2000 AD: The Ultimate Collection #135. Originally serialised in 2000 AD Progs 2004, 1371-1373, 1406-1411, 2005, 1450-1456, 1527-1531 & 1545-1549.

It’s December 2003. The original classic run of Robo-Hunter was dealt with in three early Volumes of The Ultimate Collection. It had a bit more of a history in 2000 AD though, but we skip over some not-very-well regarded 90s material to this early 21st Century take by two out of three of the original creative team. Samantha Slade: Robo-Hunter is on the case!

But, did she really need to be? Not really, based on this collection of the five arcs (plus a special) that make up the series from 2003 to 2007. It’s interesting to have Alan Grant and Ian Gibson revisit a series they first tackled in the early days of the Prog – except the actual end product doesn’t really hold up as either a fond look back at an old favourite or a series in its own right.

The basic premise isn’t particularly inspired – Sam Slade has a granddaughter, Samantha (somehow), who bumps into original comedy robots Hoagey and Stogie (somehow) as well as finding the still-living (somehow) head of her grandfather in a jar. It’s fine in terms of getting humorous robotic adventures restarted with Samantha as the new Robo-Hunter, but the stories themselves are also pretty flat and miss a lot of the spark and vitality of the original.

A big problem for me at least is that while I didn’t mind a great deal of the original Robo-Hunter, it never really did that much for me overall. The comedy was a bit too broad and wacky for my taste, and the comedy-stereotype robots were mostly on the annoying side of humorous. Samantha Slade already had a bit of a hill to climb to work for me, and unfortunately it manages to fall short of even the limited expectations I had. The attempts at comedy are pretty painful, and characters that Hoagey and Stogie that almost worked back in the late 70s were not workable by 2003. Reading them now, more than 20 years later, and it just doesn’t work at all. The adventures themselves do a bit of parody, but it’s not particularly sharp work.

The other big issue for me is one that I suspect divides 2000 AD fans – I really didn’t enjoy Ian Gibson’s artwork. He definitely had a good niche in the 70s and 80s, especially with out-there robots and creatures. His later work veers to far into cartoony for me, and I don’t think there’s a woman in the entire series who isn’t drawn like a sex object. My time on the internet tells me that there seems to be a loyal fanbase for Gibson’s pin-up style, but it really put me off in this collection in particular. The series rests on the lead character, and when Grant seems to only put the minimum amount of work into making her a unique and compelling anchor for the strip the artwork has to do the heavy lifting – and that’s not to be seen here.

I don’t like to be too downbeat on a collection usually, but while I can see nostalgic readers enjoying this attempt to recapture some of the old Robo-Hunter magic it’s a real letdown for me. Perhaps after a couple of failed reboots it’s time to let the old concept have its day, hang up its guns, and retire.

Next time: The disaster squad of distinction is back for more in Ro-busters: Volume Two.