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Since there's a Dredd thread up, gotta post. Judge Dredd rules! I myself do recommend giving a try to reading it all in order, to anybody interested, though skipping or skimming stuff that doesn't interest you makes sense too. I myself did skip much of the Ennis/Millar stuff from the early 90s. And I found the first year of so of the comic pre-Cursed Earth and Day The Law Died was mostly not quite there yet. But overall it's one of the most solid, consistently excellent comics ever published, and I wouldn't skip anything by John Wagner myself, or Carlos Ezquerra. Granted I'm at this moment years behind, and I've been reading this comic for about 11 years, so this may be a longer term way of doing it. But man, great stuff.
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Nov 29, 2018 17:41
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 19:15 |
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He was a great visual storyteller, those six page segments of The Graveyard Shift for example got a lot across. A new story by John Wagner started in 2000AD prog 2115 by the way, so cool to be able to have that from 1977 to today.
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Jan 31, 2019 06:35
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That's why it's so cool and inspiring to me that John Wagner is still writing there (though less often), has a weekly sequel to the old Mechanismo storyline going right now. Pat Mills also still writes there. Pretty unprecedented, 40+ years of Wagner largely steering the Judge Dredd ship. Beautiful stuff.
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Mar 16, 2019 00:08
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Another part of that is in the 80s John Wagner and Alan Grant were co-writing, Alan Grant brought a bit more of that full on fascist aspect of Dredd. They had disagreements on stuff around the Oz storyline in 88, then that late 80s stuff into Necropolis is all Wagner. I prefer Wagner's take, a bit more nuanced and a bit of pathos to ol' stony-face. Though him being both the good guy or bad guy relative to the story is always a good aspect.
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Mar 23, 2019 04:44
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BENGHAZI 2 posted:It's also a sequel to a robot judge story from like two years ago! It's so good, I love that Dredd can't abide robot judges partly because they're, ironically, not cold unfeelong justice machines Hell yeah, I just read that ol' Mechanismo storyline from the 90s recently too. Plus let's not forget Walter the Wobot, that guy was pretty funny. I love that these story threads stay in continuity and get built on for decades. Heavy Metal fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Apr 30, 2019 |
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Apr 30, 2019 01:50
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Jedit posted:Case Files 33 came out last week, if anyone missed it. We're now only 18 years behind, woo! Right on, it's not out on Amazon until the end of May, I see a couple on Ebay though. When that pile of books is complete-ish it will be quite the thing. It could probably fall over and maim somebody. I've got one of those plastic industrial waffle shelf thingies and its bending a bit, I believe graphic novels are the heaviest element.
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Apr 30, 2019 20:26
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It's of my favs, a masterpiece I'd say. Plus that watercolor-y looking color Carlos art, that arc is like the best movie ever made. Except it's a comic, which is cool too.
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May 3, 2019 12:04
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I love it whenever Walter turned up for a cameo or shorter story here and there after that. Ditto for Max Normal, the pinstripe freak. Some of these characters are just always good, in any tone or era.
