Rebellion announces 'Best of 2000 AD' for 2020 (https://2000ad.com/post/6160)
2000 AD today announces it is launching a brand new title in April 2020 – Best of 2000 AD – as a new 12-issue US-format, perfect-bound series featuring a selection of the most incendiary and exciting new science-fiction comics from the legendary UK publisher.
Launching in April 2020, Best of 2000 AD is intended as the ultimate 2000 AD mix-tape – an anthology of full-colour stories specially chosen to be accessible to a whole new generation of comic readers who may never have picked up 2000 AD in its traditional format.
The first new major monthly title from the British publisher in almost 30 years, the first 100-page issue will be headlined by a self-contained 48-page Judge Dredd adventure and supported by three of the stand-out series from the 'Galaxy's Greatest Comic', primarily focusing on the critically-acclaimed Rebellion era.
The title boasts brand-new covers from an all-star line-up of New York Times best-selling and Eisner award-winning artists including Jamie McKelvie (The Wicked and The Divine), Becky Cloonan (Gotham Academy), Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead), Erica Henderson (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), and Annie Wu (Hawkeye), with more to be revealed.
The entire 12-issue volume will feature design by highly-acclaimed designer Tom Muller (House of X/Powers of X).
"There are very few comics that have had – and continue to have – the impact of 2000 AD," said 2000 AD editor Matt Smith. "But we often hear, 'where do I start reading?'. With Best of 2000 AD that question has a brand new answer – accessible, contemporary, high-quality story-telling, available every month direct from your local comic book store. There's never been a better way to discover some of the best modern comics."
Following Rebellion's hugely successful 'Day of Dredd' in September, which reached over 20 million individual social media accounts and saw international sales spike, during which comic stores, libraries and creators celebrated the cultural impact of the fan-favourite character Judge Dredd, Best of 2000 AD is the next step in building a wider international audience, and stands as a major jewel in the crown of Rebellion's 2020 publishing initiatives.
"It's called the Galaxy's Greatest Comic for a reason," said Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley. "If you love your comics dangerous, thrilling and life-affirming but have never read 2000 AD then this is your moment. This new publication is precision-engineered for new and curious readers. We want the Best of 2000 AD to convert a whole new generation into 2000 AD readers for life."
The first issue of Best of 2000 AD is scheduled for release in late April 2020. It will be available from comic book stores through Diamond Distribution in North America and the UK.
Best of 2000 AD #1 cover by Jamie McKelvie:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/a1.jpg)
The spines better match
I normally avoid reprint but this really appeals to me and I want to support it too... so there's money down the swany!
Quote from: moly on 06 November, 2019, 06:47:47 PM
The spines better match
Aye, if those staples are more than 2mm out of alignment ....
Quote from: Tjm86 on 06 November, 2019, 09:31:24 PM
if those staples are more than 2mm out of alignment ....
Perfect bound,
Tjm.
Perfect bound.Given the conversation over on the thread about Orbital (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46129.msg1016849#msg1016849) getting out of the direct market and the shift to younger readers and original graphic novels (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46110.msg1016327#msg1016327), this might be a presentiment of what Tharg is sending subscribers in the post 10 years from now.
Judge Dredd might continue as four 20 quid, 100-page books per year. Lower profile stuff like
Brink,
Lawless and
Full Tilt Boogie might be one or two books per year, maybe bundled in the same way Tharg offers his current IPC specials. I could see the
Megazine going this route, soon.
'Tis a cracking cover!
Quote from: Frank on 06 November, 2019, 09:48:32 PMGiven the conversation over on the thread about Orbital (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46129.msg1016849#msg1016849) getting out of the direct market and the shift to younger readers and original graphic novels (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46110.msg1016327#msg1016327), this might be a presentiment of what Tharg is sending subscribers in the post 10 years from now.
Perhaps, but 2000 AD is a very different prospect from the floppies on sale in Orbital. 2000 AD has a UK newsstand presence that's pretty widespread and almost entirely absent for standard US comics. (Ignore the Panini reprints, and there's basically nothing of that ilk in the average WHSmith.) I also suspect 2000 AD is quite heavily subs-oriented these days regarding readership. As long as that remains sustainable, the likes of Orbital and even other dedicated comic shops ditching floppies makes no odds.
Fantastic. I'm mostly digital nowadays for the comic reading, but I'll definitely pick this up, just don't tell my wife!
I find the "each issue being stacked to the brim with some of the absolute best stories from the history of the magazine, in full colour" interesting. I've always thought Rebellion would have to go down the Halo Jones route at some stage, colouring old stories to make them palatable to those who turn their noses up at anything black and white. It's also another way to sell the product: Just as we've had Strontium Dog agency files in B&W, and are now offered a Star Lord volume with colour spreads restored, the next step is to colour the rest of the strip.
The announcement says the stories will "primarily" focus on the Rebellion era so although much of it will come existing full colour material, presumably this is the starting point for colouring older stories (while covering the costs).
My reading of that is editorial adding to existing PR material. From the actual press release, it looks like this will be material compiled from the Rebellion era, and that's therefore already coloured, and also that doesn't need remastering, since it's already in digital.
