2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

[sintec]

As for Horned God, I suspect that was a smart first item in the series, because it twangs those nostalgia glands, and was a turning point in British comics and 2000 AD as a whole from an aesthetic standpoint and in its epic/collected nature. I can't think of something that would have been better to grab potential readers with. (Halo Jones, strategically speaking, was a smart follow-up, but would have been a riskier lead.)

Horned God and Halo as the first 2 were the perfect thing to get me to buy in.  There were both things I've been meaning to read for years so signing up for a sub to test the waters seemed like a good risk.  Now 6 books in we've had 1 installement from 2 of the 3 main hitters, with the 1st Nikolai and 2nd Stront coming next month that'll be the point where I'll either decide to bail or buckle up for the rest of the ride.  From what I've heard of Dante I strongly suspect it'll be the later.

[IndigoPrime]

I'd say for anyone who doesn't own much of this material already but is already a fan of 2000 AD in some form, this collection is going to be a ridiculous bargain. A tenner a pop for hardback reprints clocking in at 200–250 pages? Top stuff.

[Arkady]

I'd say for anyone who doesn't own much of this material already but is already a fan of 2000 AD in some form, this collection is going to be a ridiculous bargain. A tenner a pop for hardback reprints clocking in at 200–250 pages? Top stuff.

This is me. I read 2000AD between about 1994 and 2000, so missed all the classic stuff and missed the end of Nikolai Dante, which was my favourite strip after Dredd. Since coming back on board with the prog a few years ago I've gone the Complete Case Files route with Dredd, so this is the perfect way for me to get the best of the rest at extraordinarily good value.

And it really is good value. These hardbacks put the relatively costly Case Files to shame. Incredible production values. And they are so beautiful. Sometimes I just want to hold them and stare at them.

Also, they smell great.

[abelardsnazz]

Issue 7 up at Hachette

Johnny Alpha is a feared search/destroy agent - AKA a Strontium Dog - tasked with tracking down some of the galaxy's most dangerous criminals. Together with his Viking buddy Wulf Sternhammer and alien medic the Gronk, this mutant bounty hunter crosses time, space and other dimensions in pursuit of his quarry! Scripted by John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Alan Grant (Batman) and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra (Major Eazy), this first volume of Strontium Dog cases features such classic stories as Journey into Hell, The Schicklgruber Grab and Mutie's Luck.

The cover's not by Carlos. Is it Colin MacNeil?

[Jim_Campbell]

The cover's not by Carlos. Is it Colin MacNeil?

Greg Staples, if memory serves...

[TordelBack]

Yup, Greg would be my thought too. Bit good that lad.

[Klegg Bait]

Also, they smell great.

Yes! 

[Colin YNWA]

Also, they smell great.

Yes!

How good a comic / book smells is a very under discussed thing.

[Tomwe]

Also, they smell great.

Yes!

How good a comic / book smells is a very under discussed thing.

The first time I remember a book's smell having an affect on me was my 'book of the film' Ghostbusters. It smelled spooky! And I always flipped past the double spread of the library ghost.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

The first one I remember is The Target Book of UFOs, which smelled sweetly of sick. In later life I was disappointed, on getting a copy from a junk shop, that the smell wasn't there.
SBT

[Mattofthespurs]

The first thing my 13 year old Son does when he receives a new book is open the book to the middle and have a good whiff.
Personally I prefer the smell of old, musty, second hand books.

[Tomwe]

For those not subscribing, Hachette currently have a code FREEPO5T for free delivery on standard orders (under £25). Just ordered a Machine Man book that came out under the Marvel Mightiest collection. It has the BWS strip that was printed as a backup in Transformers UK when I was a nipper - quality stuff!

[Dandontdare]

The problem with Sláine is how divisive the strip is, and also how variable the quality level is throughout the run.

I'd say that, from my point of view, Slaine is the most consistent strip in the whole of the prog. In fact, barring the Secret Commonwealth, which reads okay as a collection, I'd say it hasn't ever put a foot wrong.

I'm fighting with Indigo Prime block on this - that period with Merlin and the ley-ser pistols (I still shudder as I type that) was pretty weak, despite some nice art. Slaine has it's moments storywise, but these days I tend to regard it as an excuse to drool at some jaw-dropping artwork, I lost interest in the story many years ago.

[TordelBack]

You're talking about Time Killer there, which is a short digression between the magnificent Dragonheist, Bellardinelli's best ever work IMO, and the odd-but-interesting Spoils of Annwn and then Slaine the King: shorter again if you like Tomb of Terror, which has its good points. Less than half a volume either way. That's what I mean when I say reading Slaine in collected form can be surprising. Unhappy periods that you felt interminable week to week are over in a flash, and there's usually something totally different up next.

[IndigoPrime]

But that's why it always feels inconsistent. I quite often like the weirder stuff – Spoils of Annwn was great, as was The Swan Children. The first bit of Brutania also seemed to head in a vaguely Mignola-like myths/weirdness direction. But then you get a bit lump of stodge to wade through.