Messages

Well informed on Misty? Not really. I'm just curious to see what all the fuss about it is, as this great lost comic. My curiosity doesn't stretch to ?302 however!

Pat Mills wrote a lot of stories for Misty, while Wagner & Grant did a lot for Eagle. I fancied sampling some of these.

davidbishop

Despite the Misty comics going for over ?300, that was still under ?4 each. Single issues usually sell for a ?5 on ebay. Makes back issues of Starlord almost look cheap!

davidbishop

I just paid ?10 for issues 2-68 of The New Eagle (it's research, that's my excuse). Five minutes later somebody paid ?302 for issues 1-82 of Misty.

Yikes! It's ebay madness!

davidbishop

Reprints of Dan Dare strips from 2000 AD aren't very likely, as all rights to the character are now held by a company that doesn't publish comics. Don't hold your breath, that's all I'm saying.

davidbishop

2000 AD readers are 2000 AD fans first, comics fans second in my experience. Sounds bizarre but tis true. Let's face it, few comics can inspire that keeps people reading and buying for 25 years. Add to that the fact that it's an anthology with only one permanent strip and 2000 AD's enduring success shows it has an unique appeal.

Best writer? The Wag, by virtue of consistency and stunning creativity. Alan Moore runs him a close second on those criteria - he bests him on others. That's just IMHO, of course.

davidbishop

For reasons I can't explain yet, I need to canvas opinion about the Dredd mega-epics. This might be better as a poll, but I'm putting it here in the meantime.

Below is a listing of all the Dredd stories lasting more than twelve episodes (or longer than 72 pages). Please forgive any inaccuracies regarding prog numbers and yes, I have left out Mega-Rackets as that was a collection of stories under a generic banner rather than a story lasting more than 12 parts IMHO.

Anyway, could those here kindly give each story a personal rating out of five - one being the worst rating, five being the best. Thanks!

davidbishop

Cursed Earth (Progs 61-85)
Judge Cal (Progs 86-108)
Judge Child ? (Progs 156-181)
Block Mania/Apocalypse War (Progs 245-270)
City of the Damned Progs 393-406)
Oz (Progs 545-570)
Necropolis (Progs 674-699)
Judgement Day (Progs 786-799 & Meg 2.04-2.09)
Mechanismo (Meg 2.12-2.17 & 2.22-2.26 & 2.37-2.43)
Wilderlands (Progs 904-915 & Meg 2.63-2.67)
The Pit (Progs 970-999)
Fetish (Meg 3.26-3.30)
The Hunting Party (1033-1049)
Doomsday (Progs 1141-1164 & Meg 3.52-3.59)
Sin City (Progs 1289-1299)

Start rating now!

Brett Ewins had Kelly's Eye and Bad Company in Progs 828-830. Then he had Bad Co and Dredd in 831 - almost a triple helping.

davidbishop

Me. That was me. It was my fault.

I've said I'm sorry. But it's worth repeating.

Of course, it was only five parts long. But those 30 or so pages have stained memories forever. Sigh. Some sins can never be forgiven or forgotten.

davidbishop, the penitent man

Actually, I seem to recall a period in the mid-90s when we weren't allowed to use the word comic in 2000 AD or the Megazine - they were magazines, not comics. Talk about self denial!

But there's a good reason why covers in the 90s changed - the marketplace. In the 70s and 80s there were only hundreds of periodicals published in Britain. It was practical for newsagents to stock everything.

In the 90s the advent of desktop publishing made it possible for anyone to publish a periodical. The number of titles jumped from hundreds to thousands - at least 3000 periodicals published in Britain each month plus more than 1000 other titles imported. It's almost impossible for any shop to stock everything.

As a result, shops began displaying tites differently. No longer did you get a full facing, instead you could only see one inch on the left hand side of the cover, or the top two inches - that's why coverlines all shifted to those areas.

With some much competition on the shelves, the emphasis shifted from story-led covers to more high impact, design led covers. You can put a lot of the blame for that on me. Andy Diggle was much more fond of scene from a story inside covers.

But I think design-led covers can be great. I've been collecting big chunks of Battle lately (anyone who wants to flog some issues, contact me now!) and there are some stunning design-led covers on that from 25 years ago.

Let's put it this way - when all the artwork is running late and you don't know what's going in this week's prog (let alone next week's prog!) and everyone is screaming at you to attend meetings or compile graphic novels or look at their unsolicited submissions or the 99 other things that occupy the day of a 2000 AD editor - well, sometimes, a generic cover just has to do this week. Sad but true.

davidbishop

I have absolutely no memory of this at all. Not much, but tis the truth.

davidbishop

I'll put my hands up and say TPO #8 is not as good as it should it. That article suffers from one simple problem - trying to cover too many progs too quickly. It stretches from 510-671 and doesn't do justice to the material covered. Not being able to interview Burton or McKenzie only made matters worse.

I am happy to report a big improvement in subsequent articles: #9 goes from Necropolis to 749 (including Toxic); #10 covers 750-841 including the aborted Junior 2000 AD project, the death of Maxwell and Egmont's arrival; #11 does the Summer Offensive, the 889 TV ad debacle and McKenzie being made redundant; the same issue also has 5000 words from John Sanders with several major revelations; and #12 covers the Dredd movie and its fallout and Dark Bish-OP's scorched earth editorial culling.

My apologies for #8 being a bit ho-hum - much better to come, I can assure you...

davidbishop

The Toxic! story makes up 20% of TPO #9, soon to be published in Megazine 4.17.

Lots of inside gossip from Mills, O'Neill, Grant, Wagner and Abnett.

davidbishop

Prog 228!

Rogue Trooper cover by Dave Gibbons.

Judge Dredd: Judge Death Lives #5 by Wagner/Grant & Bolland.

Nemesis (Book 1) #7 by Mills & O'Neill.

Strontium Dog: the Kid Knee Caper #1 by Wagner/Grant & Ezquerra.

Rogue Trooper - first episode by Finley-Day & Gibbons.

And, finally, just to prove no prog is perfect - Mean arean #28 by Tully & Bradbury.

Top that one!

davidbishop

Link: http://www.2000adonline.com/index.php3?zone=prog&page=profiles&choice=1309" target="_blank">Prog 228

Amy Steel is no relation to Becky or Treasure Steel, who are sisters. Treasure is usually seen helping Armitage in the comic, while Becky transferred to the Pan-African Judges.

Armitage appears in Get Karter, but Treasure does not - she's away visiting her sister!

(Enough Steels - former ed.)

davidbishop

The Dredd audios ran alongside current strip stories in terms of continuity i.e. the CD is designed to slot in between the progs published the month th CD is released.

Death Trap is the exception - it takes place before My Name Is Death, for obvious reasons.

As for the fate of Amy Steel - dramatic events overtake that character in the next release, Get Karter. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

davidbishop