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The first series was set during the fall of civilization so I was glad that when it all kicked off we got to see it from inside a barbers shop. With the shutters down. I already imagine the zombie apocalypse on a daily basis so it would've been nice to actually see it on a TV show based on that very idea.

Point taken, but perhaps the idea was that 'actually, we've seen that exact thing in many other zombie movies so there's not much need to examine the escalation on a grand scale'. Perhaps a more personal view of what it's like on the ground rather than a bigger picture is fine. If there was a zombie apocalypse tomorrow and I had shutters on my house, I'd put them down immediately and refuse point blank to open them until I ran out of food or water. Anyone who came looking for shelter would be ignored or shot on sight unless I knew them very well, because in dog-eat-dog situations people either are cunts or turn into them anyway. I would trust no-one and keep a shotgun handy.

The characters are dull, really dull. Apart from "he's a smack head" and "he's a wiseass homosexual" I would find it difficult to describe any of them. Oh I just remembered "He's a barber-torturer".

To be fair, I feel you're right with Travis- he's a terminal dullard and a zombie would be more interesting company. Many times his witlessness has had me enthusiastically egging his partner on to turn the lump hammer on him. However there's always been a few characters exactly like that in the main show- Carl, Maggie and Sasha are pretty flat. Some people are just tedious. The gay guy (can't remember his name), I reckon, is supposed to be a guarded enigma, you know he's concealing everything about himself, perhaps that's why he comes across flat? Daniel gets more and more interesting though and there's a bit more to Nick than 'junkie fuckwit'.

Half the shit in the second series could be wholly avoided by throwing the daughter overboard. I think I was at the point where they got to the island when I thought that's plenty.

True. But how many people would throw their own kids into the sea just because they have made bad decisions, caused heartache and irrevocable loss (every kid ever does that)? Much as we all would love to at various points, no-one really would, so I think that's fair dos., and perhaps is the point being made?

Travis' kid is the one that makes my skin crawl- the me-me-me issues-kid ('baggage handlers' is my in-house shorthand for these types, who are ten-a-penny in real life). I have a particular hatred for this type of character (Supergirl's sister  in Supergirl- you know... life threatening situation, but "MEEEEEE/ how I FEEEEEEL/ my DAAAAAAADDY/ MEEEEEEEE"). Perhaps that's what makes him compelling- I want him to get killed on a weekly basis and I want to watch.

When they get to the island is around the time I got bored too, but it does pick up a lot from there. Horses for courses, though- if you like it you like it, if you don't, you don't (even if you're WROOONG)!

I don't believe Matt Smith is an 'unsung' hero though- I doubt there are many readers who don't appreciate the turnaround in fortunes under his tenure. I don't always totally like the prog or the meg, but I keep coming back for more because I know there will be something else along just around the corner- that's the beauty of 2000ad, it utilities the anthology format for variety to maximum effect. Also, from 'associated merchandise' POV, we have been totally spoilt in recent years- even scum like me have a drawer full of T-shirts, hoodies, hats, mugs, a fucking mouse mat and GN's galore- the list goes on.

The comics public profile is huge compared to just before I came back to the fold- just before I did I wasn't even aware it was still going and assumed it had went off to quietly die til I saw it in W H Smiths of all places (I had always ordered from grotty little local newsagents when younger- and do so again now). Matt's success as Tharg is undeniable, long may he continue.

I also don't understand other peoples undying love for Armoured Gideon- hated it back then, can't see it now either- I really dislike the art (stiff, over linear and just fuck-ugly) and barely even remember the details of the story I was so underwhelmed by it- I recall my mates loving it at the time, whilst all I thought was 'why?'. That said, I can see the love for it from the majority so can't really deny it a place.

In more recent times, I feel the same way about Kingdom, I flick past it with barely a glance, but I realise I'm in the minority and that the comic isn't being made just for me, so fair dos. By the same token there's stuff I have loved and have also been in the minority. It's a big wide world, nothing is perfect, life's rich tapestry, meat & poison etc.

In these post-brexit times it's looking pretty shaky for me attending this year atm.

FFS! I still haven't experienced the taste sensation of butteries.

