist (because you never got the habit yourself), that causes a problem.

But, yes, BvM and Dog Man are the defaults. Some of the boys (but few girls) are into SW/superheroes, but it's not that common. A few kids read The Beano, but are starting to age out. Manga hasn't yet taken hold at this age range around here. I'm surprised Luke didn't mention Investigators, which appears to be among the most-liked comics now, according to teachers who stock up comics for class libraries.

Speaking for my own kid, she has read a wide range of comics, including a lot of contemporary fare such as Sparks, Miles Morales, the DC pets series, Ghosts (as in, Telgemeier), Barb the Brave, Kitty Quest, Roller Girl, Zita, Lumberjanes, etc. Again, her experience is anomalous, given my interest in comics.

But as for Regened, I don't know. I think the problem is I still don't really know what it's supposed to be. Monster Fun appears to be attempting to slot into the Fleetway space to DC's Beano. That makes sense. The Beano is very formulaic, and so offering an alternative to it is smart, even if some of the early editorial decisions totally put my daughter off of reading it in the future.

Regened appears to want to be a stepping stone between The Phoenix and 2000 AD, and yet The Phoenix itself has a quite broad age range and is suitable into that early teens space. It has some really smart serious strips (Fawn; No Country), comedy drama (Mega Robo Bros), anarchic comedy (anything by Jamie Smart), and everything in-between. Its pacing is varied. You'll get single-page Jess Bradley Squid Bits in most issues, and DPS cartoons, mixed with longer and more thoughtful strips.

If Regened wants to steal some ideas, that shift in pace might help. Reimagine ABC Warriors or Robo-Hunter (minus the sexism) as a bonkers cartoon strip, with a maximum of a DPS. Get someone to do strange SF single-pagers (or single-pagers in portrait across a DPS) that echo Squid Bits but fire the imagination in a different direction. Cut back the epic episodes to a maximum of eight pages, to inject some intensity into strips that currently too often meander, unless those strips can fully justify the extra length.

I don't know. It's very easy to be a back-seat editor, and I'm sure Rebellion is doing what it can with the resources available. The very existence of Regened and the reprint books suggests this must still be working to an acceptable degree. But as a long-time reader of the comic, it feels like much of the fire has gone out of the belly of Regened this past year or so, and it's headed down a cul-de-sac of dull. A comic shouldn't be boring. Right now, Regened just kind of is, and I find that a little bit heartbreaking.

[Dredd]

Expectation management, perhaps, but this wasn't as bad as I'd feared. But... it also wasn't good.

The cover is solid, but then Regened is pretty much always a Dredd now. Dredd itself was a bit Captain Obvious with the twist. Slightly irksome that Only Prominent Female Character was the baddie who hated the system (and with no depth/motivation). The overall premise still doesn't work for me either. Dredd is a stick in the mud. In the 1970s, he was a counter-culture bastard people rooted for. Now, he's just a dick. It's like trying to get behind the last-gen take on Walter the Softie (before his current incarnation as a kind of wannabe evil genius). Purely on the 'justice' side (with some kids – including my own – being big into that) it pales beside the likes of Claire, Justice Ninja (which surely needs another run). Art-wise, I quite liked it. There was energy. It was dynamic. Although those Lawmasters were a bit chunky.

Lowborn High was... fine. There are too many cliches, and characters don't do enough to deserve outcomes. I'd echo Colin's points about dramatic moments and the way the arcs work (or often don't). And, bloody hell, another 20 pages, forever? Rebellion must have some data on this, because otherwise I just don't get it.

The Future Shock was OK. I'm not sure the attempt at satire landed, in the sense of people being protected from the law when they are the law. And liability shifting when you're no longer employed doesn't make a great deal of sense. That's beyond even Dredd-style dystopia. Page four should have had the protagonist at least agree to taking down the protesters. It's just inferred, which isn't enough for what follows.

Then there's Renk. It has something. It's quite enjoyable. But as I noted last time, I'm confused by the character design. The lead looks like a disheveled middle-aged man. Why Renk wasn't a streetwise teen with a rep, I don't know.

And then we get the usual baffling house ad for the next Prog that kids reading this one won't be able to read.

Renk > Future Shock > Dredd > Lowburn. Alas nothing above the average bar. And only Renk is something I'd likely read again.

I think what disappoints me most about Regened is that it's cycled out the most interesting strips (and the few that chimed with my own kid) and retained some of its worst elements. It still feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be. The overall feel is quite dull. There's no anarchy. There's very little fun. Too much of the strips are po-faced.

Some interesting and surprising choices there, although nothing that makes me want to punch the BUY button just yet. Roll on 160!

Great to see it. I'd highly recommend grabbing it before it goes out of print. I hope Boom will do a HC too.

My 9yo couldn't give two hoots about Lowborn. Perhaps she's too young. But she spent a chunk of today devouring copies of The Phoenix...

Your first main paragraph is particularly interesting:

Pandora Perfect, Department K and Full Tilt Bogie

Imagine the next Regened had that line-up. Cadet Dredd. A perfectly pitched Pandora Perfect. A Dept K one-off. A FTB interlude. I'm sure people would still grumble. And it perhaps wouldn't hit the dizzy highs of Best Prog Ever. But, man, I'd look forward to reading it, rather than looking towards my copy showing up with a sense of acceptance and dread.

