The Ballad of Halo Jones: Full Colour Omnibus Edition | Alan Moore Early Work |
Today I get to talk about a book I've wanted to read for years! The Ballad of Halo Jones: Full Colour Omnibus Edition from 2000 AD! Alan Moore and Ian Gibson tell the story one of comics' earliest female protagonist!
00:00 - Start
03:46 - Overview with Minor Spoilers
12:18 - Extras & Comparison
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Пікірлер: 72
One thing I think is worth emphasising (again) is Halo Jones ends well. It feels complete with where it stops after book 3. Sure, there could have been more, but I never felt short-changed with what we got.
God I love that era's 2000ad art, Brian Bolland, Ian Gibson, Ron Smith, Cam Kennedy. So much good stuff.
@arnodk2852
8 ай бұрын
Don't forget Kevin O'Neill and Simon Bisley.
Just bought it here in England. £54 including post for the best version. Never read it before but Moore is a genius so I'm sure I'll love it.
Omar, have you watched the 2000AD documentary? It's called 'Future Shock!' and it's 100% worth your time. Great documentary.
I ordered this just cause it was an old Alan Moore story I haven't read. Still looking forward to reading it.
Omar really teasing us with that Nova omnibus he uses to compare sizes in all the latest videos ! Halo Jones is a great story, even if unfinished. Plus, Ian Gibson is one of the nicest guy I ever met in a convention.
The black and white in early 2000AD was due to it being printed on newspaper type paper and also budget rather than a stylistic choice, so I like these recolouring of the old strips.
The thought the colour version looks grimier is an interesting one. As for The Hoop, I recall the inference being it’s a floating slum tethered off of the coast.
Rebellion should really do a Alan Moore Library series with all his early works like Future Shocks, Skizz, D.R. and Quinch, Mr. Monster, Bojeffries,A Small Killing etc. Some really good stuff there.
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
I’m always slightly amazed that the Complete Future Shocks isn’t evergreen, although it has had at least two reprints with new covers.
@coyley72
Жыл бұрын
D.R. and Quinch is a masterpiece and needs an omnibus edition.
@coyley72
Жыл бұрын
I’m actually amazed that Rebellion published an OHC hardcover!!! Gobsmacked even. Now, can they start releasing more Omnibus editions please. e.g. the following Dredd stories: Origins, Tour of Duty, Day of Chaos or Necropolis and Judgement Day I think think proper Omnibus of these would sell like Uncanny X-Men Omnibus. Omar, can you speak to Rebellion to make this happen? ❤
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
@@coyley72 I imagine the paucity of HCs from Rebellion shows how well those strips tend to do in that format. Dredd had the first case files and the Cursed Earth, and that was it, bar webshop special editions. (That’s one of the main reasons I went for the two Hachette collections, even though a third of the Dredd one was duff, to get those series in HC.) I’d love to see more hardcovers, especially in a deluxe format (Image-style), but there don’t seem to be enough people to justify that. (Hopefully, Omar can continue getting the word out to the US and beyond, and move the needle a bit!)
@SuperLaughHard
Жыл бұрын
I might start my own KZread Channel once I have finished custom binding my 2000AD collection. I also have just about every collected edition ever released when it comes to 2000AD, so I could certainly educate the curious when it comes to 2000AD content. It would also be cheaper than sending it all to Omar to review, lol.
I agree - it took me a while to get into this graphic novel but once it started to pick up I couldn't put it down.
Finally was able to pick this up and give it a read. What a fantastic book! Thanks for posting!!
Hopefully this inspires a return of the stageplay.
We did this for our Alan More month in 2021. Really good title. One of the man’s best.
Hey Omar - love the channel! Could you do a video that highlights some of the best working class graphic novels
@NearMintCondition
Жыл бұрын
Great idea!
Absolutely Love Halo Jones! I read Halo Jones when it was released in the Monthly format (2000AD Monthly), I would finish my paper round, pick up my 2000AD and a pack of chocolate cookies (biscuits), ride my bike home, relax on my bed and read my recently acquired comic.. while dunking cookies in my cup of tea! Good Memories! Great Book!
@johnmorell7020
Жыл бұрын
And still have enough change of half a crown to kick the dog up the old apples and pears! And 'o'd have thought we'd be 'ere drinking Chateau de Chassily? Luxury!
This has been on my radar for quite some time now. Day one purchase for me 🔥
Rebellion is doing a lot of appealing HC (often slipcased) editions for classic British masterpieces only available through their website, wish they would be distributed to comic shops as well. Since this Halo Jones reprint is not faithful to the original black & white, I'll wait for a later, proper re-release to upgrade my old Titan dustjacketed hardcover.
