2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

[Arkady]

I started reading the prog in about 1993, so Friday was my Rogue. I have fond memories of some of those stories, especially the Chris Weston-illustrated ones. I have clear memories of one where Friday is shot to bits and there's a great image of him lay on a medical bed literally full of holes. I'd love to find that image again.

So the Rogue/Friday crossover stuff isn't collected either?

[IndigoPrime]

Not that I'm aware of. The Gibbons/Simpson War Machine has been reprinted several times, and I'm fairly sure very early bits of the strip (Fleisher/Smith) were reprinted in US 'Quality' Comics (or whatever it was called by that point). But I don't recall the White-scripted stuff having been reprinted. Post-Rogue strips (Tor Cyan) ended up in the Meg floppies, but that's about it.

[rogue69]

I got a letter in with my delivery today saying that they are doing 4 64 page special edition books covering 40 years of 2000AD covers.
they will be £14.99 each & there will be a slipcase to store them in. each volume will cover a decade 70's,80's 90's & 2000 onwards.
If you are a subscriber you will automatically be sent them unless you contact them to cancel the order

[Tomwe]

I got a letter in with my delivery today saying that they are doing 4 64 page special edition books covering 40 years of 2000AD covers.
they will be £14.99 each & there will be a slipcase to store them in. each volume will cover a decade 70's,80's 90's & 2000 onwards.
If you are a subscriber you will automatically be sent them unless you contact them to cancel the order

I've opted to cancel mine after some initial excitement, £15 for just the first of four covers books I would rather spend on more stories.

[Mattofthespurs]

I've decided to go with the cover volumes.

Considering I'm paying out over £800 for the series I really would like it complete and, in the grand scheme of things, another £60, spread out over a few years, doesn't seem worth not having a complete collection.

But I can fully understand those opting out.

[bernardsfingers]

£15 for all 4 then I'd have said yes but I've cancelled mine - paying 50% more than a standard volume for around 75% less content isn't a good deal, & a book of random covers is non-essential for me.

[Magnetica]

I'm not a subscriber so I assume I can't get these.

What I already have is the art of Judge Dredd book from a few years ago.  I am guessing there will be a fair amount of overlap with that(?)

[Richard]

Presumably about one in five will be Dredd covers.

[Richard]

I have clear memories of one where Friday is shot to bits and there's a great image of him lay on a medical bed literally full of holes. I'd love to find that image again.

Prog 901.

[bernardsfingers]

I'm not a subscriber so I assume I can't get these.

What I already have is the art of Judge Dredd book from a few years ago.  I am guessing there will be a fair amount of overlap with that(?)

The letter states that it's a special price for subscribers so would assume that they'll be available to non-subscribers at some point, but I guess you'd then need to pay more than the 'special offer' bargain price of £15 per issue if you wanted them.

I'd have been more interested in them if they were bigger books but 64pgs seems a bit limited to cover a decade of a weekly comic. Doesn't the Ultimate Collection already include reprints of some of the relevant covers, so a covers special edition will either have to exclude any covers which have already been reprinted or else duplicate some covers that have already been printed in the standard issues. Either way its not an ideal situation.

I'd have preferred something like a series of sketchbooks, like the 64pg book which is one of the upcoming subscriber gifts.

[Arkady]

I have clear memories of one where Friday is shot to bits and there's a great image of him lay on a medical bed literally full of holes. I'd love to find that image again.

Prog 901.

Oh that's brilliant. Triggers something way back in the murky recesses of my grey matter. Will have to dig those old stories out again as see if they were as bad as people say.

[Blue Cactus]

The Steve White Rogue stuff is mostly pretty solid from what I remember. Not mind-blowing but it delivered a lot of action and even some emotional punch (Friday's relationship with Midge was pretty good - or was that in the Abnett stuff from around the same time?). It was running when I rejoined the prog around 1993. Some great art from Tappin and Flint (and probably others). I was a bit confused about the reboot because I missed the War Machine and (thankfully) all the Fleischer stuff, but still enjoyed the strip at the time. It was nice to see Rogue in colour too, after all the classic stuff about this blue guy being in black and white!

[Mattofthespurs]

What I already have is the art of Judge Dredd book from a few years ago.  I am guessing there will be a fair amount of overlap with that(?)

One of the reasons I want these books is because of that Judge Dredd book. I have all the progs but I love that book and I love the cover galleries of that book but I always wanted to see the other covers without having to dig the buggers out of a box. Not only that I'm hoping that the covers will look better than my decades old version. Worth the money imo.

[Richard]

The War Machine is brilliant, and it deserves to be in this collection. Exquisite art and a good, well-written story.

There's a good one-off by John Smith and Chris Weston about some alien flying jellyfish that suck the juice out of people.

There's a decent Judge Dredd crossover story by Wagner.

Other than that, there's not much to commend Friday really.

[IndigoPrime]

I was a bit confused about the reboot

So were the writers, judging by the mess the series became.