reprints reprinted

Floyd-the-k · 16 January, 2004, 09:24:09 AM

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

Steamboy · 16 January, 2004, 09:50:53 AM

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

JamieB · 16 January, 2004, 03:22:31 PM

- 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

IndigoPrime · 16 January, 2004, 04:06:19 PM

:: 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?

Pyroxian · 16 January, 2004, 05:02:14 PM

>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

Dudley · 16 January, 2004, 05:02:28 PM

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?

IndigoPrime · 16 January, 2004, 05:49:46 PM

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.

IndigoPrime · 16 January, 2004, 05:54:32 PM

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.)

Art · 16 January, 2004, 06:01:29 PM

"How about more GNs, instead?"

You print em, we'll buy 'em. As fat and as inclusive as possible please.

JamieB · 16 January, 2004, 06:27:42 PM

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

Dudley · 16 January, 2004, 06:44:47 PM

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

paulvonscott · 16 January, 2004, 06:49:05 PM

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.

starscape · 16 January, 2004, 06:56:19 PM

There's no way to pirate-proof these things. Which is why Marvel etc. don't do digital archives of this nature, either

Marvel 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: http://www.starscapecomic.co.uk" target="_blank">Starscape - now on sale

Matt · 16 January, 2004, 07:07:18 PM

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?

paulvonscott · 16 January, 2004, 07:07:41 PM

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.