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Spoilers => Other Reviews => Topic started by: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 01:27:31 PM

Title: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 01:27:31 PM
Greetings

I've started to collect the Complete Case Files, and lovely things they are. I was wondering whether there is a thread/blog/other resource where I could find out more about the publishing history of these collections.

I'm curious about the decision-making behind some of the content choices. For instance, how come Vol 3 is so much smaller than Vol 1, 2 & 4? I note that there is a big variation in size across the volumes. Why not include the same number of progs per volume? Is this in order to keep the epics and other big stories within single volumes?

One day someone should create a range of dust covers for them to stop people like me from freaking out about the spines not matching.

I'm aware that the later volumes are in colour. I assume that this coincides with the prog going full colour? Because prior to that the strip often had at least some colour pages I think? Shame not to see those as they were originally printed.

Is there a reason why the volumes (at least 1-4, which is as far as I have got) don't have an index page? Seems like an odd omission.

I'd be grateful for any tips.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 24 August, 2015, 01:45:44 PM
From what I recall in speaking to those involved at the time, Volume 3 was indeed skinny in order to not split epics. The colour issue was, as far as I understand it, down to a combination of then-current technology and outlay. There was a tipping point where it finally became affordable to do the thinner full-colour volumes with better paper (even if the majority of stories were in black and white), thereby enabling a price-point that enough punters would swallow. (Even so, I recall people getting narked at the price rises for the colour Case Files.) I recall this happened around the time Nemesis 3 was being compiled.

I've no idea about the lack of index pages in early editions. Probably just an oversight at the time, or not realising readers would want one. Bear in mind that these series evolved over time, taking on board feedback.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 02:34:58 PM
No doubt once the series has caught up there will be a fancy re-release dealing with any quibbles.

Then again, with the newer volumes containing, what 20 progs worth as opposed to c.60 in the earlier big volumes, and only a couple of volumes coming out per year... I'm not good with numbers but I think the Case Files is now falling behind rather than catching up?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 August, 2015, 04:56:37 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 01:27:31 PM
I'm curious about the decision-making behind some of the content choices. For instance, how come Vol 3 is so much smaller than Vol 1, 2 & 4?

Open up CF4 and the very first story is the start of The Judge Child epic. The only alternatives were splitting the epic in half (very glad they didn't do that) or having one ma-hoo-sive third volume with equivalent big price tag.

Quote from: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 01:27:31 PM
I'm aware that the later volumes are in colour. I assume that this coincides with the prog going full colour?

Yep.

Quote from: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 01:27:31 PM
Is there a reason why the volumes (at least 1-4, which is as far as I have got) don't have an index page? Seems like an odd omission.

It only really became a problem when the Megazine stuff started. At least the prog stories have the logo, titles and credit boxes on the first or second page - for some odd reason the early Megs didn't have that, and it's often a case of guesswork as to who wrote a particular story! The credit pages started with CF20, but to be honest they should have started in CF16.

Quote from: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 02:34:58 PM
...with the newer volumes containing, what 20 progs worth as opposed to c.60 in the earlier big volumes, and only a couple of volumes coming out per year... I'm not good with numbers but I think the Case Files is now falling behind rather than catching up?

They do slow down a bit as you have a roughly 50-50 split with the Megazine stories from CF16 onwards. The series is also currently at a point (22-25ish) where multiple Dredd stories were running in each prog (and some Megs) to cash in on the Stallone film, so yeah, you've got two or three books covering the same period that a single book used to.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: James Stacey on 24 August, 2015, 05:02:12 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 24 August, 2015, 04:56:37 PM
It only really became a problem when the Megazine stuff started. At least the prog stories have the logo, titles and credit boxes on the first or second page - for some odd reason the early Megs didn't have that, and it's often a case of guesswork as to who wrote a particular story! The credit pages started with CF20, but to be honest they should have started in CF16.
Didn't the Meg have full page intros/recaps to its stories when it launched which served the same purpose as the credit boxes? (I may be misremembering here)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 August, 2015, 05:05:33 PM
No idea - I didn't start reading the Meg until just before the 'volume 4' relaunch after the Rebellion takeover. That would explain it though!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 24 August, 2015, 06:19:32 PM
Yep—the Meg quite often had full-page recaps, which have mercifully been cut from the collected editions, but made some of them read a bit oddly.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: credo on 26 August, 2015, 01:01:35 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 24 August, 2015, 02:34:58 PM
Then again, with the newer volumes containing, what 20 progs worth as opposed to c.60 in the earlier big volumes, and only a couple of volumes coming out per year... I'm not good with numbers but I think the Case Files is now falling behind rather than catching up?

My quick search on the last 2 case files shows that we're still going through about 16 months of stories every year. That might be a little generous, as that's counting progs, not megs, which have got a little out of whack in CF25. CF24 and 25 take us from Sept 1995 to Feb 1997. Don't think we're quite falling behind, but I'd definitely take a couple of slightly beefier Case Files (assuming there won't be 3 a year again) to get us gaining a bit more ground.

Will this get slightly better once we're past the post-Stallone story glut?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 August, 2015, 01:35:10 PM
I think the current three volumes per year schedule still represents a gradual acceleration towards the present (~18 months of stories per year.)
Quote from: credo on 26 August, 2015, 01:01:35 PM
Will this get slightly better once we're past the post-Stallone story glut?
Could do. We're past the point where two Dredds per Prog was a regular occurrence and the Prog/Meg imbalance is presumably because we're just hitting a six month period where the lead strip from the Meg wont appear in the Case Files (Fading of the Light; Predator) and they need to make sure it's aligned again for Doomsday.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: credo on 26 August, 2015, 07:22:37 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 August, 2015, 01:35:10 PM
I think the current three volumes per year schedule still represents a gradual acceleration towards the present (~18 months of stories per year.)

I'd like to see us back at 3 a year. We've only had 2 this year (CF24 and 25, with 26 due in January). We only had 2 in 2014 too (although we also got the Daily Dredd collection). You have to go back to 2009 before we had 3 case files in a year.

Seems I'm a moon on stick type though!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 29 August, 2015, 11:15:11 AM
There's no reason to leave out Fading of the Light and I really hope they don't. The prog and meg stories aren't too out of kilter to make Doomsday work when they get to it -- it's still a few volumes away.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 29 August, 2015, 01:14:00 PM
Its in the america book - leave it out!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 29 August, 2015, 01:16:41 PM
That's like saying The Apocalypse War, The Judge Child and The Cursed Earth are in other books -- leave them out!

It's The Complete Case Files.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 29 August, 2015, 01:19:07 PM
It's not really though is it, and anyway that has been the policy in the past - no america or any of the crossover stories like aliens, judgment in gotham etc.

Buy the America book. The Mega Collection one is great.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 29 August, 2015, 01:29:16 PM
Well it would be if they hadn't left the first one out (and the Kenny Who? sequel).

America II isn't a crossover. They're only leaving those out because of the shared copyright, and there's a collection of all of those.

I also have the America collection, so it's not that I'm missing out. It's just that given how important the America stories are in the Judge Dredd series, it seems like a baffling decision to leave them out of a series which purports to be a complete series.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 29 August, 2015, 05:41:29 PM
Quote from: Richard on 29 August, 2015, 01:29:16 PM
Well it would be if they hadn't left the first one out (and the Kenny Who? sequel).

America II isn't a crossover. They're only leaving those out because of the shared copyright, and there's a collection of all of those.

I also have the America collection, so it's not that I'm missing out. It's just that given how important the America stories are in the Judge Dredd series, it seems like a baffling decision to leave them out of a series which purports to be a complete series.

It doesnt say it is complete - just that it is in order.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 August, 2015, 06:08:41 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 29 August, 2015, 05:41:29 PM
It doesnt say it is complete - just that it is in order.


The books are titled Judge Dredd - The Complete Case Files



Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 12:00:04 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 August, 2015, 06:08:41 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 29 August, 2015, 05:41:29 PM
It doesnt say it is complete - just that it is in order.


The books are titled Judge Dredd - The Complete Case Files

Just write 'not quite' before complete and you can stop complaining!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: radiator on 30 August, 2015, 12:16:00 AM
JUDGE DREDD: THE COMPLETE* CASE FILES
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2015, 09:37:29 AM
Any story that ran as the main Judge Dredd strip banner in either Prog or Meg, and isn't a copyright nightmare, should have been included.

Stuff like The Taxidermist, Kenny Who?, Banzai Batallion are no different to Anderson, Chopper or Janus stories, in that they started in the main strip but became clear spinoffs, and deserve their own collections.  I'm sure that TMO now regrets the decision not to include America, which despite decent  arguments to the contrary is in every respect a Judge Dredd strip, and quite possibly THE Judge Dredd strip.

However, this ship sailed long ago, and the best we could hope for would be its inclusion in a hardback revisit of Vol 15(?) some time in the distant future. Would you buy it?

Fading of the Light is the more pressing question.  I'd vote for its inclusion, despite my (quick mental calculation) 3 previous versions.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 12:37:46 PM
I buy the complete case files to read stories I have not seen for years or missed in the original run. I would HATE to have a long story like fading of the light take up valuable space. I am not a completist, I did not buy the cursed earth or apocalypse war volumes.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 30 August, 2015, 01:37:35 PM
Quote from: Richard on 29 August, 2015, 01:29:16 PM
given how important the America stories are in the Judge Dredd series, it seems like a baffling decision to leave them out of a series which purports to be a complete series.

I'm still baffled that they left the Dreddworld intro out of "The Complete Al's Baby".

