Robo-Hunter//Volume 1. (2000 AD The Ultimate Collection, #14).

2000 AD The Ultimate Collection #11

by John Wagner, Ian Gibson (Artist), Jose Luis Ferrer

Sam Slade is a Robo-Hunter – a 22nd Century Private Detective specialising in tracking down defective droids, missing meks and unruly androids.

Coupled with his trusty robometer Cutie and blaster in hand, he’s the man to hire when you’ve got a robot problem. But when he’s tasked with investigating what’s become of the colonists on the planet Verdus, he may have finally bitten off more than he can chew…

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, for which he created Judge Dredd. He is noted for his taut, violent thrillers and his black humour. Among his pseudonyms are The best known are John Howard, T.B. Grover, Mike Stott, Keef Ripley, Rick Clark and Brian Skuter. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[S. Naomi Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never really got into Robo-Hunter Sam Slade when I was younger, much preferring the harder-edged Judge Dredd or Strontium Dog. Maybe it was the humour I didn't get, or the ludicrous plotlines I couldn't deal with; there was just something about the strip I didn't enjoy, so a lot of the time I skipped past it when it turned up in the latest issue of 2000 AD. But as they say, that was then and this is now.

Now, I can see some of what younger me was missing out on. I still don't think these first two stories are up to the same standards as other works from the galaxy's greatest comic at the time (Halo Jones, anyone?) but I can appreciate their place in British comic history, and the part they played in giving Ian Gibson a home. After all, a lot of what makes these strips so memorable is Gibson's deft penmanship.

Through the misty lens of hindsight I'm going to give this first volume of Robo-Hunter three-and-a-half out of five stars. Maybe volume two will fare better.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even from the start it doesn't take the "Dashiell Hammett with robots" conceit seriously, but the Verdus storyline nevertheless has some excellent SF elements to it; by the end of Day of the Droids there's nothing left but awful, cheap gags and robotic versions of pop culture icons. Wasted premise, wasted promise.

[John Somers · Rating 3 out of 5]

13/20.

[Sean Keefe · Rating 3 out of 5]

All good, just a touch dated though, and a bit of a slog for me. Sam Slade has better adventures ahead of him..

[Dave Tindall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved Sam Slade Robo hunter... these are the early stories which I hadn't read before, so always good to learn how the character started.

[Adrian Bloxham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly and daft, the best thing is the art work