2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

[MumboJimbo]

I'm one of those who buy from this series only on a very occasional basis, but any John Smith volumes would be an insta-buy, as would Zenith. Is Zenith creator owned? Not that that should necessarily be an impediment if they strike the right deal.

Stainless Steel Rat would be good too, as would both old and modern Fiends of the Eastern Front. Brink is an an obvious choice, and stuff like Button Man and Mazeworld would go down well I think.

[sintec]

I crunched some numbers on books and strip page counts a while back using data from Barney. Some strips fit the Hachette format of 160-220 pages of strip per book better than others.  There are a few to either side of those numbers but not many (interestingly the recent Strontium Dog and Ampney Crucis books were the largest we've seen in the collection going by this metric - also much better value than the largest Dredd book which was Behind The Iron Curtain).

Anyway I digress the problem both Harlem Heroes and Mean Arena have is they don't fit the page count very well.  Pre-Inferno Harlem Heroes is too little content for one book but you'd have to split Inferno if you include it but that then gives you a second book you need to fill and I get the impression the later stuff is not particularly highly regarded.  Mean Arena has similar problems. I've not read any of the strips before so I've no idea if there are short tales that could be cut from the run or alternatively if there's a few good Future Shocks that would tie in to a future sports themed book to pad something out. Could they assemble a "Best Of Future Sports" volume or would that be non-sensical.

For early stuff my bets are on:
Flesh (books one and two are a perfect fit)
The VCs (if you include the 2nd run it fits nicely into 2 books)

With strong possibles:
Fiends of the Eastern Front (again filling the book out with the new run)
Ro-Busters (I'm not expecting complete here but a highlights volume would seem plausible)

I'd love to see Shako but it'd need pairing up with something - not sure what would work.

Is Zenith creator owned? Not that that should necessarily be an impediment if they strike the right deal.

Stainless Steel Rat would be good too, as would both old and modern Fiends of the Eastern Front. Brink is an an obvious choice, and stuff like Button Man and Mazeworld would go down well I think.

I think they've said before there wouldn't be any of the creator owned stuff - might change in the extension but I doubt it sadly.

Brink would fit nicely into 2 Hachette volumes and does also seem an obvious choice.

[IndigoPrime]

Stainless Steel Rat won't happen, because Rebellion no longer have the rights. Zenith could — after all, the HCs exist.

The bigger problem with the sports titles is that, objectively, they're just not that good. Flesh: fine (at least the early stuff — I'm not too keen on the more recent tales). VCs never clicked with me, but OK. Ro-Busters might be a problem, since it's Starlord for the first chunk, and no Starlord stuff has been included so far.

Fiends: would like to see. Brink: I own the trades, but I'd nonetheless be happy to see it in HC. (I'd prefer an Image-style oversized, obv, but the chances of that are nil.)

[MumboJimbo]

I've never read Mean Arena, but I've little love for Harlem Heroes and even less for Mean Team. In fact I think I may even prefer the Fleischer reboot of Harlem Heroes to its original form! I think that his first work for the prog maybe? Better I thought than stuff that followed like Friday and Junker

[Jade Falcon]

Regarding Jaegir I've got the softcover trade that's out and thought that was it. The problem with Inferno I felt was it seemed that they were told to wrap it up and it suddenly ended. Anyone who's read it will know what I mean.

I'm a Rogue fan but not bothered about Hitman, Friday or whatever. Fiends might be interesting, I've never read any of it. What could Shako be paired with, something of a similar theme.

[The Monarch]

honestly fine without zenith. I still have those 4 volumes of it.

Everyone knows I am a John smith fanboy so thats a must imho

I dunno how robusters would work some of it is in the collection already and starlord strips seem to be out of the question. maybe have it as part of an abcs extension? we would be getting to return to robusters I think.

Flesh/shako double bill? or is the original runs still too short for a book?

I would love ace trucking to be finished off sure the post "death" strips are poor. but that one annual story me and conrad from space spinner 2000 did a podcast on deserves another showing

i would love me some armoured gideon

[IndigoPrime]

Regarding Jaegir I've got the softcover trade that's out and thought that was it.

That compiles the first three runs, up to 2015. There's been more since then.

The problem with Inferno I felt was it seemed that they were told to wrap it up and it suddenly ended. Anyone who's read it will know what I mean.

My understanding is that's literally what happened. Quite a few strips in the old days ran until they didn't. At some point, the editor decided to wrap things up. Meltdown Man also ends up quite abrupt fashion. Clearly, a lot of these strips weren't really designed in the manner of modern comics — even if they had ongoing arcs.

I'm a Rogue fan but not bothered about Hitman, Friday or whatever. Fiends might be interesting, I've never read any of it. What could Shako be paired with, something of a similar theme.

Rogue outside of what's been collected so far is pretty throwaway, bar perhaps War Machine. But I'm not fussed about that strip, given that it's hard to imagine any other reboot Rogue being worthy of HC treatment. (Possible exception: Tor Cyan.)

