this topic has probably been done before but I`d like to see more reprints of 2000 AD stuff around.
- more of the Digital Archives
- bespoke reprints. Wouldn`t it be great if someone could place an order for progs 300-312 to be reprinted rather than buying second hand progs? Surely they have the technology
- more magazines like they used to have, such as Classic 2000 Ad etc
as someone without a complete collection and no forseable way of getting a complete collection I'd love to see more re-prints especially if they ran the same format as the old Complete Judge Dredd and Classic 2000AD, suppose Extreme 2000AD fulfills some requirements but its out every couple of months maybee if it ran monthly...
CU Krestel
- more of the Digital Archives
How about more GNs, instead?
- bespoke reprints. Wouldn`t it be great if someone could place an order for progs 300-312 to be reprinted rather than buying second hand progs? Surely they have the technology
Out of the question. Incredibly time-consuming and expensive. It' d be cheaper to just buy the back progs on Ebay!
- more magazines like they used to have, such as Classic 2000 Ad etc
Out of my hands, but you never know...
J-Bo-1
:: How about more GNs, instead?
Depends what's in them. :)
Mind you, I mentioned to Dom about three years ago that truly digital archives would be a great idea (i.e. 2000 AD back issues on DVD), and I still hold that opinion. Then again, unless things have changed, everyone at Rebellion seems to disagree, for some reason!
This would be a good way to enable people to catch-up with stuff and complete their collection, without having to resort to extortionate eBay prices.
The argument against is two-fold: 1) people prefer the printed product and; 2) it would affect sales of other merchandise.
I disagree with both:
1) People may prefer the printed product overall, but if you can fit a thousand progs on a half-dozen DVDs, there's a space and convenience issue - many of 2000 AD's fans are "all grown up" now, but would relish the opportunity to take back issues on the train for their commute into London. On a personal level, I'd love such DVDs, so I could offload my paper-based collection that takes so much room up and that I'm not able to easily access and so therefore rarely peruse.
2) I have every 2000 AD from #320, yet I just bought The Pit, because it's a favourite story of mine. Likewise, if Firekind and Revere GNs come out, I'll buy both. The fact that I already own the component parts doesn't affect me buying a collection and I'm sure most other 2000 AD readers would feel the same, even if armed with DVDs of back issues.
What do other people reckon?
>What do other people reckon?
Yeah, DVDs of scans would be nice (Especially if you could play 'em on a normal DVD player too). Be nice to have the option to read it per issue or per storyline too.
But you'd have to have some sort of encryption on there too to stop people just uploading the lot onto the internet (which seems to be happening at the moment, not that I'm complaining too much - it's giving me the chance to read some quite rare stuff)
Steve
I'm never going to bother with rebuilding my poor burnt ex-collection of Progs 700-1000, let alone pay out silly money for Progs 1-700.
If these Progs were available on a one-off DVD, priced anything up to ?50, I would buy it like a shot. It wouldn't affect my buying of graphic novels in the slightest as I still prefer paper, like most people, and would shell out the extra for a decent copy of a story I loved.
Sounds to me like a great idea, IP - how do we pressurise Rebellion?
If they were at print resolution, hundreds of issues would be too large to host (and also to download, even for broadband users). That would reduce the need for encryption. I suppose that does leave the issue of people making copies of the media, but if the pricing/value is right, that shouldn't be an issue; after all, the digital archives were to cater for hardcore fans, and the same would be true for a DVD (although I personally think a DVD has a wider reach) - and hardcore fans don't usually rip off the company they support.
I was personally thinking something along the lines of 100 or so progs per DVD (which is about all you could fit at a decent resolution) and each DVD selling for around ?15 - ?20. You could even do a demo DVD/CD with the first half-dozen or so progs, which could be given away with the likes of SFX - a great marketing tool.
As for how to "pressurise" Rebellion, I guess if you like the idea, tell them - write to Tharg or something. However, the conversations I've had with the guys leads me to believe it's not going to happen. (Having said that, I've not spoken to any of them about this for a year or so. Maybe things have changed - after all, other publishers are going down the DVD route, and it appears more feasible for 2000 AD than paper reprints, especially the 'phone book' sort that most people are clamouring for.)
"How about more GNs, instead?"
You print em, we'll buy 'em. As fat and as inclusive as possible please.
There's no way to pirate-proof these things. Which is why Marvel etc. don't do digital archives of this nature, either.
J-Bo-1
But how much of a threat would piracy really be? Like IP says, fans wouldn't rip off niche publishers, and surely there wouldn't be that much interest outside the core group? I can't see how any serious pirate could justify the time & investment to do the copying work.
