Review- ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 4

ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 4 (2000 AD, First UK Printing, 2014; Softcover)

Collects the Rogue Trooper stories from 2000 A.D. #624-630, 633-635, 2000, 1301-1312, 2003, 1344-1349, 1380-1385, 1462-1464, 1477-1479, 1771, 2000 A.D. Sci-Fi Special 1992, 2000 A.D. Yearbook 1994, 2000 A.D. Winter Special 2005, and The Judge Dredd Megazine #244 (cover dates April 29, 1989- February 22, 2012)

Writers: John Tomlinson, Ian Edginton, Mark Millar, Gerry Finley-Day, Andy Diggle, John Smith, and Gordon Rennie

Artists: Steve Dillon, Kevin Walker, Dave Gibbons, Staz Johnson, Dylan Teague, David Roach, Jim McCarthy, Simon Coleby, Mike Collins, PJ Holden, Steve Pugh, Brett Ewins, David Hill, Richard Elson, and and Colin Wilson

If you are still buying a line of books by Volume 4, then you are likely a completist. That is exactly what this odds and ends, even the kitchen sink hodgepodge collection is: an endcap for the completists, the remainder of the non-US produced stuff. The writing and artwork are all over the place in terms of quality. It reads fine, but rather than the huge, sprawling, book-length arcs found in the first three volumes, this is an assortment of flashback stories and shorter arcs. I have read all four of these books and have enjoyed the character and the concept, but I don't feel the need to go any further.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This book is wider than a standard trade paperback due to the dimensions of the original UK publications. The material is still reprinted in a size smaller than the original issues.

Linework and color restoration: The black and white portions look crisp and clean. The color portions are scanned from original comics and look decent.

Paper stock: Glossy coated stock.

Binding: Sewn binding.

Cardstock cover notes: Cardstock is thick, but the coating is that dull frosty feeling stuff that scuffs when you breathe on it too hard. I will never understand why any publisher would choose to use this other than as a cost save, as it looks like shit by the time that you are done reading it. I can only imagine how beat up this would look if it were on a shelf in a store and handled repeatedly.