I'm not, by the way, advocating that Al's Baby should be included in the Case Files.  I am however advocating that Tharg buys a dictionary that includes a definition of the word "complete" in it.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 30 August, 2015, 01:58:27 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 12:37:46 PMI buy the complete case files to read stories I have not seen for years or missed in the original run. I would HATE to have a long story like fading of the light take up valuable space.
But then you could argue the same about any multi-part tale, surely? Graveyard Shift, say?

Quote from: Dash Decent on 30 August, 2015, 01:37:35 PMI'm still baffled that they left the Dreddworld intro out of "The Complete Al's Baby".
I was actually quite happy about that. It was clearly tacked on at the time.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2015, 02:10:25 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 12:37:46 PM
I buy the complete case files to read stories I have not seen for years or missed in the original run. I would HATE to have a long story like fading of the light take up valuable space. I am not a completist, I did not buy the cursed earth or apocalypse war volumes.

If you're not a completed then the Complete Casefiles may not be the reprint format for you! Regrettably it's not perfect for completing either. What it is, however, is a marvellous series, and long may it continue.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files look
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2015, 02:11:27 PM
'Completist', obv, not 'completed'. Why does autocorrect hate that word so?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 30 August, 2015, 02:12:45 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 30 August, 2015, 01:58:27 PM
Quote from: Dash Decent on 30 August, 2015, 01:37:35 PMI'm still baffled that they left the Dreddworld intro out of "The Complete Al's Baby".
I was actually quite happy about that. It was clearly tacked on at the time.

Aye, I'm baffled that Dash is baffled. The story loses nothing, but gains a lot without that intro - now it's a graphic novel that stands alone, that you can give to friends on its own merits without having to explain the context.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Robo-K33F on 30 August, 2015, 02:14:47 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 30 August, 2015, 02:12:45 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 30 August, 2015, 01:58:27 PM
Quote from: Dash Decent on 30 August, 2015, 01:37:35 PMI'm still baffled that they left the Dreddworld intro out of "The Complete Al's Baby".
I was actually quite happy about that. It was clearly tacked on at the time.

Aye, I'm baffled that Dash is baffled. The story loses nothing, but gains a lot without that intro - now it's a graphic novel that stands alone, that you can give to friends on its own merits without having to explain the context.

It was left out because John Wagner wanted it left out.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 30 August, 2015, 02:20:42 PM
As to America II, while I'm of the 'if it was a Dredd story then it should go in' school; surely everyone's got it already in the TPB they had to buy to get America I?

So if it gets left out I'll be secretly glad that the extra pagecount in Case Files 26 can be used for something else, not to mention deriving a certain amount of sadistic glee from the weeping and gnashing of teeth that would ensue here.  >:D
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 03:19:48 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 30 August, 2015, 02:20:42 PM
As to America II, while I'm of the 'if it was a Dredd story then it should go in' school; surely everyone's got it already in the TPB they had to buy to get America I?

So if it gets left out I'll be secretly glad that the extra pagecount in Case Files 26 can be used for something else, not to mention deriving a certain amount of sadistic glee from the weeping and gnashing of teeth that would ensue here.  >:D

I reckon lave out america 2 but put the later Beeny stories in just to make people really angry! Oh and change the spine too
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 30 August, 2015, 04:10:10 PM
Part of the problem is that just because we all know about America doesn't mean other people do. There will no doubt be plenty of people buying the series and thinking that means they have the whole series (and consequently not buying other Dredd books), not realising they are missing one of the best Dredd stories ever.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2015, 04:17:04 PM
That's a key point alright - but they would also be missing out on loads of great Annual and Special stories, unless they were paying attention. Wake up, Sheeple!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 05:03:06 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 30 August, 2015, 04:17:04 PM
That's a key point alright - but they would also be missing out on loads of great Annual and Special stories, unless they were paying attention. Wake up, Sheeple!

Surely they bought the restricted files!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexF on 01 September, 2015, 09:40:57 AM
I'd imagine that the PDFs, contents and page count are already locked in for Case Files 26 at this point, but chalk me up as another one who doesn't want America II in there. Purely for selfish reasons as I'd rather see more Dredd stuff I haven't read in a while.

I'm assuming CF26 will include Fetish, of course, which is definitely a Dredd story but was also recently included in the Devlin Waugh collections. We might even get to see a Siku Dredd on the cover - one of the more distinctive versions out there. Biggest chin ever.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: glassstanley on 01 September, 2015, 11:55:37 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 01 September, 2015, 09:40:57 AM

I'm assuming CF26 will include Fetish, of course, which is definitely a Dredd story but was also recently included in the Devlin Waugh collections. We might even get to see a Siku Dredd on the cover - one of the more distinctive versions out there. Biggest chin ever.

I don't recall seeing Fetish reprinted in the Rebellion volumes?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 01 September, 2015, 11:56:59 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 01 September, 2015, 09:40:57 AM
I'd imagine that the PDFs, contents and page count are already locked in for Case Files 26 at this point, but chalk me up as another one who doesn't want America II in there. Purely for selfish reasons as I'd rather see more Dredd stuff I haven't read in a while.

I'm assuming CF26 will include Fetish, of course, which is definitely a Dredd story but was also recently included in the Devlin Waugh collections. We might even get to see a Siku Dredd on the cover - one of the more distinctive versions out there. Biggest chin ever.

I dont want Fetish in there either!

And can someone go back and remove Raptaur.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 September, 2015, 05:19:05 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 01 September, 2015, 11:56:59 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 01 September, 2015, 09:40:57 AM
I'm assuming CF26 will include Fetish, of course, which is definitely a Dredd story but was also recently included in the Devlin Waugh collections.

I dont want Fetish in there either!

It's in the blurb, so we're definately getting that one: ...Meanwhile in another classic adventure from the pages of the Judge Dredd Megazine, Dredd teams up with the celebrity freelance exorcist, Devlin Waugh, to battle Kigishu the evil sorcerer on the plains of Pan-Africa!

Case Files 26 looks set to be built mainly around three long stories - Fading of the Light, The Hunting Party and Fetish.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 01 September, 2015, 06:39:08 PM
Quotechalk me up as another one who doesn't want America II in there. Purely for selfish reasons as I'd rather see more Dredd stuff I haven't read in a while.

That's bananas. That's like saying "I've already got a Cursed Earth graphic novel so please leave it out of Complete Case Files 2."
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 01 September, 2015, 08:43:51 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 30 August, 2015, 05:03:06 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 30 August, 2015, 04:17:04 PM
That's a key point alright - but they would also be missing out on loads of great Annual and Special stories, unless they were paying attention. Wake up, Sheeple!

Surely they bought the restricted files!

That being my point. You can't just buy the Casefiles and get the whole show. You need to be aware that there are other volumesout there (such as the Restricted Files, America, The Deadman, Chopper, Psi FilesThe Taxidermist, Banzai Battalion et cetera et cetera). So giving out about the ommission of America is only logical to a point.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 02 September, 2015, 01:49:05 PM
The difference being that the other stories are set in Dredd's world but they're not Judge Dredd stories.

I won't get into America as it's done now. But America II is unequivocally a Judge Dredd story.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 02 September, 2015, 03:15:44 PM
Quote from: Robo-K33F on 30 August, 2015, 02:14:47 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 30 August, 2015, 02:12:45 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 30 August, 2015, 01:58:27 PM
Quote from: Dash Decent on 30 August, 2015, 01:37:35 PMI'm still baffled that they left the Dreddworld intro out of "The Complete Al's Baby".
I was actually quite happy about that. It was clearly tacked on at the time.

Aye, I'm baffled that Dash is baffled. The story loses nothing, but gains a lot without that intro - now it's a graphic novel that stands alone, that you can give to friends on its own merits without having to explain the context.

It was left out because John Wagner wanted it left out.

I'm not saying it wasn't a good choice (though when is LESS Ezquerra art a good choice?) - I'm saying that omitting one page of the story as originally published is contrary to the notion of it being the COMPLETE Al's Baby.

As I say, TMO might be might but his grasp on the word 'complete' is less than, er, complete.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 02 September, 2015, 03:22:06 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 01 September, 2015, 11:56:59 AM
I dont want Fetish in there either!

And can someone go back and remove Raptaur.

Yeah, and any stories that involve Dredd fighting on a conveyor belt.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexiP on 03 September, 2015, 09:11:22 AM
Quote from: Richard on 30 August, 2015, 04:10:10 PM
Part of the problem is that just because we all know about America doesn't mean other people do. There will no doubt be plenty of people buying the series and thinking that means they have the whole series (and consequently not buying other Dredd books), not realising they are missing one of the best Dredd stories ever.

From my point of view this is exactly right. CF was my introduction to Dredd and I'd been told about this America story and kept waiting for it to appear and it took me a long time to realise I'd gone way past the point I should have seen it.

After now reading and thoroughly enjoying it I think it makes me wonder how many people have missed this great story because they just don't know about it.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 03 September, 2015, 11:51:50 AM
Well hopefully they will reprint the case files with slightly different content so we can buy them all again
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 27 September, 2015, 03:37:55 AM
I'd just like them to release more of these, so we can close the gap a bit. Maybe five years behind the current stuff. Granted I'm sure they have specific reasons for doing two a year, probably the best for more casual buyers.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 24 December, 2015, 03:05:57 PM
Well the cover of 26 is out, and Colin MacNeil's name isn't on it, so it looks like no America II either. Disappointing.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 24 December, 2015, 05:56:18 PM
Disappointing indeed. The two 'America' stories form part of what I consider the five missing Dredd or Dredd-related stories (the others being 'Beyond Our Kenny', 'The Dead Man' and 'Purgatory' which I think really should have a home in the Case Files. Perhaps they could be included as 'bonus material' in the super-deluxe omnibus editions which are surely only a few years away...(!)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 24 December, 2015, 07:19:39 PM
It's Beeny's first appearance for god's sake. It takes the piss.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 December, 2015, 07:43:51 PM
They have their own trade an are spin-off's under the Dredd banner as far as i'm concerned.

