4 out of 5

I had no idea 2000 AD did FCBD editions, but how awesome is that?  A lot of Marvel / DC offerings feel like you’re getting a free book for whatever reason… not to spit on the creator efforts that absolutely go into those, just to say that the vibe often feels like the sales pamphlet it sorta is.  But when things like the Archaia hardcovers or a freaking 48 page 2000 AD prog (which would normally cost 7.99) come out… you realize the power of these deals.  Instead of just getting books that are sort of enjoyable that I can shrug off, I actually get a glimpse into of  what the comic is capable, and, yeah, this would make me want to pick up more.

The edition is fairly Dredd heavy – 1 Dredd tale, some Dredd newspaper strips, and an Anderson tale – but you can’t blame it, since thats 2000’s bread-and-butter.  And it’s surely less than half the book’s content, even, so fine by me.  Elsewise we move some classics – Slaine, Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dogs spin-off Durham Red – and the new school with Henry Flint and Gordon Rennie via a Future Shocks and ‘Absalom’ entry, respectfully.  Every single piece featured is self-contained and mad credit to Tharg (or whoever the real editor is) – absolutely a prime example of that particular comic’s vibe.

I feel like the page stock is a bit more similar to monthly Marvel / DC books than their weekly progs, which are usually magazine-thin (like US / People magazine), but I could be making that up.  Either way, the colors jump off the page (even in the reproductions of the older b&w Rogue and color Anderson tale), which is thankfully the norm for the mag, and our various letterers keep things crisp and legible throughout.

The only nit I’d have is that, though we get the usual front page intros to our main tales, there’s a lack of explanation of ‘Future Shocks’ and the concluding ‘Alien Invasions’ one-pager, which, yeah, are probably fairly obvious regarding their Twilight Zone-esque setups, but a one or two sentence explanation (they’re just called “Bonus stories”) could’ve been cool for a new reader.  Similarly, while those tales that have been collected are followed by ads showing the specific books, I’m not sure why the same wasn’t followed for everything.  ‘Absalom’ just has ‘available from all good retailers’ printed at the bottom of its concluding panel, no mention of the various Future Shocks that have been collected, and a “coming soon” in the middle of the Dredd newspaper strips, with no indication of even a quarter when we might expect to see that.  If you’re going to set up the book as a lead-in to buying the back issues, only half-selling some of the strips makes it seem like we shouldn’t care about those.  Dumb criticism, but it’s how the prog ended up feeling: here’s Dredd!!!  …and here’s some other strips mumble mumble.

(And maybe I wanted a Thrag glossary.)