Well since we have reached the end and it'll be in the shops tomorrow, I've been thinking a lot about Nikolai Dante and the impact its had on The Galaxies Greatest.
I've just finished a re-read, which I've done over the last few months in three chunks and while you have to be a little careful saying stuff like this, it might well be my favourite ever 2000ad strip. Okay so when the dust has settled a little more I'll have a much clearer view on that, but its certainly in the mix. It now stands as a complete story with a beginning, middle and end (what a wonderful end), something Dredd will never have. Every action and event in the series has had a consequence and things have reverberated throughout its history, again something Dredd struggles with at times. Its been the work of just one writer, telling one tale and is so strong for that, in a way Dredd by its nature will never quite manage.
On top of that it had the epic scale, just look at Monarch's 'Too Cool to Kill' series over at ECBT to get the idea of quite what a saga its been. Its vast and yet intimate and focused. That scale probably puts it ahead of the best of John Smith's various works of genius for me (well probably, just wait 'til I read one again to see me flip flop over that one!). So in writing this I'm almost convincing myself that its the best strip the comic has ever had... time will tell.
As I've said before, here and elsewhere, I think it, alongside Sinister Dexter and Wagner's return to Dredd may well have saved the comic in the late 90s. They formed a foundation that David Bishop as Tharg's little helper was able to rebuild the comic from, after the creative nadir of the mid 90s. Its going to be hard to replace, but then the beauty of 2000ad is it variety and versatility and there are so many strong strips fighting for a place in the comic at the moment that hopefully its absence won't be felt too keenly overall. Well assuming the Kingdoms, Sinister Dexters, Zombos, Indigo Primes (and numerous others) of this world don't have too prolonged a rest.
Looking forward I really hope that the marketing and trade folk find a market for this series to stay in the spotlight. Under other publishers you'd think the past trade collections wouldn't have floundered so long out of print (though of course I have no knowledge of the economics of this) and there'd be a big push to keep them in print and accessible for all to get hold of. I've no idea how the first American trade did, but the lack of a pre-listed 2nd in series, a year after the first was released worries me a bit. Mind that might be paranoia on my part, or a focus of Dredd for the time being for obvious reasons, who knows (Well Keith Richardson I imagine if he'd like to chip in!).
Personally I'd absolutely love to see a shiny set of posh oversized hardcover cover collections, maybe fitting the series into say 5 volumes (the logistics of story breaks I've not even approached there). That would be fantastic. Something like the DC absolute editions, just perfect, but possibly the stuff of fantasy, I don't know. Think about how many times a series like Sandman can be repackaged! I just think Dante deserves this kind of treatment and hopefully if the world ever starts to take real notice of what seems to be our best kept secret, it'd certainly find the market.
To that end its a shame that the world at large doesn't seem to be aware of Dante. Where are all the articles on the big news sites discussing the fact that this classic series is ending. Where is CBRs interviews with Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser discussing what the strip has achieved. Why hasn't Newsarama run one of its endless top 10s on the greatest moments in the series, I can't find a panel at San Diego spotlighting the work etc etc. How have we managed to keep Dante hidden and too ourselves for so long?
Maybe it'll take the much dreamed of TV series, or movie to get that sort of thing started... but I've gone on quite enough and that's the inevitable whitterings of another time for now.
I'd personally just like to thank Robbie Morrison, Simon Fraser, John Burns, Annie Parkhouse and all the various other talents that have created this wonderful series for making what I think (see above) is probably the best single series ever in the Galaxies Greatest Comic!
(Which I assume makes it the Galaxies Greatest series... coh who knew!)
