Prog Golden Age: now is the time?

[DrJomster]

Go to agree that the prog has been really high standard for years now. Definitely Golden Age territory. Perhaps the Rebellion takeover is a decent enough starting point?

I think the Meg is something to hold dear and support. Sometimes it goes out on a limb, but surely a bit of experimentation is good. Perhaps it just sometimes seems harder to take if you don't like something as there are fewer stories. And don't forget the crucial life support role it had in The Dark Years... Plus, the creator owned stuff has been brilliant! Also. It's got Dredd in it!

[DrJomster]

Oh dear. That should have read "Got to agree yadda yadda yadda"... Not "Go to agree... " Please can we have the edit button back?

[maryanddavid]

Its a golden age for a long time now, there are occasional stories that dont float my boat, Grey Area at the moment Im not finding great  but on the other hand thats probably more down to me not particularly liking 'team' stories, the art is good though.

I am with Logan on the need for more leading characters. I have said it before, SinDex as much as I have liked them in the past are a little past their prime and Dante is ending. Savage is the only other really strong character thats in the prog regularly at the moment.

Dont get me wrong I really Like Absolom, Stickleback, Low Life etc etc and 2000ad is great at the minuite, the only cloud is that it needs more leading characters.

David

[The Cosh]

I think the Prog's been consistently good for a long time and frequently excellent and that's as far as I go. There are several recurring stories that I'd be happy to never see again, but it was ever thus and ever shall be. The one ingredient that I think's missing at the moment is the off-the-wall likes of From Grace or The Dead. Something unique and unpredictable

I've read quite a lot of Megs for the first time over the last year or two. If it ever had a relative golden age, I'd put around the early 200s. Up to the 15th anniversary issue maybe. After the relaunch there were a whole lot of stories given short try outs, some of which were funner than others. There was solid Devlin Waugh for a while, the birth of the Simping Detective, probably the best Meg strip ever in XTNCT, the real return of PJ Maybe in Dredd and the last meaningful and/or good Anderson stories. It probably helped that I was able to read all this in quick succession as it meant the greater number of strips made more of an impression.

[Devons Daddy]

I feel Andy Diggle, brought us back to our true place. (Rebellion certainly seemed to have been a further boast)
he(Mr Diggle) may have ruffled a few feathers along the way but as we are now I would suggest we owe him a thank you.

YES history will state was our second golden age.

[Colin_YNWA]

One of the keys to me thinking that this really is a Golden Age, is one of the barriers to others agreeing I think?

For me the Prog is in such a strong position precisely 'cos it doesn't need one or two characters almost constantly present. Tharg has a host of quite frankly astonishingly strong stories in this locker at the moment. Real strength in depth if you will. When Dante finishes (and tears will be shed) there's Zombo, Indigo Prime, Savage, Flesh, Ichabod, Low Life, Kingdom, Strontium Dog all queuing up alongside the ever reliable and brilliant, if more controversial, Red Sea's and Sinister Dexter. Even strips I'm not so keen are are clearly very strong, Defoe, Ampney, Slaine all fighting for a place. On top of that we seem to be getting new stuff, by very strong creators all the time. So Shakara finishes, but in comes Absalom, Grey Area, Age of the Wolf, Angel Zero and whatever John Smith is brewing up etc.

Its difficult to compare this Golden Age with the previous one. The strength in depth of the creators available to Tharg is so much deeper than in the past, so the strips are more varied. This also means that Tharg is better able to keep his creative line up in place. So while Abnett, Edginton, Williams and increasingly Ewing are spending more time in America, or Mills doing other work and Wagner taking more of a well earned break, Tharg can wait for them to do stuff for him, as he has some much in  the bag.

The comic is also different a different beast and so difficult to compare, but if I needed to I'd say this variety and ability to experiment means its better than its been at any point in its past.

[mygrimmbrother]

To elaborate on my earlier comment - I couldn't be happier with the prog as it is, and has been for quite a while. I started getting the prog again around 1620, and was so impressed I spent a small fortune hunting down back issues so that my collection now runs back to around 1480 (I think). My self imposed wilderness years began around prog 1000, ironically just before it started to pick up again.