Looks like they are (slowly) announcing guests with the first being Marguerite Sauvage.

Soon my friend, soon- perhaps there IS a way... mum's the word/ you ain't seen me right... etc etc.

I thought this was pure pish and gave up about half way through S2. And I'll watch almost anything with zombies in it.

Your mouth is full of (weegie) wrong!

Seconded- he needs mair butteries crammed in there to wash it clean of wrongness.

Thanks Dog - that's precisely the picture I was thinking of (also appeared in the Judge Dredd Calendar last year, but in a really tiny thumbnail).

glad to be of assistance  .

I'm not so interested in his art style per se, just the depictions of MC-1. The architecture of the buildings, how the city looks from street level and from long distances, and the discordance between the filth and the lustrous part.

Take a look at the pic I posted above, it's a longshot of the city and, as I mentioned, there are some nice, grimy, street-level panels in The Taxidermist (also by Cam) as well as 'The Falucci Tape' from around the same era. As others have said, Midnight Surfer is like a whistle-stop tour of Cam Kennedy city scenes which, if you're able to get a look at, you'll see for yourself what we're on about.

I'd also throw Carlos Ezquerra's cityscapes into the mix too- from distant, scratchy background stuff to full blown views of a weird and fantastical vision of the future, though I pretty much love anything drawn by Carlos. I also bought a Colin MacNeil page pretty much because of the cityscape and panel layout. Like all artwork- you pays your money, you takes your choice and one opinion is as valid as another.

Drunken Highland shenanigans once more a possibility...

http://www.highlandheartevents.co.uk/inverness-comiccon/
https://www.facebook.com/invernesscomiccon/

Initial investigations turned up that it was sold out, but it may be that the tickets haven't even went on sale yet- not sure on this.

On the surface it looks like another film/ tv celeb event due to the guests announced so far, but I sent their fb a somewhat cheeky message asking if there would be any actual comics related stuff/ creators there and got confirmation that there would be a few familiar faces there. Hopefully there might be more, though it seems they are still in the organisation phase. 'Twould be a rather dull day out if'n none of you peeps can make it. Hell, even we get some sun round about July (sometimes).

In these post-brexit times it's looking pretty shaky for me attending this year atm. You may have to find someone else to use as a Boarder sign-post this time, I'm afraid- The Huff is tall and may prove a suitable alternative should he be away from the bar long enough to stay upright... 

Can't remember which prog because it's from the old Titan collection (no 15), a one part story about a stookie addict...


There's also some nice street-level backgrounds in The Taxidermist where everything is believable and grotty. I prefer the more curvy Mega City stuff like Cam and Carlos (who is also one of my 'definitive' MC-1 artists). Gibson also did some really great depictions in his earlier stuff (Rumble in the Jungle, IIRC, has some mad-busy stuff) though his later MC-1's tend to be less crowded.

Hmmm, too short notice to save up and book megabuses early for cheapskateness.

Incidentally, I heard recently that there will be an Inverness comic con at Eden Court again- a supposed successor to Hi-Ex. I heard about it last week only to discover it was already sold out despite the fact that barely any guests had been announced, and none of them appear to be connected to comics- all TV stars etc. Fucking weird- how can it sell out before anyone knows what's going on at it? Are people stupid, or what?

Oh, hang on... they totally are.
I might have went for a jolly had it anything to do with comics, but it hasn't- shit, I can't even troll their fb page for their sins as it appears to have some connection with UHI students and my employer (UHI) might give me a swift kick in the pay-packet for such unloved civic duties.

[/off topic] - carry on.

I wonder if anyone round here has been 'consulted' on that?

I'll see if I can dig up some more info via work and start a new thread if I can, rather than pissing all over this one more. TBH it seems a bit pointless if it's sold out already and has fuck all to do with comics.

But that's no reason people shouldn't stop killing and enslaving animals just for personal choice and convenience.  (I appreciate some of you  have health conditions that make this very hard)

I shouldn't laugh, but that's fucking hilarious Tips- you should do stand-up or something...

I don't care for the characters and as a result I'm not feeling any suspense or tension at all, unlike the main series.