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Mar 15, 2020 02:18
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That is a good one. That's "The Dead Man" by the way, it's in that humble bundle above! Also available for 9.99 digital on 2000AD's site. It is kooky that it's out of print, I think Tale of the Dead Man (at the start of Case Files 14 which also has the Necropolis epic) does a good job getting you up to speed if you missed it though. It is very cool for sure. Dredd talk, love to see it! I gotta say, one of my fav hobbies is chiming in on questions about where/how to read Dredd. When you read Dredd you wanna spread the word. Long story short, there are many great eras and flavors of Dredd, and John Wagner has been the main writer (or a key one) in all of them. You can't go wrong, even if you don't read all 40+ years of it as I attempt to. On it getting a bit bad in the 90s for a bit, that is a bit I allowed myself to skip. The common take among the fans is the early Millar and Ennis stuff when they took over in 2000AD for a bit is just not good, but luckily it was only a few years. Even Ennis has said it wasn't good, Millar probably did too. I've read just a little bit of it, some of the Ennis stuff is still ok thanks to the legendary Carlos Ezquerra still illustrating it. And that early-to-mid 90s low point did still have Wagner doing some great stuff in the Megazine, which is in some of those collections in the Humble Bundle. Stuff like Mechanismo and Three Amigos for example. For a shorthand, if you want to cut back a bit in the dodgy years, just read the John Wagner stuff. And the very very occasional Alan Grant or Patt Mills if they happened to do one if you want. It wasn't until around 2000 when Rebellion took over and other writers like Gordon Rennie were considered to come into their own that you'd want to read all the writers. And then a few years later with Ewing, Williams, Spurrier, etc. But John Wagner wrote I'd say 90% of the 2000AD Dredd output for decades, and he's the best ever. Short tip: if you're in the 90s, skip any non-Wagner Dredd. Wagner Dredd is the key to happiness and life as we know it in the universe. And if you didn't know this funny bit of trivia, in the early days Wagner and Grant wrote so much of the stories in 2000AD, they used fake names for years. Stuff like T.B. Grover etc. So whatever name you see, it's good stuff in the 70s/80s, it's them or Pat Mills, and it's all fun times. I concur that Dredd really gets going in Case Files #2, with those big epics like The Cursed Earth and The Day The Law Died. So much cool stuff in the 80s, I love those first two appearances of Judge Death (in Case Files 3 and 5). I really love the 80s decade of Dredd, though it has some slow spots here and there, but way more hits than misses for me. And you have compelling returning characters like PJ Maybe and Chopper for example. Speaking of side-stories you need, Chopper - Song of the Surfer (and the previous Soul on Fire) are some of the best Dredd related stories ever. By Wagner and MacNeil, the America team, and around that time in the early 90s too. The highpoints of the painted art and more adult tone period there. I also really love Necropolis (case files 14), which is when Dredd went full color around 1990. Wagner and Ezquerra just delivering the goods so much. I dig Apocalypse War, it's classic fun and must see, but Necropolis is where my heart is. Those Chopper stories are in this collection, well worth 9.99 digital, also with some extra stories you can ignore by later writers etc. https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN387 For more specifics if you feel like skipping some 90s stuff. Case Files 16 is where the hand-off happens, with "The Devil You Know" and "Twilight's Last Gleaming", Wagner's last 2000AD Dredd for a bit and Garth's first. That's a cool story, part of the years long Democracy story they touch on. After that you could skip Case Files 17, 18, and 19 though there's some Wagner Megazine stories, and you could alternatively get the Mechanismo trilogy of tales from those in it's own collection, in that bundle etc. Case Files 20 shows how tough it is to make these calls, since it's part of the low in 2000AD with Millar, but it has beloved Wagner Megazine short stories like Bury My Knee At Wounded Heart (Meg 2.46) and Giant (Meg 2.50 - Meg 2.52). If you find yourself with these, since time is even more precious than money, could just skip the Millar stuff and read the Wagner. Case Files 21 is cool, it has another longform Wagner tale called Wilderlands. Then there are some ups and downs for a few, several writers etc, with some highs like The Pit mentioned above (in it's own collection in the humble bundle etc or in Case Files 24-25). CF 26 is another mix of good and bad. But I'd say Case Files 27 to present is all solid stuff worth reading. With oodles of John Wagner, you know you're in safe hands. He can do great humor, dark comedy, satire, neo-noir, fun crime stuff, genre stuff, human stuff that makes you think, short stories, long epics, he does it all. I don't know how to answer this briefly. But, on the question of "do I keep going?", the answer is YES! Oh lord yes! Also yep, both styles of Case Files covers are the same contents. Even if you gotta skip some, or even if you find yourself skipping forward a decade, never give up on the glorious power of Wagner Dredd. One more go at a quick summation: if Case Files 1 doesn't do it, read Case Files 2 it's miles better. If this era of the black-and-white over-the-top stylized retro (though glorious) comics doesn't grab you, read those two short Judge Death stories with The Killing Joke's Brian Bolland anyway. And then, if you're still not into 70s/80s Dredd, try the early 90s different tone painted art Dredd! America and Necropolis for example, America in it's own collection and Necropolis in Case Files 14. Then, if you lose your way in the 90s, try skipping around like I elaborate on above. And if you then say hey, I'm a 2000s sort, I like a nice latte, I'm gonna drop it.... do not drop