The meg is a tricky one though. I know I've griped about American Reaper, but I would kick myself if it wasn't around. That said I'm thinking of pruning back my sub so I just get the prog - as much for financial reasons as for hating AR.

[Proudhuff]

But there are a couple of crackers coming up in the Megazine...

[TordelBack]

Just finished 1769.  I challenge anyone to read that issue and tell me that it's in any way inferior to the very best of 1980's Progs.  There isn't a single page in that thing that doesn't rate a 8/10 or higher on my thrillometer, two of the strips are 9/10, and one goes up to 11 .  We're in the Platinum Age.

As to when it started, I'd like to say it kicked off with Prog 2000, but there were some dodgy patches in the 1200s as the Prog cast around for new strips, and I think the 1300's is more like it:  really strong new stuff like Cabs Inc, Lobster Random, Red Seas, Savage joined revitalised older material like ABC Warriors, Strontium Dog and Slaine which were finding their feet again, against a background of reliables like Wagner Dredd, Dante and Sinister Dexter.  And it's been sweet sailing ever since.

[Mudcrab]

I'd agree with most of the above, the prog's been great since (probably) Rebellion took over. Not once in many many years have I been in any doubt that I want to keep reading. There's always strong stories, Dredd of course, new Strontium Dog's been great and I've always loved Dante and Sinister Dexter (mostly), new Warriors and Slaine. Certainly there was "golden" era for me when we were getting Kingdom, Shakara, Cab Inc and pretty much anything that Ian Edgington's done. 

All in all, damn fine work from all the droids involved (and Tharg of course) for the past 12 years! Long may it continue, bring on (the real) Prog 2000! Heh, will cause chaos in the online shop database 

[JayzusB.Christ]

You think you saw Katarina Dante's eyepatch change sides, but you were mistaken. It has ALWAYS been on that side!

 

I never noticed.  Cracking Dante again, great prog all round in face.  Dredd is the most complex and densely plotted it has been for a while, Absalom is great, Grey Area is ok, and Strontium Dog (although I'm still not happy about the resurrection-after-an-epic-death thing) is good.

[metcalfecarr]

I think on a whole there is the potential for the last 8 years to be seen as a second golden period, but something always holds it back.  Slaine, ABC Warriors, Grey Area, SinDex to name a few.  There's a certain element of resting on laurels and I think at times Matt isn't sure when to cut the cord on a strip that should have stopped.  I appreciate the need to try new things, but Langley's photo driven art, Mills' dependence on telling the same stories over and over again, it just stops the prog from hitting that consistant level.  I haven't problems with old stories coming back, loved Indigo Prime's recent return, enjoying Stront although I never chomp at the bit to read it and absolutley drool on Savage, It just needs more control

[SmallBlueThing]

And on the other hand, I'd say that Slaine: Books of Invasions and its follow-ups are the thing that MAKES it a golden age. By far my favourite thing to have been in the prog since Sky Chariots. As for ABCs- the unavailability of the stories for reading through in one format (several out of print, only two of the latter volumes in paperback) cripple it a bit, but if you can get them together, it's the very definition of ARSOM.

SBT

[Goosegash]

I think it's been said before, but Alan Barnes' time editor really was a golden age for the Meg. He seemed to really push for an overall consistence of quality that it had never had before, and has struggled to maintain since.

It's difficult to argue that the last decade or so has been a really great time to be a 2000AD reader, with only a few minor blemishes(the autumn 2003 line-up springs to mind). I do think, though that there's a problem with certain strips being kept alive beyond their natural lifespan. With Slaine, The Book of Invasions was a great ending point for the series, and seemingly written as one. The subsequent one-offs just seem like filler and cheapen the resonance of what was otherwise a fine and moving ending to the saga. I'd much rather Slaine had disappeared into the wilderness never to be seen again, rather than just popping up every few years to repeat the same old tricks, like an ageing variety performer doing the rounds of seaside resorts.

I've also totally lost track of what's going on in the ABC Warriors at this point. By now, it must surely have the most convoluted chronology in comics history. Has anyone ever tried to a make a timeline of events in the series, to see if it makes any sense at all?

[metcalfecarr]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there SBT.  I appreciate people like Slaine, they like ABC Warriors but I just find it all rehashing of old work, and the rehash being worse than the original material