40 Years of Scream!: The Archival Collection (2024)

40 Years of Scream!: The Archival Collection (2024)

Authors: Various (inc. Alan Grant / Alan Moore / Gerry Finley-Day / John Wagner / Simon Furman | Artists: Various (inc. Brendan McCarthy / Cam Kennedy / Eric Bradbury / Jesus Redondo / José Ortiz / Mike Western) | Page Count: 464

'A torturous approval system was imposed, where pages thought editorially sound had to pass four further levels of oversight...'

Rebellion, current owners of 2000 AD and its associated media, would publish the instructions from a toilet roll if they thought they could make money from it, and then within a year or two probably republish it as part of a themed anthology, perhaps with the ingredients of some liquid hand soap to bulk out the page count, and some adverts for other upcoming collections.

On the flip side, they're rescuing some classic-era works from virtual obscurity via their Treasury of British Comics imprint and giving them a new, vibrant life on higher quality paper stock than most ever would've been given back in the day.

And while most of what's released in the Treasury line is technically reprint, too, it's also a form of preservation, and enables a modern audience, readers who may not even have been born when much of it was first published, to give the works a long-overdue appraisal. For that, if nothing else, Rebellion deserve the utmost praise.

All of which brings me to Scream! Or, more precisely, back to Scream! because I was lucky enough to have been there the first time around. I still have the old issues, but the Archival Collection means I can revisit the stories on paper that isn't turning yellow with age. Yay.

- I cropped the image above to make it fit my format. -

Many fans will already know that Rebellion tested the market previously with Scream! collections in 2016, first with Monster (2016), then The Dracula File (2017) and The Thirteenth Floor (2018), but the Archival Collection contains all fifteen issues of the comic's short run in chronological order. So while some of it is reprint of reprint, much of it is... er... new reprint. Some of those previous editions have post-Scream! continuations, so are worth keeping. [1]

It's a beautifully curated hardcover book, measuring approx 28 x 22 x 3.5 cm. The collection doesn't include the subsequent Scream! or Spinechillers holiday specials, but they're getting a similar collection later this year, titled Scream! The Specials 1985-2024. I'll link to it soon.

The stories are:

The Dracula File. Authors: Gerry Finley-Day / Simon Furman | Illustrator: Eric Bradbury

Fiends and Neighbours. Author(s): Unknown | Illustrator: Graham Allen

Tales From the Grave. Authors: Tom Tully / Ian Rimmer / Scott Goodall | Illustrator: Jim Watson

Library of Death. Authors: Barrie Tomlinson / James Nicholas / Angus Allan | Illustrators: Cam Kennedy / Ron Smith / John Cooper / Brendan McCarthy / Mike Dorey / Steve Dillon

Monster. Authors: Alan Moore / John Wagner | Illustrators: Henzil / Jesus Redondo

The Nightcomers. Author: Tom Tully | Illustrator: John Richardson

Terror of the Cats. Author: Chris Lowder

Illustrators: Gonzalez / John Richardson

The Thirteenth Floor. Authors: John Wagner / Alan Grant | Illustrator: José Ortiz

A Ghastly Tale. Author(s): Unknown | Illustrators: Mike Western / Mike Dorey / Jose Casanovas, Sr

[1] It's worth noting that many — if not all — of Scream!'s strips were previously reprinted in the monthly anthology comic 666 The Mark of the Beast (1991-92), but they were colourised, whereas the versions in the Archival Collection aren't (and that's a good thing). Likewise, 666: TMotB had really crappy paper, as opposed to the Archival Collection's quality paper. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they were reprinted elsewhere, too, perhaps even for the American market, but at time of writing I'm not aware of any other instance.

Number of times I used the word 'reprint' on this page (including in this sentence): 7