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I guess one of the things that's a bit of a shame about the disrupted subscriptions is that the discussion on here is a bit scattered, as we're all on different issues.

I've just finished Bad company - really enjoyed that a lot. I liked the weirdness and the humour and the zombo like death toll which kept you on the edge of the seat wondering who would get picked off next.

I've now got the stront dog, Dante and ace trucking books in my to read pile, having opted to try and pace myself to the one a fortnight release schedule (and then, hooray, getting the most recent batch sooner than expected - hopefully they've sorted their systems now...)

In the meantime I picked up a bundle of Dredd mega collection books from the market. I'm enjoying them alright and for a fiver each they're a bit of a bargain. But I'm not so keen on the relentlessly bleak tone (in comparison to the variety in this collection).

Particularly enjoyed Kingdom 2 and am really looking forward to reading more Dante. Aquilla sounds interesting too (tho I've not got that delivered yet) and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of Shakira. I enjoyed the first book loads.

I've had my latest two through (Dr & quich, which I'm looking forward to and robo hunter, which all the past reviews have made me more subdued on...)

I was buying at the store, and so was ballpark around when the subscribers were getting them, then subscribed when my local newsagent didn't get rogue trooper 2 in. It took about 2 months for them to get the subscription up and running correctly and I had a load of stuff that I hadn't ordered sent through.

Kept calm and polite and was given the free post return address and had the charges wiped from the account and everything put right. Used a combo of Facebook and email. Not sure that helped.

Anyway, while I waited for the new collections to arrive I picked up a few JD collections secondhand (for around a fiver) from the local market. They used to have a stack, but they're almost all gone now (I only picked up a few)

I don't want to risk contacting them about getting up to date on the 2000 ad collection. It looks like my opt out of the covers thing worked.

The next two packs look great (love Kingdom. Bad company looks interesting).

And yep, the last couple of deliveries came in battered oversize boxes, but the books were okay.

I still think that (minor quibbles aside) the books themselves our superb. Considering that the company hinges around a subscription model it's a bit weird how many simple things cause them issues on that.

Hopefully they'll get it sorted but I'm not sure how much the complaints/problems get relayed up to the management there. You'd have thought that the costs (to them) would make it a priority. But perhaps the number of replacements for swapped endpapers or dented spines is low percentage wise, even if its very viable here.

I think I enjoy early stront more than the recent ones, nemesis is one of my least favourites. Its distinctive and memorable certainly, but some bits feel a bit of a slog.

As a matter of interest, which bits of Nemesis did you find a slog?

Just went back and had a flick through to remind myself of what came when.

I'd say that book one is a bit uneven,  books two and three are pretty good and the pantomime villain aspect of torqemada is both offset and made more creepy by o'neill's artwork.

So, that's volume one, which I probably found a bit middling because of the slow start and having been blown away by slaine, halo Jones, shakara (and then kingdom followed shortly afterwards...).

Onto volume 2.
I like the abc warriors in this, (maybe more so than in some of their own adventures) books 4 and 5 go along at a decent clip, Talbot does a good job with a decent story and book six is probably my favorite bit of the saga so far.
So volume 2 seemed nifty, if a little disjointed because of how it interleaves with the ABC stuff.

Volume 3 is, for me, where it properly starts to unravel.
Torqemada the god, with o'neill's art is glorious.

Then there's the photo story.
Moving on.

Book 7, by now the story seems to be getting stretched. With each reappearance of torq he gets less interesting. I'm not keen on John hinkelstons art in this. The drawing is impressive, but it shifts the tone decisively away from the weird and the intricate and firmly into body horror territory. Which I don't think plays to the series strong suit. Nevertheless, the meeting of the two torqs is interesting.

Purity:'s story has a decent plot, but could maybe have used weirder artwork.

By the time we hit deathbringer I'm not really on board with the story or the artwork.

I like it when series try to do different things, the tonal shift in, for example Dante in the second and third volumes is neatly done and while I prefer the earlier art and tone to the gloomy war stuff in that, it does at least keep the interest up and grow the story.

With nemesis, it feels the reverse, tonally it does something different, but somehow diminishes what went before.

But then the high watermark for nemesis was lower for me too. I'm not sure that the family side of the nemesis stuff was ever really earned (I can't say that the Thoth sideplot really grabbed me, as there didn't seem to be much connection between him and his father, and the threat posed (maybe knowing that there's more books to come robs it of its power) while being written big, never seemed to bite.

If this makes it sound like I hated it all, then that's not right. The strip is very memorable. As a new reader some bits were really gripping. But, for me, I think it falls between two stools, it's grander themes don't really lend themselves to the pulp like nature of the structure they're being delivered in. So the continual reappearance of the baddy feels more like 80s era "the master" in Dr who.

Does volume 4 finish the series in style/on a high?

