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2000 AD: The work required to keep the Galaxy's Greatest Comic on its weekly schedule

www.thepopverse.com 2000 AD: The work required to keep the Galaxy's Greatest Comic on its weekly schedule

What does it take to get 2000 AD into stores every week? Editor Matt Smith breaks down the endless process, and talks a…

2000 AD: The work required to keep the Galaxy's Greatest Comic on its weekly schedule

For American audiences, though, one of its primary differentiators is the fact that it’s been coming out almost every week without fail — a printers strike and planned holiday season slowdowns aside — for more than four decades now. What does it take to keep up that kind of schedule? Popverse asked editor Matt Smith, who’s been in charge of 2000 AD since 2002, that very question.

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American periodicals released in the comic shop-centric Direct Market — which offers material to retailers on a traditionally non-returnable basis, with those retailers selling it to customers who are willing to be patient for their favorites — 2000 AD is primarily sold on newsstands in the United Kingdom, which means there are very different pressures to hitting deadlines.

“Newsstand is very unforgiving on titles that don't hit their on-sale date, so if the issue doesn't go to print on its particular day, then it gets knocked back and that puts pressure on whether it'll reach the shops in time. And then, if it goes on sale late, then [newsstand retailers] get a bit sniffy and you could end up getting fined for not hitting your own sale dates,” Smith explained. “Also, it affects the audience as well. Once the comics doesn't appear when they think it's going to appear, then they start drifting away. You've seen that with other titles that have been and gone, where they start drifting and staggering their on-sale dates, and the audience just loses interest and then gradually the magazine winds up [folding]. So they absolutely have to hit those on-sale dates to keep that audience on board.”

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1 comments
  • It's definitely an undertaking - most British comics on the newstand these days (for kids or things like Viz) don't have ongoing stories so they can always switch in some filler they keep in the drawer if there are issues but once a series has been greenlit it needs to keep going.

    Although daunting now, it must have been worse back in the day with art having to be sent in physically.