Prog 2013

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Note to Mabs: hope you're going to come along to one of our infrequent get-togethers in the new year (nothing organised yet, but you can bet when we do get round to it those jockos will STILL be trying to find a weekend they are all free and not skanked out in a dirty bog mainlining smack and listening to the proclaimers already out enjoying themselves) AND i have an envelope stuffed with stuff animal porn for you that's addressed but which wont be posted til after xmas for fear of xmas post.
the police getting their hands on it
Sorry to drag off-topic!

SBT

FTFY.

I suggest any detractors from the legendary haze that is the Auctioneers try it before they knock it.

[coastguardjackuk]

I just don't think it was festive enough. Probably the weakest cover for a good few years as well. I mourn for the days where there were the articles. The sort of stuff you don't get in the normal progs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I mean, a 100 page prog is all good but that's what it is, a 100 page prog. I think the xmas prog should be more than that. There are 48 other weeks of the year to have only stories. I know the prog is about the stories but anyone who has been a reader for years will know the sort of articles/fun stuff I'm pining for. If any new squaxx are in doubt as to what I mean, get hold of Prog 2000's "Tharg's Thrill Powered Death Match". THAT'S what I'm talking about!

[Jim_Campbell]

I know the prog is about the stories but anyone who has been a reader for years will know the sort of articles/fun stuff I'm pining for.

You mean the kind of stuff that the old annuals used to be full of? The annuals no one bought?

Cheers

Jim

[Spikes]

Ahh, the old Annuals - sigh...
Just dug a few of those out. Instantly transported back to Christmas '83.

But getting back to the present. Only half way through this years.
Grand stuff so far. (Dredd is back to his indestructable best. Perhaps Tharg ought to make Dredd wear his Luna 1 era superhero cape again and have done with it,  ) Stronty, Visibleman - more please!, and Savage - more please! read, so the rest to savour over the coming days. And by heck - that Death teaser 

[Mardroid]

I think my only complaint about Prog 2013 is that I got through it too quickly. Which is no fault of the Prog.

Oh and I found a couple of story threads were resolved a bit too easily resolved. (I.e how did [spoiler]the visible man and co get out of the cell? And I wondered how the girl in Absalom escaped too, but I guess that was explained by the fact she was tough and likely did a deal with the kiddies to get their revenge on the demon. [/spoiler])  Oh and I'd have liked a longer Strontium Dog episode.

I'm not sure I'd really count those  as complaints though. Good prog all round.

[A.Cow]

Ahh, the old Annuals - sigh...
Just dug a few of those out. Instantly transported back to Christmas '83.

Given how annual sales have picked up a bit in recent years (at least the Doctor Who, Beano & Top Gear ones seem to be fairly prominent in supermarkets)...

...is there an angle for trying to attract parents to buy something nostalgic with the 2000 AD logo on,  which is aimed at modern 12 year-old kids -- but using historically recognisable characters?  A one-off annual as an experiment in trying to expand the brand?

[Mabs]

I think my only complaint about Prog 2013 is that I got through it too quickly. Which is no fault of the Prog.

Oh and I found a couple of story threads were resolved a bit too easily resolved. (I.e how did [spoiler]the visible man and co get out of the cell? And I wondered how the girl in Absalom escaped too, but I guess that was explained by the fact she was tough and likely did a deal with the kiddies to get their revenge on the demon. [/spoiler])  Oh and I'd have liked a longer Strontium Dog episode.

I'm not sure I'd really count those  as complaints though. Good prog all round.

I asked myself the same question too.[spoiler] I think they let her go when they probably realised that she is not the culprit, and the kids had more bigger fish to fry if they nabbed the paedo-clown. [/spoiler]Which thankfully they did!

[James Stacey]

Ahh, the old Annuals - sigh...
Just dug a few of those out. Instantly transported back to Christmas '83.

Given how annual sales have picked up a bit in recent years (at least the Doctor Who, Beano & Top Gear ones seem to be fairly prominent in supermarkets)...

...is there an angle for trying to attract parents to buy something nostalgic with the 2000 AD logo on,  which is aimed at modern 12 year-old kids -- but using historically recognisable characters?  A one-off annual as an experiment in trying to expand the brand?

I've seen Eagle ones pushed at the nostalgia market. Wonder if there would be room for an 'old skool' style toof annual cynically pitched at the retro market but with a couple of modern gems like Zombo and Kingdom thrown in the mix. Get John Burns to do the cover, use the old logo, guaranteed seller.

[Jim_Campbell]

A one-off annual as an experiment in trying to expand the brand?

