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If Hachette extends the 2000 AD collection, which books do you want to see?

Started by IndigoPrime, 23 January, 2019, 01:46:33 PM

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IndigoPrime

Quote from: Tomwe on 25 January, 2019, 09:49:13 AMThird World War
I couldn't get through that when I tried a sanity-check re-read a while back, which in the end resulted in me selling my complete Crisis collection. It'll be interesting to see how it'd fare in trade. As for Finn, I don't recall that ever being a Crisis thing. The link between it and TWW is tenuous at best. (Honestly, I never really got the love for Finn. He always struck me as a second-rate Sláine with a David Icke conspiracy theory overlay, and with some... variable art.)

Quote from: credo on 25 January, 2019, 11:16:51 AMWe really are missing some good quality John Smith collections.
I do find his omission from the 2000 AD collection baffling. Sure, his work can be divisive, but you'd have thought there would be space for one book.

Quoteit does make me a bit sad that material I thought would inevitably be collected now looks likely to just remain in the past. I take it they've just got a tonne of their resources dedicated to keeping the Case Files in print.
Releases must be commercially viable. You can take from series that aren't out there fully, or that abruptly end that they just aren't. And there are only so many 'slots' per year, and only so much internal resource. Rebellion does a lot with its new Treasury line in addition to a frankly diminishing amount of top-tier 2000 AD to fill said slots.

That isn't me suggesting the Prog's gone down the toilet, note, but that 2000 AD's schedule was for years burning rapidly through a ton of classic thrills, and now it's at the point where Rebellion is either waiting for strips to finish their runs in the comic, to compile them for trade, or dipping into what's arguably second-tier content. Add to that commercial viability concerns, and widespread appeal. There's a reason we've never had, say, a Tyranny Rex trade. In the Hachette collection, though, I suspect you could justify more esoteric stuff, not least when you're at the point where it's mostly subscription-based. As long as the other item that month was more popular (say, a solid run of new Dredd), taking a chance with the other book could be a thing.

Tomwe

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 25 January, 2019, 11:45:39 AM
As for Finn, I don't recall that ever being a Crisis thing.
The Liam Sharp strip, apparently called 'origins of finn' now I look. Perhaps that was created first...?
Quote
Origins of Finn 4 episodes (Progs 924 to 927) 27 pages
Script: Pat Mills, Artist: Liam McCormack-Sharp
Originally created for Crisis

gurnard


Fungus

Leviathan
Invasion
Return to Armageddon
Covers Gallery

(Not going to get into page-count debates - just like the sound of those)

sintec

Would a Dredd book collecting the recent stories leading up to The Small House be viable?

IndigoPrime

QuoteCovers Gallery
Given the skinny and pricey covers volumes, I'd be surprised to see a separate volume with covers.

Fungus

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 25 January, 2019, 06:24:04 PM
QuoteCovers Gallery
Given the skinny and pricey covers volumes, I'd be surprised to see a separate volume with covers.

I'm not a subscriber  :)  And admit it won't happen...
A happy cherry-picker who now thinks a covers collection sounds good!

AlexF

QuoteAs for Finn, I don't recall that ever being a Crisis thing. The link between it and TWW is tenuous at best.

The very opening series of Third World War includes a character named Paul in the line-up of young, dumb and self-righteous soldiers on a 'peace-keeping' mission. Pretty sure this is very explicitly a young version of the Paul who would return from soldiering to take up being a cabbie in Plymouth in the pages of Finn. I believe he grows more and more Finn-like as TWW progresses, although I've only read about half of it.

Book III of Finn also re-introduces Eve and the ultra-tory blonde girl from that original run of TWW, which may be another reason why that series hasn't been reprinted (yet)?

On the subject of John Smith collections, it'd be a right effort to put it together, but the dream is to find a chronological collection including basically all of his early stuff, which (apart from Future Shocks), is all tied in to Indigo Prime in various ways, and sets up that agency more clearly!
I'm talking the original 'Void Indiga' Future Shock, but then all of Tyranny Rex, including especially the Specials/Annuals episodes (I guess you could do without the Redux series), not forgetting Fervent & Lobe and Almaranda. Maybe throw in Danzig's Inferno for good measure. And of course the actual Indigo Prime episodes. Call it 'John Smith: the making sense at last collection'.

Just sayin'.

IndigoPrime

Yeah, I recall Paul being in TWW, but it feels no stronger a connection/crossover than Mills connecting the threads between Nemesis, Flesh and Dredd. It's perhaps a nice-to-have for fans of both, but the strips to me felt like they existed in different universes.

And, yeah, a 'complete Smith' would be wonderful, but I'll take what I can get. For me, Firekind is the prize. I have Indigo Prime and Cradlegrave in paperback. I'd love Firekind to finally get collected in a manner the trip deserves. (That Extreme Edition was nice, but Firekind deserves better. Perhaps I should just get a copy bound into a hardback...)

Link Prime

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 28 January, 2019, 09:18:34 AM
I'd love Firekind to finally get collected in a manner the trip deserves.
We'll allow it.

As a cherry-picker I would be all over a Firekind / Smith collection.

Big Dave (and Young Dave) would be also very welcome, but I know it ain't gonna happen.

Complete collections for the irreverent Bix Barton and entertaining Armoured Gideon get the nod from me.



IndigoPrime

Honestly, I'd hate to see Big Dave collected. I abhorred this at the time. I re-read a little recently, and my mind wasn't changed. It's trying to be satire, but just isn't, and comes across like the things it's trying to parody. Given Millar's other writing (especially around the time), it probably shouldn't be a surprise that it's a misogynistic and homophobic mess. Fortunately – from my point of view – rights issues mean it's unlikely to be collected again by Rebellion or as part of this collection.

credo

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 29 January, 2019, 09:11:11 AM
comes across like the things it's trying to parody

This.

Like so much bad 90s satire. It's not ironic, it's just not very good.


IndigoPrime


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