And Purgatory is fuckin' awful why in sweet grud would you want that in the case files?!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 24 December, 2015, 09:31:49 PM
Okay, so admittedly 'Purgatory' was not the best, but I sill see the Case Files as the suitable and natural home for the five stories I alluded to. Just my opinion.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 25 December, 2015, 12:30:52 PM
I can see that Purgatory and Dead Man are spin-offs, and I can even see the point of view that the first America was a spin-off (without agreeing with it). But the second America was unequivocally a Judge Fredc story, indeed it was the only Dredd story running in the Megazine at the time. It introduced a major supporting character. And so it's hardly the "Complete" case files without it.

I don't mind hugely because I already have the America trade from 2008, so it's not exactly hard for me to find it when I want to read it. What bothers me more is that people who aren't as well-informed as us but who are collecting the Complete Case Files will think they are collecting all of the stories, and overlooking two important Dredd stories without knowing it. They won't buy the America trade because it's no longer on sale and they don't know to look for it on ebay or Amazon or wherever, because they don't know their collection is incomplete without it.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 25 December, 2015, 12:32:13 PM
Dredd not Fredc, damn it  ::)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 December, 2015, 12:35:49 PM
The America trade got re-released recently with a new cover. It's such a vital story in Dredd canon I doub't it'll ever truely be OOP.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 25 December, 2015, 08:32:57 PM
But not vital enough to be in a supposedly complete series JD stories apparently...
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 25 December, 2015, 09:16:42 PM
They'll buy 26 volumes at a rough total of 500-600 euro, and not do any looking around for what might be missing?  Are we worrying about a type of consumer that doesn't actually exist?

I do see the sense in what you're saying, Richard, but I think once America was excluded (which was a mistake in the design of the serie, I agree),  it was probably the right way to proceed.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: SIP on 25 December, 2015, 09:24:15 PM
The exclusion of America doesn't bother me in the slightest......quite happy to see it excluded and treated as a separate entity.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 25 December, 2015, 10:33:43 PM
QuoteThey'll buy 26 volumes at a rough total of 500-600 euro, and not do any looking around for what might be missing?
They've no reason to suspect that anything is missing, so no reason to look around.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: jacob g on 25 December, 2015, 10:53:16 PM
Quote from: Richard on 25 December, 2015, 10:33:43 PM
They've no reason to suspect that anything is missing, so no reason to look around.

TBH when I started collecting CCF with #1 first thing I remember was going online to check if this is really "complete" Dredd. The same goes to few of my friends I persuaded in giving Dredd a chance. I know my example is not for 100% of readers but customers interested in all "collected edition" almost always searching for this kind of info.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 December, 2015, 04:27:13 AM
Luckily, America is total shit anyway. It's not like someone could miss out on a classic like Magnificent Obsession.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 26 December, 2015, 07:10:13 AM
Quote from: jacob g on 25 December, 2015, 10:53:16 PM
Quote from: Richard on 25 December, 2015, 10:33:43 PM
They've no reason to suspect that anything is missing, so no reason to look around.

TBH when I started collecting CCF with #1 first thing I remember was going online to check if this is really "complete" Dredd. The same goes to few of my friends I persuaded in giving Dredd a chance. I know my example is not for 100% of readers but customers interested in all "collected edition" almost always searching for this kind of info.

Mmm, there's no reason to suspect there's anything missing, but does the kind of person who buys 26 volumes of a comics collection need a reason? It just seems odd that anyone reading that much Dredd wouldn't be curious about the context of their investment - and it's not like the days of the Titan Nemesis and Slaine volumes, when the relevant info didn't exist.  My position here is that leaving out the original America was a bad decision, but I struggle to imagine the actual person who is going to be affected - if you commit yourself to the Casefiles you are going to wonder about what else there is, especially as characters and stories branch off into the Restricted Files.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 26 December, 2015, 09:15:11 PM
Perhaps you're right about that. It's still a bit hard to justify the series title though.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: jacob g on 07 January, 2016, 03:52:44 PM
Funny thing, there will be polish edition of Complete Case Files... starting with Complete Case Files 13  :lol:
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Prodigal2 on 16 January, 2016, 12:05:16 PM
Guys for those of us who jumped on board only a few years ago is case files 26 worth picking up? I am a bit lost as I try to follow its content exploration on this thread. I have all the America stuff incidentally.

TIA.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexF on 21 January, 2016, 11:55:38 AM
If you've read enough Dredd to be up to CF26, then I'd say definitely yes, this volume is worth picking up! In general, Dredd is on an upswing from this point onwards.

It includes all the Dredd strips from Progs 1029-1052, and from Megs 3.19-3.33 (except that it doesn't include America II: Fading of the Light, which was originally run under the Judge Dredd banner, but has been reprinted several times collected under the 'America' banner.)

The biggest story arc in it is 'The Hunting Party', which was one of the first Rebellion Dredd collections from years and years ago, but hasn't been reprinted since. It is both a fun story (about Dredd tkaing some rookies into the Cursed Earth) and, in a loose way, a foreshadowing of Origins. Plus it introduces some new young Judges who continue to be supporting characters for a while. Oh, and it's specifically a sequel to the Dune Sharks story that was reprinted in CF25.

The main Meg reprint is Fetish, which is John Smith and Siku - both somewhat acquired tastes when it comes to Dredd - but worth some time if you like stories where Dredd leaves MC1. The majority of the rest a short one-off Wagner eipsodes, which are always fun. Even the Mark Millar effort that opens the volume is one of his less bad ones.

There are also two stories in which Dredd teams up with characters from other Megazine strips, which may or may not tickle your fancy.

Artistically speaking, it's one of the most stylistically varied volumes yet.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Prodigal2 on 22 January, 2016, 11:21:10 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 21 January, 2016, 11:55:38 AM
If you've read enough Dredd to be up to CF26, then I'd say definitely yes, this volume is worth picking up! In general, Dredd is on an upswing from this point onwards.

It includes all the Dredd strips from Progs 1029-1052, and from Megs 3.19-3.33 (except that it doesn't include America II: Fading of the Light, which was originally run under the Judge Dredd banner, but has been reprinted several times collected under the 'America' banner.)

The biggest story arc in it is 'The Hunting Party', which was one of the first Rebellion Dredd collections from years and years ago, but hasn't been reprinted since. It is both a fun story (about Dredd tkaing some rookies into the Cursed Earth) and, in a loose way, a foreshadowing of Origins. Plus it introduces some new young Judges who continue to be supporting characters for a while. Oh, and it's specifically a sequel to the Dune Sharks story that was reprinted in CF25.

The main Meg reprint is Fetish, which is John Smith and Siku - both somewhat acquired tastes when it comes to Dredd - but worth some time if you like stories where Dredd leaves MC1. The majority of the rest a short one-off Wagner eipsodes, which are always fun. Even the Mark Millar effort that opens the volume is one of his less bad ones.

There are also two stories in which Dredd teams up with characters from other Megazine strips, which may or may not tickle your fancy.

Artistically speaking, it's one of the most stylistically varied volumes yet.

Alex thanks-appreciate it fella.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 January, 2016, 06:56:03 PM
The debut of Oola Blint is reason enough alone to buy CF26!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 23 January, 2016, 08:09:30 PM
I'm just hoping that with the Complete Cursed Earth we'll get another hardback of CF2.  A bookplate by McMahon would be an absolute blinder. (but perhaps way too much to hope for, I'm just going to put that in my letter to Father Christmas Tharg).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: radiator on 23 January, 2016, 09:10:27 PM
I've said it before, but the Case Files are entering a bit of a rich goldmine of Dredd material in my opinion. A lot of really solid stuff, including some of the best Dredd ever published, that has never been reprinted anywhere. And it's the start of what is pretty much the most prolific, unbroken (solo) run John Wagner has ever done on the character, with loads of fantastic artwork to boot. It's also some of the most consistent Dredd material ever - it feels like Wagner was really crafting Dredd as a weekly serial/soap opera at this point so we get what is undoubtedly the biggest supporting cast of recurring characters Dredd has ever had.

To name just two off the top of my head, The Mega-City Way of Death and Simple Domestic are both forgotten classics that are well overdue another airing. I also think Doomsday is a seriously underrated epic - especially all the build up to it.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 24 January, 2016, 06:11:53 AM
Doomsday is fantastic.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 January, 2016, 11:29:43 AM
Quote from: Dash Decent on 24 January, 2016, 06:11:53 AM
Doomsday is fantastic.
Yes, a truly under rated mega-epic.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: 8-Ball on 24 January, 2016, 07:48:36 PM
Given how the story is split between the Prog and the Meg I wonder how Doomsday will be presented in the CF. I have the Hamlyn editions Doomsday for Dredd and Doomsday for Mega-City One and it is a beast of a story.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 25 January, 2016, 02:01:36 AM
We know Hatchette are presenting them as two separate volumes so they'll have to do it the same way as the Hamlyn editions.  They could only interleave the stories (to replicate the timing of the prog/meg publications) if they were doing a single whopper of a volume, or if they were prepared to stop the story somewhere in the middle and expect subscribers to wait until the release of the second Doomsday book to finish the tale.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 26 January, 2016, 05:17:10 PM
Quote from: 8-Ball on 24 January, 2016, 07:48:36 PM
Given how the story is split between the Prog and the Meg I wonder how Doomsday will be presented in the CF. I have the Hamlyn editions Doomsday for Dredd and Doomsday for Mega-City One and it is a beast of a story.

