Help! Recommendations, please (AKA save me from my stupidity)

[GordyM]

Hello. I'm Gordy and I have a confession to make. I am a lapsed 2000AD reader (please don't hit me!). I stupidly let my subscription go during dark, dark days of unemployment and evilness.

But I'm back! A friend told me I had to read Dredd: Origins. I did, loved it, and am now dedicated to returning to the warm glow of 2000AD.

So could anyone please help me out by telling me the key Dredd stories I should track down from recent years to get back up to speed with what's happeneing to Old Stoneyface? Also, recommendations for other stories, TPBs etc I should pick up would be greatly appreciated.

[Spaceghost]

Welcome back. Stay a while...stay FOREVER!!! HA HA HAAAAAA!!!

I would recommend the following to bring you up to speed -

America
The Pit
Brothers of the Blood
Satan's Island
Mandroid
Tour of Duty : The Backlash
Tour of Duty : Mega City Justice

That should keep you going for a while. It would help if I knew when you stopped reading too as some of the Case Files might be good for filing gaps.

Also, you've missed out on some of the best stories 2000 AD has ever published in your wilderness years. I'd suggest getting hold of -

Shakara
Kingdom
Zombo
Defoe
Savage
Nikolai Dante

Most of these have more than one volume out and are all fantastic. Also, get the prog! It's brilliant at the moment!

[mygrimmbrother]

Hello mate. You could probably do with picking up the Tour of Duty trades - there are 2 (Backlash and Mega City Justice) and they collect the biggest Dredd story arc since Origins. Absolutely essential reading.

And welcome back 

[TordelBack]

Stay a while...stay FOREVER!!! HA HA HAAAAAA!!!

Help, I'm having C64 loading screen flashbacks!

Welcome back to the fold Gordy, the house policy on branding irons should keep you from straying again.

Aye, the Tour of Duty trades, the no-longer-remotely-Complete PJ Maybe, Mandroid, Brothers of the Blood.  That'll get you started.

[mygrimmbrother]

Ooh ooh! And TOTAL WAR too.

[Glenn Broadway]

I asked a similar question when I joined this forum and Radiator gave me this list. I can honestly say that it was spot on!

The Pit 14 episodes (Progs 970 to 983) 86 pages
True Grot 3 episodes (Progs 984 to 986) 18 pages
Unjudicial Liaisons 3 episodes (Progs 987 to 989) 19 pages
Last Rites 1 episode (Prog 990) 6 pages
Declaration of War 1 episode (Prog 991) 6 pages
Bongo War 8 episodes (Progs 992 to 999) 56 pages

Blood Cadets 3 episodes (Progs 1186 to 1188) 18 pages
Sector House 8 episodes (Progs 1215 to 1222) 48 pages
Leaving Rowdy 1 episode (Prog 1280) 12 pages
Love Story III - The End of the Affair 1 episode (Prog 1281) 6 pages
Blood & Duty 2 episodes (Progs 1300 to 1301) 13 pages
The Satanist 7 episodes (Progs 1350 to 1356) 42 pages
Brothers Of The Blood 4 episodes (Progs 1378 to 1381) 24 pages

[TordelBack]

And just to be helpful, Glenn's excellent list would appear to be fully covererd by The Pit and Brothers of the Blood trades.  I'd add The Scorpion Dance and The Hunting Party trades if you're delving backl as far as The Pit. 

[credo]

And just to be helpful, Glenn's excellent list would appear to be fully covererd by The Pit and Brothers of the Blood trades.  I'd add The Scorpion Dance and The Hunting Party trades if you're delving backl as far as The Pit. 

How long 'til these are in the Case Files?  21? 22? Or it even longer through the Millar/Morrison mire until we reach The Pit?

As another lapsed reader, I've picked up trades of Shakara, Leatherjack, Cradlegrave, Savage, Low Life, and a complete set of Dantes (role on October).  Needless to say I've loved every page.