Clearly, sales must be strong. Something is driving this. But – again – when I think of how Regened is now compared to The Phoenix, it breaks my heart a little. When Mini-IP leaves a copy lying around, I pick it up. Natch, I flick to Jamie Smart's stuff first and devour it. (Why is there no equivalent in Regened? An anarchic DPS of madness? Bonkers robots, say?) But the other strips mostly click too, making me want to track down other issues and read the full stories.

Sure, it's not everything. But there's so much good in there that the odd wobble can be forgiven. I felt like that about Regened for a long while too. Right now, it feels like it's mostly – or all – wobble. Or topple. Or smashed up on the floor in bits.

It's a very easy entry point into a lot of old games – zero-faff. And the cart system is quite clever, in scratching the collector itch. Physical media! One thing I would recommend if you haven't already is looking quite deeply at the catalogue. Some of the old arcade carts are dreadful (unless you really like rubbish NES ports of classics), but there's a solid amount of quality indie fare.

I spent a lot of time playing Mega Cat 1. Xeno Crisis is great (if brutal). The first Pico collection is a mixed bag but as some quality. (The second... is not so good.) If you like puzzlers, Mega Cat 2 is also fab. I've not dipped into the Indie Heroes stuff much yet, though, nor any of the newer collections (Alwa's and more recent eg).

What it needs is a deluxe HC edition. (Also reprints for the original trades!)

I never read the novel. I have all the original HCs (the skinny ones) and only ever read the first. I need to dig back into it. I trust it's a good one? (I kind of bought it on spec, during my 'Mignola can do no wrong' phase. I'm... kind of over that now, given how much I hated the end of BPRD, and how some of the more tangential Mignolaverse stuff isn't great. But some of his stuff is still really good.)

I think 2099 is meant to be alt-history, in the comics sense: what if those weird early Dredds were the continuity, rather than some odd aberration.

[Dredd]

Dredd was solid, even if it's an idea we've been before. Spector is starting to build, and I'm enjoying it more, despite Smurfette syndrome.

Thirteenth Floor worked nicely as a standalone slice, although I already have the HCs. MC 2099 didn't quite click as much for me as the previous one did. Feels like a lost annual extra from 1978. Which I suppose is the point.

The Rogue Trooper featured here is my favourite incarnation of the character. Frustrating that it's four issues and done. This should have run and run. Johnny Red lost me a bit plot-wise. Not sure why.

Lawless has some really good Brotherly/McClure exchanges that lift a strip that in this run just isn't doing it for me yet. (I suspect Lawson is deeply embedding herself in the criminal gang to wipe it out, but who knows? And Dreadnoughts is good too but for me not quite clicking to the same level as the previous series. Bit of a theme there.

Rogue Trooper > Spector > Dreadnoughts > Lawless > Dredd > Thirteenth Floor > MC 2099 > Johnny Red

The problem I have with Portals is that none of the threads as they are particularly interest me. So it's messy and feels like it lacks substance. The latter might be unfair, but I really have no interest in going back to check, in much the way that there might be something amazing in Skip Tracer but I have other things to read.

I recall thinking Renk was fine. My main gripe last time, bar some storytelling oddness, was that the comic could so easily have introduced another female character and chose not to. Alas, that appears to be a theme with too much of Rebellion's output for kids. (Mini-IP gave up on Monster Fun because – and I quote – "there aren't enough girls". The Beano and The Phoenix has imbalance too, but not to the same degree.)

As for Regened as a whole, I so want to like it. And I have enjoyed many of them. What concerns me is it's been a good long while since I enjoyed one. Good all-ages should just be good comics. (I get the "it's not for you" argument, but I'll happily read The Phoenix whenever Mini-IP gives me the chance, before the latest one is squirrelled away.)

[Dredd]

Great cover by Dan Cornwell, who's fast becoming one of the Dredd greats. Then a nice Droid Life before we're into Dredd. It's still blazing along, with the net tightening. Portals still exists. It's doing nothing for me now. Maxwell's Demon again does contemporary magic far better, even if the ending (as in, the let-off) feels a bit odd. Hoping for more of this series, and preferably in small, tight bursts like this for a bit.

Hershey and Dredd have a chat, which doesn't feel entirely Dredd. I dunno. Dredd placing himself above the system isn't an alien concept from Wagner, but it really does feel like Hershey would tell him to go fuck himself for never taking the chair, rather than letting him off. Still a good series, mind. And then Azimuth. Still annoyed. Still enjoying it. Probably my favourite thing in this particular issue.

Azimuth > Maxwell > Dredd > Hershey > Portals 4/5 again. And hoping Portals doesn't run much longer. Next week is another Regened with – long sigh – yet more bloody Lowborn High. I guess someone must like it. We're also getting more Cadet Dredd, a Future Shock and another episode of Renk. Somehow, I doubt I'll be saying everything but one of these is good seven days from now, more's the pity.