it!! Engage in some 2000s Rebellion era 2000AD, you could try say the year 2002 which you can find in Case Files 35. And later collections like Mandroid, Tour of Duty, Day of Chaos, Guatemala, etc. DROKK IT!!! sephiRoth IRA posted:Also does anyone have any recommendations for a book on the history of Dredd? Is there anything out there that has collated commentary from the writers, artists, etc? More 2000AD in general, though touching on Dredd a good bit, there's a fun doc called Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD. And there's a book called Thrill Power Overload, originally in a shorter version via articles in the Judge Dredd Megazine. I read the Megazine version, that was cool. Plenty of commentary from the crew. Oh yeah, on the crossovers - the Aliens and Predator ones are included in Case Files. Those are later Case Files, not in the bundle, CF 27 for Predator, CF 36 for Aliens. For Batman, you can get the first two stories digitally in this 4.99 collection (that first Bisley one is my fav) https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN635 If the humble bundle and then decades of Case Files etc isn't enough, get into Strontium Dog! That's the other big one by Wagner and Ezquerra, it's beloved by 2000AD fans. Mentioned a good bit in that show Spaced etc. It's a masterpiece, if you love Dredd, you're very likely gonna love this too. The first collection (S/D Agency Files 01) is 5 bucks at the moment: https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/graphic-novels/strontium-dog?edition=download  On other cool stuff in the bundle, you've got Insurrection, Low-Life (Mega-City Undercover), Simping Detective, all Dreddworld tales by the likes of Abnett, Rob Williams, and Spurrier. The Judge Death stuff is terrific such as Young Death, his origin story from the same Megazine America and those other classics were serialized in around 1990. Kingdom and Brink are a couple more Dan Abnett series the fans love, in the bundle, I've been meaning to read those. The Judge Anderson Psi Files have good stuff, Alan Grant and some cool artists. I feel it has some ups and downs, I skipped some myself, but a lot of great ones. I heard Brass Sun is cool. Counterfeit Girl looks cool. Slaine is cool. Zombo (Al Ewing), Shakara, more fan favs. I've still gotta read Halo Jones and Zenith mentioned, those do sound cool. One more for the road, not in the bundle: ABC Warriors - The Black Hole (Simon Bisley on art). It's one of the all time classics. Even if you don't read their earlier stuff, this was sort of a comeback, and it's their finest. It's the last bit in their first collection. It stars that cool looking robot you saw in that Judge Dredd movie, but way way heavier and cooler. War robots, existential crisis, mayhem, comic book perfection. https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN509  Ok, one more bit, just to illustrate how much Judge Dredd (and Wagner, Ezquerra, MacNeil etc) rule. And just how beautiful and inspiring it all is. There's this new collected Judge Dredd book that just hit, Guatemala, with some other recent Dredd stories they did included like "Victims of" etc. This Victims story is another continuation/sequel to America, written and drawn by Wagner and MacNeil. How freakin' amazing is that? We're talking about one of their beloved works from 1990, and they're still making stuff as good or better all these decades later. And without any reboots or kersplosions or anything, just great storytellers telling awesome stories. Warms the heart. For me this book Guatemala honestly is just too good, and it's so under the radar here in the states, it's just crazy. ComicsJournal included Victims on it's top comics of 2020 at least. It's just crazy to me that these fav creators are so prolific and so great at it, and it's still just so underrated. Also, for a bit of America minutia, the America collection has three separate stories. America, the sequel from a couple years later, and a third story made 16 years later. And the story I mentioned above is made 30 years later, 1990 to 2020. Dredd is set in real time (at least, a lot more so than other comics) and it's always cool to see the passage of time and stuff like that. And again, not to geek out too hard here, but I honestly can't believe it when I see a new Wagner/MacNeil Judge Dredd story running in 2000AD. It's pretty unheard of in comics, at least outside of manga from the 80s that keeps trucking like Ippo and Jojo. They weren't doing it in 1977 like Wagner though, plus he does it so well, I think John Wagner is the all time greatest writer in comics. At least, I'm happy the perfect writer for me happens to be the most prolific. Heavy Metal fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Aug 2, 2021 |
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Aug 1, 2021 22:49
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Just to geek out on Dredd again, I just read the latest big story in 2000AD. So good! Now That's What I Call Justice, a 6 prog (36 page) new JD tale by John Wagner and John Higgins. Once again, just the coolest thing. This writer/artist team did stuff like Letter from a Democrat 35 years ago. And this new story has continuity with that, as well as almost a grim greatest hits kind of thing with the framing narrative. Kind of like I was blown away above by the Wagner/MacNeil stuff, this is just way too cool. Plus, it's just really good in it's own right. Masterfully juggling a few different threads, great dark humor as well as gravitas and grim stuff, just a joy to read. And some fun minutia, the Complete Case Files say what year the stories are set in on the spine of the book. 2138 etc. So when a Dredd tale like this new one drops a date, you could pick that book up from your shelf and see what they're referring to. Not that Judge Dredd relies on heavy continuity to be enjoyed, but it just adds this level of authenticity and impresses the hell out of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN7USYClEoE Here's a bit of Wagner talking about that and the next Judge Dredd story coming up.