Fiends in its classic incarnation is a strip I've always had a soft spot for. It's straightforward, finite, and quite tightly written. It works very well. Much of the recent run in the Prog was solid too. I won't be terribly upset if it doesn't make this collection, but I'd be happy to see it in there. Shako... not so much. I mean, it's OK, but it's very much of its time. (Perhaps a 'monsters' volume could work with some Flesh — although I suspect that'll get its own book or books. Got to keep up the Mills quota, after all...)

Flesh/shako double bill?

Shako on its own is 86 pages. Add the first two Flesh books and you're in mid 250s territory, although I've no idea how many actual pages you'd need due to double-page spreads and the like.

i would love me some armoured gideon

Barney reckons the entire run is 269 pages, although 78 pages of that is the... not entirely amazing The Collector. I wonder how the strip would work from a continuity standpoint if that was omitted? (It's been a long while since I read the entire run!)

[sintec]

First 2 Flesh books are 165 pages according to Barney which is pretty much perfect for a single volume so I doubt we'll see Shako added there. It does seem the best choice for a classic early strip though so I'll be surprised if that's not on the list.

A "monsters" or "creature feature" volume would seem the obvious way to bundle Shako up. Not sure what other options there are though, Ant Wars?

I'm wondering how much more Sinister Dexter we're going to get. I guess a lot depends on where book 3 takes us to which we won't know until July. I'd love it if we could get enough to catch us up with the current story threads in the prog, not sure how realistic that is.

Similar question for Dredd I guess. Hoping we'll get the recent Machine Law & Guatemala as those both deserve hardback treatment.

I think we can safely assume the continuation of series started in the intial run which is 7 books worth:
Absalom
ABC Warriors (probably 2 books for the Return To stuff)
Stickleback
Strontium Dog
Dominion
Fall Of Deadworld

I'm really hoping we get another Kingdom story in the prog in time to make a 3rd Kingdom volume but I'm not sure how realistic that is.  The 2 remaining stories aren't enough to make up a volume alone.

A volume with Thistlebone in it would also be well received here. Not sure what else to bundle in with that one, more Edignton tales or other horror themed stories I guess.

[Jade Falcon]

If we were to get more Dredd I would still hope for Pirates of the Black Atlantic.

Shako is dated, I have the trade that I picked up in a charity shop. With Inferno I felt some character fates were almost like the beginning of Alien 3, throwaway being a mild way of putting it.

I'd welcome more Jaegir, and I know someone I could pass my softcover trade onto.

Robusters, having to do without the Starlord material is a significant chunk.

[Dark Jimbo]

I think we can safely assume the continuation of series started in the intial run which is 7 books worth:
Absalom
ABC Warriors (probably 2 books for the Return To stuff)
Stickleback
Strontium Dog
Dominion
Fall Of Deadworld

I'm really hoping we get another Kingdom story in the prog in time to make a 3rd Kingdom volume but I'm not sure how realistic that is.  The 2 remaining stories aren't enough to make up a volume alone.

By your own logic, a third Kingdom book is far more likely than a second Stickleback! There are (currently) only two books remaining of each, but at least Kingdom's take the strip to an ending (even if not the ending) whereas Stickleback's left on a big ol' cliffhanger.

[sintec]

I thought there was a new Stickleback scheduled for the prog in the near future?
I'm sure I saw that somewhere...  wasn't it a trailed as a Thrill of the Future recently?

Pokes around - yep looks like it was Prog 2173 https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46320.msg1024330#msg1024330

[sintec]

But yes I concur that the last 2 book of Kingdom did feel like it drew things to a close. I'm just not sure what could they round that volume out with, a bunch of Abnett shorts? Or maybe Feral & Foe?

[IndigoPrime]

First 2 Flesh books are 165 pages according to Barney which is pretty much perfect for a single volume

Albeit mostly because the 2000 AD run has tended towards thinner volumes. I recall Matt saying 200–250 was the ideal sweet spot, but some books are smaller and a few are larger. 

Dredd: I think there would need to be some of that in an extension. I'd hope this would be stuff that's solid as a standalone story and objectively really strong.

All the other continuations make sense, although I'm tired of ABC Warriors.

Robusters, having to do without the Starlord material is a significant chunk.

To my mind, it makes the volume broadly irrelevant. The Ro-Busters Starlord stuff is the best stuff, although, frankly, it is very much of its time. If it's a choice between that and something more modern (or just objectively better), I really hope Matt goes for the latter.

But yes I concur that the last 2 book of Kingdom did feel like it drew things to a close. I'm just not sure what could they round that volume out with, a bunch of Abnett shorts? Or maybe Feral & Foe?

I'd sooner they didn't add Feral & Foe to that particular mix. I don't see it as an especially good match, but mostly I wouldn't be keen because F&F is clearly just getting started. (That said, if the choice is that or no Kingdom, I would plump for F&F.)

[The Monarch]

I like the collector strand of armoured gideon

i think the third sin/dex volume is gonna be the remaining downlode tales stuff and maybe the few aftermath stories like the first mangapore one?

[IndigoPrime]

I like the collector strand of armoured gideon

Like I said, it's been a while since I read it. In all honesty, I don't think AG in general is a tier-one thrill. There are likely better candidates to fill these books. But it'd also be nice to have a few more outliers in the collection, rather than yet more of the usual suspects. Plus Simon Jacob's robot design (and art in general) was lovely.