If memory serves me correctly this was a deliberate editorial choice following the poor reception of Judgement Day.  It was felt that running two parallel and related stories would work better.  To be honest, I think it does.  Plus you have the return of Kennedy and Wilson to Dredd, two titans that have been criminally underused in recent years (granted, in the case of his Lairdship with good reason).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 26 January, 2016, 05:52:36 PM
Having read these recently, they work as standalone volumes. Mixing them together wouldn't really be advantageous in the way it was for Trifecta.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 09 February, 2016, 11:38:49 AM
Hi guys. What's the deal with these 'new' Case File editions with different covers, e.g.:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Dn5XYvtIL._SX358_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 February, 2016, 11:44:42 AM
Aren't they the US Editions. Same content just a different cover for the US market.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 February, 2016, 01:55:09 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 09 February, 2016, 11:44:42 AM
Aren't they the US Editions. Same content just a different cover for the US market.
Exactly this.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 10:20:33 AM
Did they fix the problem of mismatching spines? I just got Case Files Vol. 11 and the problem really does get worse there.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2016, 10:22:38 AM
Honestly the spine issue with the case files has reached such an unprecedented level of omni-shambles* i've actually grown to love it.

*Word of the day, not a slight on the graphic designers at rebellion who co tinue to do a sterling job.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 11 February, 2016, 10:40:46 AM
Mis-matched in what way?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 10:56:33 AM
First, the lettering, helmet image and number are resized and therefore misaligned on each volume. On some issue 2000AD symbol is also misaligned or a different size (beginning with #10). Then from #11 there is a redesign which incorporates the badge into the name, and reverses the colour scheme design. they just aren't as visually unified as they ought to be.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2016, 11:05:36 AM
To be fair, the case files has been running for 10 years. That has to make it one of the longest  continuously in print line of reprints on the market
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 11 February, 2016, 11:18:19 AM
Quote from: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 10:56:33 AMFirst, the lettering, helmet image and number are resized and therefore misaligned on each volume.
The books are different thicknesses, in some cases quite significantly. Tricky to design that to have all the bits you mention end up identical.

Really, though, you're on a hiding to nothing with spine consistency anyway. Even the simplest ones have a tendency to screw up. My Hellboy Library Edition books don't exactly align. The Canongate Complete Peanuts collection suddenly had a change of logo colour halfway through.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 11 February, 2016, 12:03:20 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 10:56:33 AM
Then from #11 there is a redesign which incorporates the badge into the name, and reverses the colour scheme design. they just aren't as visually unified as they ought to be.

That's deliberate, though - every 10 books the series has a minor redesign. It becomes more obvious once you have quite a few of the books lined up together. 1-10 is colour above black and a fairly simple font; 11-20 is black above colour and a Judge badge in place of the 'U' in the font; 21-30 flips back to colour above black, and has an ever-so-slighty different badge. CF31 is presumably going to flip the colours once again.

The reason 11 looks so horribly out of place, even next to 12-20, is simply the thickness of the spine. I would honestly re-buy 11 if they re-released in a thinner colour edition.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 12:50:53 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 11 February, 2016, 11:18:19 AM
Quote from: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 10:56:33 AMFirst, the lettering, helmet image and number are resized and therefore misaligned on each volume.
The books are different thicknesses, in some cases quite significantly. Tricky to design that to have all the bits you mention end up identical.


Not that tricky. You could very easily have every element horizontally lined up accept for the writing.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 11 February, 2016, 01:25:00 PM
In order for that to work, you would have to align and size components to fit the thinnest book and then use that for every volume. The result would be thicker volumes with acres of space around spine elements.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 02:31:16 PM
Nah you'd scale it for the biggest one. No need to figure that out in advance either. Just have the logo at then very bottom, the number just above that, and the helmet just above that (as in vols 5 & 11, for instance). The text - and thus coloured strip between the text and the helmet - would then be the only thing that had to vary in size and all the other visual elements would be lined up. It would look vastly cleaner from a design perspective.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 02:34:33 PM
Perhaps I could be more clear - the elements might have to vary in size, but they could be lined up on the vertical axis.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 11 February, 2016, 02:56:25 PM
But that would still look odd. 'Judge Dredd' would be in wildly different sizes, as would all type and the logo.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 03:45:49 PM
Yes, but that's already true. This way at least they would be aligned.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 11 February, 2016, 03:48:29 PM
If you've not seen it already, I've got the feeling you'll like the spines thread (https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=34474.0).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 11 February, 2016, 04:07:50 PM
Brilliant. That's like an OCD-sufferers' support group.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 February, 2016, 03:40:57 PM
Dark Horse did this with their Creepy and Eerie volumes.
Everything is hunky dorey until Creepy volume 13 and Eerie volume 10 when they changed the Dark Horse logos.
Makes me wince every time I look at my bookshelves.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 27 February, 2016, 08:05:53 AM
Case Files 27 says it covers Prog 1053-1083 and Meg 3.34-3.38. This means it includes Predator vs. Judge Dredd, doesn't it? Since that's the only Judge Dredd story in those last few megs.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Casefiles-John-Wagner/dp/1781084327 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Casefiles-John-Wagner/dp/1781084327)

Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 27 February, 2016, 08:09:18 AM
Enrique Alcatena (the artist of the Predator story) is not listed on the cover though. So that's an inconsistency, one way or the other the cover has an error.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 February, 2016, 08:28:27 AM
I suspect they might be excluded as it has it's own TPB now.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 February, 2016, 11:03:47 AM
I didn't expect it to appear in Case Files especially, as Hawk says, having recently been reprinted with the Aliens story. What I didn't realise until checking now is that it was printed as Predator vs. Dredd and was technically a reprint of the Dark Horse series. Given the very short time lag I assume the intention was always to print it in both places almost simultaneously but, for those who care*, it gets them off the hook in terms of what the Case Files normally contains on two counts.

Interesting about the numbering though. On balance, I think I'd rather have the issues with no stories listed on the cover than a mysterious gap.


* Obviously, I care enough to try and figure out the reasoning behind these things but, ultimately, I don't get worked up about the content.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 28 February, 2016, 08:59:34 PM
It doesn't credit Enrique Alcatera, the artist on the Predator crossover, but it does credit the other Megazine artists in those issues. So I think they're not going to include Predator, which makes sense as the copyright on that story was shared with another company. If you want a complete run, you need to buy the Predator and Aliens book. (And the Batman and Lobo book. And America, and The Cam Kennedy Collection, but don't get me started on that...)

The issue numbers on the cover don't mean they're including all the episodes from those issues, it's just so it doesn't look like there's a gap.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Molch-R on 28 February, 2016, 10:12:59 PM
Predator vs Judge Dredd is included in Case Files #27.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 29 February, 2016, 12:19:37 AM
Wa-hey!!! :D
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 29 February, 2016, 12:59:58 AM
Quote from: Molch-R on 28 February, 2016, 10:12:59 PM
Predator vs Judge Dredd is included in Case Files #27.

Very cool!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 29 February, 2016, 01:55:58 AM
Quote from: Molch-R on 28 February, 2016, 10:12:59 PM
Predator vs Judge Dredd is included in Case Files #27.

I just bought the Alien/Pred book to get that story last week - :'(
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 29 February, 2016, 02:39:00 AM
Quote from: Skullmo on 29 February, 2016, 01:55:58 AM
Quote from: Molch-R on 28 February, 2016, 10:12:59 PM
Predator vs Judge Dredd is included in Case Files #27.

I just bought the Alien/Pred book to get that story last week - :'(

I can beat that, I ordered it shortly after posting about it yesterday. Owning it twice is a good thing!  :D

And who knows whether the Aliens one will also be in the Case Files. Hopefully. Plus that one will be a while from now.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 29 February, 2016, 10:32:36 AM
Quote from: Skullmo on 29 February, 2016, 01:55:58 AMI just bought the Alien/Pred book to get that story last week - :'(
Where from? If online, you can return under distance selling regs, if it's still in the condition you bought it in.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Skullmo on 29 February, 2016, 11:16:37 AM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 29 February, 2016, 10:32:36 AM
Quote from: Skullmo on 29 February, 2016, 01:55:58 AMI just bought the Alien/Pred book to get that story last week - :'(
Where from? If online, you can return under distance selling regs, if it's still in the condition you bought it in.

The 2000 sale
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 29 February, 2016, 12:42:40 PM
-wipes away tear of cruel laughter- That's great news, never read it.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 29 February, 2016, 12:53:31 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 29 February, 2016, 11:16:37 AMThe 2000 sale
Distance-selling regs give you the right to return for full refund within 14 days. See this CAB FAQ (https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-mind/changing-your-mind-about-something-youve-bought/).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: I, Cosh on 29 February, 2016, 12:54:04 PM
So much for my hair-brained theories then.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 18 March, 2016, 09:59:25 AM
Can anyone confirm whether or not the Case Files include 'The Dead Man'? I'm about to purchase Vols 14 & 15.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 March, 2016, 10:03:44 AM
Quote from: Arkady on 18 March, 2016, 09:59:25 AM
Can anyone confirm whether or not the Case Files include 'The Dead Man'? I'm about to purchase Vols 14 & 15.
It does not. There's a separate Tales of the Dead Man (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Dead-Man-John-Wagner/dp/1906735190/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458295375&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dead+man) collection.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 18 March, 2016, 10:10:49 AM
Ta, ordered.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Fragminion on 12 April, 2016, 07:43:52 AM
Ditto that.  Just got it and read the Dead man.  Was there any shock when The Dead Man's Id was revealed in this story or was this foreseeable from a few miles/kilometers away when it came out?


And WHY can't they put out the Case Files (or the Restricted Files for that matter as well) FASTER!?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 April, 2016, 02:22:11 PM
Quote from: Fragminion on 12 April, 2016, 07:43:52 AMDitto that.  Just got it and read the Dead man.  Was there any shock when The Dead Man's Id was revealed in this story or was this foreseeable from a few miles/kilometers away when it came out?

