Zarjaz!

[Bolt-01]

Full bleed is what 2000ad is printed like. The art runs to the edges of the page. We've just gone Bleed on the covers and it makes a heck of a difference.

It does cost more though.

Bolt-01

[paulvonscott]

Thought Tip's strip was good stuff, lovely art, my only complaint being that this sort of namby pamby 'norts are people' attitude makes it very hard to enjoy watching the buggers die in a normal strip :p  Thought the art was a bit too kennedy derivitive on first glance, but no, it's better than that.  Really nice.

Lovely cover, I wish I'd been to the art thing, what I may mock as a t-shirt I have no problems with on a wall.  Rufus does a good job of keeping the 2000AD spirit going.

Didn't understand the Alex Smith strip (sorry), nor the Durham Red strip (art was good, even though it has its knockers), the future shock used concept #32, 'you are what you eat' and Automaton Hunter was okay, good initial idea rushing to a daft joke, not that that's a bad thing.

It's a nicely done mag, personally I'd like more features than strip.  I have nagging doubts about it trying to be a breaking ground for new talent using existing characters, as opposed to a fanzine for 2000AD fans.  One of the reasons is that I think fan stuff almost always suffers in contrast to the real thing.  But I'm not trying to knock anyone, it's a neat little package and stands as well against similar small press titles.

I have noticed these A5 books seem to get away with charging more than A4 books, and I'm impressed that the clarity and pages don't suffer as a result.  See Violent, Girly Comic, Mangaquake et al.

[Dark Jimbo]

(art was good, even though it has its knockers)

Heh heh.

[House of Usher]

I liked all of Zarjaz #2.

Rogue Trooper by Paul Glasswell and Nick Dyer was the star turn. Nick Dyer's art is always great value, so it's nice to see him paired up with a script that deserves his talnts.

Alex Smith's Judge Dredd story is easy enough to get if you don't expect too much for it.

The FutureShock used, as Paul says, a well worn story device, and a good one to have on your card in 'pitch-fest bingo'.

The Durhum Red one made sense to me - she's got a bounty on her head, and the heavies they sent after her aren't up to much. End of story.

Automaton Hunter does what a lot of other comics are doing these days, re-imagining existing characters and dabbling in Victoriana, but incredibly, Paul Crilley and James Feist are managing to say something new.

I say keep the strips coming. Two or three pages of features is enough - after all, we've got the Internet and 2000ad Review for that sort of thing.

[crill]

Automaton Hunter does what a lot of other comics are doing these days, re-imagining existing characters and dabbling in Victoriana, but incredibly, Paul Crilley and James Feist are managing to say something new

Heh. And seriously, I wrote it about four years ago.

[House of Usher]

Yeah, I saw that. But I still wouldn't say you've missed the boat with it.

This kind of Victoriana has been knocking around for quite a while, and its time isn't over yet. See The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Nemesis the Warlock Book IV, Canon Fodder, Neil Gaiman's Mr Hero and Teknophage, Scarlet Traces, Steam Boy, etc. It's an oft-used trope, that's applied very well in the case of Automaton Hunter.