New Rebellion trades - a Thrillpower sixpack!

[The Amstor Computer]

Haven't done one of these for a while! There are a few to get through, so it'll just be quick summaries rather than anything more in-depth. If you're interested in reading more about some of these books, you can try BEC & KAWL: BLOODY STUDENTS
SIMON SPURRIER & STEVE ROBERTS

THEY'RE HERE TO SAVE THE WORLD... KINDA!

Becky Miller and Jarrod Kawl are a pair of students sharing a flat in the less-than-salubrious Swineboil Apartments. He's a stoner movie geek, she's a power-crazed Goth artist - together, they're a magnet for every demonic incursion and ectoplasmic event going. They could be mankind's last hope against the terrors from beyond - if they could only get off their arses...

CONTENTS:

Bec & Kawl and the Mystical Mentalist Menace (progs 1291)
Beccy Miller's Diary (progs 1293)
Enlightenment (prog 1328 - 1351 - 1383 - 1401 - 1437 - 1477 - 1290, 1354, 1438, 1386 Star Scan)
Steve Roberts sketchbook - 7pp
Simon Spurrier interview - 3pp




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156 - 156, 160, 163, 168, 170, 173, 180, 184, 189, 192, 197, 201 and JUDGE DREDD: THE HUNTING PARTY
JOHN WAGNER, HENRY FLINT, SEAN PHILLIPS, TREVOR HAIRSINE, CALUM ALEXANDER WATT, JASON BRASHILL & DAVID BIRCHAM

THE HUNT IS ON!

With a hunger for human flesh the dune sharks came out of the Cursed Earth and went into a feeding frenzy on the streets of Mega-City One. Now Dredd has gathered together a team of cadet Judges to track down the source of this alien menace. Along the way they will come face-to-face with cannibals, a rip in the fabric of time, a bizarre spider-cult, a child militia and an awesome secret going back to the days of Chief Judge McGruder!

CONTENTS:

The Pack (progs 1016)
The Hunting Party (prog 1034 - 1037 - 1041 - 1045 - 1047 - 1048 - 1038, 1046 and NIKOLAI DANTE: TSAR WARS VOL. 1
ROBBIE MORRISON, JOHN BURNS & SIMON FRASER

ONE FAMILY WILL FALL!

2669: The Russian Empire is being torn apart by the war between the Tsar and the Romanovs. Streetwise swashbuckler Nikolai Dante is in the middle of the action, leading a rabble called the Rudinshtein Irregulars; a ragtag army made up of thieves and murderers. The Romanovs see them as cannon fodder but when Nikolai Dante is your general, victory can almost certainly be snatched from the jaws of death!

CONTENTS:

Data Download - an introduction to Dante

The Rudinshtein Irregulars (progs 1190)
Love and War (progs 1207)
Battleship Potemkin (progs 1220)

Cover gallery (progs 1189, 1204, 1220




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1301 - 1305)
Overkill (progs 1307)
Lions (progs 1309)
A Visit to the Boneyard (progs 1311)
Requiem (prog 2003)
Ghouls (progs 1349)
Realpolitik (progs 1385)
Condor Six Down (progs 1464)
New Model Army (progs 1479)

Cover gallery (progs 1311, 1383, 1479





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2004 - 2005 - 1372, 1425 and http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=prog&page=profiles&choice=1420">1420




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Phew!

First, a quick nod to the team behind the books. Every one of the books here is a high-quality release, attractively packaged and with generally fantastic art reproduction, and that quality is down to the people behind the collections putting in the time & effort necessary. Given how ropey 2000AD trades have been over the years, and how precarious the future of Rebellion's reprint line seemed when the DC collaboration came to an end, it's great to see so much material being collected so well.

As for the books, the biggest surprise for me has been how much I enjoyed Bec & Kawl in collected form. It's never going to climb to the top of my favourite thrills list, but reading it here has made me appreciate it more than when it was chopped up into weekly chunks in the prog. While the earlier stories are already looking dated - some shaky writing & art from Spurrier & Roberts, together with some naff pop-culture references - later episodes see the creators & characters settle into a rhythm that makes for a far more satisying read. The substantial sketchbook & interview make for nice extras, and the new cover from Steve Roberts caps this great little volume off perfectly.

Case Files 04 is, as with the other volumes, a chunky ramble through some of Dredd's classic moments. Where earlier volumes were patchy as writers & artists got to grips with Dredd, this collection sees everyone involved producing some career-best work, from McMahon's substantial artistic contribution to Grant & Wagner's effortless, inventive writing. Although still lacking a story index - a glaring omission given the number of tales collected and the use of pseudonyms - this is another solid collection.