Anyone done the sums on the page count?
48 Dredd leaves 52 for three stories: so three weeks worth of one thrill...not sure how the ongoing stories will fit into that formula, still: In Tharg we trust. :thumbsup:
This will be reprint stories ? Any new material at all ?
Quote from: broodblik on 07 November, 2019, 12:24:23 PM
This will be reprint stories ? Any new material at all ?
Was just thinking the same thing.
Even 6 pages of new Dredd or Future Shock material would entice those Squaxx reluctant to pony up for reprints.
I'm not completely sure, but I believe DC comics have done something similar recently with their '100 page Giant' range (i.e. 10% new material + 90% reprints).
Only the covers will be new as far as I can see.
Anyone think they'll include Brink? I've been holding off on getting the back issues / collections, so this could well be an introduction to it.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 07 November, 2019, 09:45:18 AM
Quote from: Frank on 06 November, 2019, 09:48:32 PM
Given the conversation over on the thread about Orbital (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46129.msg1016849#msg1016849) getting out of the direct market and the shift to younger readers and original graphic novels (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46110.msg1016327#msg1016327), this might be a presentiment of what Tharg is sending subscribers in the post 10 years from now.
Judge Dredd might continue as four 20 quid, 100-page books per year. Lower profile stuff like Brink, Lawless and Full Tilt Boogie might be one or two books per year, maybe bundled in the same way Tharg offers his current IPC specials. I could see the Megazine going this route, soon.
Perhaps, but 2000 AD is a very different prospect from the floppies on sale in Orbital. 2000 AD has a UK newsstand presence that's pretty widespread and almost entirely absent for standard US comics. (Ignore the Panini reprints, and there's basically nothing of that ilk in the average WHSmith.) I also suspect 2000 AD is quite heavily subs-oriented these days regarding readership. As long as that remains sustainable, the likes of Orbital and even other dedicated comic shops ditching floppies makes no odds.
Neither you nor I know how many copies
2000ad & the
Megazine shift or how
* If the
Megazine became something like the Hachette series - six 20 quid, 100-page
** hardbacks of
new material per year, each telling a single Judge Dredd story - it'd earn
50% more than the current
Megazine.
As long as one of those six books per year is something like
Guatemala, everyone reading this would accept being locked into an annual subscription - which isn't something that can be said for the current
Megazine*** * What Tharg (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=43123.msg910464#msg910464)'s willing to tell us is that the newsstand accounts for a dwindling percentage of those figures, and his PR let it be known that subscriptions had increased as sales fell off. So Tharg's wares are increasingly a subscription proposition, rather than a weekly trip to your local newsie. Hardbacks are just a more attractive subscription proposition than floppy comics and, as the Hachette series has shown, the collector urge is strong. Stick an image across the spines and folk will keep on collecting just so they look nice on the bookshelf.
** Same volume of original strip content as the current Megazine
*** You might cannibalise some sales of 2000ad, from folks who only buy 2000ad for Dredd, but the £120 cost of an annual sub would be the same as an annual sub to 2000ad. And Tharg would save 50% on annual postage, too. Rebellion Publishing (https://suite.endole.co.uk/insight/company/06993175-rebellion-publishing-limited) has never reported a net profit, so questions of profit and loss are, presumably, largely irrelevant to the continuation of their titles.
I'm aware of how things are shifting on the newsstand, having been in publishing for nearly 20 years. However, my point was simply that what's going on in Orbital isn't comparable to a UK-based weekly. Perhaps things will shift beyond recognition in ten years, if the newsstand business dries up; I don't know. But it is still a big chunk of sales of all publications I work with, even if there has been a move towards direct sales via subscription.
Personally, I would be cautious to suggest the Hachette model would be something 2000 AD could or should ape. We have no idea about the sales of those titles either. Also, the business model of 2000 AD is somewhat reliant on multiple-dip. So if you transform the Meg effectively into a set of graphic novels, you lose one revenue stream (book reprint); furthermore, the notion that hardbacks are what people want to see is hardly matched by the output from Rebellion itself. Brits, it seems, are more heavily wedded to softback trades than HCs (more's the pity – I much prefer HC editions).
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 07 November, 2019, 07:49:22 PM
... if you transform the Meg effectively into a set of graphic novels, you lose one revenue stream (book reprint)
You don't see many Megazine trades, these days. As far as Meg-Dredd's concerned,
Dead Zone's the last one I can think of.
Lawless has had a collection, but I'm not sure many other current Dreddworld strips* have.
I put in the hardcover thing just for you.
* Wagner's Dark Judges thing and the Dredd3D stuff, too
Hardbacks are nice but they take up more space, something which I am running short of.
Anyway, I'm delighted that this is happening because it can only be good for 2000AD.
This is great news - sign me up! Sounds accessable in North America so I'm excited and will definitely pick up the series.
For me, HCs are good for durability. Too many of my softbacks have warped.