Some people guessed; lots didn't. A fair few, I imagine, strongly suspected but couldn't quite believe that the comic would do something so drastic to its lead character. It's one thing to read this in a standalone collection, and a different thing entirely to read it as just another story in a weekly anthology (authored under a pseudonym to hide its direct connection to the main strip).

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 12 April, 2016, 02:34:23 PM
I thought it was quite expertly plotted at the time, and caught on with what was happening at roughly the same time as Dredd. People should also be aware that at the time Tharg was teasing the death of a major character, and everything kind of dovetailed into that.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 12 April, 2016, 03:03:53 PM
I twigged it was Dredd right off from the unnatural/artificial eyes, but thought it was set far in the future when Dredd had eventually taken the Long Walk, a sort of Dark Knight Returns deal. It was only at the end that I realised we could looking at the immediate future.

It's worth remembering that almost everyone seemed to be moments from death in 2000AD at that time... Chopper was being riddled with hole in MC2, Slaine was apparently moving towards a conclusion, Zenith was in way over his head and the Vertex switcheroo was only a few weeks off, Johnny Alpha was left blinded in a hell dimension... Only Bradley seemed untouchable.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 12 April, 2016, 03:23:01 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 12 April, 2016, 03:03:53 PMOnly Bradley seemed untouchable.
That says so much about what happened next, during the BAD YEARS.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 April, 2016, 03:38:00 PM
I must admit Tharg has fooled me every time - Dead Man, Crispy, Malone, Trifecta, I'm just not cynical enough to suspect these things!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 April, 2016, 07:11:47 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 12 April, 2016, 03:38:00 PM
I must admit Tharg has fooled me every time - Dead Man, Crispy, Malone, Trifecta, I'm just not cynical enough to suspect these things!

Yeah I only had a vague idea JUST before the reveal. It was very very expertly plotted. One of those moments that however good it is when read back you are so glad you were lucky enough to read it in real time and so glad I'm not smart enough to have sussed it properly!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Magnetica on 14 April, 2016, 11:05:48 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 12 April, 2016, 03:38:00 PM
I must admit Tharg has fooled me every time - Dead Man, Crispy, Malone, Trifecta, I'm just not cynical enough to suspect these things!

You missed one Dead Eyes --> Indigo Prime.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 08 June, 2016, 03:23:17 PM
Is everything in 'Heavy Metal Dredd' also in the Case Files?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 June, 2016, 04:46:38 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 08 June, 2016, 03:23:17 PM
Is everything in 'Heavy Metal Dredd' also in the Case Files?

No, thank Grud - it got its own collection at some point a few years back.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Judge Brian on 16 July, 2016, 09:54:05 PM
I'm very pleased with the latest case files. I've been waiting since Prog 406 to read "In the Year 2020".
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 28 July, 2016, 10:24:06 AM
Is Dredd vs Predator in Case Files #27? I'd like to read it before taking on the new Dredd Vs Aliens Vs Predator series.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2016, 10:29:38 AM
Yes, it is!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 28 July, 2016, 10:34:50 AM
Ah yes, answered above too I see: sorry.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: davepain on 13 September, 2016, 07:16:12 PM
Hi. I've read from 1 to 16 now and am disappointed to say that I've really not enjoyed the last few. The reviews on Amazon for the next 4 or 5 volumes make it sound like they suck pretty hard too.

To save me further woe, which collection do you think would be a good point to jump back in? Cheers!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Steve Green on 13 September, 2016, 08:13:21 PM
Hard to say without knowing which aspects of the last few you didn't enjoy.

The next few are a mixed bag, you've got some good stories with good art, some good stories with not-so-good art, and some stories like Inferno with great Carlos art, but people aren't fond of the story.

Could try 23 and see how you get on.

27 contains the Pit, which people seem to consider a bit of a milestone where Dredd became a bit more police procedural.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 September, 2016, 09:23:20 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 13 September, 2016, 08:13:21 PM

27 contains the Pit, which people seem to consider a bit of a milestone where Dredd became a bit more police procedural.

Yeah The Pit makes a return of Wagner on a pretty exclusively superb run and if you don't get on with that maybe latter Dredd isn't for you. It's actually Vol. 24 isn't it? Which also includes The Cal Files one of my all time fav Dredd's. Happy to be corrected though.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Steve Green on 13 September, 2016, 10:28:17 PM
You're right - I was going off the reviews on Amazon which talk about the Pit being in 27
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: davepain on 13 September, 2016, 11:07:40 PM
Groovy. Thanks for the input.

I've read to 15, not 16. I lied.  :D

I liked the fact that things got a bit political but so far my preferred things about Dredd were the crisp b&w art (Ron Smith is my favourite) and the OTT satire on mc1 life. The last few felt gloomy and I've enjoyed the art much less in colour. I've enjoyed the Dredd I've read in the progs I've picked up over the last couple of years, though.

Ill give 24 a bash. Thanks again!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: CAN1F on 02 December, 2016, 10:58:49 AM
28 just landed I still yet to read 27

New copy going for £8.35 with £2.10 p&p
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: radiator on 02 December, 2016, 05:51:06 PM
Quote from: davepain on 13 September, 2016, 11:07:40 PM
Groovy. Thanks for the input.

I've read to 15, not 16. I lied.  :D

I liked the fact that things got a bit political but so far my preferred things about Dredd were the crisp b&w art (Ron Smith is my favourite) and the OTT satire on mc1 life. The last few felt gloomy and I've enjoyed the art much less in colour. I've enjoyed the Dredd I've read in the progs I've picked up over the last couple of years, though.

Ill give 24 a bash. Thanks again!

Yeah, go for 24. For me, the time around the release of the Stallone movie - summer 1995 - marked the beginning of a kind of second golden age of Dredd that continued for the next five or so years. After a few wonky years with some legitimately terrible epics (Book of the Dead, Inferno) and even some patchy Wagner epics (Wilderlands), from 24 on it's pretty much wall to wall Wagner, Dredd becomes more soap opera-like, with a run of truly great interconnected stories, and the supporting cast rapidly expands, but there's also an abundance of trademark wacky Mega City worldbuilding and humorous one-offs. This era also includes dozens of great strips that have never been reprinted anywhere.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 03 December, 2016, 01:22:34 PM
What Radiator said. This is a golden age of Dredd stories.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 15 December, 2016, 02:49:59 PM
Ok,starting CF28.I see its Wagner all the way.Nice.  :)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Rately on 15 December, 2016, 03:16:22 PM
I'm up to volume 14, and absolutely love the format.

It is just an absolute privilege to have them on my bookshelves, and be able to dip in and out whenever i fancy a re-read of Necropolis, The Apocalypse War, Judge Child etc. Just astounds me the quality of so many of the volumes, and the way that Dredd and his cast of characters continue to grow and surprise us.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 15 December, 2016, 05:14:01 PM
My personal reading has been kinda all over the place.2-6,14-15,19-27,so I have some catching up to do.Good thing volumes are pretty standalone for most part.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 29 December, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
CF #28 was pretty good.Jimmy Deans,Beyond the call of duty,LIAR party,demonic(well,more demonic) Teletubies,Taxidermist returns.Good stuff.
BTW,will #29 collect Doomsday Scenario?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 29 December, 2016, 02:24:20 PM
Quote from: Smith on 29 December, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
BTW,will #29 collect Doomsday Scenario?

Book 30 will be all Doomsday.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 29 December, 2016, 02:55:17 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 29 December, 2016, 02:24:20 PM
Quote from: Smith on 29 December, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
BTW,will #29 collect Doomsday Scenario?

Book 30 will be all Doomsday.
Okay,thx for the info. :)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: 8-Ball on 03 January, 2017, 12:01:01 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 29 December, 2016, 02:24:20 PM
Quote from: Smith on 29 December, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
BTW,will #29 collect Doomsday Scenario?

Book 30 will be all Doomsday.

All Doomsday? Both parts, Prog and Meg? That's going to be one helluva Case File. I'm going to have to start some weight training in preparation for getting it home from Waterstones and/or FP.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Rogue Judge on 10 January, 2017, 07:59:32 AM
Quote from: davepain on 13 September, 2016, 11:07:40 PM
Groovy. Thanks for the input.

I've read to 15, not 16. I lied.  :D

I liked the fact that things got a bit political but so far my preferred things about Dredd were the crisp b&w art (Ron Smith is my favourite) and the OTT satire on mc1 life. The last few felt gloomy and I've enjoyed the art much less in colour. I've enjoyed the Dredd I've read in the progs I've picked up over the last couple of years, though.

Ill give 24 a bash. Thanks again!

Number 17 has the megaepic Judgement Day which is, IMO, well worth your time.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 22 February, 2017, 01:16:27 PM
In the process of filling up holes,(I still got 9-13) I finished CF8.It was okay,but I get the feeling the creators were running out of energy.Dredd Angel was funny.Another revisit of Cursed Earth.Dredd does some questioning of his own actions.City of the Damned lasts just a bit too long.Hunters Club is kinda weak,I have to say.Brisco's assessment is probably my favorite story in this file.
An okay volume,but not the most spectacular one.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 16 March, 2017, 08:20:42 PM
#9 was pretty solid.Letter from a democrat and Midnight Surfer are obviously the strongest stories.Most of it are shorter stories,that mostly work.I liked Nosferatu.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexF on 20 March, 2017, 01:53:26 PM
Recently finished CF 28 - the most recent one - and I think, story for story, it's one of the best ever, right up there with my go-to favourites of the original Wagner/Grant era.