[GordyM]

Thank you for the welcomes and lack of beatings for leaving the fold. Do I get bonus points for identifying the "Stay awhile..." quote from Impossible Mission? (ahh the good old days of waiting ten minutes for my C64 to maybe load a game depending on how it felt at the time).

It was around Prog 1450 - 1500ish period that I stopped reading 2000AD and the Meg, so a hefty chunk to catch up on! Thanks for all the recommendations - I'll start with the Dredds, of course, and then maybe Cradlegrave, which I've seen pick up a lot of good reviews recently. Zombo sounds like a must-read too.

It's good to be back.

[Emperor]

Welcome, there are a couple of general Judge Dredd threads:

www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,31032.0.html
www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,31032.0.html

As you only left a few years back and have caught up with origins then you'll want the two Tour of Duty trades next, details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutants_(Judge_Dredd_storyline)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_Duty_(Judge_Dredd_story)

Lee Bates is pretty spot on with his recommendations, to which I'd add Cradlegrave, Low Life and Insurrection.


Oh and congratulations on the comic book - start a thread in the Books and Comics forum.

[douglaswolk]

Just as a guess: 19 appears to get us up to Prog 855 and Meg 2.43 (so two episodes after "Inferno," plus "Mechanismo: Body Count"), 20 could be something like Progs 856-888 and Megs 2.44-2.56 ("Book of the Dead," "Sugar Beat," etc. on the 2000 AD side, but "Bury My Knee at Wounded Heart," "Giant," "Howler" et al. on the Meg side), and then 21 would be 889-918 and 2.57-2.68 ("Wilderlands" and environs, plus "Casualties of War" and "Judge Death: The True Story").

Particularly given that Progs 950-963 and Megs 3.01-3.05 had two Dredd stories apiece, that means we're not gonna hit "The Pit" until, I reckon, Case Files 24. (I'm guessing 22 will have "The Exterminator," "Crusade" and "Goodnight Kiss," and 23 will have "The Three Amigos," "Bad Frendz"/"The Cal Files" et al.)

[sauchieboy]

I lapsed around the same time as you, Gordy. I'm undertaking the same baffling (and costly) process of trying to plug the resultant gaps on my bookshelves, and the greatest pleasure I've had in the last year was reading both books of Tour of Duty.

After Necropolis there seemed to be some confusion as to whether long-form Dredd stories should try to top that story's death count and world-changing premise or pull back and try to explore the psychic topography of Dredd and his world in greater depth (i). Tour of Duty slices through that Gordian knot with style, telling a fantastic story with genuine depth and without resorting to clichéd histrionics. I'd recommend the Total War book for the same reason.

Douglas (above) is too modest to mention it, but his Dredd Reckoning blog (ii) is a fantastic reading companion for anyone working their way through the case files published to date, and the ECTB2000ad crew (iii) provide the same function for your weekly reading. Without the stimulus provided by resources like those (and this forum) I don't know how much longer it would have taken me to renew my interest in all things Tharg. Thanks chaps.



(i) Or settle for being boring punch-ups between Dredd and increasingly more enormous and more unkillable opponents. Thanks Mark Millar.

(ii) http://dreddreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/missionary-man-bad-moon-rising.html

(iii) http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/ecbt2000ad-ep78-a-conversation-with-pat-mills/

[radiator]

While not essential, if you're going to be reading Tour of Duty, then I'd recommend getting hold of America, The Complete PJ Maybe and The Henry Flint Collection first, as these books feature stories that introduce characters and storylines that are further explored in ToD.

Not sure if they're all still in print though.

[GordyM]

Tour of Duty's definitely at the top of the list. I've read America one and two, plus the PJ Maybe stuff up 'til the point he became Mayor - does that give me enough backstory going in or are there some stories I should read before going in? I'm happy to 'do the groundwork' if it makes Tour of Duty a more satisfying read.

Thanks again everyone for helping out - as sauchieboy said, it would've been a hell of a daunting process trying to dive blind into such a big pile of missed issues. You've made things so much easier!