...Dudley
Just a few thoughts on reprints as far as they effect me. As much as to how they should be reprinted as what titles. I'm not saying to do it this way, just that this is what I would want in an ideal world. actually I'm writing this after the event so people may not want to read the huge amount I've written below, I don't blame them.
Yeah, I'd like Graphic Novels of a mixture of old and new material really.
Basically I'm trying to build a full collection of progs (for reading, not investment), I need about 7 of the old ones, and 100 or so of them from the late nineties/early noughties, but I'm still willing to buy graphic novels of my favourite material even though I have the progs. it's just more convenient, especially if the print quality is improved on nicer paper.
So stories like Harry 20, or Helltrekkers would great one offs for me, even if reprinted in the meg, american format or best of AD, because I'd like them on my shelf for when I'm in the mood to read them.
Many classic 2000AD series have been extremely ill-served in the past with reprints.
Rogue Trooper (pre Hit)
Strontium Dog (pre Final Soluton, though I'd welcome a volume on it's own)
Robohunter (pre Millar)
ABC Warriors
Ro-Busters
Nemesis
Slaine
I'd like to see definitive complete collections (even if released over a period of time, out of sequence as long as they were envisiged as a fuill series), because just having a book of 'some' strontium dog stories isn't very inspiring.
And you know from past form that you don't want to buy it because you'll end up with a bunch of random reprints. And the next time someone has a go, they'll do something different. It's very offputting, if only there was some sort of logic behind it (as per titan's mix of Mike McMahon and Fabry, simply becuase they had those plates).
ANCIENT STUFF
Even the somewhat ancient material like Invasion, Mach One, Shako, I'd like to see get the collection treatment. I appreciate the demand would be limited, but every once in a blue moon it would be nice to see something unavailable before. Even if there was only a couple of reprint slots like this and they were blocked until they had all sold out (or made it's money back), then another classic would be reprinted. Even if they appear in the Extreme/Meg style that would be something.
Colour and Black/White stuff not being in the same graphic novel. Well, I can live with that, obviously Extreme is one route, but something like the old Titan Dead Man book where the last page is colour, printed in B/W. Well, I'd rather Ridgeway was paid to re-do it in B/W than have colour murkily transposed into B/W. It's like having your TV play up near the end of a film. or have them in an Extreme format.
There's no way to pirate-proof these things. Which is why Marvel etc. don't do digital archives of this nature, eitherMarvel have just released a few collections of their comics on DVD - still prefer their Essentials line mind you (reading Essential Human Torch at the moment - so awful, it's great)
Link: Starscape - now on sale
At the risk of getting all geeky, back progs on DVD whilst being a good idea would have many limitations. First off, how are you going to view them? DVD video uses an aspect ratio and dpi that is unsuitable for reproducing print work, so you'd have to spend a good deal of time reworking every single page. Also as a format DVD only supports a maximum of 99 slide shows per disc, so you wouldn't get hundreds of prog on one disc. The other route then DVD ROM, which would need somekind of software development to view and index all the progs. Unless you just stuck a load of pdf files on a DVD, but whose going to pay out for that?
ONE WAY TO SELL A COMPLETE JUDGE DREDD
Firstly, just a rehash of the old Complete Dredd wouldn't work. I'm not saying anyone should do this, but here is a way to possibly sell all the Dredd back catalogue.
Firslty, having an orchestrated Dredd Graphic Novel reprint range, knowing what epics and stories etc. are going to be reprinted, are in print, or are likely to be kept in print would be neccesary.
THEN figuring in a 'Complete Dredd' style Extreme format to fill in the gaps BETWEEN the GN reprints, could produce a relatively low run Complete Dredd. That way we could also have the mixed colour stuff in Extreme format.
Extreme/MeG formats are great as large good quality paper vehicles for some reprints. ?3 for 110 pages is pretty impressive, that's about 18 Dredd stories. ?30 buys you three years of Dredd, sans epics.
Some people bring up the old Complete Dredds and the fact they are still out there (if much sought after) well they were printed on bogpaper, cutting out the epics that everyone has or can get in GN, would reduce the amount of pages to be reprinted from this. And if it really was a problem, then start at 520.
Anyway, that was the bonkers idea, I'm off to have myself committed.
"fans wouldn't rip off niche publishers"
Wrong. I've seen 2000AD torrents already, and other indie publishers are affected as well.
J-Bo-1
PVS - all of those things are on my Big List. You can definitely expect to see GNs from that range of titles within the year. More info to follow as and when, as ever.
