2000AD and all things related

[Artie Fufkin]

Borag Thungg!!

As I said in the Comics Thread, I really think 2000AD is going through a golden period at the moment. All 5 stories are top notch. So I thought it should have its own thread. Feel free to talk about all things 2000AD/Megazine and all of that malarkey. There's been about 45 years of it now. There's a lot to get through.

[13 schoolyards]

It's pretty impressive the way 2000ad hasn't really had a dud patch since the early-mid 90s - there's almost always been something going on that makes the prog well worth picking up.

Even now it's not really relying on nostalgia. Pretty much all the golden age series (with the obvious exception of Dredd) have been retired, and aside from Wagner the remaining still available classic writers (Pat Mills, John Smith) aren't around either. Personally I'd prefer an old school thrill or two thrown back into the mix (where's the death sports? An outright comedy?), but it's clear the current mix is still working well, which isn't bad after 45 years.

Also, bring back Big Dave.

[Glebe]

Not read it since the late '80s/early.'90s. It were really zarjaz mind!

[dead-ced-dead]

The other day I was browsing in a comic shop to kill time while waiting for a friend and I came across a comic from 2000 AD called Caballistics  Inc. It seemed to be right up my street, but I'm wondering if anyone here can recommend it? Any good?

[Artie Fufkin]

The other day I was browsing in a comic shop to kill time while waiting for a friend and I came across a comic from 2000 AD called Caballistics  Inc. It seemed to be right up my street, but I'm wondering if anyone here can recommend it? Any good?

It's great! Occult-y stuff.
There's a spin-off; Absalom. Think The Sweeney running X-Files.

[Artie Fufkin]

Also, bring back Big Dave.

I vote Stainless Steel Rat!

[Small Man Big Horse]

Also, bring back Big Dave.

Ha, I remember liking that strip as a young, dumb teenager, but I imagine I'd wince enormously if I read it now, and know a lot of people have issues with Morrison's work on the comic during that time.

[Famous Mortimer]

I got a complete collection about 5 years ago, all the spin-offs and side projects and everything. Then I moved overseas and while I have the big two on order from my local comic place, I presume I'm missing all sorts of stuff (and there are several months where they just don't get anything in, problems with postage and so on).

[SweetPomPom]

Current progs and megazines are crazy expensive but Rebellion's reprints and trades are decent and the Case Files have progressed beyond where I originally stopped so it feels like new Dredd to me.

I had a complete run of progs from 1-600ish which I stored in my mums garage. One summer, she gave them to a cub scout group to take with them on camp for wet weather reading. And that was that.

I'd pay good money for Alan Moore and Ian Gibson to bury the hatchet and get the Halo rights back...

[Brundle-Fly]

Bought the very first issue with space spinner in 1977 and I've still got every issue up to around 1991 (and StarLord) in two massive trunks taking up space in my Dad's garage. I eventually gave up my subscription because I didn't like the direction the comic was going in, with artwork and characters. I thought it was getting a bit wanky with some of the later strips. I liked the old fashioned Men's Adventure vibe and the gratuitous violence but they were moving away from that. I guess 2000ad was progressing and I wasn't. Although, I'm not sure 0898 adverts on the back page was such a great leap forward.

The straw that broke the camel's back IIRC was when they were running the important Mega City Judges Vs The democrats storyline that after a quite a few issues stopped abruptly and you had to buy the new expensive Judge Dredd Megazine for the conclusion. Naa.

Still, in its heyday, the comic was peerless and pissed over anything Marvel were cranking out in the late seventies.

[bushwick]

Same as Brundle-Fly, pretty much, but a little later. I started on Star Lord when it came out (I was 4 or 5, seriously) and then carried on when it got swallowed up by 2000AD. I was a lonely little oddball, obsessed with comics and SF, and eventually I preferred 2000AD to the Marvel and DC comics I was also in to. Bought the prog religiously but stopped when it went all pretentious and 6th form vibes in the late 80s with all the painted art. By that stage I was reading Raw and Weirdo and the UK stuff seemed up its own arse. Think I jumped back on for The Horned God as that stood out, but none of the rest of it stood up to the multi-layered clever men's adventure stuff in the first 500 progs. The early stuff appealed to kids but was smart and self aware and appealed to adults on a different level (but as a kid I was aware there was something smarter going on). As soon as they just tried to appeal to adults, post-Watchmen etc, it lost its magic.

