2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

[IndigoPrime]

The Harlem Heroes reboot can get in the sea. It was one of the lowest points in the Prog, even if some of the art was nice. It'd be a waste of repro effort, paper and, frankly, atoms to have that in this collection.

[Colin YNWA]

If you need to pad out a Harlem Heroes volume adding something Second City Blues as another example of 2000ad sport seems a better idea than the reboot stuff. Nice contrast in eras too.

[sintec]

If you need to pad out a Harlem Heroes volume adding something Second City Blues as another example of 2000ad sport seems a better idea than the reboot stuff. Nice contrast in eras too.

An extra 71 pages would be perfect to fill that volume so yeah that'd work.

[Tomontherun94]

Incredibly unlikely to happen but a Summer Offensive volume would be fun in a sort of "what the hell where they thinking" way. Honestly the back matter would be worth the price alone.

Sure I've heard its trash but it is a part of 2000AD history and there's absolutely no chance stuff like Big Dave would get reprinted anywhere else (have there been any Summer Offensive Megazine floppies?).

[mitchuk]

They've replied to someone on the Facebook page saying it's 150 issues

Hopefully this works https://www.facebook.com/2000ADCollection/posts/2710776682583980?comment_id=2727908370870811&reply_comment_id=2731892190472429

[The Monarch]

why did you have to remind me the reboot mean arena was a thing...I think that was one of the last straws that pushed me towards sonic the comic

[moly]

150 gulp have to start working on mrs moly to extend the bookcase again, she won't be happy

[mitchuk]

150 gulp have to start working on mrs moly to extend the bookcase again, she won't be happy

I'm about to buy a new flat and dreading moving collection so far. Hoping to go from South Coast to Scotland in 5 years time, that will be fun with all these books!

In regards to Dante figure, not sure any more packaging would save it, the gun is just too long and thin

https://imgur.com/SEIZhgo

[IndigoPrime]

Incredibly unlikely to happen but a Summer Offensive volume would be fun in a sort of "what the hell where they thinking" way. Honestly the back matter would be worth the price alone.

Inferno's already been in the Dredd collection. That leaves the dull Maniac 5, the nicely drawn but written in a day fluff of Really & Truly (available in the HC Yesterday's Tomorrows, if anyone's desperate), the reasonable-but-less-good-than-other-John-Smith-strips Slaughterbowl (reprinted in Extreme Edition #23), and the risible Big Dave. I'm not sure I'd care for the back matter. At the time, Morrison and Millar were so arrogant about what they were doing; these days, would they even give a shit? And I certainly don't need 2000 AD editors of the time justifying this garbage or dismissing it. We had too many Dredd volumes where the back matter was essentially "yeah, that was shit, because I was a rubbish writer at the time". Yeah, thanks. That just cost me ten quid.

Sure I've heard its trash but it is a part of 2000AD history and there's absolutely no chance stuff like Big Dave would get reprinted anywhere else

Good. It's awful. It was awful at the time. It's horrible, racist, homophobic trash that misunderstands that you don't become the thing you're satirising when doing satire. Morrison back then thought he was being all clever and that people were missing the point. More, it's that he at the time had no idea how to write satire—or just didn't care. (Millar had his own issues, judging by his truly awful Robo-Hunter, which he claimed had won awards. God knows where.)

If you're genuinely interested in this stuff, someone's selling 841–844 and 845–849 on eBay, for two quid buy-it-now a set. Ten quid in all (the same price as a Hachette book!), and seven if he'll combine postage.

[Greg M.]

I want a Maniac 5 collected edition. It's complete trash, but it's not dull.

[IndigoPrime]

Perhaps I'll give it another read, but I remember it being run-of-the-mill, generic and largely devoid of new ideas. It was like a Michael Bay Transformers film—lots of BOOM EXPLOSIONS BIG STOMPY ROBOTS—that was somehow hollow and just... there.

My _guess_ is that if the repro isn't there, it probably won't be done specially for this collection. My _hope_ is that there might be exceptions for some of the good stuff (c.f. the Milligan content). But I guess we'll see. With Hachette now saying there will be 150 books, that almost doubles the size of the initial run (and, as much as I love 2000 AD, is starting to feel like overreach).

[Greg M.]

Perhaps I'll give it another read, but I remember it being run-of-the-mill, generic and largely devoid of new ideas.

It doesn't do anything new, no - it's the usual hodge-podge of purloined influences - but it executes its ideas with a kind of breathlessly unpleasant panache, characteristic of Millar. It certain has more inventiveness and personality than a Michael Bay flick, even if that personality's a cruel one (and one at odds with Millar's rather amiable-if-hucksterish persona.) Plus - prime-era Steve Yeowell art.

[The Monarch]

didn't the pre rebellion owners want nothing to do with big dave so much they let morrison and millar take the rights to it? or am i imagining that?

[Swerty]

I'm with everyone on the suggestions so far.Theres bags of material for 140 books and more

[Hackenbush]

Yes I suppose it is a bit of a stretch to put some of the more middling strips I mentioned in an "Ultimate collection"
As for Maniac 5 - I just LOVE Steve Yeowell's art - so much so I even bought Skrull Kill Krew. It does seem a shame that Maniac 5 never got reprinted anywhere. Grant Morrison told me at a convention that Mark Millar sued 2000Ad over continuing Canon Fodder with another writer. Maybe some of the Millar stories not being reprinted is partly due to that.

Brigand Doom - yes again it's for the Art. Also maybe my taste was simpler when I was younger.

I was hoping someone would pipe up wanting some of the more obscure strips from after I stopped reading. I have really enjoyed reading the newer strips in the collection so far - especially Dante and Kingdom. I really do expect there will be a fair amount of great stuff that can be showcased even if it means a few mixed volumes like the hewligans haircut one that had several short different series in it.

Hey - it's not like I asked for Kola Kommandoes plus the Grudgefather, or for a Trash and Junker volume ...