Favorite New Series of the Last 5 Years

[The Adventurer]

On a whim I went back through the last 5 Years of 2000AD, going back to Prog 2010, to count up all the new series that had started up during that time. I was generally curious what was coming in, to replace what we've lost. Going over the last five years was some what interesting, as in that time strips like Shakara, Nikolia Dante, and Red Seas had concluded. Kingdom, Stickleback, and Zombo had continued to truck along, And Johnny Alpha and Indigo Prime had come back from the dead.  But it's the wholly new strips that interest me in this thread. I'll list them below... (Note, I've ignored all One-offs and 3Rillers, unless they lead to an ongoing. Though I did include spin-offs if they were sufficiently different from the original)

Ichabod Azrael (2010)
Damnation Station (2010)
Age of the Wolf (2010)
Dandridge (2009/2010)
Absolom (2011)
Angel Zero (2011)
Aquila (2012)
Grey Area (2012)
The Zaucer of Zilk (2012)
Brass Sun (2012)
Survival Geeks (2013)
Ulysses Sweet (2014)
Jaegir (2014)
Outlier (2014)
The Alienist (2014)
Black Shuck (2014)
The Order (2015)
Orlock, Agent of East-Meg 1 (2015)
Helium (2015)

For my money, Absolom, Jaegir, and Brass Sun have impressed me the most in their time in the Prog. And I feel The Alienist and the The Order have the potential to be great with a few more stories under their belts.

I think Age of the Wolf was the biggest let down of all the new series, as it never really made the most of its premise. IMO

Overall I think things have been surprisingly fairly strong over the last five years, writing all the new series down like this kind of helped put things into a bit more perspective. What do you think?

[TordelBack]

I get why Dreams of Deadworld/Tainted weren't on your list (but Absolom was!), but that'd be a strong contender for the top thrill for me.  On the list itself, wow, that is a pretty impressive group - in fact I'd happily buy an anthology comic that just rotated through those.

Top five for me in no particular order: The Order, Zaucer, Jaegir, Survival Geeks and Absolom.

Damnation Station and Brass Sun would have been there too, except I felt the later series of each didn't live up to the first.

[Colin YNWA]

I think Brass Sun definitely takes my top spot.

Of the rest Ichabod comes very close to that. The Order might well get there to. Helium has real potential but we need to see more (hear that Tharg we need to see MORE).

Big fan of Grey Area, Outlier, Zaucer of Zilk and Angel Zero also.

There's a few there I'm not a fan of but hey Tharg's done well to crank so much out.We do lack however a real replacement for either Red Seas and Nikolia Dante. Though in a couple of cases thats due to frequency rather than quality.

[ZenArcade]

Tainted, Jaegir, Brass Sun and..... wait for it, Ulysees Sweet. Z

[Frank]

Zaucer of Zilk.

Chrissymouth is the character find of 2012, with the stoic wit of Ichabod's horse stealing the show in 2014/15. Ichabod's my runner-up for top new strip, thanks to the comedy of the second series and the metafictional smartypantsery of the third.

It's interesting that my picks work better as entertaining weekly instalments, rather than BIG, SERIOUS, EPIC DRAMAS that have been split up into 12 episodes. They have overarching plots, but * that seems less important than having something funny or exciting happen every week.


* like a lot of old Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper

[Link Prime]

Tainted, Jaegir, Brass Sun and..... wait for it, Ulysees Sweet. Z

All in my top 5 too Zen, with Outlier being the 5th.

It's too early to say for certain, but I'm really enjoying Brink at the moment- getting better by the week.

[Jacqusie]

my five penneth:

Absalom (2011) - Oooh more please!

The Zaucer of Zilk (2012) - Wowser yes - more please!

Jaegir (2014) - Great art - longer stories please!

Helium (2015) - More please?

Aquila (2012) - err...

[maryanddavid]

Nice Idea Adventurer,

Top Notch;

Jaegir, my favourite, did I read somewhere that this is not returning anytime soon?
The Order
Absolom
Brass Sun

I'm not a fan of resurrecting old bit characters, so with even with the talents of all involved I just couldn't get on with Orlock and Ulysses Sweet. The Alienist has not grabbed me nor did Dandridge.


Damnation Stations and Age of the Wolf didn't live up to their promise, and all the rest you mention are good solid tales.

I think what Colin says is spot on, a replacement for Nikolai Dante especially has not been found. Jaegir for me would fill the vacated spot if it was a more regular strip.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

When did Kingdom start?

Surely about three weeks ago? Or has my preception of time become so skewed that I have, in fact, turned into my dad?

Next thing you'll be telling me that the Millennium was more than a year ago.

[I, Cosh]

When did Kingdom start?

13th December 2006. 


Good topic; disheartening answers. Absalom and Jaegir are so much better than anything else on the list it's unfair. David, I think Tharg said that in response to a recent letter,

Zaucer of Zilk was great as a one-off, Ichabod's tediously meta conclusion doesn't change the quality of the preceding instalments but it did leave a nasty taste in the mouth (especially considering Williams had done a similar thing with far greater panache in the last book of Ten Seconders) and Damnation Station was only just getting going when it was all over: still not sure if that's a plus or a minus.

Interesting that you've not mentioned Meg strips. Lawless would be the standout for me and straight into the top three overall.

[Dandontdare]

Dreams of Deadworld/Tainted
Absolom
Ichabod
Zaucer of Zilk
Jaegir

These are the only ones that really stand out, but thankfully Dredd has continued to lead from the front, ABC Warriors has delivered nostalgic thrills and Slaine has been pretty to look at.

So many disappointments in that list.

[Fungus]

Never read Zaucer, but returns (and collections) qualifies me to comment...

Helium
Ichabod
Jaegir
Absalom
Ulysses Sweet

Much else is damn entertaining, I don't find this a poor return when the line-up seems chock-full of interminable returning mainstays of the prog. My sense is that coming up with new Thrills is hard (the readership isn't 10 any more) and Tharg is doing just fine.

[The Adventurer]

I get why Dreams of Deadworld/Tainted

I waffled on including those, my internal argument against DoDW being 'new' was for the same reason I left Cadet Anderson off. I included Orlok, because I'm pretty sure he hasn't had a solo strip before?

And I didn't include anything from 2016, just because the year's still ongoing.

Its all academic any way.

We do lack however a real replacement for either Red Seas and Nikolia Dante. Though in a couple of cases thats due to frequency rather than quality.

The Order is doing a good job filly that 'Ensemble Cast/Secret History' hole Red Seas left. But you're right, we still need that big political soap opera void filled still.


Personally, I think the one thing 2000 AD really lacks is a full blown Space Opera. Insurrection was close, but the last time I really felt that was being filled was Dan Abnett's V.Cs revival.

[Theblazeuk]

Can we include Lawless?

Brass Sun, Helium, Aquila, Ichabod, Jaegir.

Aquila doesn't seem to go well with everyone but I thoroughly enjoy the GrimDark Roman/Pagan mythology.

I prefered Caballistics to Absalom and though I enjoy it, every time it's a reminder that there's no more Caballistics.

[ming]

Brink needs to be in the list, too - that'd be in my Top Five already I think; just love the art and the setting to bits*.

My favourites (emerging from a strong and diverse group of Thrills) would be:

Brink
Helium
Jaegir
Brass Sun
Zaucer of Zilk

Long may the current Golden Age continue...

* with or without any mention of norks