I tried Crisis, good in parts but too heavy handed and self-consciously "mature". I've gone back and read a few issues of Toxic! in recent years. It wasn't on my radar when it came out, it would have seemed too nerdy to my self-conscious late teen self, but it's really good and has that early 2000AD juvenile energy, shame it didn't last.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Tried to get back into it around 2018 ish but I didn't manage to keep up. It's obviously really good though. Was also reading the Judge Dredd Case Files books but stalled somewhere around volume 12 or 13 I think? Need to start reading those again...

[SweetPomPom]

It was such a different time for it's competitors - Marvel UK were doing weekly reprints of old US runs and the real US stuff was quite rare. But the quality of the UK reprints was absolute toss.
Starblazer and Commando were the other things I remember from around then which were ok. Never got into Eagle or Dan Dare.

[badaids]

The Dead Man.

Most mind blowing thing I've ever read.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I tried Crisis, good in parts but too heavy handed and self-consciously "mature". I've gone back and read a few issues of Toxic! in recent years. It wasn't on my radar when it came out, it would have seemed too nerdy to my self-conscious late teen self, but it's really good and has that early 2000AD juvenile energy, shame it didn't last.

I stuck with Crisis for about 50 or so issues, it started badly and Third World War was something I struggled with, but Garth Ennis True Faith and A Few Troubles More impressed me at the time, and I was also fond of The New Adventures Of Hitler, but lost interest when that ended.

I was a bigger fan of Revolver (and still enjoy dipping in to the horror special every couple of years), and thought it was a real shame that had such a very short life span.

It was such a different time for it's competitors - Marvel UK were doing weekly reprints of old US runs and the real US stuff was quite rare. But the quality of the UK reprints was absolute toss.
Starblazer and Commando were the other things I remember from around then which were ok. Never got into Eagle or Dan Dare.

The first Doomlord photostrip (written by Wagner and Grant) is still one of my favourite ever comics, and I liked some of The Collector one-off's (two of which were written by Alan Moore), and the daftness of many of the others like Sgt. Streetwise and The Invisible Boy, but when they stopped the photostrips and it just became a standard comic it lost a lot of its appeal, and I think that was when I swapped over to 2000AD.

[popcorn]

I have a memory of reading an issue in the early 90s round a mate's house in which a mad chef bloke cooked a man alive in an oven. It troubled the shit out of me! Sometimes I google this to try and find it and get nowhere. Anyone know?

[Ron Maels Moustache]

I have a memory of reading an issue in the early 90s round a mate's house in which a mad chef bloke cooked a man alive in an oven. It troubled the shit out of me! Sometimes I google this to try and find it and get nowhere. Anyone know?

There's a couple of chapters of the epic Dredd saga "Oz" where Chopper ends up on a ship with a deranged robot chef who killed and cooked his entire crew, could be that one?

[badaids]

There's a couple of chapters of the epic Dredd saga "Oz" where Chopper ends up on a ship with a deranged robot chef who killed and cooked his entire crew, could be that one?

I remember that one!  Oz was a brilliant saga.  I stopped reading 2000AD in about 91, what happened to Chopper in the end?

[Ron Maels Moustache]

I remember that one!  Oz was a brilliant saga.  I stopped reading 2000AD in about 91, what happened to Chopper in the end?

He's had surprisingly few appearances since then. After the Garth Ennis story "Earth, Wind and Fire" that retconned Chopper's death, there was "Supersurf 13" written by the hated Alan Mackenzie which I've not read, but is apparently so unspeakable it's literally never spoken about (and also apparently been deemed a non-canon story by the current Tharg). Wagner wrote a one-off series circa 2004 which bought Chopper back to Mega City One from Oz but seemingly wasn't interested in doing any more, and since then...not a lot.

According to BARNEY his last appearance was in a five part story in 2018, which I'm pretty sure I read but can't remember anything about.

They have also tried to reformat the character as "Young Chopper" in the all-ages Regened issues (and those are a bit of a bone of contention with the hardcore fans), which has met with a mixed response shall we say.

[Brundle-Fly]

Same as Brundle-Fly, pretty much, but a little later. I started on Star Lord when it came out (I was 4 or 5, seriously) and then carried on when it got swallowed up by 2000AD. I was a lonely little oddball, obsessed with comics and SF, and eventually I preferred 2000AD to the Marvel and DC comics I was also in to. Bought the prog religiously but stopped when it went all pretentious and 6th form vibes in the late 80s with all the painted art. By that stage I was reading Raw and Weirdo and the UK stuff seemed up its own arse. Think I jumped back on for The Horned God as that stood out, but none of the rest of it stood up to the multi-layered clever men's adventure stuff in the first 500 progs. The early stuff appealed to kids but was smart and self aware and appealed to adults on a different level (but as a kid I was aware there was something smarter going on). As soon as they just tried to appeal to adults, post-Watchmen etc, it lost its magic.