This sounds like a good project, although I am personally glad there isn't going to be any new material included. My double-dipping habit on some of the old stuff is approaching double figures (Nemesis sweet child, I'm looking at you. And as for that there Apocalypse War...)
I was about to huffily declare that I certainly wouldn't be buying any putative bimonthly £20 Meg replacement, before remembering that I don't buy the Meg regularly anyway. You're part of the problem, Mr. Back.
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 08 November, 2019, 06:02:44 AM
This is great news - sign me up! Sounds accessable in North America so I'm excited and will definitely pick up the series.
This is the target market which Stevie thinks Tharg is aiming for here. Hatchette are servicing newsagents well with Thrills of yesteryear with the Ultimate Collection in the British Commonwealth. But an import hardcover that doesn't fit into spinner racks for the direct market in the States? Uh uh.
So let's make something that is
Diamond-friendly instead.
Quote from: Link Prime on 07 November, 2019, 12:33:21 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 07 November, 2019, 12:24:23 PM
This will be reprint stories ? Any new material at all ?
Was just thinking the same thing.
Even 6 pages of new Dredd or Future Shock material would entice those Squaxx reluctant to pony up for reprints.
I'm not completely sure, but I believe DC comics have done something similar recently with their '100 page Giant' range (i.e. 10% new material + 90% reprints).
Perhaps Tharg could commission P. Craig Russell to adapt Warren Ellis's letters to the Nerve Centre into comics.
Starburst have posted a review of the first issue https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/best-2000-ad-1
Apart from Dredd these are all the first few parts of stories from Brink, Jaegir, Halo Jones...It'll be interesting to see if they pick up the conclusions in the following issues, or leave new readers dangling and forcing them to hunt down the finales!
I've been trying to convert a colleague at work to 2000ad. He's currently mostly reading the classic US stuff, Batman, Swamp Thing e.t.c. I passed him my softcover of America when I got the HC Hachette version and that went down well. Will definitely be pointing him at these as a good intro to some of Tharg's other delights.
there are a few retailer preview copies of this now on sale on ebay for £40
Urgh. Good to see that no-one appears to have bought one.
Really? That's poor.
The first 5 issues plus issue 0 (free comic book day issue):
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOViHI7XkAA3vsI.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOViHI6W4AIE_LM.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOViHI-XkAAjb-3.jpg)
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_1600/hmb3a3w0ds33fnr9lgnc.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOViHI9XUAAcbjz.jpg)
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_1600/c2gstimv5y6ht48ldrgi.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOViHI9XUAAcbjz.jpg)
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/britishcomics/images/f/f4/JudgePigg.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190922104824)
Judge Pigg – Rich McAuliffe & Mick Cassidy (Zarjaz #30)
https://www.futurequake.co.uk/zarjaz-30/
(https://2000ad.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/zarjaz-30-1.jpg?w=584)
Here's hoping this sells. Seems bloody good value compared to most US comics.
Heavens only knows why - I've avoided reprint after reprint (with the odd exception) but for some reason this one has intrigued me and I'll be picking it up... why is the only question? Still looking forward to seeing what they plumb for.
Fantastic! Really looking forward to this now...I'll pre-order through my local comic shop to make sure they carry it. Yes, great value, I'm pleased with the price point.
Another review.
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/best-of-2000-ad-rebellion-judge-dredd/
The more I see of the design work and covers for these the more I like them.
Tom Muller is really good – and this isn't his first rodeo. Smart move by whoever at Rebellion commissioned him.
One thing that's occurred to me having read that review is I wonder why they've not thought to cash in on Al Ewing's current well deserved reputation coming off the back of Immortal Hulk?
Zombo would seem a good way to go. Adding a balance and different side to Tharg's organ. It seems they have gone for the gritter side of things.
Good point about Al Ewing: based on this month's excellent Megazine floppy, how about some Dredd? 'The Cop' is about the right length and, better still, I've never read it.
That said, I'll be picking this up even though I already have everything in it in other collections. Those covers!
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2020, 04:50:06 PM
One thing that's occurred to me having read that review is I wonder why they've not thought to cash in on Al Ewing's current well deserved reputation coming off the back of Immortal Hulk?
One suspects that would be why Al has written an exclusive story for the FCBD
M.A.C.H. issue 0.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2020, 04:50:06 PM
Zombo would seem a good way to go. Adding a balance and different side to Tharg's organ. It seems they have gone for the gritter side of things.
Possibly because Brink & Jaegir are still on-going concerns in the prog? The latter strip should appeal to the gamers in Tharg's potential audience.
Issue 6 cover:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EO6en-rWAAMC6BO.jpg)
Love it.
I really can't wait to get the issues in hand, and have a read.
The Best of 2000 AD is now back-on-track and will be released 2022:
https://2000ad.com/news/best-of-2000-ad-to-launch-as-graphic-novel-series-in-2022/ (https://2000ad.com/news/best-of-2000-ad-to-launch-as-graphic-novel-series-in-2022/)
Quite the format change but an anthology graphic novel series seems much better suited for the way the market has gone in the last two years. Brilliant!
New thread: https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48151.0;topicseen