Prog 2350 - 2000ad Battle Action*

[nxylas]

Not sure what problem you're highlighting here.

The point of divergence retroactively affecting events that happened before it. Indiana Jones already existed in this timeline, so your version of Major Easy would still be seen as "2000AD does Indiana Jones". Which is fine, 2000AD has always responded to trends in popular culture (in fact, I'm surprised they didn't do something similar at the time), but it still seems unlikely that Spielberg would abandon his own creation in favour of an imitator.

[GordonR]

So the problem is a throwaway joke ref in a Tharg story, where the comic reallly is edited by an alien?

Got it.

[Richard]

How is that worse than 2000AD does Dirty Harry?

[Woolly]

I'm going to have to say it... I wish they would use the chrome logo on the regular Prog again... along with all the other stuff like the "Earth money" and "in orbit every Wednesday" etc.

Whilst I thoroughly agree that the old chrome logo is arsom, I wouldn't really want it to make a comeback.
What's a brilliant bit of nostalgic design for us, would probably be considered a bit naff by the youthsters.

The Judge Dredd logo on the other hand... reinstate it now please Tharg! It still works better than any other Dredd logo we've had, in my rose-tinted fanboy opinion!

[jannerboyuk]

Loved it, really enjoyable and i would definitely follow some those stories to completion but it really works as palette cleanser in contrast to the normal prog. Definitely prefer this to the regened enforced break, which should spin off as a monthly imo.

[nxylas]

How is that worse than 2000AD does Dirty Harry?

It isn't, and I said as much. Like Gordon said, it was a throwaway joke, and I don't want to make too big a deal of it. It just kind of jumped out at me a bit, the sort of thing that might appear in the "goofs" section of its IMDb page if it was a movie.

[scrotnig]

I'm going to have to say it... I wish they would use the chrome logo on the regular Prog again... along with all the other stuff like the "Earth money" and "in orbit every Wednesday" etc.

Whilst I thoroughly agree that the old chrome logo is arsom, I wouldn't really want it to make a comeback.
What's a brilliant bit of nostalgic design for us, would probably be considered a bit naff by the youthsters.

The Judge Dredd logo on the other hand... reinstate it now please Tharg! It still works better than any other Dredd logo we've had, in my rose-tinted fanboy opinion!

Yet the Regened progs use an even older logo...

I agree on the Dredd logo. That's not a nostalgia thing, I just feel the Dredd logos used since just don't really work.

[Verence]

I have to say I laughed at the bit in the framing story when one of the execs at Battle Action said "Huh, they'll be asking for a bl**dy toy tie-in next!"

I was actually reading Battle Action at the time when it virtually became an "in-house" magazine for the Action Force toys 

I'd  definitely like to see more of Juves Rule OK! and Hellman

[Something Fishy]

This prog was fantastic.  I'd love to see some of these stories getting extended beyond a one off. 

[IndigoPrime]

My Prog finally arrived late yesterday. I'm not sure what to make of it. I think, on balance, I prefer the Meg, not because the stories were better, but because less was left hanging. I get that this issue of 2000 AD was kind of an elseworlds thing – a what if? But it's frustrating that almost every strip ends on something tantalising when we won't get anything further. (Heaven knows what lapsed or new readers are going to think when they pick up 2351.)

Personally, I'm not sure I agree with the suggestions these strips are regained fare. Perhaps Death Game and Dredger. The others had a somewhat 2000 AD classic era feel, but it's hard to see melting adults or Nazis vs demons in that publication. And although others have suggested perhaps that's what we should see, I'd also argue the majority of these strips could slot into the Prog now. So the differentiation is slim.

Dredd worked well, playing on the Dredd/Rico rivalry in a manner that makes Cadet Dredd look even more toothless and dull than it is. Plus Dredd can just be Dredd, without leaving him in this weird place where he's supposed to be heroic and moral, yet lumbering him with being a stick in the mud joy-killer. Great art, too, as you'd expect from Coleby.

Sports SF leaves me a bit cold in comic form, but Death Game was the best modern effort I've seen. Far better than everything we've seen in Rebellion's other attempts to do this sort of thing of late. And then El Mestizo had some lovely art and a solid strip. Despite the cliffhanger, this was the strip I felt worked best as a standalone.

I never cared for Dredger much in his original incarnation. But this worked nicely, going full Blackhawk (as per the Tharg strip). 70s gun-happy spy in a future that claims to have done away with crime is a mite tropey. But it strikes me you could have a lot of fun with this one, with a very 2000 AD spin on Demolition Man.

Hellman was for me the concept that has the most legs in the modern world of 2000 AD. I'd quite happily see this continue in next week's prog, to see where it goes. Perhaps Tharg will recommission some of these strips. Who knows?

And then Major Easy wraps things up, with some fab art, a breezy script, and the second best of this issue's stories in the sense of working as a standalone story.

In all, then, this was in many ways a very strong Prog, even if the concept and final execution was a bit frustrating to me. It's perhaps a good sign I wanted more of these strips; but it's a pity that's unlikely to happen.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I prefer the rectangular logo which came after it. The current logo resembles that. But I agree that the chrome logo would look better on the Regened progs than the 1977 one.

My thoughts exactly - I was happy enough to see the new (now old) 'fan' one, and loved the way the covers told the story of the old Yule logo being burned for Christmas, and Dredd threatening a perp for trying to remove the new one.

The real problems arose when the logos seemed to be designed by a trawl through the coolest fonts on the web.

For me, the chrome one brings a warm sentimental glow, but it's just nostalgia and the slimline simplicity of the now-standard red and white one wins out.  But definitely keep it handy for the Regened progs.

[broodblik]

This logo was my least favourite:

[broodblik]

From Chris Weston:

Five years ago I created this tribute piece to Carlos Ezquerra featuring his creations. Something in it gave me an idea.... and five years later...

[norton canes]

Don't want to be that guy, but colour me a fan of the current logo. It's simple, stylish and resplendent in white yet unobtrusive enough not to distract from the cover art. Don't get me wrong, the other logos were great for their eras but this is absolutely the right thing for the current iteration.

[scrotnig]

I think I'd be a lot happier with the current logo if it was used on the Prog as JUST the logo, as it was when it was first brought back in its current form when Rebellion first took over.

I thought that looked fabulous.

For some reason we later had to have the word 2000AD written next to it and the logo shrunk. It has never looked right. It feels like they aren't confident enough that the logo states the brand name, so have to spell it out as well. If that's the case then the logo is no good (which is not true, it is).

So, nostalgic Chrome logo campaigns aside, what should really happen is to keep the current logo but use it standalone.