Recent Posts

1

Off Topic / Re: Threadjacking!

« Last post by The Legendary Shark on 26 February, 2020, 09:34:29 pm »

Pfft. That whole 42 conversation is so eighteen months ago. The hip answer is, it depends. Or ~42ish.

The dolphins know all about it, or so I'm given to believe.

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Off Topic / Re: Threadjacking!

« Last post by Funt Solo on 26 February, 2020, 08:43:06 pm »

Did you turn 42 today?

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Off Topic / Re: RIPs

« Last post by Tjm86 on 26 February, 2020, 06:17:23 pm »

.Clive Cussler ...

Not going to raise the titanic now.

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General / Re: how to do a prog slog

« Last post by sheridan on 26 February, 2020, 04:14:53 pm »

2000AD Prog 210: "FREEZE!" The body-snatchers catch a cold – inside!

I wonder if they drafted in Bolland to do this cover because he did the Forever Towers story?

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Off Topic / Re: Threadjacking!

« Last post by NapalmKev on 26 February, 2020, 03:14:55 pm »

I am the answer to the Ultimate Question!

Cheers

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Prog / Re: Prog 2170 - Regened (2020)

« Last post by Proudhuff on 26 February, 2020, 02:45:49 pm »

Damn where's the feckin edit button!?

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Prog / Re: Prog 2170 - Regened (2020)

« Last post by Proudhuff on 26 February, 2020, 02:43:28 pm »

So the SprogProg finally landed in Huff Mansions Sur-Le Mer and I'm happy with lots, the heft, the breadth and breathless excitment of the whole thing  and anything that raises Tharg's standard over WHS and their midden of free plastic tat comic is always welcome...

Cadet Dredd - Solid action fun. No sense of threat or such but some great layouts and story telling, especially that subtle last page.

Finder & Keeper -  Folklore Thursday/ that's a good thing.

Future Shock - Kindof forgot it already sorry old age!

The Gronk - yeah fun, but I feel we've been here before? It feels some familiar.

Rogue Trooper - If this was done woth less cartoony mutants and a darker groove to the baby thing this would easily sit in the Prog.

Overall agree with questioning the timing of this issue rather than the content.

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Prog / Re: Prog 2170 - Regened (2020)

« Last post by Keef Monkey on 26 February, 2020, 02:38:31 pm »

I guess I'm in the camp of not enjoying the Regened progs anywhere near as much as a regular issue, but also not having any problem with them existing. The timing breaking up the flow of weekly strips is definitely annoying, but four times a year is rare enough that it's hard to get too salty about it. I do think if as a kid I'd found a comic I liked but I was only able to read very occasional issues of I'd maybe find the whole thing a bit confusing, and if you didn't have a parent to hand that issue down to you then you'd probably have no idea another Regene issue was happening. I'd imagine they're of most value to regular readers who are parents and can pass these occasional progs to their sprogs, so would be interested to hear how they're enjoying them.

I think it works best when the stories don't necessarily feel like a departure from the main prog, that Cadet Dredd story would probably work well enough in the adult prog so was one of the highlights (although I kept waiting for the glasses established at the start to play into things? Unless I missed something that was all a bit Chekov's gun.

Finder & Keeper was also pretty enjoyable fun, and I liked the Rogue Trooper story. It played out like a Saturday morning cartoon version of Nu-Earth and that was fun to see, and the artwork was cool (it was great through the whole prog actually).

The Future Shock and Gronk stories didn't really work for me though, not sure why but they just didn't connect as well, possibly because they did skew more to the younger reader maybe? Not sure, but they still looked colourful and fun so didn't necessarily dislike them.

I'll probably still read these when they come out, but I have to admit that personally I'd much rather have a regular prog in their place so will be a little disappointed when they roll around. If they're fulfilling a service for other readers though then I've no problem with them existing.

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Prog / Re: Prog 2170 - Regened (2020)

« Last post by Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2020, 01:48:51 pm »

Just to second everything that PJ [EDIT: and IndigoPrime] said and to add that I used to work in newspaper/magazine production and, nearly twenty years ago now, I wrote a detailed business plan for launching a new high street comic.

Remember that we have twenty years' worth of inflation to consider, along with a far less healthy high street market to take into account when I say that launching a new title then cost a rock solid minimum £500,000 pounds to get out of the door — and that was with a minimal promotional budget and working on the assumption that I would be doing all the editorial and production for free out of my spare bedroom.

A more accurate figure to do it propely, even back then, would probably leave no change out of a million quid.

Add to that the horrific cash-flow of a venture where you're piling up commissioning costs weeks and months in advance, and a significant lag on revenue in the form of payment from the distributors. You're looking at being at least £1.5-£2M out of pocket before you have any idea whether your new title is going to break even, never mind turn a profit.*

Like PJ, I have no idea whether some hypothetical companion 'junior' title is the end goal of all this, but baby steps like these ones are absolutely the only sensible way to make any progress in expanding the market.

*Before anyone says "Didn't Rebellion just spend a gazillion quid buying a new set of film/TV studio premises?" remember that if a publishing venture like the one I describe flops, you have literally no resale-able assets to offset the losses.

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Prog / Re: Prog 2170 - Regened (2020)

« Last post by IndigoPrime on 26 February, 2020, 01:48:01 pm »

it's enormously (prohibitively so) expensive to create a brand new comic and distribute it to newsagents

As I’ve said before, there are six good reasons to not launch a new comic/magazine. (That would be the numbers, in a row, with a £ before them.) This is why you quite often see magazines code-sharing (one title flips between various forms), or magazine X take over from magazine Y, yet still technically retain the spot of the older title.

2000 AD locally seems to be improving in terms of distribution. I see it and the Meg now in some local supermarkets, which is great. But in a market that’s getting an absolute kicking, any new launch would be a colossal risk, and Rebellion are right to be cautious. Also, frankly, if Regened increases the viability of the Prog through more sales, that’d be great even if I wasn’t keen. (As it was, I enjoyed reading it.)