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Aug 27, 2021 21:56
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JoJosSiwaAdventure posted:Is this just the 2000ad thread now? I think Dredd would appreciate we're talking about 2000AD in here. Keeping us out of trouble.
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Nov 14, 2021 03:39
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Jedit posted:On the vague subject of Dredd elseworlds, I'm going to throw out a hard recommend for Megatropolis. It's a noir reimagining of Mega-City One as a retro-SF "City of the Future" - think Blade Runner meets Metropolis. There's one or two too many attempts to crowbar in a major character from the original strips, but that's really the only weakness. I'm definitely looking forward to future volumes. Right on, I'll add that to the ol' list. I hadn't checked that out with so much main Dredd to read, but that looks really cool. Decline posted:US-based 2000ad fan here. Decided to go down the rabbit hole with Complete Case Files Vol. 01. That blossomed into a full on love for 2000ad. Once I started reading Dredd, I quickly realized how little I actually cared about superhero comics. Something about the serialized format and sci-fi focus really clicked for me. UK comics rule pretty hard! Even love the old action strips. That rules, kudos! There is such an endless amount of cool 2000AD stuff to check out. I've got books I bought years ago I haven't gotten to yet, Slaine is one of those, Nikolai Dante, Kingdom, you name it. Zombo, Shakara, Brink, just countless cool looking titles to check out.
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Jan 22, 2022 19:11
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That rules hard, they really have done just about everything. I gotta read this Dracula tale (Costa Del Blood), I've missed some of those annuals and whatnot. Looks like some sweet stuff.
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Jan 31, 2022 04:38
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Plus there's the Strontium Dog connections. Kreelman was referenced in a recent-ish Carroll written Judge Dredd story I saw. https://bleedingcool.com/comics/does-todays-megazine-make-strontium-dog-the-definitive-future-of-judge-dredd-spoilers/ Plus those great crossovers they've had. Jedit posted:Dredd has also faced both Aliens and Terminators, so he's got the entire Fox big three in his universe. It wasn't by dimension hopping either, unlike his encounters with Batman. When did Terminators happen? He's fought a lot of legally distinct robots at least.
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Jan 31, 2022 22:25
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Oh yeah, I'm definitely cool with them being loose with stuff like that. Can't have Dredd ending in five years or so. It would be wild if they did still incorporate that 2150 thing in Dredd somehow though.
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Jan 31, 2022 22:59
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Has John Wagner ever talked about this stuff, Dredd's present lining up with Strontium Dog's timeline? I always figured he'd more just want to tell the best story for each of them, and probably wouldn't worry about this kind of detail. But I'd be game for anything he wants to write. I still wish they'd let him write that "last Dredd story" he had pitched before, like his The Dark Knight Returns. That would be cool.
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Jan 31, 2022 23:14
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Right on, that sounds cool.
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Jan 31, 2022 23:33
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Very cool! I was looking into Blueberry recently too, intending to read some of that.
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Mar 7, 2022 19:16
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Always sad to hear about these legends passing away, heroes. I've been meaning to read Halo Jones that Gibson did too. It is wild that the Case Files have gotten to the point that they're covering trades I already have of the more modern stuff. Ones I've got like Origins, Total War, Mandroid, Cadet is in the America book naturally, etc. Not that I mind, but those years sure fly by. Those were the trades I was getting when I got into Dredd. Not too long until they hit those Tour of Duty books. Granted the Case Files are nearly 20 years behind. But so am I, so it works out. I've got those in the bookcase for sure. So much cool stuff to check out.
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Feb 9, 2024 16:51
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