Prog 2130 - 2000ad Regened

[broodblik]

For me the experiment worked but I do not want this to be a regular exercise. I will purchase a regen version when they eventually decide to launch the title. I understand some people will not be happy with their regular prog been moved to a week later.

[Dandontdare]

I appreciate what they're attempting but unhappy that it had to replace a proper prog rather than as a special.

The Dredd, Rogue and Anderson were decent childish versions of the originals, Finder & Keeper and the FS were OK if a little simplistic and I've only flicked through Full Tilt Boogie as I have no clue what that's all about. Some nice art, but overall not my cup of tea.

Please don't do this again in the weekly.

[Tjm86]

Whilst I'm not in the 'utterly overwhelmed' camp, certainly there was a lot to commend the exercise.  At the end of the day I would have bought it anyways alongside the prog to see what it was like.  Probably the same as most folks here.  So as an exercise to increase sales ....

I wonder if doing it as the prog rather than a special could also have unforeseen consequences for casual try out readers too.  If they've picked it up then decide to follow up next week expecting more of the same it could be a little problematic picking up the threads of long running strips.

So timing may not have been great from that point of view either.  If some folks viewed it as a jumping on point they might be tempted to jump straight back off again.  A special emphasising the experimental nature of one or two of the strips and highlighting normal fare might have been a better way to go possibly.

[Eamonn Clarke]

Bit late with this cover by Neil Goodge and Gary Caldwell on colours.

Fascinated to see what happens with this, Full Tilt Boogie and Finder & Keeper seem too good to languish as just one offs.

[Jim_Campbell]

As a long-standing proponent of the “2000AD needs to actively target younger readers” argument, I think this was a worthwhile experiment, and I enjoyed all the strips… some more than others, but there wasn’t an actual duffer in there. Great stuff.

As for why this was inserted into the regular run of progs — Matt talks about this on the latest Thrill Cast. Basically, it’s because they’ve already got a full slate of specials for the year and their distributors didn’t think there was room for another.

[Jim_Campbell]

A distinction that needs to be made between 'kiddie comic' and 'all ages comic' - this was the latter.

This has driven me insane since I first started to advocate for more all-ages material in comics generally, and from the House of Tharg particularly… “for kids” ≠ “all ages”. Now that characters in 2000AD can occasionally say ‘shit’, does that somehow make it more grown up than Halo Jones, or Zenith, or Bad Company…?

[norton canes]

First of all, that cover is just the business. Neil Googe showing there's more to him than the high-jinks of Survival Geeks. Love Rogue's little straight-line frown. Not sure about the 'classic' style logo though - why have they removed all the bevels, edges and shadow-lines? It looks like it's not finished.

The Dredd story was great - I'm not a huge fan of the humorous single-episode Dredds that are slotted in now and again but this one takes a solid idea and runs with it really well. The prog's other big positive is Full Tilt Boogie, which I thought was excellent, it had a real sense of continental strangeness about it, even shades of Brandon Graham's 'Prophet'. The tentacled spacecraft, the explosive-eating cat, Grandma in her spacesuit and coat, the Borrower Bears, all fantastic touches, and the script was intriguingly oblique without being too opaque. It didn't feel in any way like an exclusively 'young readers' strip. Definitely up for more of this.

The Future Shock was pretty nice. Liked the way it built gradually to its twist rather than relying on a final 'shock reveal' panel.

Elsewhere, the strips were less impressive. The Anderson story suffered, I thought, from comparisons with the inspired lunacy of the recent D&D-themed Survival Geeks story. Also the denouement was too on the nose, though, perhaps it would resound with younger readers, who knows? Not me, I'm the wrong side of fifty. Finder & Keeper had none of the engaging inventiveness of Full Tilt Boogie and came across as the story most squarely aimed at younger readers. The Rogue strip was equally ponderous - to be honest, an all-out war story seemed out of place in a comic aimed at today's kids.


As to the question of whether this should have been a regular prog I'm afraid I'm very much in the 'no thanks' camp, though if it turns out Full Tilt Boogie is commissioned for a full series then it hasn't been a wasted experiment. I don't quite get what kids who did enjoy the strips are supposed to do next, except wait a few months for the possibility of the launch of a regular Regened.

[IndigoPrime]

It feels like the problem right now is ambition outstrips reality. You can tell Rebellion would love to, at the very least, put out The Vigilant as a US-style monthly, Regened as a monthly or even weekly, and probably also a humour title. But those things probably aren’t viable (although I could see Cor/Buster doing well among parents sick to death of bagged shite – *waves* – and who want something in addition to The Phoenix), hence the specials and odd scheduling.