All the stories are written by John Wagner, which helps to keep the quality high, of course! But there's some cracking art and it's basically full of those little 1 or 2 part comedy gems.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Fragminion on 23 March, 2017, 06:29:38 AM
The only complaint I can make about the Case Files is that they don't PUT THEM OUT FAST ENOUGH! 

That and I hope there is a follow up story to Pup Fiction.  Wanna see some characters at the least get CUBED!

#28 was a good collection of Fun and (somewhat) Serious stories.  If only we could clean our political parties like Dredd can.

Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 27 March, 2017, 07:39:20 AM
CF #10 wasnt bad,but nothing really essential here.Sequels to some older stories,including the first one ever.
Some,like Michael Jackson and Jack the Ripper stories,are kinda fun,but a bit lazy.Judge application is probably the high point.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 03 April, 2017, 02:38:47 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Rrt4uO9uL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Cover of CF #11 is kinda confusing to me.Why a simp who only shows up in one story?Why not Chopper,or FairlyHyper Man or something Revolution related?But the inside of the volume was pretty freaking good. :)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 03 April, 2017, 04:01:01 PM
Quote from: Smith on 03 April, 2017, 02:38:47 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Rrt4uO9uL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Cover of CF #11 is kinda confusing to me.Why a simp who only shows up in one story?Why not Chopper,or FairlyHyper Man or something Revolution related?But the inside of the volume was pretty freaking good. :)

Well, Nobby Klunk (and wife) do show up for a sequel story in a few books' time, and he's the first simp we ever met - but agreed, it is a bit of an odd choice of cover image. If nothing else it makes zero sense out of the context of the story.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 08 April, 2017, 08:18:33 AM
They do show up in the next volume,true.
And now with #12 and #13 done,I caught up with all the Case Files.Yey,me. :)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 April, 2017, 09:26:46 AM
Klunk and co area good example of something I feel has been missing from Dred stories for awhile now. Reoccurring none Judge characters. Mrs. Gunderson has been appearing less frequently these last 5-10 years, for awhile it looked like Sensative Klegg would be stepping up.

It's a large oart of what makes Dredd such a great strip, IMHO.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 20 April, 2017, 04:59:02 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 April, 2017, 09:26:46 AM
Klunk and co area good example of something I feel has been missing from Dred stories for awhile now. Reoccurring none Judge characters. Mrs. Gunderson has been appearing less frequently these last 5-10 years, for awhile it looked like Sensative Klegg would be stepping up.

It's a large oart of what makes Dredd such a great strip, IMHO.

Agreed there, could always use some more Max Normal too, classy gent.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 18 August, 2017, 10:41:32 AM
Great cover on vol.30:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Case-Files-30/dp/178108548X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JEDQS4WQ2P898NH646D2
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 24 August, 2017, 09:36:43 AM
Just started on Vol.29. I have a habit of popping a spare bookmark straight into the index for the Megazine bit for when I get to that part... and I couldn't find it. Flicked to the beginning... a full index for the whole volume! Wait a minute... page numbers!

It amuses me how the Case Files continue to evolve and improve. But it does fill me with a slight foreboding that one day they'll release second editions with the various improvements incorporated (and proper coordinated spine art!) and I'll feel compelled to get the whole lot again.

Then again, I'd welcome that for the phone-book size vols 1-11. But maybe just nice custom dust-jackets foe the rest, yeah?

Was the Volume 1 hardback anniversary reissue much different inside?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: WhizzBang on 24 August, 2017, 06:17:01 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 24 August, 2017, 09:36:43 AM
Was the Volume 1 hardback anniversary reissue much different inside?

Nicer glossy white paper, colour pages (center spreads, occasional back cover and front cover), and a 'book plate' which is a bit of cardboard with a picture of Dredd on by Carlos. I am not really sure what the point of the book plate is - I used it as a book mark.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Magnetica on 24 August, 2017, 09:09:16 PM
Quote from: WhizzBang on 24 August, 2017, 06:17:01 PM
... and a 'book plate' which is a bit of cardboard with a picture of Dredd on by Carlos. I am not really sure what the point of the book plate is - I used it as a book mark.

er it's a picture of Dredd by Carlos on a bit of card. What's not to like?

Where as the bit of card I got with one of the Zenith hardbacks signed by Steve Yeowell seemed a bit more superfluous. It was not as if it was designed to be stuck into the book.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: 8-Ball on 25 August, 2017, 12:15:33 PM
I don't know if it's down to the fact that the tooth completely slipped off my radar around the turn of the century (right up until DREDD and the hype surrounding DoC brought me back into the fold) but it's the stuff post-CF30 that has me the most excited for the Case Files. It's all brand new territory for me.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: davepain on 28 August, 2017, 01:31:58 PM
Nearly a year on (best not to rush in) from my post asking where to go as I wasn't enjoying the early teens of CF...

I've just finished volume 24 as recommended and loved it. Barring a few small blips it was excellent. Great to be back on the old Lawmaster again. Thanks for the advice. Loving forward to the next few volumes very much.  :D
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 06 September, 2017, 12:03:14 PM
If memory serves , volume 30 will include Doomsday. Will be interesting to see whether they split the prog & Meg stuff as per the trades, or mix it up chronologically.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 06 September, 2017, 12:09:56 PM
Looking at the included material, almost the whole volume will be Doomsday (just a couple of extra Megazine stories I think).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 10 September, 2017, 11:30:06 AM
CF #29 is done.It was okay.I read a lot of it recently,so I couldn't really get excited.  :)
Simian Bizley,I missed that the first time.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Prodigal2 on 11 December, 2017, 10:57:14 AM
Guys Case files 30 worth a punt to someone who missed it first time around?

TIA.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 11 December, 2017, 02:27:26 PM
Yes, it's the whole run of The Doomsday Scenario, which is brilliant.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Prodigal2 on 12 December, 2017, 12:16:19 PM
Quote from: Richard on 11 December, 2017, 02:27:26 PM
Yes, it's the whole run of The Doomsday Scenario, which is brilliant.

Thanks Richard. Appreciate it fella.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 12 December, 2017, 12:46:47 PM
Quote from: Prodigal2 on 11 December, 2017, 10:57:14 AM
Guys Case files 30 worth a punt to someone who missed it first time around?


If you're more or less up-to-date with recent volumes then this is what the series has been building to for some time - arguably since volume 23! It's the last you'll see of Demarco in the main strip, for instance.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: TordelBack on 12 December, 2017, 01:06:01 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 12 December, 2017, 12:46:47 PM
Quote from: Prodigal2 on 11 December, 2017, 10:57:14 AM
Guys Case files 30 worth a punt to someone who missed it first time around?


If you're more or less up-to-date with recent volumes then this is what the series has been building to for some time - arguably since volume 23! It's the last you'll see of Demarco in the main strip, for instance.

-cough-[spoiler] Trifecta[/spoiler] -cough-
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Prodigal2 on 14 December, 2017, 10:09:54 AM
Thanks chaps.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Smith on 25 December, 2017, 04:06:21 PM
#30 Well everything I said about Doomsday back in Megazin review still applies.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 06 February, 2018, 04:07:06 PM
Anything particularly exciting that we can expect in CF#31?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexF on 07 February, 2018, 12:12:21 PM
Nothing spectacular, to be honest - Banzai Battalion are always fun, but you may already have the collection of that strip. Plenty of John Wagner scripted one-offs, mostly fairly funny as I recall, but also quite a few Alan Grant one-offs, which try to be full-on comedy but don't always come off. The Megazine reprints will include J D Megson, which is a sort of metaphorical account of the trials and tribulations of the Megazine during its first 10 years, and is pretty great on that level, but may not have much impact if you weren't reading the Megazine at the time...

There's an epilogue to Doomsday, Volt Face, and then the Cal Legacy, are the standout 'continuity' heavy episodes. There's also 'Blood Cadets', a fantastic tale of Young Dredd, with awesome Simon Fraser art - but I can't tell if that'll be the last story in CF31, or the first in CF32...

Out of interest, has anyone here been getting the US versions of the Case Files? Some of the early UK volumes, especially the supermassive phonebook sized collections, have some pretty dodgy repro. Would it be an upgrade to get the US version of, say, Case Files 8-10, or is it the same problem in both?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 07 February, 2018, 02:16:17 PM
Sorry, meant to say ah great - I have fond memories of the Cal Legacy (though did it ever go anywhere?) and Bloody Cadets was one of the last things I remember from before I dropped the prog. Not read any of the Megazine stuff from this period.

I'd buy Case Files 1-11 again in a heartbeat if the reduced them in the current slim, glossy format - with colour pages restored!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 07 February, 2018, 04:14:57 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 07 February, 2018, 02:16:17 PM
I'd buy Case Files 1-11 again in a heartbeat if the reduced them in the current slim, glossy format - with colour pages restored!

Me too!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 07 February, 2018, 06:39:42 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 07 February, 2018, 02:16:17 PM
I'd buy Case Files 1-11 again in a heartbeat if the reduced them in the current slim, glossy format - with colour pages restored!

Still hankering after hardcover bookplate editions.  The 10th Anniversary edition is getting lonely.   :(
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 07 February, 2018, 11:09:27 PM
QuoteI have fond memories of the Cal Legacy (though did it ever go anywhere?)
The Cal Legacy was an epilogue to the Judge Edgar storyline that had been going on for the last five years or so, rather than a prologue to something. But it's also the story in which Hershey became chief judge and Buell became head of SJS. And continuity stuff aside, its a good story in it's own right, especially the scene with Buell, Garcia and Muncie, which is a real laugh-out-loud moment.

It did however set Edgar up in the Cursed Earth for the excellent stories Revenge of the Chief Judge's Man and The Edgar Case.

