Extreme 9: MACH 1 (You only die once)

[Oddboy]

There was probably (to some extent, at least) a rough plot devised by the editors for the story arc given to the script droids as a guide to build their stories around -
ie 'Do what you want in the story, as long as he ends up in this situation'

[Byron Virgo]

You do tend to notice that the Steve MacManus episodes aren't as well written as Roy Preston or Pat Mills' ones (even within the constraints and writing style of the time). Often events are explained when it is obvious from the art work, or simply explained in a clumsy way, whilst characters and storylines make no sense whatsoever.

Having said all that, I enjoyed this a lot and read the whole thing in one go yesterday evening.
Even gave me some ideas for how you could tackle a potential sequel, and I never thought I'd be saying that about this strip (god, I'm starting to sound like sc*j* now, aren't I?)

[Satanist]

I bought this at lunch time even though I've been really disappointed in the last few EE's.

Invasion,Ant Wars,Flesh 2 & Mach 1 have all aged really badly. I mean I wouldn't buy a DVD of "Mind your Language" just cos it was 3 quid so why do I buy these?

The best thing about them are the covers.Goddamn the collector in me!

Anyhoo I'll give this one a go later and see if it changes anything...

[Funt Solo]

Like you, Satanist, I'm buying a lot of these simply for the sake of completion.

It seems like a case of money for old rope.

The one thing I don't understand is this:  if Rebellion want to attract new people to the 2000AD market, then it's a bit weird that they decide to publish substandard material.

You could imagine someone buying Ant Wars or Invasion and then going "well, I'm not going to buy the weekly on the strength of that."

But - perhaps my taste is all skew whiff:  perhaps other (younger?) minds find this stuff entertaining:  I used to love collecting those little Commando and Starblazer comics - haven't seen any in years but they're probably about the same quality.

[The Amstor Computer]

"god, I'm starting to sound like sc*j* now, aren't I?"

Nah - not until you start ranting about Hugh Jackman being the only possible choice for the role of Probe, and telling us all how Rebellion should let themselves be bought up by Time/Warner (wonder how the collapse of the DC deal affected that little delusion?)

[Bad Andy]

I quite like the retro feel of the Extremes and they obviously have been doing well to go bi-monthly. Fed up of Invasion been used as filler on these things, though.

They might be successful in pulling in lapsed readers from the so-called 'golden age'. Nostalgia is a big business these days. Rebellion gets slagged a little for marketing, but the Extremes have linked in well with both tooth and meg. Smacks of a below the line marketing strategy. Fair play to Rebellion, they should invest the money in proof readers.

[The Amstor Computer]

Who says the Extremes are designed to pull in new readers? Is it not possible that they should be considered as a separate publication, and not as a "gateway" to the prog & Meg?

Certainly, I can see the contents appealing to nostalgic older readers and collectors, but I can also see it appealing to younger readers or readers unfamiliar with 2000AD.

[Bolt-01]

By eck, I enjoyed that. Not the best written piece and the art is cringeworthy in places, but any strip that lets itself end on such an unresolved note is worth reading again.

Bolt-01

[Byron Virgo]

Yeah, Mills really pulls it out with the downbeat, low key ending (though he does seem to have something about UFO's, doesn't he?).

I have to agree with the scary computer from The Eagle and say that the EE's are clearly designed and marketed for those people who already read either 2000AD or the Megazine and would thus be interested in reading reprints of these stories.

Particularly in light of my planned M.A.C.H. 1 screenplay to star Hugh Jackman, which I'm going to pitch to AOL/Time Warner at the weekend...