That Rebellion is doing this sort of thing – and has dipped deep into its pockets at great risk to do so – is something that we should all be grateful for. That DC Thompson hasn't released bloody great big collections of, say, Bananaman is truly baffling.
Absolutely, the back catalogue of UK comics has been neglected for far too long, and the fact they're bringing so much of it back into print again is a great thing. I hope it pays off.
With regard to DC Thomson, it feels like they're stubbornly operating on a business model that's fifty years out of date, just because that's what they've always done. They've no interest in exploiting their legacy of classic material at all, they just keep on trying to appeal exclusively to a dwindling child audience with desperate attempts to remain relevant. It's really sad.
I'm sure there's a generation of adults who would buy nicely repackaged editions of old stories, they could easily tap into that nostalgia market if they wanted to. But they don't even try, it's just "bung out two or three annuals at Christmas, just like we've done since 1940."