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This thread reminds me of a friend of mine, who, in the early-mid '90s, went to a business seminar with some guy who was quite high up in the CBI.  The seminar was all about a fangled new way of buying things that was being billed as 'internet shopping'.  After the seminar had ended, CBI guy turns to my friend and says, "that'll never catch on".

I remember saying the same thing about text messages (who'll type fiddly messages on a phone keypad when you can just press one button and speak to them?)and bottled water ("nobody in this country is going to be daft enough to actually pay for something that comes out of the tap for free")!

Some people are always going to want a hard copy

And I'm one of those luddites. I want my pages BIG and on paper. I want my collection stacked up or proudly shelved. I want to be able to lie on  my back, swing in a hammock, soak in the bath or sit on the bus reading a comic, without carting hardware around with me. I know, I know, I'll just have to get used to it, but it won't stop me moaning and grouching into my dotage: "I remember when we had PROPER comics...."  

I think it's significant that those two numbers add up to a total of 2000 issues as well...

Ah, but if you take the letters in Tharg's name, multiply by 2000 and then take away the number you first thought of, you get Hitler, which proves that Pat Mills is a masonic nazi. Or something.

Literally the homeopathy of manure.

Or the bollocks of shite, to use a technical term.

i too know a well educated woman, a nurse currently studying for a RHS qualification in horticulture, who is being tempted by the Dark Side of biodynamic planting. Moon cycles may have been a handy 'calendar' to remind people of optimum planting times, but she won't believe me that the moonlight doesn't do feck all for the plants!

Welcome Starfish.

1. I don't think any of the Flesh books have ever been reprinted as a graphic novel (shame!). There have been some reprints though: http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=flesh. Pat Mills (co-creator of the 2000ad and writer of several stories to this day) has also featured this epoch-spanning family of Dinosaurs (Old One Eye, Satanus, Golgotha) in other stories, including ABC Warriors and Nemesis.

2. Pretty much. They are launching 'Casefiles 0' to cover all the annual and summer special stories that didn't make it into the main casefiles. I haven't really been following the discussions about where tales of the Dead Man fits in as I don't plan on getting them, but I'm sure someone will be along to fill you in on that one... The only thing missing will be the strips from the Daily Star newspaper (several books of these are out) and bits and bobs such as Heavy Metal Dredd which featured in Rock Power magazine, but I wouldn't worry about those. If you get every Casefile you'll have more Dredd than you know what to do with!

3. Strontium Dog all the way - the first three Agency Files are superb. If cops and bounty hunters seems a tad mundane after that, try Nemesis the Warlock for ultra-future battles between an genocidal fascist traffic cop and an amoral alien warlock. Top stuff. Then try Ro-busters and the ABC warriors for all out robotic coolness.

Medication time, Mr Godpleton...

It's a minefield Grant! Do we ever get his full title anywhere? is he a Duke, and earl a marquess etc? The authority on all things related to our scumsucking horsefaced parasite elite noble aristocracy, is Debrett's Peerage. A quick browse around here will show you just how complicated it can get, especially when you get to 'courtesy' titles.

I've just read the whole run of those, what a brilliant find! Not recommended for anyone who thinks there are too many rude bits in the prog, and definitely NSFW.

The "fountain of..." stories made me guffaw!

Hmm, I see what you mean Jim. It's hard to put your finger on exactly why, but that standard case page does feel different, and isn't as easy to read. I think it was a conscious decision for Ultimate Spider Man however, and went some way to making that book really feel different (and it did when it started), with a more 'childish' Spiderman, but on the whole you're right, it's not as good.

I'm familiar with speech balloons and thought balloons*, but what did a whisper balloon look like?

*I hadn't realised just how far thought balloons had fallen out of favour (they do encourage lazy storytelling) until I read some recent marvel or DC TPB that was full of 'em - they really stood out and bugged me.

I'm sure that most of us do things in our jobs that few people outside of our profession would notice if they were not done properly. Otherwise it's the slippery slope to mediocrity.

True that. I suppose it's like the ancient 'golden rule' of proportions in architecture - you don't notice it but it just makes things look 'right'.

Now when we get to the maddening overuse of weird gothicky texts to make characters like Thor stand out.... 

I see your point, and I've been dying to ask why you hate them so much, but would anyone except a letterer actually notice though? On all the occasions you've pointed out crossbar I's, it has always passed me by completely and not affected my enjoyment of the story, nor has it 'stuck out' or interrupted the smooth reading of the text.

Until now, you bastard, now I find I'm looking out for them as well! 

On an aside, there seems to be a distinction between 'proper' capitals and the rest of the text which just appear to be capital/uppercase. Why don't letterers use normal lowercase letters?

I swallowed a whole lotta guff at my RC primary school about Guardian Angels, Limbo, Purgatory, relics of the One True Cross, patron saints etc. It was years later that I actually read the bible and thought "hang on, none of that shit's actually in here!"

And since the teacher explained that "faith can move mountains" was literally true, ie that if you believed ins something 100% it WOULD happen, I thought you could make an army of invincible supermen/magicians by hypnotising people into believing they could fly or move mountains.

Sugar in tea - gah!

I still drink 'builder's tea' - strong'n'sweet. Without sugar I find tea (and coffee) a nasty bitter drink.

Scorpions

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8478359.stm

I remember that bubble gum boobie cover was rather controversial when I was at school. Ah, innocent days!

This could just be a clever way of getting publicity for a new album and tour - as Albion says, there's always the option of reunions down the line. How many "final tours" did Quo have?

Couldn't get that page to load, just kept timing out on me.

(The rhyme we use to remember for this was Very Tall Busty Ladies Give Crap Cuddles for Vodka, Tequila, Bacardi, Lime, Gin, Cointreau, Coke.  I ended up getting a cuddle from a very tall very busty lady who was determined to prove me wrong.)

You sly dog, that's very sneaky!

(but I thought with it being so strong, it wouldn't be so popular).

Have you ever met any young people?

And most importantly, I didn't get drunk and leer.

You're quite right, I always find it best to stay sober so I can remember it properly afterwards.

heard that one on the radio today and my first thought was the dude from Kiss...

Sending my mate I AM THE LAW and WE ARE WATCHING YOU, LAWBREAKER notes through his letterbox on my Judge Dredd chopper, and his mother freaking out thinking her son was in trouble with the police.

Brilliant. Did she think that's how the police operate? "that kid's been up to no good, let's sneak a note through his door to let him know we're watching him"