By generating interest in a title that is entirely and intentionally unsuitable for them? I'm not sure how you think that will work out...!

(Insert my obligatory all-ages rant here.)

Cheers!

Jim

[A.Cow]

A one-off annual as an experiment in trying to expand the brand?

By generating interest in a title that is entirely and intentionally unsuitable for them? I'm not sure how you think that will work out...!

Nah, of coure not -- as you rightly point out the age group is wrong.

What I meant was generating interest to see if it's worth launching a similar occasional (summer special etc.) product that would run as a sister publication, in the same manner as Lawman Of The Future.  I think on the back of decent comic book movies like Avengers & Dark Knight there's a much stronger market for this kind of thing than there was back in the 1990s.

And the semi-nostalgic angle is a way to sell it to the parents (who may end up buying it for themselves more than for the kids) and will also tickle casual ex-readers' interest in the original stories, shifting more reprint collections.

Initial thoughts are a 'continuation' of popular retro stories like Harlem Heroes alongside some 12 year-old-friendly new Dredd and Strontium Dog.  Give it a tie-in title like 3000 AD (in a deliberate copy of the original-style logo) to get the eye-catch of parents on the shelf.

I don't say this lightly.  Many of my 16 to 19 year old students sit discussing comics nowadays, especially Marvel & DC character backstories.  I see them sat outside classrooms reading things like Preacher and Watchmen.  How did they get interested in this kind of thing?  Because of the video games, movies & TV animation they watch, which attract them to a genre.  I believe there is a significant, untapped niche market in targetting these kids early with stuff that will stimulate the same minds.

[Jim_Campbell]

How did they get interested in this kind of thing?[/b]  Because of the video games, movies & TV animation they watch, which attract them to a genre.  I believe there is a significant, untapped niche market in targetting these kids early with stuff that will stimulate the same minds.

I've been making this argument for years. The under-10s are quite well catered-for with newsstand comics -- the problem is that there is yawning chasm in the 11-16yr old market during which period the audience loses the habit of reading comics, creating an obvious problem for adult-oriented titles like CLINT and, yes, 2000AD. Where are the new readers going to come from?

The bar to entry when targetting that untapped market segment is the £0.5-1M required to attempt a significant high street launch in the UK, hence the logic (IMO) of repositioning the existing title to an all-ages audience and bumping more experimental/adult stuff to the Meg.

Cheers

Jim

[TordelBack]

Unlike most virginities, that really was worth keeping until the Big Day! 

Thoroughly enjoyed Prog 2013 over the course of two days.  Rennie completely dominated proceedings this year with two brilliantly re-readable strips, just compensation for not being part of any of the earlier 'big events'.  In fact my only problem with a solid and sumptuous annual was that the four most interesting things in it (Absalom, Aquila, Visible Man and Ack Ack Macaque) don't continue next week.

Oh yeah, there was more missing-the-point post re: Lenny Zero and Zoe Arnold.  I'm going to have to take finger to keyboard and respond - yes, quake in your motorbike boots, you unreconstructed Betelgeusian.

[Spikes]

Bit late with this but now fully read. Top prog 2013 - full of treats.
Best of the bunch was Absalom which was a rollocking good and creepy read. A nice Sapphire and Steel vibe about this one. The Visible Man, Aquila, Red seas, Savage and Stronty were all good reads as well. Ampney Crucis is a strip im not familar with, but enjoyed both the story and the art. Dredd felt OK, but nowt special - sorry..
And Ack Ack Macaque felt hard to judge - as we wont be seeing it again in the prog?
Still for a one off it was OK as well.
Ill echo the sentiment that the one off's were mostly the better strips in this prog. So all in all a right good read, with just Dredd not really doing owt for me, this time.
So onto Prog 1813..

[Aonghus]

A divisive Christmas prog this year, it seems! Personally, I really liked Dredd, Absalom, and Savage, liked Ampney and Stront; thought Ack Ack Macaque was entertaining but hackneyed, and felt my eyes just kind of slide over Visible Man and Red Seas.

I would've enjoyed Strontium Dog more had it not been so long since the last installment actually- the immediacy of the suspense had faded

Oh and can any of you help me with a query? I bought myself a subscription as a birthday/Christmas present for myself- Anyone know when 2013's first issue arrives?

[Dandontdare]

Oh and can any of you help me with a query? I bought myself a subscription as a birthday/Christmas present for myself- Anyone know when 2013's first issue arrives?

My subs copy of prog 1813 arrived on saturday, should be hitting the shops today.