To be fair, I felt like this for a good while too, and yeah- Nick was an irritation for long enough (I often think that when a character makes you dislike them, that's an emotional response that indicates the show is doing what it's meant to- engage you and make you care,one way or another; and possibly at least means decent writing and/ or acting).

They have all grown on me though, to the point where I hope it doesn't get cancelled- I thought Daniel, the older guy from El Salvador, has an interesting background that was a kind of unexpected twist.

One of my (big) bairns pays for BT sports on our Sky package, which gives us access to ANC channel, which is what we were watching on, IIRC.

Nope. It made not a lick of sense, and I don't imagine I'll ever watch it again, but somehow it managed to be quite a lot of fun, something that seems to have been missing from DC movies* for far too long.
*Note: it's possible that all the above might also be true of Green Lantern, but I haven't seen it.

Yeah, that pretty much nails it- it was fun. I got the download and DVD free from Sky as a xmas prezzie, which always helps (I also bagged my dad's xmas voucher and blew it on Asterix and the Mansion of the Gods, which was enjoyable tosh too).

I'm only dimly aware of Green Lantern from the old animated Justice League cartoon which the missus was a fan of- I never liked Lantern and his Green Ring of Everythingness. I did watch the film, well... half of it then wandered off to do something more interesting. Mrs Deever watched it all and says it's pish- that's not to say you won't like it, of course.

I think one problem I had with DC was that they just seemed to add different colours to supes to make new supes (this may not be totally fair as I'm largely ignorant of it all; but dammit- how many different coloured arrows and lanterns are needed before someone says- "hey, maybe it's a new idea we need"). Also- Superman/ Supergirl/ Superboy; Batman/ Batgirl/ Batwoman... jeezo that must've taken ages (and perhaps two fag-packets) to come up with. Not enough mind-bending drugs; or else far, far too many.

I thought the link I posted was having a pop at the pretentions of the Academy...

Ah, sorry. I confess to not clicking the link- my bad. Reading that list though- there's a lot of stuff I wouldn't bother with, my favourite from it would probably be Pan's Labyrinth. Fury Road, like every other Mad Max film, really shouldn't work, but by Grud they all do!

Hmmm, too short notice to save up and book megabuses early for cheapskateness.

Incidentally, I heard recently that there will be an Inverness comic con at Eden Court again- a supposed successor to Hi-Ex. I heard about it last week only to discover it was already sold out despite the fact that barely any guests had been announced, and none of them appear to be connected to comics- all TV stars etc. Fucking weird- how can it sell out before anyone knows what's going on at it? Are people stupid, or what?

Oh, hang on... they totally are.
I might have went for a jolly had it anything to do with comics, but it hasn't- shit, I can't even troll their fb page for their sins as it appears to have some connection with UHI students and my employer (UHI) might give me a swift kick in the pay-packet for such unloved civic duties.

[/off topic] - carry on.

I've been enjoying it. It's not as relentlessly depressing and grimly futile as the main show and I'm enjoying both.
I'd have to say I'm enjoying the main show more, as I'm more familiar with the characters and situations etc, but a lot of that comes down to having read some of the comics and the series having been running longer.

So yeah- I like it, it beats all shades of shite out of watching reality TV, wannabe-chef shows, dull soaps and boring police procedural/ forensic/ investigative pish.

Am I alone in quite liking this film?

I mean- it was nonsense, but I found it quite entertaining nonsense (unlike Batman v Superman which was po-faced fucking drivel which appeared to take itself far too seriously).
I have no clue as to how characters/ story lines compare to the comics as I haven't read much superhero stuff since I was a kid (unless someone gets me a gn or something for xmas/ birthdays) and other than Batman I'm pretty unfamiliar with a lot of the DC universe stuff. I am getting acquainted with it through Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Bellends of Tomorrow series' which are all broadly entertaining enough in their own way (to various degrees).

I'm not convinced that Oscar winners are always 'good films'- I was under the impression that most of these prestigious awards centre around industry politics rather than whether or not the films are actually any use. I mean- it's entirely subjective so how can that even be measured? One persons serious, heavyweight, gravitas-laden movie is another persons dull-ass, talky, sack of bilge, surely?