J-Bo-1
Jamie, are Rebellion finally going to publish all the epics in order? I'd love to read The Robot War again. How about a numbered series of volumes so we could follow continuity in order? Or putting relevant storylines together, all the Democracy stories for example. I'd even buy Purgatory & Inferno if they came together, just because I can't be bothered digging the relevant back progs out.
The piracy thing is true, people will copy them, somehow. Everything created digitally gets pirated really.
Maybe that needs to be balanced against the fact that almost everyone has the equipment at home to pirate comics in a digital form. Where I see this happening is largely comics (not 2000AD as far as I know) that are no longer printed and have been abandoned by their publisher. That's not to say it isn't any less illegal.
There was Passion8's cover archive was the only digital thing I've heard of.
I imagine if some viewing software was available (and I find it strange there isn't in the days when kodak stop making film cameras).
"Wrong. I've seen 2000AD torrents already, and other indie publishers are affected as well."
Wouldn't be at all surprised - you used to be able to download the entire Eagle Comics Judge Dredd reprint series from one of the alt.binaries newsgroups. It's just that kind of place that scans of more unusual titles flourishes - along with JD, you could grab the complete Black Hole & Xenozoic Tales. I used to check them out every now & then, and I remember one poster who put all of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing online, complete with covers, ads & letter pages.
A while ago, I bought a copy of the Dragon Magazine Archive - 300 issues of said magazine in PDF format spead across 4 discs. Now, why cant 2000ad do the same? admittedly it cost me near on 50 quid, but I do look at it all the time, and my 'proper' copies dont get a look in anymore because I have the discs.
Would this be a way forward? rebellion could always do it across issues 1-100 201-300 etc to spread the costs.....
:: Unless you just stuck a load of pdf files on a DVD, but whose going to pay out for that?
Me, for one.
Well that told me ;)
While I'm quite intent on doing most or all or as many as possible of the DREDD epics, I'm not going anywhere near doing them in any kind of order, save where it's obviously necessary (so Orlok stuff before The Trial, Oz before Song of the Surfer, yadda yadda). Long-running stories that have die-hard must-read-in-order continuity like DANTE, sure, I'll do those in order.
J-Bo-1
How bouta big fat single volume Bad Company running up to the end of the Krool Heart? You know it makes sense...
Dante GNs! When? Must have now!
Ultimately, the problem with long-running serials is that the collections will almost certainly never be completed. This is my worry with Dante GNs. Wasn't the plan to release them over a period of several years? What happens, then, when sales dip after the initial interest wanes? We end up with yet another incomplete set (just as we have with stuff from Titan, Hamlyn, et al).
The limited demand on things like Meltdown Man, to pick but one story, means the chances of it every being reprinted is near to zero. However, the level of interest in de-facto complete reprints of all 2000 AD material is likely to be much higher, but ONLY if it's good value (which, quite frankly, the digital archives are not - but then they were aimed at people who already had the issues and wanted to keep their originals pristine).
Darryl - that was the exact thing I was thinking of.
Why not a secure area of the website which has a pay-per-download on it?
Or a made-to-order CD/ DVD of many of the less glamorous stories? Convert Flesh, Harlem Heroes or MACH1 to Flash or Quicktime then burn off a copy each time one is ordered. Or let another company (e.g. SuperHeroStore MultiMedia) do that and cream a percentage off for no cash investment.
On The List. But I dunno whether it'll be one or two volumes yet.
J-Bo-1
Re: Dante...
Eventually, and most likely coming out every four months once they start (handy for relists, y'see).
J-Bo-1
"Ultimately, the problem with long-running serials is that the collections will almost certainly never be completed."
Er... no. *Not* going to be a problem, I assure you.
"This is my worry with Dante GNs. Wasn't the plan to release them over a period of several years? What happens, then, when sales dip after the initial interest wanes?"
Well, as that happens with every book ever published...
...I'm sorry, I don't really see what you're getting at.
"We end up with yet another incomplete set (just as we have with stuff from Titan, Hamlyn, et al)."
Yes, but Titan and Hamlyn were both publishing under license from either Fleetway or Rebellion, and were therefore always going to go with the series they could maximise sales with, and were working on the basis of having a limited reprint time window. Rebellion, owning 2000 AD, has the luxury of having everything to pick through, and forever - if necessary - to do so.
"The limited demand on things like Meltdown Man, to pick but one story, means the chances of it every being reprinted is near to zero."
Probably accurate, I'm afraid.