I tried Crisis, good in parts but too heavy handed and self-consciously "mature". I've gone back and read a few issues of Toxic! in recent years. It wasn't on my radar when it came out, it would have seemed too nerdy to my self-conscious late teen self, but it's really good and has that early 2000AD juvenile energy, shame it didn't last.

Blimey, very similar to me then. I never liked the painted art progression in the comic. Obviously, Simon Bisley is a gifted artist but I saw him as an illustrator rather than a cartoonist, Give me the flowing styles of McMahon, Gibbons, Bolland, Ezquerra and Belardinelli et al any day of the week.

My 2000ad super sub equivalent of Crisis was Warrior magazine.

[badaids]

He's had surprisingly few appearances since then. After the Garth Ennis story "Earth, Wind and Fire" that retconned Chopper's death, there was "Supersurf 13" written by the hated Alan Mackenzie which I've not read, but is apparently so unspeakable it's literally never spoken about (and also apparently been deemed a non-canon story by the current Tharg). Wagner wrote a one-off series circa 2004 which bought Chopper back to Mega City One from Oz but seemingly wasn't interested in doing any more, and since then...not a lot.

According to BARNEY his last appearance was in a five part story in 2018, which I'm pretty sure I read but can't remember anything about.

They have also tried to reformat the character as "Young Chopper" in the all-ages Regened issues (and those are a bit of a bone of contention with the hardcore fans), which has met with a mixed response shall we say.

Very interesting - cheers dude.

Is 2000AD worth the subscription these days?  I'm really most interested in finding out what happened to Anderson, Slaine, Bad Company, Zenith Rogue Trooper and all the other faves that we used to know.  But I'm interested to know if the new stuff that has appeared in the last 30 years is as good.  The writing, world building and art of stuff like Necropolis is up there with anything I've ever read in terms of enjoyment.  My fear is that it just wont live up to that, or worse has taken a turn for the Beano...

[Small Man Big Horse]

Very interesting - cheers dude.

Is 2000AD worth the subscription these days?  I'm really most interested in finding out what happened to Anderson, Slaine, Bad Company, Zenith Rogue Trooper and all the other faves that we used to know.  But I'm interested to know if the new stuff that has appeared in the last 30 years is as good.  The writing, world building and art of stuff like Necropolis is up there with anything I've ever read in terms of enjoyment.  My fear is that it just wont live up to that, or worse has taken a turn for the Beano...

There's been pretty much nothing Zenith wise bar one text story (According to Wikipedia: "Permission to Land", appeared in prog 2050 in September 2017, with a new illustration by Steve Yeowell", and a brief cameo in "A story unconnected to the Zenith universe – "A Night 2 Remember", a strip about the comic's 25th anniversary celebrations, which appeared in prog 1280".

Bad Company came back a few years ago, which started off poorly but became more readable as it went on, though satirically it wasn't exactly subtle.

[Registering to lurk]

Is 2000AD worth the subscription these days?  I'm really most interested in finding out what happened to Anderson, Slaine, Bad Company, Zenith Rogue Trooper and all the other faves that we used to know.  But I'm interested to know if the new stuff that has appeared in the last 30 years is as good.  The writing, world building and art of stuff like Necropolis is up there with anything I've ever read in terms of enjoyment.  My fear is that it just wont live up to that, or worse has taken a turn for the Beano...

I've had a subscription for the last three years or so. Of the current stories; Brink is fantastic, but it's dense and may not be immediately understandable; Sinister Dexter is also having a really good run at the moment; Skip Tracer, is fine, it's competent filler; I've previously liked Hope but the current story isn't doing much for me; Judge Dredd always remains readable with regular peaks. Including the current story which has just ended.

[Artie Fufkin]

Sinister Dexter is also having a really good run at the moment;

Yeah. Have never really liked SD, but really enjoying the current story. It's a bit different to the normal stuff (I think).

I remember my mum buying me it from issue 1 for a fair while, but I had to then send them off to my brother who was in the army (inconsiderate twat).

[Alberon]

I started with Prog 10 (still called Programmes back then), my Mum added to the paper order at the local newsagents and it's still running today. I've got the entire run of 2000AD and most of them my parents bought.

I've always meant to take it over and subscribe, I get the Megazine myself, but I still pick up my comic everytime I'm over my Mum's.

28 52 years old I was.

