2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

[Barrington Boots]

I'm not a fan of Black Siddha either, but I remember it being a pretty unique concept and definitely better than Finn or Greysuit.

I've been cherry-picking volumes also, and there's not much to get excited about here between stuff that's run very recently (Kingmaker, Vex), stuff that I already have in collected editions (Zenith, Mazeworld, Shako etc) and stuff that's just not all that good (Dan Dare, AotW). I don't think I need a hardback collection of Mean Team. Aside from Gideon I'm potentially interested in Harry On The High Rock, which I remember nothing about. Buttonman really should be in the collection if possible.

 

[Jim_Campbell]

I'm potentially interested in Harry On The High Rock

Early(ish) Alan Davis artwork — a little rough around the edges, but you can still see it's got 'future superstar' stamped all over it. You'll either love the puntastic character names, or they'll annoy the crap out of you, but the story hangs together pretty well and benefits from being a finite thing. (Probably benefits a great deal from the uncredited, but apparently extensive, Alan Grant re-write of GFD's original scripts, too.)

[The Monarch]

it also has one of the best oh my god moments in 2000ad history but we all know what that is and if you don't then theres something to look forward to

[Jade Falcon]

My sleep hasn't been great and I finally got round to finishing the Durham Red book....very uneven and some of the art was very 'murky'.  The second extension has been very hit and miss in places.

[leethomson]

The second extension was equal parts hit and miss, for me. Some good stuff from Smith, Edginton and Abnett but the rest of the books felt like curios and deep dives (and some were just outright questionable choices). Nothing as essential the first extension. I'm not seeing much in this final (?) set to get too excited about. The spine art doesn't give a lot away and frankly, with a few notable exceptions, if a strip is from before 2010 and hasn't been included in the first 140 books, does it really deserve a place? I'd be very happy to get some more recent stories, although I've bought quite a few softcovers since the collection started and there's a strong risk of double-dipping.

[IndigoPrime]

"if a strip is from before 2010 and hasn't been included in the first 140 books, does it really deserve a place?"

There are always going to be series that people do and don't like. But even at this stage, there are strips from 2000 AD's history that are arguably objectively great and that haven't yet been collected in the series – notably (IMO) Zenith and Scarlet Traces.

Is the entire list of books less 'essential'? Probably. But then I'd argue the same about even the first extension, which I personally thought was fantastic. The core stuff was mostly covered in those first 80 books.

Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd look at my own personal hit rate for the collection. For the first 80 volumes, it's about 75%. With the first extension, it's 77%. For the second extension, it's more like 40%, but a good chunk of that is personal taste (Sin/Dex, say). (My actual purchasing and not reselling for those volumes is lower: 14%. But a bunch of that is down to deciding to cherry pick from this point and not replace existing Rebellion volumes I am perfectly happy with.)

[Jade Falcon]

I have been wondering whether in the end to hang on to the entire collection.  I have the feeling there are large parts I wont bother reading again and they are taking up a lot of space at this point.  The general quality seems to be going down with some puzzling omissions like Dredds Black Atlantic for example.

[michaelarby]

I'm in a similar bind. I like looking at the entire 140 collection but I know there will be a good handful of those books I wont ever read again. Am I better just to get rid and free up some much needed space...

[I, Cosh]

it also has one of the best oh my god moments in 2000ad history but we all know what that is and if you don't then theres something to look forward to

Just don't go looking up any covers galleries between now and then.

[sintec]

The Middenface book is far better than I was expecting it to be. Tbh after the 3 Strontium Dogs volumes I didn't have particularly high expectations for it at all. Turns out it's far better than most of the SD strips in those books. It's a great mix of humour and action with a few serious moments and some superb art. You can tell the creators are enjoying themselves. This book is the surprise hit of the 2nd extension imo, if you're cherry-picking and skipped it you might want to reconsider.

[Dark Jimbo]

The Middenface book is far better than I was expecting it to be. Tbh after the 3 Strontium Dogs volumes I didn't have particularly high expectations for it at all. Turns out it's far better than most of the SD strips in those books. It's a great mix of humour and action with a few serious moments and some superb art. You can tell the creators are enjoying themselves. This book is the surprise hit of the 2nd extension imo, if you're cherry-picking and skipped it you might want to reconsider.

It was always a bit inexplicable to me that the Young Middenface stories were never collected. Looking forward to this long-overdue volume.

The penultimate story was missed from this collection - does the book still read okay without it, Sintec?

[sintec]

The penultimate story was missed from this collection - does the book still read okay without it, Sintec?

I hadn't noticed but the final story felt like the weakest of the bunch which might be a consequence of the missing information. I'd put it down to Shaun Thomas' art which I found harder to follow than some of the gorgeous linework that had preceded it.

Very odd choice to miss 24 pages from Young Middenface's adventures - guess it was just a few pages too many.

[moly]

Has anyone received 141 and 142 yet

[Tomwe]

Has anyone received 141 and 142 yet

yup just now.
Intro to Al's Baby makes mention of Button Man, but sadly then doesn't go on to say they'll included it later (which they tend to).

Backup to Mean Team is Bad City Blue.

[Arkady]

Sorry if I missed it, but is there a picture of the new spine art anywhere?