"However, the level of interest in de-facto complete reprints of all 2000 AD material is likely to be much higher"
Why? I don't see this at all. "A" material - yer Zeniths, Halo Joneses, what-have-you, fine. That's coming out in GNs anyway (well, except Zenith, but that's a special case).
But d'you not think people buying collections of the, ahem, lesser progs (you know which they are) might feel, I dunno, ripped off?
"...but ONLY if it's good value (which, quite frankly, the digital archives are not - but then they were aimed at people who already had the issues and wanted to keep their originals pristine)."
So what you want, effectively, is complete, bulky reprints of large numbers of progs, cheaply priced. I'm afraid that's not how things are going to go.
I'm doing my best to keep prices down, but the reprints are going to be as they have been - complete stories where do-able (i.e. NECRONAUTS), in high-quality editions.
J-Bo-1
Probably accurate, I'm afraid.
S'pity. Theres a few odds and ends (stuff like Freaks, The Dead) that would make lovely standalones, but I suspect no one remembers them enough to buy collected editions of them.
Maybe if the Freaks sequal is good then it could be collected together?
Have to see how Faces goes first though.
My point was, I thought, fairly obvious, but I shall clarify it further. With every series that's reprinted, the interest will peak at the official announcement and then wane as time goes on. If, for instance, Dante will take a few years to be reprinted, I worry that the dip in interest (and thus sales) will lead to Rebellion cancelling later reprints. Are you really saying that this 100% definitely won't happen and that when people buy the first book that the others are all certain to arrive?
I find it very likely that we'll end up with maybe half (or less) of Dante in GN form and then the rest will be canned, due to low sales. However, in this case, I'll be very happy indeed to be proved wrong.
With regards to your collections comment, I guess that explains the death of the Digital Archives. However, my point regarding "reprint" actually was referring to the DVD idea. As for the phone book idea, that has been suggested on numerous occasions by various people and is obviously not financially feasible for Rebellion, hence my mentioning the DVD idea again.
"PVS - all of those things are on my Big List."
That's fine, I'm not really bothered what comes out when, or in what order. As long as there are some old classic stuff coming out now and again, as part of a bigger plan, that'll do me.
I've spent hundreds of pounds (sob) over the years on Titan/Hamilyn collections, which they've rarely followed up on, always churning out the same episodes of ABC Warriors or Robo-Hunter. I certainly regret buying a lot of them as I've been left with almost random selections of most of my favourite stories.
Prime, I'm not sure I understand your position. Sure, Volumes 2 and 3 of "The Complete Nikolai Dante" *might* sell badly, preventing the publication of Volume 4, but Rebellion won't know until they publish them, right?
Fantagraphics' "Complete Peanuts" begins this year, with Volume 1 reprinting 1952-54. It's planned to run for 23 or 24 volumes published between now and 2016. Any number of things could happen to prevent them completing this series, including the bankruptcy of the publisher, but heck, while they're printing 'em, I plan to buy 'em!
--Grant
I've been digitally archiving my UK comic collection for about 6 mths now. Purely for reasons of saving space tbh (small flat + baby + comics = angry missus).
So i've been scanning my old progs as oversize jpg's (to future proof then against bigger monitors).
They can be viewed v. easily using XP's 'screenshow' function.
You can view series like 'Leviathon' in sequence at the click of a button. No hunting for a pile of old issues on the shelves (or loft) etc for a particular story - all your favourite's are available at your fingertips. Flogging my old 'Battles' as I go.
nb. to be clear, I'd never sell any of these scan archives, they are purely for personal use, and I'd buy 'official' 2K DVD/scans like a shot.
It's things like Leviathan as well as Invasion, Meltdown Man and Inferno that I'd like to most see made available. Sure Dredd is great but how many times can I read The Dark Judges saga?
In fact, I'm doing something for DC Thomson as regards web/ PC comics of their classic material, how about I piece together a 2000AD version of that, then Rebellion can decide whether its an aye or no.
One idea is an animated comic, much like either the Leopard screensaver (using Flash) or the Damage Circus movie (Quicktime).
Wonder what anyone who downloaded one would think of that (and judging by my bandwidth, that's quite a few).
>They can be viewed v. easily using >XP's 'screenshow' function.
There's a program called CDisplay out there that will take a zip file of Jpegs (renamed to a .cbz extension) and allow you to page through it at a full-screen resolution, either showing single page or double pages.
STeve
must trawl the internet to read the progs I haven`t read (which is progs 21 to 880, minus graphic novels)!
I still think the bespoke reprints could be a goer, especially if they sacrificed some quality...I just want to read the thing.
Back progs on CD ROM or DVD would be great as would a pay per view part of the site.