Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Comic Books >

2000 ad lately

Page: (1)2

10:20 / 29.07.04

couldn't find the thread about the yranny rex revival that resident thargbitch dxb put up a while back. the last episode was last week, and the whole story was far from vintage smith. i don't want anyone to think that there was no carousel of maimed children or otherdimensional beasties awakening with a smell of aniseed, 'cos there were. it just took four episodes to get to that moment, when really he should start there and go on. the pure demented frenzy that you want just wasn't there, and most the story was set on a desert, not exactly giving yeowell a massive amount to get his pencil around. ah well it looks as if she might be back quite soon and he can have another go.

this weeks though, prog 1400, summer relaunch time, and really good. a proper foot-up-on-the-monitor guitar-solo of a cover that had me reaching for my guns, and some very solid (if perhaps a bit 'traditional' in style and energy) stuff from the mainstays: i'm consistently impressed with how good wagner is on dredd, and mills on the abcs is still having lots of fun. there didn't seem to be the usual hatred in the exchanges between blackblood, hammerstein and deadlock, some of their chat was almost good natured, but pineapples didn't say a word all episode. he's so cool. (though apparently not a tranny no more. shame)

the stronts got off to quite a good start, but the final strip was kaballistics inc or something, a deeply uninspired and poorly paced hellboy knockoff. still, i'm doing 2000ad at the moment and digging it. it took a few weeks to get back into the rhythms of it, and the nerve centre needs to employ a better proofer for tharg's intro rants, but it's good.

11:22 / 29.07.04

I dropped off getting this recently again because after bill savage finished sinister dexter has reappeared. While your average 2000AD is always going to have some things you might not enjoy Sinister Dexter is something I actively dislike and leaves me less inclined to buy any given issue.

11:23 / 29.07.04

yes, 'sindex' really does suck shit.

12:46 / 29.07.04

Yeah, I briefly started buying 2000AD again for the Tyranny Rex story, and had a palpable sense of 'oh. that's that, then' when it concluded. Perhaps Smith's trying to evoke a video game feel: recyclable vat-grown bodies, faxable memories, short & sweet Game Over. Or maybe he's just tired...

13:09 / 29.07.04

There are still cartoonists left in Britain? I thought they had all gone and joined the Brit Invasion of America.
Or maybe it was more of a suction, like a... really big yabby pump or something.

Haus of Mystery

13:41 / 29.07.04

Without British writers, there'd be no exploding heads and proper swearing in mainstream American comics, and don't you forget it.

08:33 / 30.07.04

Well, without Australian cartoonists... um, without them it's been really quiet since they all left for the States.
(sigh) I think Ashley Wood did some Ghost Rider 2099, and DeVries and Lumsden did some Phantom stuff, and Josef Szekeres did the Dart miniseries, and Michael Dutkeiwicz did... something, but generally once the locals go, we never hear from them again.

Alright, back to the magical land of Ontopica before the King of All Tears starts crying again, jesus, now the cunts are editing my posts so I can't even couche my asides in an on-topic rant...

I really loved the old 2000ad back when it was shitty newsprint, but those issues don't age well. Are most British comics in that B+W, magazine-size, anthology format? I've seen a couple of first-wave Marvel U.K.s like that, heh, the Thing had his own book, only they called him "Big Ben"! Damn, that is wack.

Anyone played the old 2000AD computer games, like Släine and Nemesis? Nemesis was a fucking classic, very gruesome platformer where you had to pile up the bodies of dead Terminators to climb to the next level. Great soundtrack, too, especially for the old Commodore 64- a real S.F. Goth anthem, all drums and trumpets. Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!
I'll see if I can't Google up a link, for my droogs.

13:43 / 30.07.04

LINKY!
Here's the game, C64 emulator, SID and SID player for the music.
BE PURE! BE VIGILANT! BEHAVE!

Dan Fish - @Fish1k

14:06 / 30.07.04

2000adonline.com has various old-school games, Slaine, Rogue Trooper, Dredd, etc,

06:58 / 31.07.04

Oooh... This bears investigation.

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

11:17 / 31.07.04

How did they bring tyranny back from being a decapitated cyber-god? or was that just a clone? Please spoil me up good and proper.

20:54 / 02.08.04

2000AD. Haven't read it for years. Used to love everything about it, but the last thing I really enjoyed was that Master of the Rum and Uncanny, by Milligan. Got it when the Sean of the Dead thing was in it. It just isn't as good. I don't know it it's because the times they are a changing, or that the talent pool is a little shallower. Yes, the colours look nice, and the art work was pretty good, but the writing isn't anywhere near what it was.

It's a shame, because the beauty of 2000AD was that even if you didn't like one or two strips, there were three you did, and there were going to be more along in a couple of weeks that you knew you would, something to look forward to. Not any more. There was no way in for me wanting to return, and I felt old and sad.

22:34 / 02.08.04

The shaun of the dead issue was not a good jumping on point... but the spring offensive issue was great fun.

