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2000 AD => General => Topic started by: Lorenzo on 20 November, 2018, 09:35:29 PM

Title: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Lorenzo on 20 November, 2018, 09:35:29 PM
Hi all,

Thought I'd make my first post to ask if I'm in a minority of one, or if anyone else doesn't like the new 'Digest' size collected Dredds.

I haven't kept that up-to-date with the latest GN novel releases but when I heard Mandroid was coming out, I thought I'd get it straight away - only to discover it was a poxy Digest size. I missed that it had been released as a TPB back in 2007, but I went out of my way to pick up a 2nd-hand copy of that edition anyway because bigger is better right?

Anyway, now I hear that the next collected GN, Judge Dredd: Ghost Town, is only going to be released in the Digest size. Well, sod that. The standard Case File sized books are already smaller than the actual Prog, why is Rebellion shrinking them even more? Even the Meg floppies are bigger than that.

What with there being a 15 year wait between Prog and Case File release, I'm going to have to start thinking about getting some Progs printed and bound myself, 'cos I'm not interested in pocket sized collections.

Am I missing something? Is Ghost Town coming out as TPB first, or are Rebellion telling us that there isn't any money in the collected novels any more?
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: IndigoPrime on 20 November, 2018, 09:48:55 PM
Ghost Town is a curious one. Perhaps they're just testing the market and seeing how things will work. Probably worth noting price might have something to do with this. Seven quid vs 15 for 144pp. (Also, Judge Dredd: Cold Wars, due for release in March, suggests Rebellion's not done with standard Dredd volumes.)
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Frank on 20 November, 2018, 09:56:27 PM
Quote from: Lorenzo on 20 November, 2018, 09:35:29 PM
Is Ghost Town coming out as TPB first, or are Rebellion telling us that there isn't any money in the collected novels any more?

Hi Larry!

Ghost Town isn't a single story or series of interconnected stories. It's a random sample of some recent(ish) Dredd stories with an Anderson tale thrown in.

As such, I wouldn't necessarily expect this particular combination of stories ever to be collected as a regularly-sized trade paperback* (although I have been wrong before, once, in the nineties).

I think this is the first Digest format book that isn't a collection of an old favourite; maybe Tharg's testing the water to see whether new material sells in that format (and that price).


* I suppose, if the digest edition sells like hot cakes, Tharg would think about a larger edition. If not, it's a way of getting stories out that won't be part of a larger collection or the Case Files for some time.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Magnetica on 20 November, 2018, 11:17:56 PM
I have the VCs Hell in the Heavens in digest format, but only because it was my prize for getting a letter published. I haven't read it, having only recently borrowed the equivalent TPB from my local library before that.

Based on the comparison between the two, I don't think I would ever buy a digest size TPB, even at £7, they are just too small and the art looks lost - I don't see the point.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Lorenzo on 21 November, 2018, 10:00:41 AM
Well, I don't want Rebellion not to make any money but I would rather these digests weren't a success. Also, the autist in me likes my shelf to line up - I don't know where to put my Hamlyn books as it is.  ::)

Quote from: Frank on 20 November, 2018, 09:56:27 PM
Ghost Town isn't a single story or series of interconnected stories. It's a random sample of some recent(ish) Dredd stories with an Anderson tale thrown in.

I was getting a little wound up at the thought the next GN would only be Digest sized but I don't actually even know which stories are going in it! Ghost Town, obviously. But what else?

Quote from: Frank(although I have been wrong before, once, in the nineties).
Ooh, do tell!

Quote from: Magnetica on 20 November, 2018, 11:17:56 PMI don't think I would ever buy a digest size TPB, even at £7, they are just too small and the art looks lost - I don't see the point.
And that is exactly my point. I'd love to know if these things actually make any more money than a standard TPB or whether it is just a case of Digest or nothing.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Frank on 21 November, 2018, 10:40:07 AM
Quote from: Lorenzo on 21 November, 2018, 10:00:41 AM
Quote from: Frank on 20 November, 2018, 09:56:27 PM
Ghost Town isn't a single story or series of interconnected stories. It's a random sample of some recent(ish) Dredd stories with an Anderson tale thrown in.

I was getting a little wound up at the thought the next GN would only be Digest sized but I don't actually even know which stories are going in it! Ghost Town, obviously. But what else?

Guessing from the combination of creators (https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781781087251/2000-ad-digest-judge-dredd-ghost-town-9781781087251_hr.jpg) involved:

Williams & Guerra's The Man Comes Around *
Edginton & Coleby's 300 Seconds **
Grant & Dowling's Dead End ***
Wagner & Taylor's Wastelands ****

If there is a market for digests, it's obviously not us. I seem to remember someone saying digest format Manga were popular, so maybe Tharg wants some of that action. Manga seem to feature fewer panels per page, so maybe they work better than 2000ad strips at that size.


* The Horse!
** The one where Dredd's footprints are worn into the same spot where he stands for 5 min each day
*** Actually an Anderson story
**** Actually a Scooby Doo story
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: TordelBack on 21 November, 2018, 10:47:07 AM
Would the original Lamia story (Edginton and Taylor) not be a better fit?

I assume digests are aimed at casual purchasers, for cheap and portable access to (generally) classic material. Soft gateway drug stuff,  not intended for those already freebasing crystal thrill.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Frank on 21 November, 2018, 11:13:08 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 November, 2018, 10:47:07 AM
Would the original Lamia story (Edginton and Taylor) not be a better fit?

It might be in there, alongside the titular, tale.

If you mean a better fit than Wastelands as the Taylor story, I assumed Wastelands was in there because I can't think of a recent story where Wagner's worked with any of the other artists on the list.


Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: TordelBack on 21 November, 2018, 11:56:21 AM
Quote from: Frank on 21 November, 2018, 11:13:08 AM
If you mean a better fit than Wastelands as the Taylor story, I assumed Wastelands was in there because I can't think of a recent story where Wagner's worked with any of the other artists on the list.

Good point. Hard to see how you fit an appropriately-themed Wagner with that line-up of artists. Coleby's "My Beautiful Career" from years ago was great, but does it fit the collection?
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Frank on 21 November, 2018, 12:06:25 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 November, 2018, 11:56:21 AM
Coleby's "My Beautiful Career" from years ago was great, but does it fit the collection?

Tharg's blurb positions this as a post-Chaos Day collection, so that and the original Lamia are nixed.


Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Lorenzo on 21 November, 2018, 12:40:39 PM
Quote from: Frank on 21 November, 2018, 10:40:07 AMGuessing from the combination of creators (https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781781087251/2000-ad-digest-judge-dredd-ghost-town-9781781087251_hr.jpg) involved:

Williams & Guerra's The Man Comes Around *
Edginton & Coleby's 300 Seconds **
Grant & Dowling's Dead End ***
Wagner & Taylor's Wastelands ****
....
* The Horse!
** The one where Dredd's footprints are worn into the same spot where he stands for 5 min each day
*** Actually an Anderson story
**** Actually a Scooby Doo story


Cheers for that. Sounds like a pretty wacky collection if right. I think I'll pass anyway!
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: TordelBack on 21 November, 2018, 12:48:10 PM
If Frank's contents are right, and I think they probably are, there's a lot of very good stuff in there. Good value if you haven't read it before. Tempted myself.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Proudhuff on 21 November, 2018, 01:03:36 PM
Quote from: Lorenzo on 21 November, 2018, 12:40:39 PM
Quote from: Frank on 21 November, 2018, 10:40:07 AMGuessing from the combination of creators (https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781781087251/2000-ad-digest-judge-dredd-ghost-town-9781781087251_hr.jpg) involved:

Williams & Guerra's The Man Comes Around *
Edginton & Coleby's 300 Seconds **
Grant & Dowling's Dead End ***
Wagner & Taylor's Wastelands ****
....
* The Horse!
** The one where Dredd's footprints are worn into the same spot where he stands for 5 min each day
*** Actually an Anderson story
**** Actually a Scooby Doo story Dr Who series 11 story


Cheers for that. Sounds like a pretty wacky collection if right. I think I'll pass anyway!

FTFY
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Lorenzo on 21 November, 2018, 02:52:12 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 November, 2018, 12:48:10 PM
If Frank's contents are right, and I think they probably are, there's a lot of very good stuff in there...
Oh no, I agree. Just an odd combination. Wastelands and Ghost Town would make a good Meg Floppy. Would be the right size then as well!
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: sheridan on 21 November, 2018, 04:22:35 PM
The main problem here is that Tharg, being a wise and ancient Betelgeusian, does not realise that human eyesight starts to fail - so we can't see the words as clearly as he can!
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 November, 2018, 05:20:36 PM
yeah, I've had to wear glasses for the last decade, but even with them, I can't read those digest books.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Magnetica on 22 November, 2018, 06:42:45 PM
I see from the Thrillmail that the Steel Commando is coming out in digest form next August. Following on from The Viligant, I would be interested in a TPB, but won't buy the digest. Basically it is a missed opportunity as far as i am concerned - presumably they still have to do the same work to clean up the art (?).

Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: broodblik on 22 November, 2018, 07:34:33 PM
Unfortunately I feel the same. Without my four eyes I am lost.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Lorenzo on 22 November, 2018, 10:17:41 PM
I'm not seeing much love for Digests in this thread, looks like I'm not alone. I wonder if anyone from Rebellion reads this...  ::)
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 November, 2018, 10:35:40 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 22 November, 2018, 06:42:45 PM
I see from the Thrillmail that the Steel Commando is coming out in digest form next August. Following on from The Viligant, I would be interested in a TPB, but won't buy the digest. Basically it is a missed opportunity as far as i am concerned - presumably they still have to do the same work to clean up the art (?).

I was exactly the same! 'Ooh, I'll pick that u- Oh, it's digest. Maybe not.'
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Frank on 22 November, 2018, 10:36:42 PM

Tharg knows how much the digests sell. If they weren't shifting, presumably, they wouldn't keep on printing more.


Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: Magnetica on 22 November, 2018, 11:52:19 PM
Sure I get that. I'm not arguing the business case here, just that I'm never going to buy one, but would buy a "proper" trade of some of these stories.

As was said up thread, they aren't aimed at us. If Rebellion makes money from them great, just give us a larger version as well.
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: AlexF on 23 November, 2018, 10:09:32 AM
Yeah, I've always assumed the digests are 100% not aimed at regular 2000AD readers, but at a) younger readers with less money to spend (I certainly remember buying the teeny tiny Asterix books as a youth 'cos I could afford them, even if reading them was impossible), and b) bookshop browsers looking for a casual buy.

I'm curious how the digital editions work - is one able to zoom in and enlarge each page to 'original' full size?
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: The Monarch on 23 November, 2018, 01:56:57 PM
considering 80 percent of archies sales come from digest editions there must a market for such tiny letters :lol:
Title: Re: Digest vs TPB. Why so small?
Post by: TordelBack on 23 November, 2018, 02:31:27 PM
I was introduced (well into my teens) to the original few years of Spider-man and Fantastic Four care of a loan of some ugly little monochrome Marvel digests, my first real exposure to the genius of Ditko and Kirby, and I'm forever grateful to the format for that.  However, the US comic page is so much closer in size to the digest format than the 2000AD page, so I'm not sure it's even the same thing.