Talk about a labour of love. dtb contributor Matthew Badham’s just passed on a note from 2000AD fan Paul (Book of Lists, There’s No Time Like the Present) Rainey, who’s re-visitng the entire 30 year run of the title, after buying nearly 1200 copies in one fell swoop on eBay, and is now reviewing them one by one online.
“One day in 1977, I bought the first issue of 2000AD,” he says. He was nine. “Thirty years later, I bought it again along with most of the following eleven hundred and eighty eight issues in a moment of madness in an eBay auction.
“Obviously, this would be a total waste of money if I didn’t read them all. Why not record the experience of reading twenty years worth of comics in a contracted period of time, I thought. And so I have started the 2000 AD Prog Slog Blog.”
New readers are recommended to start here if they want to follow Paul’s marathon review mission. It’s a fascinating insight, including a look at the way the launch of 2000AD was promoted on TV – something that’s actually still done these days, but the costs of even a small ad campaign are astronomic, and to be honset probably weren’t cheap then.
Best of luck with that Paul: like you, I’m wondering if you will suffer from thrill power overload, as Tharg the Mighty has warned of many times before in his editorials, or will you start screaming as you re-visit some of the low points in 2000Ad’s history. You know what they are (cough, The VCs — and I don’t care if Cam Kennedy liked it!), and if you don’t I’m sure Paul will warn you before you to head for eBay on a similar buying spree…
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: 2000AD, British Comics
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