Carrying on with Dredd - though of a far more recent vintage - The Hunting Party is a collection that offers an enjoyable romp through the Cursed Earth, showcasing early work from a number of artists who have since gone on to great success in 2000AD and in the wider comics market. Unfortunately, this collection also features the patchiest reproduction of all of the books mentioned here. It often appears that pages have been scanned direct from the comic, rather than original art or films, and while great effort has been made to present the strips as best as possible, there are a few sections that aren't quite up to the high standards set elsewhere (Hairsine's work on "Lost in Americana" is perhaps the worst). The interview with Henry Flint at the close of book is a welcome - if disappointingly brief - inclusion, and the sketchbook is an interesting look at Phillips' working methods at the time, complete with thumbnail page layouts and character designs.

Dante hits the "Tsar Wars" epic in the fourth collection of his adventures & this book also marks the point when John Burns became primary artist on the strip, handling the bulk of this epic tale. For fans of Fraser's art this might be a little disappointing, but the work Burns produces here is some of his finest work for the prog & suits the tone of "Tsar Wars" perfectly. Morrison's writing - while occasionally mawkish - is generally very good, and the change in Dante's character over the course of this collection is handled deftly & effectively.

More Rogue is in store with the sixth (!) volume of his adventures, this time taking a leap decades forward from the material reprinted in the preceding volume, "Regene", skipping revinventions, crossovers & some terrible writing and moving straight to Gordon Rennie's "untold stories". Ian Edington's contribution is interesting, but this book is Rennie's show & while not entirely successful, it's interesting to see how much closer he gets to the magic of Finley-Day's time on the strip than other writers before him. There are a couple of stories here that wouldn't have looked at all out of place in any of the earlier collections, and it helps that he's well served by some gorgeous B&W art from newer 2K artists like Dylan Teague, Simon Coleby and Staz Johnson. There's a disappointing lack of extra material, and even the cover gallery included is a bit of a letdown - all of the covers are reproduced in greyscale, robbing them of their rich colours and leaving the art looking dark and muddy. Given that the strips reprinted are so recent, it would have been nice to see some comments from the writers involved, or some sketchbook material from the artists.

Finally, the second volume of Mills' & Langley's Sláine epic, "Books of Invasions", collecting books 3 and 4 in a gorgeous hardback edition. Unfortunately, the only copy I've been able to lay my hands on is the mis-printed edition which has a section of one book printed out of sequence. I believe a full recall was ordered, but it's probably worth erring on the side of caution and checking through the book before buying just in case you end up with a dud copy. That issue aside, this is another stunning addition to the Rebellion Euro line and a treat for fans of the character & CLint Langley's unusual artstyle, complete with extra material and stunning reprints of the wrap-around prog covers that Langley produced for the series. Mills provides some memorably gruesome moments, and while the Celtic barbarian is perhaps long past his best, the epic scope & loathsome Fomorians help make this his most enjoyable adventure for quite some time.

While still a little too reliant on the big-hitters in the 2000AD roster - Dredd, Rogue, Sláine, Dante... - Rebellion's reprint line appears to be in rude health, and with an upcoming release list packed with books like Leviathan, The Complete PJ Maybe, Origins, Button Man, Nemesis the Warlock, XTNCT and Caballistics, Inc., as well as second editions of earlier collections, it certainly seems that fans are in for a bumper Christmas & New Year.

[Concrete Block 15]

WOW! Seriously nice work, lots to get stuck into there!

Thanks for puttin' forth the effort TAC, so that lazy arses like me don't have to! Cheers.

[Concrete Block 15]

WOW! Seriously nice work, lots to get stuck into there!

Thanks for puttin' forth the effort TAC, so that lazy arses like me don't have to! Cheers.

[Dudley]

Ferkin ace

[Dark Jimbo]

Oh, how I've missed these...

[Bad Andy]

I like these reviews.

Be a cold day in hell before I buy the Slaine trades though.

[JeffreyMT]

Read my copy of The Hunting Party this morning. A lovely little collection I thought.

Some superb art from Henry Flint in there makes the whole story for me. Although he was challenged heavily for top spot in the book by Calum Alexander Watt.

Anybody know what happened to him? His early Dredd/Rogue Trooper stuff was superb. I expected him to go on and have a long and succesful career in the same way that Henry Flint did.

[The Amstor Computer]

AFAIK, Calum Alexander Watt is still working in the games industry doing storyboarding, concept & design work. It's a shame we're unlikely to see his art in 2000AD again, as you'll see how much his work has improved from the samples below. Still, perhaps Tharg could commission him for a Star Scan or prog cover?

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[Woolly]

"Be a cold day in hell before I buy the Slaine trades though."

The Books of Invasion are a *much* better read in one go than they were in weekly chunks, and the quality of the repro in these hardbacks really does have to be seen to be believed!

Theyre quite beautiful, in fact!