Blood Cadets introduced Judge Rico. CF31 also brings back Trapper Hag and Walter the Wobot, and John Wagner appears in a story!

Not sure if Dead Ringer will be in 31 or 32, but that's a cracking story.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 February, 2018, 05:24:57 PM
Most importantly of all, we swapped Alan Craddock for Chris Blythe!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: DrJomster on 16 March, 2018, 10:47:34 PM
Quote from: Smith on 29 December, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
CF #28 was pretty good.Jimmy Deans,Beyond the call of duty,LIAR party,demonic(well,more demonic) Teletubies,Taxidermist returns.Good stuff.
BTW,will #29 collect Doomsday Scenario?

I'm on 28 from the amazingly generous recent sale. Most of the way through and it's been tops so far. Can only echo the love for taxidermist, Jimmy Deans and Beyond the Call Of Duty. A fine addition to the case files!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: seanharry on 19 March, 2018, 04:45:20 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 07 February, 2018, 02:16:17 PM
I'd buy Case Files 1-11 again in a heartbeat if the reduced them in the current slim, glossy format - with colour pages restored!

There is a hardcover of the first volume, with colour pages, glossy paper and better reproduction. It is a much better presentation, but I'm assuming that it didn't sell well, as they didn't do any further volumes.

I think that they should do a harcover of volume two, which, as well as including the colour pages, better paper and better reproduction, would allow them to include the 4 previously banned episdes of The Cursed earth.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 19 March, 2018, 05:40:06 PM
Hardcover deluxe editions of all the Case Files would be brilliant and definitely the way to go. (Sadly though, I don't think it will happen.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:27:16 PM
Anyone else got Case Files 31? Is it just me or does page 258 seem to be printed in the wrong order?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:28:34 PM
And while I'm talking Case Files, can we agree that the cover of the forthcoming Vol.32 is a thing of absolute mastery?

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Case-Files-32/dp/1781086613&ved=2ahUKEwiTt6iMorzaAhXBFsAKHfS-BPsQFjAAegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw0VVRoYVOgo203gRXpKW_J2
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:42:51 PM
CF31 also features covers from progs that aren't covered by that volume!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 15 April, 2018, 02:53:03 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:27:16 PM
Anyone else got Case Files 31? Is it just me or does page 258 seem to be printed in the wrong order?

Yes, I agree the page feels out of order but it could have been done as an introduction to next part of JD's travel
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 15 April, 2018, 07:25:34 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:28:34 PM
And while I'm talking Case Files, can we agree that the cover of the forthcoming Vol.32 is a thing of absolute mastery?

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Case-Files-32/dp/1781086613&ved=2ahUKEwiTt6iMorzaAhXBFsAKHfS-BPsQFjAAegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw0VVRoYVOgo203gRXpKW_J2

Ooh, we've finally made it up to where I started reading the prog!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 16 April, 2018, 01:55:32 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 15 April, 2018, 02:53:03 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:27:16 PM
Anyone else got Case Files 31? Is it just me or does page 258 seem to be printed in the wrong order?

Yes, I agree the page feels out of order but it could have been done as an introduction to next part of JD's travel

Maybe that's it. Just feels really odd. Can anyone with the original progs confirm?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 16 April, 2018, 05:29:47 PM
Broodblik is correct, it's just a title page for the episode.

(//)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 16 April, 2018, 08:23:53 PM
Mystery solved  :D
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 16 April, 2018, 10:11:22 PM
Aha! Thanks for looking!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 22 May, 2018, 01:55:57 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 April, 2018, 07:25:34 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 15 April, 2018, 01:28:34 PM
And while I'm talking Case Files, can we agree that the cover of the forthcoming Vol.32 is a thing of absolute mastery?

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Case-Files-32/dp/1781086613&ved=2ahUKEwiTt6iMorzaAhXBFsAKHfS-BPsQFjAAegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw0VVRoYVOgo203gRXpKW_J2

Ooh, we've finally made it up to where I started reading the prog!

Very cool! And I'm a month late here, but that cover is incredible for sure.  :D
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 13 October, 2018, 06:59:05 PM
Sorry for the NecroPost but, which Case File will contain the 'Your Beating Heart' or 'House of Pain' stories?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 13 October, 2018, 07:46:33 PM
About volume 40 or so.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 13 October, 2018, 08:52:49 PM
And there's when I'm officially caught up with the Prog / Meg, cheers Richard!!!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 14 October, 2018, 01:56:00 PM
Looking forward to Vol.32, I haven't read Blood Cadets since it came out. Anything else of particular interest expected in that volume?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 14 October, 2018, 03:42:44 PM
It will have the return of P.J. Maybe after a long absence, a John Smith one-off called Survivor Type which is one of my favourites, and the tenth anniversary episode of the Megazine. It will also conclude volume 3 of the Meg with the death of [spoiler]Judge Castillo[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Frank on 14 October, 2018, 03:45:05 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 14 October, 2018, 01:56:00 PM
Looking forward to Vol.32, I haven't read Blood Cadets since it came out. Anything else of particular interest expected in that volume?

Depends on your definition of interesting. As far as regular humans are concerned, John Wagner's return to PJ Maybe is the other big attraction, beginning a cycle of stories that only really ended in 2016, with Ladykiller.

The other two big stories are Sabs, which sees Cam Kennedy return to skysurfing, and Shirley Temple Of Doom, which introduces 'block insurance'* and has the Big Story continuity development of Stark from The Hunting Party and Doomsday [spoiler]dying from Grubb's disease[/spoiler].

Even the least interesting story, Turned Out Quite Nice Again, features the colonic explosive exploits of the activist Urban Terror (and the art of Henry Flint). The Island is notable for John Wagner ripping-off Alex Garland years before the latter returned the compliment.

Artistically speaking, we get Jock's debut Dredd, the beginning of Chris Blythe's reign as Dredd colouring doyen, Siku ditching paint for linework, the third of four Dredds Steve Parkhouse has ever drawn, and Frazer Irving's only Dredd strip work.

There are two excellent one-offs from Wagner and Pete Doherty, Slow Crime Day and Blow Out. They're both hilarious and continue the arse fixation of Urban Terror, the former introducing cavity specialist Judge Skerrit, who sees every situation as an excuse to pull-on latex.**


* Protection rackets run by organised crime gangs, a plot element that will feature again most notably in the first Mandroid story

** Skerrit accompanied legend Phil Winslade on his only visit to MC1, the Jack Straw takedown, Caught In The Act (1450-1451)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 15 October, 2018, 05:33:50 PM
Good stuff Frank.

Also, it's posts like that that make me think you should take over the defunct Dredd Reckoning blog.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: DrJomster on 24 October, 2018, 09:47:21 PM
Case Files 30 was an odd experience for me, mainly from not having read it before. It was from my, gasp, lapsed reader period.

Things opened very well with the Cam Kennedy / Orlok segment. Really well in fact. But I finished the first half feeling it was all a bit run of the mill. Then I started on the second half and the over sexualised DeMarco depiction wasn't working for me at all. Still, on I read. And actually it started to get better. Quite a bit better. Both as its own half and as a complement to the first half. By the end, the overall book was in a much better place.

It would be fascinating to read it again as aleternating Dredd/DeMarco stories in what would effectively be a run of two Thrill mini progs.

It left me wanting Case Files 31 though, which is surely the acid test.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 14 December, 2019, 05:29:11 PM
Reading the new Case Files 34. Haven't read Helter Skelter in ages. What's the story of Ennis coming back to do this?

It's a bit of a wonky nostalgia-gest, but I do like the double-page spread where Ezquerra's art merges into Henry Flint's.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Greg M. on 14 December, 2019, 06:51:58 PM
Quote from: Arkady on 14 December, 2019, 05:29:11 PM
Reading the new Case Files 34. Haven't read Helter Skelter in ages. What's the story of Ennis coming back to do this?

Written in exchange for the rights to Troubled Souls.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 30 January, 2020, 12:11:13 AM
The Case Files sure rule. It's wild to think how it's "catching up" with so many graphic novel / trade paperback collections I've stacked up over the years. It's all good double dipping to support such a cool thing, but I might skip big ones I have already like Origins etc. I guess Origins might just be something like three or four years away, within another eight Case Files, with some loose math. And Total War should be just a few Case Files away.

On my unread pile I have Case Files 27 through 34, and I'm thinking I'll dive into those this year. That's a lot of Dredd, like four and a half years worth, and I've never read it, so I'm looking forward to it.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Arkady on 02 March, 2020, 02:26:00 PM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 30 January, 2020, 12:11:13 AM
The Case Files sure rule. It's wild to think how it's "catching up" with so many graphic novel / trade paperback collections I've stacked up over the years. It's all good double dipping to support such a cool thing, but I might skip big ones I have already like Origins etc. I guess Origins might just be something like three or four years away, within another eight Case Files, with some loose math. And Total War should be just a few Case Files away.

On my unread pile I have Case Files 27 through 34, and I'm thinking I'll dive into those this year. That's a lot of Dredd, like four and a half years worth, and I've never read it, so I'm looking forward to it.  :thumbsup:

This is why I made the decision not to get any physical trades when I got back into Dredd a few years back. I caught up on the epics digitally, and in the last few volumes the Case Files actually caught up with where I left off, so most of it is brand new to me. Still going to need more bookshelves though.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 20 September, 2021, 02:30:25 AM
Just noting that Case Files 36 and 37 have some printing errors. These no longer include the Judge Dredd logo or story title, or credits boxes etc. That was part of the original art and look, and it also makes stories bleed together a bit without that to show it's a new one. Plus, Case Files had those features up through 35. Hopefully they fix that, especially for the future releases as well.