As a completely new reader to it all...

So Pale fire when you say new are you saying that the Ultimate collection is your first exposure to 2000ad. If so that's cool. Do you mind me asking what made you give it a whirl.

Be interesting to know if others have been drawn to Tharg's bosum by this collection.

I'm an avid reader and had only dabbled a bit in graphic novels (maus, Palestine, Chris Ware). Chatting with a buddy from Poland who is a huge judge dredd fan piqued my interest. I flicked through a prog in Smiths, brass sun caught my eye, but the episodic nature of it all put me off (I already have too many subscriptions).

A year or so passed and I saw issue 1 of this for a couple of quid and thought I'd give it a go. The artwork in that slaine volume really impressed me. Went to pick up a parcel and the local postie had halo Jones in, so I picked that up. Twas probably that (clever storytelling, unusual angle) and Shakara (just visceral) which hooked me in more fully.

I've lent out copies to lapsed reader friends who have enjoyed the trip down memory lane (always Nemesis they want to borrow).

I'd say that I've been particularly impressed by the curation of this collection, the mix of stuff has been good and the alternating generally between newer stuff and old classics has been neatly done. It's a really nice way of getting a slice of the 2000ad back catalogue. I doubt I'd have wandered into forbidden planet and picked up volume 1 of any of these in trade. Partly cos they're more expensive, but also because, if I'd picked up say, volume 1 of slaine I doubt I'd have read on, but doing it as part this collection seems less onerous somehow.

What volumes don't people want? I think the whole thing is damm near flawless. Yes some Slaine might be less than stellar but so much of it is great that I'd indulge what misses.

Speaking as a lapsed reader who stopped back in the early nineties so far the only books I haven't really enjoyed are the robohunter books. Everything else has been great.

A great selection of old and new, my only concern is no zenith scheduled for the 80 books which seems a huge oversight.

As a completely new reader to it all, I've been quite fascinated by the reviews in this forum of stuff as it comes and goes. I bought the first 20 odd volumes at the local newsagent until they stopped stocking it, and after struggling to find anywhere else that had it in the city I took out a subscription....

Much like the standard stories this has proved to be far from simple. But keeping things calm and polite (via Facebook and email) seems to have resolved all the issues (at the moment). I suspect that hachette's systems are crocked as it looks like even simple amendments to a subscription are wildly complicated at their end. Aaaaanyway. The only shame of it is that I'm now around a month or two behind, so just finishing up Sinister dexter and waiting to unwrap the next Srontium dog.

For the most part I'd say the 'classic' stories are pulpy fun, but it's the newer stuff that has kept me around.

I'm enjoying sindex, though it's quite uneven. Dante, Kingdom, shakara have all been particular highlights.

I think I enjoy early stront more than the recent ones, nemesis is one of my least favourites. Its distinctive and memorable certainly, but some bits feel a bit of a slog.

In all, I like the books which are doing something other than hinging around future war (and so, to be honest, I find the plunge by Dante into the bleaker war stuff a bit of a shame). Halo Jones was great, meltdown man fun and ace trucking nifty for some tonal variety.

Slaine and abc are interesting in terms of the artwork a little uneven storytelling wise but breezy enough.

Overall, I've really enjoyed these regular slices of pulpy fun and will likely stick with the whole run. For a tenner a pop these are superb value for money and minor repro quibbles aside are a great way to gain an intro into the 2000ad back catalogue.

While I waited for the subscription to be sorted I bought a few of the judge dredd collection cheap at the market. They were pretty decent too, although I've got to say it's the variety in this one I'm enjoying.

In one of the Facebook replies a few months ago, someone had asked how many issues there would be, and the reply (with no caveats, or further explanation, was 90).

Kingdom has been one of my favourites so far, so if there's an extension that'd be great. It's all completely new to me, and as I've generally preferred the modern stuff to the old stuff, fingers crossed the hit rate of decent issues should stay high.

Evening all,
I'm completely new to 2000AD and have found this series a really great way of dipping my toes in the water. I've been checking into this thread at regular intervals too, and have been interested to read the views of y'all and a bit bemused by the subscription frustration discussions.
I've not subscribed - more than a little put off by the complaints on here. But, despite living in a big city, the number of copies at newsagents has basically dried up to zilch. I've been picking up mine at the cornershop at the end of the road, but I suspect that their system is only adding one copy because of me. The WH smiths in the city centre and forbidden planet appear to no longer be stocking them.
It'd be interesting to know how many copies they're shifting - and how close to the edge of viability it is (even reprints take a surprising amount of work...)
Anyway, as a complete newcomer my favourites have been Kingdom, Dante, Shakara & Halo Jones.
The earlier series (Nemesis, Robohunter, Strontium Dog, ABC warriors) are a bit more patchy and some have aged better than others.