I hope we get more 2000ad and judge dredd omnis
I've not picked up the three individual coloured releases and I'm not rushing to grab it all in one. When they started coming out somebody at Rebellion, not sure if it was Matt Smith, said they were often talking to people at shows that flat out wouldn't read black and white comics. Seems weird to me and certainly doesn't gel with how well manga does but if that's the feedback they're getting then fair enough. Not sure who has the rights to the colours used on the Quality and Eagle US format colourised reprints of what was originally B&W content, never thought they were outstanding colour jobs when I've had odd issues through my hands but kind of surprised that there are colour versions of some older 2000AD material that hasn't been collected in that format.
Not feeling the recoloring- if it had been done in the style and palette of the covers, I'd be into it. I'll just stick with my trade. Thanks for the overview Omar, and I'm looking forward to the overview of that trade you were holding.
I've heard of this series before, but never read it. Honestly, I don't think the colors look too bad. It looks kind of like a retro color job than something one might typically see these days.
@johnmorell7020
Жыл бұрын
Colouring 2000AD's strips isn't easy, because, as with Miracleman, they were designed for black and white, and so the inkers tended to use larger areas of black. Of course, this needn't be an issue if they choose to colour over them.
Man, this doesnt sound like my usual cup of tea but the alan moore collector in me says to pull the trigger
Hey, omar, is the flash of two worlds deluxe edition hardcover sewn? I am only asking because I am thinking of getting it. But I am not sure if stretching out the spine will work for that book.
Another Alan Moore work I need to invest in trying hard to budget but the books that come out man the challenges, the challenges. Thanks for the overview great job once again Omar. Happy Friday bro!!!
Gonna get it ! gr8 review !
I’m actually amazed that Rebellion published an OHC hardcover!!! Gobsmacked even. Now, can they start releasing more Omnibus editions please. e.g. the following Dredd stories: Origins, Tour of Duty, Day of Chaos or Necropolis and Judgement Day I think think proper Omnibus of these would sell like Uncanny X-Men Omnibus. Omar, can you speak to Rebellion to make this happen? ❤
@SuperLaughHard
Жыл бұрын
You should purchase the Essential Judge Dredd releases (they are printed larger than the Case Files). You could then custom bind them together if hardback is a requirement. Most of the stories you mentioned have already been released as Essential Oversized (I.E. The original size of the comic) Editions.
@coyley72
Жыл бұрын
@@SuperLaughHard I already have them all in the graphic novel format. I just want Rebellion to start releasing official omnis, rather than having too much around with custom binds.
Well, one more book for my Alan Moore collection!
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
If you don’t have it and want more of his old works, I very highly recommend grabbing a copy of “The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks” as well.
@CarlosDias-er6dd
Жыл бұрын
@@CraigGrannell I don't have that one as well. Thanks for the recommendation!
@SuperLaughHard
Жыл бұрын
'Skizz' is another early Alan Moore story from 2000AD that often goes under the radar, but is very much worth reading. Collected editions can be found relatively cheaply also. It's Alan Moore's very British take on E.T. and it's aged beautifully in my humble opinion. The last time I read it I cried like a baby!
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
@@SuperLaughHard Skizz is an interesting one. There’s a lot of good in what’s effectively “what if ET was set in working-class Birmingham?” To modern eyes, the big bad is a horrible stereotype though. And the non-Moore sequels are, respectively, iffy and dreadful. I think if I was looking for that book now, I’d go for one of the older editions that omitted them.
@aikighost
11 ай бұрын
@@SuperLaughHard give muzeee!!!
After watching this video I still prefere the Black and white version!
Reading this as a young boy was a revelation because it dealt with technology and sociology that was so futurist that it was fantastic but now it seems possible, verging on the probable and attainable/inevitable? So clever.
I've never read this, but as an Alan Moore fan and collector, I'm all in.
Damn. Glad I got the full black and white version for £10.
I always felt the ending of book three served sas a satisfying conclusion to the story, since it's likely there will never be more of Halo Jones. While it was still open-ended, an important change occurred at the end of book 3. Halo had spent the entire story at that point as an "everyday woman," just an average person who wasn't very important in the grand scheme of things. With her actions on the final pages of book 3, she was no longer a "nobody." She was now a fugitive, someone who had dome something certain to make her famous. And what's more, she finally "got out." Those are the last words of the story: "...and I'm out." It serves as a proper ending to the story, even though I do indeed want to know what happens next.
I love Alan Moore but why he always gotta burn bridges!? I understand he’s real particular on how he wants things done but sometimes you just gotta suck it up for the fans. I’m sure a lot of people would have loved to see this one conclude.