I did think about cancelling it when it was fading in the nineties, but it's since come back even though I mostly get it for Dredd. I tend to bank them up for a year or so and then read them all at once. I've managed to pick up the missing issues over the years, I got prog 1 (minus space-spinner) for a tenner a couple of decades back.

There's been some great strips over the years. Nemesis, Nikolai Dante, The Stainless Steel Rat, Strontium Dog, The Dead, Ace Trucking Co. among many others

I've been reading it for 45 years now. That's only going to end when one of us stops.

[Fambo Number Mive]

I enjoy Dave Stone's Brit-City strips and novels with Judges Armitage and Steel. Particularly enjoyed the Dredd novel Deathmasques though it's pretty full on in terms of violence/horror.

Also enjoyed the Dread Dominion novel where Dredd travels to a world where

Spoiler alert

"Judge Dread" is the brutal dictator

[close]

.

[Norton Canes]

Nice thread! Just finished reading this week's prog (2286) actually - three excellent strips (Dredd, Brink, Hope), a forgettable Future Shock (very few of them are any good these days, probably time they were dropped) and oh joy, the final - no honest, this time it really is the final - chapter of Skip Tracer.

I was lucky enough to start with prog 1 (where did I put that Space Spinner?) and read (and collected) all the way up to prog 670 (March 1990), by which time I was at university and cancelled my subscription. My prog-lapse ended when I got back on board with prog 2016 in February 2017, after seeing it on the shelves in WH Smith (where else?) and thinking, "That cover's too good. I'm in!"



Been with it all the way since then, and have to say the overall standard is usually really high, especially given that publishers Rebellion steadfastly refuse to adopt a creator-owned model for the characters and stories. Pat Mills finally cut links with them acrimoniously last year over that very issue, meaning we won't be getting further appearances by Slaine, Nemesis, The ABC Warriors, Defoe, Bill Savage or anything else from the 'Mills-verse'.

Still, with stalwart script droids like Dan Abnett and Gordon Rennie consistently turning out excellent strips, a decent roster of four or five droids writing Dredd and some phenomenal art droids realising the scripts the future (even though it was 22 years ago) looks zarjaz.

[Alberon]

I can't argue with Pat Mills taking that stand, though it is the case that I've found his stuff unreadable for a good number of years.

[Norton Canes]

Is 2000AD worth the subscription these days?  I'm really most interested in finding out what happened to Anderson, Slaine, Bad Company, Zenith Rogue Trooper and all the other faves that we used to know

As mentioned above, it's highly unlikely we'll be getting any more Slaine, and I doubt Zenith creator Grant Morrison will be lured back to the prog. Rogue himself has been off the scene for a while but Gordon Rennie's superb ongoing series 'Jaegir' is set in the Nu-Earth universe - definitely get yourself the collected edition of the first couple of chapters. Bad Company I suspect has run its course after being revamped a few years ago but Anderson's still a staple, though the quality of her stories varies. 

I'm interested to know if the new stuff that has appeared in the last 30 years is as good

An exhaustive list would be too much but the short answer is "much of it, yes".

[badaids]

I started with Prog 10 (still called Programmes back then), my Mum added to the paper order at the local newsagents and it's still running today. I've got the entire run of 2000AD and most of them my parents bought.

I've always meant to take it over and subscribe, I get the Megazine myself, but I still pick up my comic everytime I'm over my Mum's.

28 52 years old I was.

I did think about cancelling it when it was fading in the nineties, but it's since come back even though I mostly get it for Dredd. I tend to bank them up for a year or so and then read them all at once. I've managed to pick up the missing issues over the years, I got prog 1 (minus space-spinner) for a tenner a couple of decades back.

There's been some great strips over the years. Nemesis, Nikolai Dante, The Stainless Steel Rat, Strontium Dog, The Dead, Ace Trucking Co. among many others

I've been reading it for 45 years now. That's only going to end when one of us stops.

Since Prog 10 is amazing. Where do you keep them all?

My Nan, who I infrequently saw because my her and my mother didn't get on, used to get them for me from the age of about 8. I love the fact that she never could have read them because they were wholly inappropriate for a kid of that age. The earliest ones I had were from 84, all the way to 91. Had because my brother binned them all a few years ago because they took too much space, and to spite me I think because I refused to lend him some cash.

She worked in a petrol station and got them from there. She'd visit once every 6-9 months with a massive pile of the comics and I'd spend the next couple of weeks tearing through them.

It was a much better way of reading them I think, but occasionally I'd get the to end of the pile to be left with a 6 month cliff hanger. Happened with the Dredd reveal in The Dead Man actually.