Rebellion trade news- from 2000ad review.

[ukdane]

The way the schedule has been worked out is that there will always be a Dredd book every month ? newer material one month, then a Complete Case Files the next, with the Rebellion Euro books dropping in every other month too. The Rogue collections have been brought to the fore to coincide with the computer game, and we?ll reach the end of the Gerry Finley-Day stuff by the time the game?s out in early 2006.

No news yet, to my knowledge, of a US distributor.

The Complete Case Files will be the same dimensions as the DC books, with a slightly more design-led cover, and will be around 350 pages in length. The first book reprints the Dredd stories in order from Progs 2 to 60, the second collects Progs 61 to 115, and so on. Price will be probably between ?10-?12, I expect.

In fact the Smith interview is FULL of tit-bits.

[IndigoPrime]

No annual/special Dredds, then*. Gnnh! Lord knows what'll happen if/when they reach the point of the part-colour Dredds and also the Megazine.

* And while a lot of them were poor, bear in mind the excellent She Devils was in an annual!

[Grant Goggans]

Ah, and I was looking forward to seeing that Chickenhead mutie from that McMahon annual story again...!

--Grant

[Pyroxian]

So they'll include all the mega-epics then?

   Steve

[Artificial Idiot]

It's looking like they will... Which is really another reason not to 'repackage' thiungs like The Cursed Earth.

[paulvonscott]

I can imagine these books being serious sellers to old and new fans alike.  Might have to give Dredd a full read through like I did last year*.

*First ten years, plus all the Wagner stories.

[Natsan]

Linky?

[Byron Virgo]

Your wish...

Link: http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/news/2005/2000adnewsround2505.shtml" target="_blank">...is my command

[The Amstor Computer]

Nice work, Gavin and UKD. I've been in hospital having a chunk taken out of my neck, or I would have been on this thread sooner!

Couple of comments:

-- "The original line-up was comprised of Jamie?s choices ? presumably in tandem with DC?s agreement"

"Presumably"? Hm.

I also think the complaint about the reprints leaning too much toward recent Titan collections is slightly unfair.

The first six months saw the publication of a whole chunk of Sinister Dexter and Nikolai Dante for the very first time, the first ever reprints of Shimura and Red Razors (whatever the merits of those particular strips), complete Devlin Waugh, Bad Company back in print, the beginning of a complete reprint of Rogue Trooper and Robo-Hunter, and a near-complete collection of the Batman/Dredd crossovers.

Reprinting Skizz and ABC Warriors Vol. 1 in amongst all that doesn't seem too excessive.

The absence of Dredd was noticeable, but given how badly he had been received previously in the US, it seemed reasonable at the time to focus on other, more recent characters like Dante, Sin/Dex and Waugh and classics like Rogue, Robo-Hunter and the Warriors.

-- "a Dredd book every month ? newer material one month, then a Complete Case Files the next, with the Rebellion Euro books dropping in every other month too"

Pretty much what I took from the flyer distributed at Bristol. If that schedule kicks in from November, it suggests that:

The Red Seas Vol. 2: Twilight of the Idols

and

Judge Anderson, PSI: Half Life

...will both be Euro format. While I expected the former would be, I'd hoped the second would be in the compact format. As it is, it looks like that book will simply collect the first story in the Half-Life saga.

The good news is that it does suggest that Judge Death: My Name Is... will actually collect all of the Wagner/Irving Death stories in the compact format.

-- "The Rogue collections have been brought to the fore to coincide with the computer game, and we?ll reach the end of the Gerry Finley-Day stuff by the time the game?s out in early 2006"

Hopefully the series will stop at the end of GFD's tenure on the character, with a final volume collecting odds & ends like Cinnabar and the annual stories. I certainly don't see any need to collect any of the other Rogue tales, because they veer from downright fucking awful at worst, to uninspired and dull at best.

-- "No news yet, to my knowledge, of a US distributor"

Nothing yet? Hm.

-- "The Complete Case Files will be the same dimensions as the DC books, with a slightly more design-led cover, and will be around 350 pages in length"

Good to hear the size will stay the same. It's taken some getting used to, but it works pretty well & it'll be fine for these reprints.

"More design-led"? Does this mean a move away from the pinup-image-with-logo covers on the DC/Rebellion books? Sounds interesting, but I'll wait and see.

"Price will be probably between ?10-?12, I expect"

Really? Nice as it would be, that seems far too cheap, unless we're going to see a move to cheaper paper stock, or a similar reduction in production costs. IIRC, Bad Company cost about ?13-14 for 250-odd pages, so paying less than that for a third more material seems counterintuitive.

Anyway, a good interview but more for what it reveals about the future of 2000AD than for any really juicy info on the trades. No criticism of Gavin or Matt on that front; I suspect Dom Preston is the person to try and pin down for answering questions like "what's happening to Slaine and Sin/Dex" or to give some more concrete details on distribution partners.

[ukdane]

I had nothing to do with the hard work, I just pinched Gavin's work from his site, and relayed it here.

I hope Anderson isn't collected as a Rebellion style.

I imagine one of the factors as to why Dredd files are going to be cheaper, is to appeal to those who have earlier collections. I'm more likely to spend ?10 for a book that I already have- and that is going to "require" a number  of than I would be ?15.

I wonder, does "design-led" mean original artwork covers, or does it mean old artwork, but with a re-jigged layout, and text/logo format?

[The Amstor Computer]

"I had nothing to do with the hard work, I just pinched Gavin's work from his site, and relayed it here"

Ah, right. Well, take it as a "Thanks!" for posting it here ;-)

"I hope Anderson isn't collected as a Rebellion style"

Well, it'll be lovely to see Arthur Ranson's artwork on the big, glossy pages of a Euro book, but it means a series of three or four books to collect the whole Half-Life saga, at a tenner apiece, spread over a couple of years (given the current release rate of the Euro books...)

"I wonder, does "design-led" mean original artwork covers, or does it mean old artwork, but with a re-jigged layout, and text/logo format?"

I take it to mean that the design of these books is something that leads the whole publishing process, rather than being slapped on at the end. It's a bit of a fuzzy phrase, unfortunately, so it could mean just about anything!

At the least, I think it means we can expect some more imaginative design than we've seen so far - perhaps some kind of "Official Justice Department" trade dress, or something along that line, rather than a generic pic of Dredd and the title & logo?

[Artificial Idiot]

Well, I'd imagine they'd HAVE to think more carefully about the design on them... Imagine how boring Dredd's mug would become every two months... Needs something to spice it up!

[SamuelAWilkinson]

>Well, I'd imagine they'd HAVE to think more carefully about the design on them... Imagine how boring Dredd's mug would become every two months... Needs something to spice it up!


Imagine? We don't have to imagine it. I'd say we average at least one generic Dredd mugshot every two months between prog and Meg.

[Mike Carroll]

Anyone know whether they're going to include the "banned" episodes from the Cursed Earth saga?

Also, what about the last half-page from The Ape Gang (prog 39)? If I recall correctly, that one got left out of the Titan Judge Dredd 2 collection and The Complete Judge Dredd monthly reprint thingy.

Well, either way, I'll probably be buying them... As long as they don't have new covers by McMahon - that would really put me off.

Mike

[Carlsborg Expert]

whats wrong with mcmahon?
really?