I wish they wouldn't have plastered the "feminist" tag all over the book because that's a misattribution in my opinion. Halo Jones is an ordinary girl who gets bored of the usual usual and gets out and grows up, Moore is intelligent and talented enough (unlike many modern comics writers) to keep the so-called "social commentary" as subtext. I'm not crazy about the colourization, I think the black and white art breathes much more and overall looks much better. The best editions of the Halo Jones saga were the Titan editions from the eighties.
@joxer96
Жыл бұрын
I don't understand the need some people feel to insert identity politics into everything. The quotes seem so desperate and out of place, especially the one on the cover.
When it comes to Alan Moore coming up with a new language nothing are Worse than what he did with Crossed + 100!
First book is a bit of a slog, the second is much better and book 3 is genius...read 2000ad as a kid and am now 51 and lines in Halo jones and still with me..
I bought the 3 coloured trades just a couple of years ago. Otherwise I would have bought this right away. If they ever release the Black and White as an Omnibus. I’ll be all over it.
At £54, it's no bargain, although it is all the more worth reading now that it's in colour. 2000AD launched some of comics' most illustrious writers, despite the shoddy formats which the British comicbook industry used. I've criticised Moore for the relationships which he places his heroines in, and this story is no exception, since her only flirtation is with a six and a half foot-tall man with huge tusks, so those seeking romantic fulfilment for Halo are likely to be disappointed. Like the professor featured in one story, one wonders what happened to her. My guess would be that she eventually changed her name to Ellen Ripley (believe it or not).
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
Worth noting £54 is for the limited slipcase version, including postage. The standard HC online has an RRP of £39.99 and I’ve seen it online for a little under £25.
@johnmorell7020
Жыл бұрын
@@CraigGrannell Fair enough, although despite my fondness for much of this material, editions of this quality seem like overkill. Certainly, the modern comicbooks and one coloured like this are an exception, but it should be remembered that the titles which Marvel and DC relaunched in the early 2000s from the last century were printed originally on newsprint, a format easily underestimated for quality, because unless the dot screens are modified to a finer quality (smaller dots) the finer, smoother paper can expose the crudeness of the original screens in a way which newsprint doesn't, because its absorbency blurs the edges of the dots creating a relatively subtle blend, while the smoother paper can render the individual dots visible, creating what a modern art expert might call 'a Lichtenstein effect', visible, I've noted, even in the softback collections. Certainly, £14 for a slipcase which an edition this sturdy doesn't need is excessive, especially with such an ugly image as Gibson's art under high magnification in negative.
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
@@johnmorell7020 My impression is Rebellion is experimenting a bit with formats again and, with Halo, taking advantage of one of its few properties with potentially large cut-through. I’m not going to begrudge the company that, not least given what the Kingsleys have done in becoming kind of guardians of British comics history. (Think of how much has already come out from the archives, in various formats, from hardcover collections to Megazine floppies.) I agree on presentation. There are issues with reprint. The first Devlin Waugh book was a disaster, for reasons similar to those you mention. (More recent editions have cleaned things up at least a bit.) However, for people who do love a certain point in comics history, I see no problem in relatively premium hardcover collections for 2000 AD fare, in much the same way as I get the interest in hardcover Spider-Man books and the like. (It would also be lovely to see sales shift to allow 2000 AD collections to be normalised in that format. Alas, I suspect it’s mostly going to be webshop-only for most of them, severely restricting the audience for the best version available of titles like The Out.)
@johnmorell7020
Жыл бұрын
@@CraigGrannell I confess ignorance of the current 2000AD copyright.
@johnmorell7020
Жыл бұрын
@@CraigGrannell £25 is very fair, provided that the pages are sufficiently opaque.
I don't care what anybody says. That's not an omni. Im going to buy it, but just say it's a deluxe hardcover. I've been seeing this a lot, and id really appreciate it, if publisher's knocked off the bs, and just quit piggybacking on what an omnibus is.
@CraigGrannell
Жыл бұрын
TBF, an omnibus edition literally means a compiled book - one volume that contains several that were previously released. The issue for me is it’s more morphed to mean “a book with so many pages you need a forklift to handle the thing”.
@omnibusman5792
Жыл бұрын
@@salavini Read the first line of my initial comment.
Looks horrible in colour. The black and white will ALWAYS be superior.
@robertchapman4866
Жыл бұрын
Agreed, I’ll still buy it though!
I think I prefer the original black and white art over the coloured version, but nonetheless I purchased the slipcase version of the new release, which is a lovely package and is bound to bring in new readers. If collectors are interested in trying to get the black and white version, I would recommend trying to get the three Titan volumes. The paper is thicker in the separate volumes and the art does not show through the pages like it does in the complete b&w version.
@ComicsGranPa
7 ай бұрын
Just what i wanted to know since i found the set for a very nice price )) thank you!