Customer Reviews

Camelot 3000, Deluxe Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 2006, I gave the trade edition of Mike Barr & Brian Bolland's CAMELOT 3000 a 3-star review, saying, in short, that the early '80s story hadn't aged well. After a recent rereading of the story, courtesy of the CAMELOT 3000: THE DELUXE EDITION hardcover, I can say that I was the one who hadn't aged well. I now have a higher opinion of the story, both for what it tells and how it tells it. The 2008 publication of the Deluxe Edition ends a 20-year streak of unavailability, and it makes no sense for DC to have not kept this maxi-series in print, simply from a historical perspective. It was DC's first direct-only title, it was a contemporary of mature tales such as Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, and the sci-fi/fantasy combo, especially when involving the Knights of the Round Table, should appeal to many new readers. It's solid storytelling, and it contains so many classic science fiction and fantasy standards that it's hard for me to not love it. In short, this is King Arthur by way of Asimov.

It's true that the story is predictable (and not just for those who know their Arthurian legends), and the adult situations wouldn't cause much of a stir today, but so what? I don't read a classic comic expecting something that fits with modern sensibilities; instead, I prefer to immerse myself in the time in which it was written. Barr kicks things into high-gear from the first page and never lets up. An alien invasion of Earth in the year 3000 leads to the resurrection of King Arthur, who makes good on his promise to return and defend England in its hour of need. Arthur frees his mentor Merlin from imprisonment, and Merlin orchestrates the return of the Knights of the Round Table. These certainly aren't the familiar knights of old, but they eventually prove themselves to be none other. Unfortunately, it seems that you can't have this cast of characters without their infamous flaws, which influence their actions just as much this time around. As the alien invasion is actually being orchestrated by the evil Morgan Le Fay and Modred, the ancient conflict is shown to continue on Earth, thousands of years in the future... and to worlds and times beyond. In Barr's story, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

So while my opinion of the story has moved a few steps forward, this particular edition also takes things a few steps backward. The dimensions of the book are a bit larger than a standard comic, so the artwork has been enlarged accordingly. This should be a good thing, as Brian Bolland is responsible for some of the most fine-lined and detailed artwork in the industry; in fact, his attention to detail is one of the reasons that this series took so long to be completed. Factor in the painstaking inks of folks like Terry Austin, and the reader should be able to count the individual hairs in Merlin's beard. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen here, due to DC's abominable printing job. Compared to the intricate images I once viewed in the original comics and trade collections, this so-called Deluxe Edition is a bust. Bolland's normally-crisp lines are heavy and blurred, with an astounding amount of detail being lost. It looks as if DC scanned the pages from the comics, but even a reasonable scan should look better than this. Enlarging the pages is supposed to enhance the details, not obscure them.

The only things that are truly "deluxe" about this edition are the excellent new cover illustration by Bolland; Barr's introduction, providing his thoughts on the series almost 30 years later; and a sketch gallery by Bolland. In their defense, DC kept the price low on this volume, but it makes me wonder if we'll ever see a new softcover edition of this story that is priced accordingly. Even more importantly, would another edition correct the problems with the art? Quality material like this deserves better treatment, but as this edition is the only option currently available, I suppose it's better than nothing.

The original comic is incredible, I just wanted to have an edition to make justice to it because I had an old paperback too broken and in spanish. I watch the absolute spanish edition and I don't like to much, to big and heavy. The pictures didn't look great at that big size. I was hoping to get something better and deluxe edition appears...

But it wasn't deluxe at all. Printed to dark the pictures look too rude and bold not as in other editions where you can recognize the good job of the penciler.

I like the extras but they are the only thing that look rigth there.

You can see it by yourself in the preview page I upload to Amazon site.

I will like to know if there is any other version better than that because is sad that being as expensive it will be no really a deluxe one.

The art is awesome! Definitely worth picking up the deluxe edition as it contains lots of cool extras. I'll try put some pics here ASAP. Bolland has rarely done sequential art, and never at this length. Over 300 pages of his illustrations, inked by Bruce D. Patterson, Terry Austin, and Dick Giordano, make for an amazing cornucopia. Highly recommended Hardcover to Buy!

I bought this book and am extremely happy with it. Could the paper and coloring be improved? Sure and with a higher price as well. As it is the book is an improvement over the previous paperback edition. It's also nice to see it in hardcover which I never thought would happen. The story holds up quite nicely too.

I've just received the book and I needed to offer my first impression: the print quality ruins it completely.

There's just too much black everywhere. I'm not going to say that the original edition featured the best and most detailed Brian Bolland drawings, but the blacks in this new print are just way too dark and eliminate too many of the finer lines.

I had to run over my 25+ year old, bad paper, spanish reprint version of the original comic to remember why I liked this book so much.

I'll try to update my opinion once I've re-read the whole thing. Right now I'm sorry I bought it.

Got this very nicely packaged book from the library. The other reviews seem to be focused on the quality of the printing and binding, never mind the contents? Anyway I digress.

The story of King Arthur updated to the future when England is invaded by hordes of aliens and King Arthur is revived together with his court to save England. Following a rather messy beginning, Tom squire manages to blunder into a cavern and accidentally revives Arthur. Arthur, who takes to modern technology without quite batting an eyelid, is not quite credible. All the other characters from Camelot are also revived, and the hoot has to be Tristan, who is currently trapped in a woman's body. Aside from this, Camelot 3000 plays out as a VERY dull space opera. Slightly campy, it never manages to move away from its stilted approach to retelling the Arthurian legend.