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2000ad

Started by Colin YNWA, 25 August, 2010, 01:10:41 PM

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Colin YNWA

Well I've done reading my wilderness years, from 1000ish officially; though I think I'd all but stopped reading around 970, up until 1506. Before that I'd cherry picked my way though the first 1000 issues reading complete stories in one go. So all in all over the last 3 years I've read pretty much all of 2000ad I'd care to read (though now I've done it there's bits I've skipped that I really want to read again, but that'll have to wait). So what the heck have I learnt, well aside from the fact that 2000ad makes public transport a delight.

I've looked back at some of my early posts around the time I joined this forum (about 2 and a bit years ago when I was still reading in the 300s I think) and frankly I'm amazed how much I've changed as a fan. Back then Roger was running votes on who was the best this, who was the best that and I've looked at how I voted there and it'd be radically different now, I'm almost embarrassed by what I thought back then. My 'favourites' lists have changed in many cases. It's interesting to me to see how I've developed as a 2000ad fan over the course of the years I was away and how much stayed the same.

While these things are hard to pin down, I do think I can say without fear of contradicting myself at a later date (or tomorrow even!) that Henry Flint is the definitive 2000ad artist. Not necessarily my favourite artist to have appeared in 2000ad, but the artist whose body of work within the comic itself I enjoy the most and who seems to get the comic more than anybody.

John Smith is probably my favourite writer in 2000ad, after what most have an almighty head to head with John Wagner, but Pat Mills is probably the definitive writer...

...actually I think I've learnt that making lists of this kinda thing is stupid as you have to put so many qualifications on what you mean by favourite, in 2000ad, etc that should anyone of those factors change your list might also change radically! Still stupid but fun!

The thing I've thought about most however is why I enjoy this comic more than any other and it's chuffing hard to define. After all its nature as an anthology means that you read a lot of stuff you don't enjoy along the way, or even skip bits. Therefore 2000ad can surely never be consistent and frankly as you all know has changed a lot over its 30 years. It's therefore got to be the variety that works best, the fact that over its history, in any given year, heck in most progs, you read things that you otherwise wouldn't. You're constantly having you're boundaries tested and new and exciting things you'd otherwise have missed are put in front of you. Some of 'um you hate, but heck it's worth it for the explosion of new wonderful sensations you get week in, week out.

So it's the variety, it's the unpredictability, its way of forcing you to experiment... well no actually it's not, perversely having said all that I think the reason it's my favourite comic is its consistency. Let me explain as best I can.

2000ad's format of 5 – 6 page episodes means that all the writers, whomever they be, good or bad have to write a certain way They are forced to refine their work and drill down to the very essence of the story their trying to tell. There's consistency there.

As discussed elsewhere the artists tend to do a complete job on their art and therefore there's a consistency to a single artist vision on most of the art as opposed to the combined efforts (which has advantages don't get me wrong) of separate inkers and pencillers.

The single most important thing however may be the consistency of the writers on given strips. I'll use Dante as an example, by a very rough estimate Dante comes in at the moment to 70 issues of a 22 page US comic. Take the equivalent number of issues of say 'Spider-man' or 'Batman' comics and typically you'd have what 2, 3, 4 maybe even more writers vision of the character. As these characters need to be marketed as simple understandable products over that 70 issues or more there will be no real growth or development, or what there is will have to be reversed at some point. Dante doesn't do that as it's a single vision, his development as a character has been consistent and sustaining. There are countless similar examples I could have used. Also that writer can end a strip, can create a finite story with a beginning middle and end as stories were intended to. That end can be after 1000 episodes, or just one, but you get an end, well a couple of notable exceptions aside.

Sure many other comic books have this singularity of vision, 'Bone', most Vertigo titles, heck 'Cerebus' is a great example and look how that went! What they don't do is add to this consistency, the variety of 2000ad offers, and so having seemingly squared the circle 2000ad is unique, in being the complete comic experience.

I could also mention that I'm lucky in that I'm from the perfect generation to have had 2000ad grow up with me but I think I've gone on quite enough and I think that's for another post.  So if you've got this far and given that there are posters on this board that are far smarter than me tell me why is 2000ad the Galaxies Greatest comic?

It is you know, it really is.

Trout


TordelBack

A appropriate paean of praise in the week we finally reach 2000 issues!  (1699 + 301)

Hoagy

What would we do without you Colin? Or the Galaxies Greatest?
"bULLshit Mr Hand man!"
"Man, you come right out of a comic book. "
Previously Krombasher.

https://www.deviantart.com/fantasticabstract

SmallBlueThing

Tordleback, you several weeks late! You forgot the end of year progs! (my maths, this early in the day, isnt good enough to work out when 2000 happened, taking into account the megs schedule)
SBT
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