Picked up issue 1400 - double length ABC warriors with lovely Henry Flint art. the start of a solid looking Dredd epic some reasonably fun Strontium Dog strip and a Caballistics, Inc strip.

04:56 / 23.08.04

Hey, it's just occured to me that its, like, 2004 already, and they're still calling the book 2000ad. Do you think we should tell them?
Meanwhile, eat of my flesh! I found a Java-based emulator for the old Spectrum console, which means you can play Nemesis directly from your web browser without pissing around trying to remember what commands the C64 used, or how to get the emulator to load the game file into what it THINKS is its floppy drive. Hahaha! The C64 is in the Matrix! Hooboy. No sound, as far as I can tell, unfortunately.
Nemesis
Default keys are Q,A for jump/crouch, O,P for left/right, space to swing Excessus, the Sword Sinister, or once you've picked up the bullets, one tap to draw the pistol, a second tap to shoot. I don't remember the deal with shooting fireballs, but you'd better save them for Torquemada.

05:11 / 23.08.04

Oh hells yeah! I found the old Släine game, too! Can't work out the default keys, but you can define them anyway.
Släine has ADD- you have to reach into his mind and grab the thoughts as they float past to get him to do things, like hit Ukko.
Släine
Um... just what is he doing to Ukko in the menu picture?

miss wonderstarr

09:31 / 24.08.04

Come on, there wasn't a single decent computer-game adaptation from 2000AD apart from Rogue Trooper.

- Strontium Dog: the Killing = weedy update of Berserk, with "controversial" opening scene its only distinguishing mark.

- Judge Dredd: arguably ambitious in its use of comic-book panels but as I remember, played like the Blade Runner "game adaptation of the Vangelis soundtrack"; flat sprites run across monochrome street, shoot each other in 2D.

- Nemesis the Warlock: messy-looking platformer vaguely like Joust without the flying.

- Rogue Trooper: fun, accessible isometric-perspective scroller with decent enough graphics and a bit of imagination, eg. the chips' speech balloons.

I never played Slaine I admit, but I find it hard to believe it broke the mould. My sample is limited to the 1980s by the way. The recent Judge Dredd vs Death game might buck the trend for all I know.

10:01 / 24.08.04

Well, 2000AD is now owned by a computer games company which can only be a good thing for the future of tharg inspired gaming experiences.

Haus of Mystery

08:40 / 25.08.04

Although 'Dredd vs Death' was apparently fairly repetitive and tedious.

09:07 / 25.08.04

back in papertown, pat mills seems to be working some wicked new mojo. his style is quite unique, in that the more you read the less coherent the work becomes, the less information is coming in - you have a far better idea of what on earth might be happening in episode 1 - by episode 4 it's like your brain's been sucked out your ears and suddenly you don't know how to read comics anymore, and it's just five pages of big robots headbutting big gorillas. obviously, this is brilliant beyond words, but makes you feel somewhat like a child.

the dredd strip's been a bit lacklustre really - i hope the hotdoggers get mown down a bit before dredd saves their baby asses.

the strontium dogs strip was okay, but it's all just wulf really, and the plottyplotty twisttwist was obvious from the first episode but still took five weeks to play itself out.

the cabollocks strip is awful the art just gets worse and worse and the story is all kinds of don't care and thrill-free oh look it's a scene from an old film...

weirdly, the strip i'm probably enjoying the most now is that bec n kawl - it's appeal lies in the parody probably: lots of nudgewinking to other comics, curtailed antithatcherism, creaky student humour and goodish dialogue. it just has a different tone from the staple guns n grimness, and this is a good sign. the chick's a goth and the guy's just trying to be him from spaced, but it probably takes longer to read than any of the current strips and has a bit more going on.

in back-issue land i've nearly got all the appearances of big dave now and think a reprint of those stories would be an excellent idea given that williams and parkhouse are getting work in america somehow. i'll be going to get the next issue at lunchtime, and there is 2000ad's current appeal in a nutshell - midweek comics fun in the newsagents, something for when you get home from work and need a poo.

miss wonderstarr

09:49 / 25.08.04

Yeah fine if it was still 6 pence but isn't it nudging £1.50 or something now? I wouldn't spend that on something to pass ten minutes with.

Unless it was a cup of coffee. Maybe it's not such bad value in those terms.

11:16 / 25.08.04

Anyone seen the Tharg's Future Shocks which was the original appearance of Nemesis, that pissed the editors off so much?

(Eric Idle voice) What's it like?

miss wonderstarr

11:22 / 25.08.04

I thought the first Nemesis story was "Comic Rock: Going Underground" -- a strip that built a one-off SF adventure on a specific song every time. It's reprinted in the old Titan Nemesis the Warlock Vol 1 as I recall.

Although I believe his ship appeared long before he did, and the artist, perhaps O'Neil, subsequently had the radical notion of making Nemesis look like his ship.