But, yeah, there is that issue of “well, what now?” for people who loved the all-ages special. it’s a pity it didn’t come before a jumping-on Prog, but I can’t imagine what a nightmare scheduling must be for Matt.

[sheridan]

Krong, Morphy and Raider! For a comic aimed at new readers that is a nostalgia-heavy Dredd.

Nah - doesn't matter if there are easter eggs and call-backs for older readers - when I started reading the prog MC1 was strongly feeling the after-effects of the Apocalypse War - not having read a story that ran a year before didn't stop me enjoying the stories I was reading for the first time.

[sheridan]

That was a total treat!

I thought the art was solid throughout (though I wish Gunnar wasn't quite so 'revised') and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the strips.

I found chunky Gunnar to be a bit off-putting for the first few pages, but it grew on me and I'm comfortable seeing artists bringing their own style to established characters.

[sheridan]

Dredd was great, although the presence of Mantas in the 2070s hit my anal-retentive gland hard ( ).

Glad I'm not the only person to have got caught by that.  From the moment they were first referenced I've been trying to justify their inclusion by thinking they're Manta Tanks and not Manta Prowl Tanks, and perhaps the latter were the 2104/5 (?) revision of an earlier design.  Bit off-putting, as much as I love the design.

[The Amstor Computer]

First of all, that cover is just the business. Neil Googe showing there's more to him than the high-jinks of Survival Geeks. Love Rogue's little straight-line frown. Not sure about the 'classic' style logo though - why have they removed all the bevels, edges and shadow-lines? It looks like it's not finished.

I don't mind that - I prefer the original, but the "clean" version here is OK - though the "REGENED" subtitle doesn't quite work for me. It's not meshing with the telescoping/perspective of the 2000AD logo (it seems too upright, and feels like it stretches into the distance when it should be more compressed) so it feels a little mismatched. That said, trying to get something that gels well with that crazy logo is not an easy task, and my hat's off to anyone who has a crack at it!

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Having had a few days to think about it, I realised I've paid more attention to (and seen more attention paid to it online, which must be good) this week's prog than any other for a good while.
Immediate thoughts: Chris Weston can do no wrong, and I'd love to see more strips both written and drawn by him.
Full Tilt Boogie, while my least favourite thing when I read it, has become more interesting in retrospect and I'd like to see more.
Rogue seems to suit a younger approach, but needs more disturbing and crazy violence and "horror of war" allegory. As a straightforward adventure strip it just doesn't work.

Everything else was perfectly adequate.

Re the logo, it doesn't look right in its new incarnation. Restore the textures! And then shove it back on the front of the prog, as this proves it still works.

While the cover was attractive, it shows how things have changed: wherefore the people being consumed by giant monstrosities and screaming flesh of yesteryear, that so attracted youngsters to the prog's delights on a weekly basis?

I'm quite happy that it "took the place" of the normal prog for a week. But I'd prefer a fortnightly regular edition, thanks.

SBT

[JayzusB.Christ]

While the cover was attractive, it shows how things have changed: wherefore the people being consumed by giant monstrosities and screaming flesh of yesteryear, that so attracted youngsters to the prog's delights on a weekly basis?


SBT

I was thinking that too.  2000ad has always been violent (I wasn't even in my teens when Sláine ripped a living fomorian's heart out through its mouth), and I loved that aspect of it as a kid.  Bad Company, while not having any language harsher than 'damn', was strewn with gruesome scenes of torture.  I still wince looking at Nemesis making a skinhead's big mouth bigger.  Comic creators,  at least,  deemed that kind of thing suitable for kids back then but times have changed and I don't think that kind of thing would fly for a publication aimed at children these days.

I enjoyed this all-ages one-off and I'd love to see it take off as a separate comic.  But I can't help feeling,  for better or worse,  that 2000ad without blood and guts wouldn't be 2000ad.  (The nudity and swearing are another matter,  and I must say I don't really know what to think there.)

[Woolly]

I enjoyed this all-ages one-off and I'd love to see it take off as a separate comic.  But I can't help feeling,  for better or worse,  that 2000ad without blood and guts wouldn't be 2000ad.  (The nudity and swearing are another matter,  and I must say I don't really know what to think there.)

I'd argue that the Cadet Dredd story had plenty of guts in it. And shit!

I loved this prog far more than I've been loving the regular prog of late, and can only hope we see alot more of this.
Maybe make the prog fortnightly, and have Regened on the alternate weeks? Just a thought...