40 Years of Scream! - April 2024 - Collecting EVERY issue???

[Richard]

I suspect you are in a minority of people who would be interested in reading that sort of thing.

[Party-Pom-pom]

I suspect you are in a minority of people who would be interested in reading that sort of thing.

I suspect we are all in a minority of middle aged men wanting to read 40 year old comics

My point is that if you buy a marvel omnibus they include letters pages,which give a snap shot of readers interests,opinions on artists

Also the competition to draw what lies under ghastly mcnastys hood was a massive thing throughout the run in scream and eagle,in the same way designing a team for mean arena was in 2000ad a couple of years prior

I just feel that an archive edition should be everything that was present in the original comics,minus toy,food ads

[M.I.K.]

Probably just being cautious about copyright. It only takes one of those previous correspondents to demand a reprint fee 'cos their fiver is long since spent, and multiple cans of wriggly things spill all over the shop.

[Party-Pom-pom]

I demand my DRACULA SPECTACULAR.tm Makeup and disguise kit or else

Thanks thats an interesting point,had wondered if it was to do with privacy laws or suspect celebs being sent to the London Dungeon

[Doomlord66]

I would've liked it if they included the 5 holiday specials from '85 to '89. But then how thick would the book be with this extra content? Maybe too much for the publishers?

[Barrington Boots]

I finished this yesterday and it was a delight. My parents wouldn't have permitted me to read this as a child (they were OK with Battle, but even the Prog was off-limits at that age) which is a shame as small-boy me would have adored it. Even though I already had a good chunk of the material reprinted elsewhere it's still well worth it.

Dracula and 13th Floor are obvious higlights whilst the low point is Monster, which I'd heard great things about but was oddly tedious and I ended up skipping the last couple of episodes. Terror of the Cats is hilarious.

I'd love a companion volume collecting the specials, even if, as Richard says, the stories are a bit weaker.

[IndigoPrime]

I'm mulling this over, but it's a bit of a double dip with me already owning the 13th Floor HCs. But the idea of having the entire run in one book is tempting.

[AlanSGMSimpson]

Picked this up, it's a great book and sets a curious precedent for other possible titles running issues in order. Anyone fancy one for StarLord? Tornado? Eagle? Even one for 2000AD weekly in prog order would be tempting though a right thorn in the side for all of us that have collected all 200 volumes of the Ultimate Collection.

[IndigoPrime]

Starlord would be CHONKY, given that it's 22 issues vs 15.

[Barrington Boots]

It's only the first 15 episodes of 13th Floor in this collection IP, so it won't invalidate your other hardbacks. Those are probably the strongest episodes to my mind as well.
 
In fairness if you already have Dracula Files and 13th Floor you've probably read the best stuff in here as there was a reason they were already reprinted, but I still think it's a lovely volume and worth picking up.

[Dash Decent]

it's a great book and sets a curious precedent for other possible titles running issues in order. Anyone fancy one for StarLord? Tornado? Eagle?

Yes, it makes me think of those bound collections of comics you sometimes see up for sale.  I'd love to see something like "Krazy" released this way.

[Colin YNWA]

It's only the first 15 episodes of 13th Floor in this collection IP, so it won't invalidate your other hardbacks. Those are probably the strongest episodes to my mind as well.
 
In fairness if you already have Dracula Files and 13th Floor you've probably read the best stuff in here as there was a reason they were already reprinted, but I still think it's a lovely volume and worth picking up.

Yeah exactly this. I have a lot of the material reprinted in various places from Hibernia and what not. Monster also got a release from Rebellion a while ago but this is such a lovely package its worth it for the presentation alone if you can treat yourself. There a lot of other stuff as well I've never read.

[Tjm86]

Starlord would be CHONKY, given that it's 22 issues vs 15.

I would also have to say, and I say so as a lover of Starlord, some of strips do leave a lot to be desired. Stront and Mind Wars were by far the best.  If you enjoyed Return to Armageddon you'd probably love Mind Wars if you've never read it. I'd rate it higher. Redondo was really on form with it.

Ro-Busters had some cracking episodes near the beginning. Especially those illustrated by Gibbons and Kennedy. It tailed off a little towards the end with the reboot in Tooth probably saving it (with Gibbons, Dorey, O'neill and McMahon on art work, not surprising really ...)

TimeQuake strayed into quite hokey territory on a regular basis and Planet of the Damned was just bats*** crazy from the off. It just leaves Holocaust which was about on a par with some of the poorer offerings from Tooth of the time. A fairly mundane alien invasion strip that never really rose to any heights.

Not sure it would justify the investment although a hardback collection would be nice, to be sure.

[Funt Solo]

Starlord would be CHONKY, given that it's 22 issues vs 15.

I would also have to say, and I say so as a lover of Starlord, some of strips do leave a lot to be desired.

My rapid-fire summary of Starlord, I'll kinda repeat here. Uhm ... SPOILERS, I guess:

Planet of the Damned
The Bermuda Triangle meets Death Planet (which started a fortnight before this in 2000 AD): a passenger jet gets Triangle-warped to an inhospitable planet [see title] and has to cope with other survivors from through time (including a helpful Conan-lite dude).

TimeQuake
Time cops stop timequakes (i.e. mess-ups in the past ruining the future).

Strontium Dog
This initial run introduces Johnny Alpha and Wulf Sternhammer as interstellar bounty hunters and establishes key story devices and motifs such as the time bomb, ranged blasters, the Gronk and the Smiling Chukwalla. A few things that don't seem to crop up very often: time drogues, mini-nukes, Alpha's possum ability and Marci (his niece).

Key to the politics of the strip are that Strontium Dogs are disliked by standard cops and that mutants (such as Alpha with his ability to force-read minds and see through walls) are hated by many non-mutants.

Ro-Busters
Thunderbirds, but with robots and industrial relations. Odd couple Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein form the focal point of a work force overseen by their irascible owner Howard Quartz - who thinks nothing of having recalcitrant workers dismantled by Mek-Quake (his demented enforcer).

Mind Wars
A simple story of psychic fraternal twins and high stakes interstellar war.

Holocaust
Clint Eastwood (here playing Carl Hunter of the FBI) attempts to foil a plot hatched by telepathic alien rats. It's Dirty Harry meets Close Encounters (meets The Pied Piper of Hamelin).