Haus of Mystery

12:45 / 25.08.04

Kovacs, maybe you should spend £1.50 on helping one of the few original British weekly comics continue being published. Do you buy American single issues? How long do they take to read?

13:21 / 25.08.04

it's one-sixty now, just over the price of a half of lager, and a solid five-sided twenty pence cheaper than the cheapest US comics that i ever buy. sometimes it feels like a waste of money, sometimes a total bargain.

if you really carn't afford wait for them to hit the charity shops.

miss wonderstarr

13:39 / 25.08.04

Kovacs, maybe you should spend £1.50 on helping one of the few original British weekly comics continue being published. Do you buy American single issues? How long do they take to read?

I've seen this type of attitude on the "Waiting for the Trade" thread too, and it surprises me. When did buying commercial comic books become an act of charity? Should I apply the same logic to every purchase, buying Dr Pepper out of kindness because its brand-sigil isn't as powerful as Coke?

I see your logic in seriousness. But I also ask in seriousness when this "buy a comic, keep the company afloat" approach kicked in. I can remember thinking it of small-press comics and fanzines I suppose, but not big-industry titles.

I don't actually buy American singles -- I buy trade paperbacks mainly I'm afraid. I used to buy a lot of DC singles, but then I also bought 2000AD from 88-94 so I have donated a fair amount to them over the years.

Haus of Mystery

13:56 / 25.08.04

It's not simply buying a comic to keep a company float, more supporting a home-grown industry that provides a work outlet for aspiring creators. Not many I grant you, but it's better than none. And if you think I'm suggesting you buy something that gives you no pleasure I'm not. But if you're reasoning for not buying it is that the price should be the same as when you were 12 than that's a wank reason. As Gambit said, sometimes it's great sometimes it's toss, but at least it's there.

miss wonderstarr

21:20 / 25.08.04

Yeah, I know it was wank to say it should cost 6p. I see what you're saying. £1.60 seems quite a lot for something half-good that you'd probably leave on the train after reading it, but then it's true, a can of lager or a latte costs that if you buy it at Waterloo.

22:04 / 25.08.04

... and as if to prove the point, I picked up a copy of 2000AD AND a pint of lager at the station this evening in a desperate attempt to stave of a bout swearing like a tourettes sufferer at the lateness of my train. The two purchases came to just under a fiver.

As for the issue itself, it was a reasonablely good fun - nothing that made me go 'wow' and some of the writing on the ABC warriors and Bec and Caul strips made wince, but it certainly helped me pass the time as I waited a little more pleasurably.

09:31 / 08.09.04

there 2000ad news up at newsarama today, quite interesting really, but has prompted a question:

Devlin Waugh: Red Tide - explain please: it's a sequel to swimming in blood? what progs? is it worth trailing through back issue boxes for etc?

09:56 / 08.09.04

ah, megazine, ishs 201 + for twelve issues. with an intro in 200 by david spit bishop? lots of 'hilarious' bumboy jokes no doubt. a sequel to swimming in blood. cool.

10:18 / 08.09.04

The prog i picked up on saturday had a picture of David Blunket photoshopped on the body of Dredd - that alone made it well worth buying for me, although I don't think Private Eye need worry too much sleep over losing its readership to 2000AD...

10:35 / 08.09.04

yes - well worth a pound sixty of anyone's money that.

19:37 / 08.09.04

I'm ignoring the resident thargbitcg comment.

I honestly think that 2k is the best it's been in a very long time just recently. The predictable "not as good as it was" is spmething I have to hear a lot. It's usually said by people who haven't read it in a while. One guy kept repeating "2000 A.D. is shit now" even though he hadn't read it since prog 900. That's 14 years ago. It's a great anthology comic and not like anything else. Particularly stoked about the upcoming Wagner and Flint 12 parter that starts a week Wednesday.

Noticed the David Spit Bishop comment. He saved the comic. Simple as that. Oh, and I love Cabals too. Great story.

Red Tide - should have been a weekly strip, dragged it's feet in the monthly. Reads well in one sitting but you'd be better advised waiting for the upcoming trade as that includes the rather groovy 26 part Steve Yeowell fest as well.

Dreddcon - Oxford Union 2md October. I'll be there. Will you?

Haus of Mystery

20:05 / 08.09.04

They're collecting all that Waugh stuff together? Sexy!

Re: David Bishop - he may have saved the comic but
a) Soul Sisters and The Straightjacket Fits were two of the unfunniest shittest strips ever and
b) he always comes across as an obnoxious wanker

21:58 / 08.09.04

Yeah, Waugh is being split into two volumes. First one has Swimming in Blood, Fetish, Brief Encounter, Mouthful of Dust, and the two prose tales. Second one is Sirius Rising and Crimson Tide.

Bishop has never seemed obnoxious to me, always come across as a nice guy. And you can take all the piss you want but I love Straightjacket and Soul Sisters was what got me into comics in the first place.

Page: (1)2