And for digital, two page spreads are supposed to be combined, so you can see the whole image. When that happens in a digital 2000AD release, you'll only see the left half of the two page spread, then flip and see the right half, which doesn't show the full view. So hopefully the fix these two things, especially that first one, I have the paper versions myself.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 20 September, 2021, 01:58:19 PM
I'm not so sure that removing the logos, title and credit boxes is a printing error so much as new policy for the graphic novels team. However, I do agree that it was better when they retained them and I do doubt that they will come back.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: WhizzBang on 20 September, 2021, 05:10:03 PM
There was no contents page in the latest digital CF volume for Megazine stories but there was one for 2000AD ones.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 20 September, 2021, 11:48:46 PM
I prefer it this way, without all the clutter.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 21 September, 2021, 08:55:58 AM
It'd be tough for say a favorite stories topic, when you don't know what the name of the story you just read is. And much like a DVD of a classic movie, you want as it was, preserved. They didn't release these stories as is only to reprint them missing details 18 years later or whatever. And like mentioned there, they didn't even include that page of credits for the Megazine stories in the latest one.

But even if they do include those pages, it'd be pretty kooky to find the name of the story you're reading. And if you're flipping over to part 6 of a story or part 1 of a new story, this stuff affects the context. There is generally what looks a bit like a blank space under a missing logo in the art, or an area that is less detailed or interesting. It's not clutter any more than the title card in a movie is clutter. It's part of the 2000AD experience, they know we're seeing the title, and it may inform a bit of what we expect. Imagine a lot of those classic Dredd stories without a visible title. The PJ Maybe stories, It Pays To Be Mental etc, it would take something away. They messed up here.

https://www.2000ad.org/artwork/image.php?Image=paystobemental1.jpg&choice=BRYANG
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 21 September, 2021, 10:40:11 AM
I suspect editing these volumes is a pain. Ideally, we'd have the logo/credits/title on the first page of each series/standalone, but remove them—and catch-up captions—from the rest. It's always a jolt when reading a 2000 AD collection when every six pages there's a now contextually out of place catch-up box.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 22 September, 2021, 12:20:54 AM
Here's a bit from an email from support, it's cool that they're so nice and open about this stuff.

"We thought it looked a lot cleaner on the 16 part Dredd vs Aliens story.
However, we could in future aim for a middle ground and also include the credit box on the first part of each story in addition to the contents page."

So you've certainly got them thinking. "

So that's cool of them, maybe we should email them more often about our nitpicks. :D
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 22 September, 2021, 06:17:51 AM
The one thing I actually would like in the Cases Files is to have a splash-page with credit to whom credits deserve before each new story. I know that might push-up cost but it makes it easier.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexF on 22 September, 2021, 09:04:07 AM
I think the Contents listing at the start of each CF, and one at the start of each Megazine bit, works really well. I'd also vote for having the logo and title of each new story left on the page, but then NOT repeat it for the rest of a multi-part story. Dredd vs Aliens is a perfect case in point. It's a super exciting action thriller, and I think it'd lose some impact by being reminded precicesly where each cliffhanger ending happened.

More work for the repro droids, yay!

Still don't know how we get around the fact that the old Megazine Dredds never actually had a logo or title on them; it's only when a change o fart happens that I can even tell when one story has stopped and a new one has started, sometimes. Bishop done a lot of good, but de-logo-ing strips was not, I think, his best choice. Yes, it gives more space for the art, but it also takes away something comics-y that rankles with me. Guess I'm a dinosaur!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 September, 2021, 11:32:57 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 22 September, 2021, 09:04:07 AM
... it's only when a change o fart happens that I can even tell when one story has stopped and a new one has started...

Best typo ever?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: CalHab on 22 September, 2021, 01:46:23 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 22 September, 2021, 11:32:57 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 22 September, 2021, 09:04:07 AM
... it's only when a change o fart happens that I can even tell when one story has stopped and a new one has started...

Best typo ever?

Is that when a run-of-the-mill ripper suddenly alters in nature, necessitating a rapid trip to the toilet?

Sorry, got a bit Roger's Profanisaurus there.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: AlexF on 30 September, 2021, 08:19:40 AM
Definitely not a comment on the changeable quality of art in early Megazine Dredd stories...
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 06 May, 2022, 04:59:33 AM
The contents page for CF39 lists both "It's Your Funeral, Creep!" and "Six" starting on p.260.

"Six" actually starts on p.266.  Perhaps it's a feendish PJ Maybe puzzle: "Six" + "260" = 266?!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 06 May, 2022, 05:08:49 AM
The bigger thing for me is how the lettering (thanks for Jim highlighting the importance of lettering) has change from the original prog/megs. tom Frame did most of letting and it has been completely altered from his original lettering. This is on the digital release not sure if it is true on the printed release.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: The Cheat on 08 May, 2022, 01:40:40 PM
How are people storing their books? After reading, I've just been putting them vertically on my shelves (what I consider "normal"), but I've just gone back to start re-reading them and I've found that all the skinnier volumes (10ish+) have all developed an extreme bend due to the spines being thicker and more rigid than the other side of the books (the opening side). Looks like, although they appear to be wedged straight on the shelves when viewed from the front (spines out), the opening sides of the books (at the back of the shelf) aren't rigid enough to support the weight of the books, and they flop to one side or the other and thus develop the bend. Has anyone else noticed this and have any tips for trying to flatten the books out again?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 08 May, 2022, 04:39:50 PM
Sound like an annoying problem. Mine are packed in quite tight, space being at a premium, so they haven't had room to bend. You could try storing yours flat for a while and see if they straighten out.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 08 May, 2022, 05:17:18 PM
Prior to selling mine, I found the same. Stored flat with something heavy on top, they soon went back to normal. But this is a problem when you have wide shelves. (It doesn't really happen with a Kallax or something.) Sadly, I'm finding hardcovers aren't much better. They don't bend in that way, but the pages sag instead. So I need to start building shoes for some of my collection.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: The Bissler on 08 May, 2022, 07:08:11 PM
I also have the same problem with the books bending. I've recently started storing them flat as Indigo Prime mentioned.

On a separate note, I'm reading CCF 38 and noticed that "The Good Man" story came from Prog 2004. I'm  assuming there's a good reason for this, but it's very unusual to see this happen in the CCFs (possibly the first time?).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 08 May, 2022, 07:20:23 PM
No, they've all been in the Case Files.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 08 May, 2022, 07:33:29 PM
Quote from: The Bissler on 08 May, 2022, 07:08:11 PM
On a separate note, I'm reading CCF 38 and noticed that "The Good Man" story came from Prog 2004. I'm  assuming there's a good reason for this, but it's very unusual to see this happen in the CCFs (possibly the first time?).

"The Good Man" was published in the xmas prog called prog 2004 in December 2003. Prog 2004 and xmas prog 2004 is completely different progs and years - 2003 versus 2016 . This practise of giving the xmas prog the next years number ended in with the xmas prog being number 1961 as per correct sequence at the end of 2015. Hopefully my explanation makes sense
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: The Bissler on 08 May, 2022, 08:24:58 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 08 May, 2022, 07:33:29 PM
Quote from: The Bissler on 08 May, 2022, 07:08:11 PM
On a separate note, I'm reading CCF 38 and noticed that "The Good Man" story came from Prog 2004. I'm  assuming there's a good reason for this, but it's very unusual to see this happen in the CCFs (possibly the first time?).

"The Good Man" was published in the xmas prog called prog 2004 in December 2003. Prog 2004 and xmas prog 2004 is completely different progs and years - 2003 versus 2016 . This practise of giving the xmas prog the next years number ended in with the xmas prog being number 1961 as per correct sequence at the end of 2015. Hopefully my explanation makes sense

It makes perfect sense, thank you! I'd have been wondering about that for days so thank you for putting me out of my misery!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Blue Cactus on 09 May, 2022, 09:30:54 AM
Quote from: The Cheat on 08 May, 2022, 01:40:40 PM
How are people storing their books? After reading, I've just been putting them vertically on my shelves (what I consider "normal"), but I've just gone back to start re-reading them and I've found that all the skinnier volumes (10ish+) have all developed an extreme bend due to the spines being thicker and more rigid than the other side of the books (the opening side). Looks like, although they appear to be wedged straight on the shelves when viewed from the front (spines out), the opening sides of the books (at the back of the shelf) aren't rigid enough to support the weight of the books, and they flop to one side or the other and thus develop the bend. Has anyone else noticed this and have any tips for trying to flatten the books out again?

Yep, mine are the same, going all bendy. I tried inserting card between them at the back of the shelf but not sure it made much difference. Then I forgot and stopped doing that so... yep, all bendy.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 09 May, 2022, 10:56:49 AM
I've asked various comics folks about this. The best option, apparently, is to store hardcovers between them, or blocks of wood or perspex. Card probably won't be enough, unless it's extremely stiff. I guess books in general are a pain. Paperbacks of any size warp. Hardcovers droop. And in both cases, you don't really notice until the damage has already been done. (My Kill or Be Killed is not in a great way...)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 10 May, 2022, 03:52:59 AM
Good info! I used to stack all my trade paperback and hardcover comics, really high. This can cause some bending as well. Tried some techniques like flipping them here and there etc.

I had recently put my Case Files upright in a bookcase a few months back. So will take these tips into my strategy!

It is wild how heavy and space consuming keeping graphic novels around is. But worth it!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: The Corinthian on 06 July, 2022, 10:22:23 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 06 May, 2022, 05:08:49 AM
The bigger thing for me is how the lettering (thanks for Jim highlighting the importance of lettering) has change from the original prog/megs. tom Frame did most of letting and it has been completely altered from his original lettering. This is on the digital release not sure if it is true on the printed release.

That's... yikes. I mean, that's basically vandalism.

Was there a pressing need to reletter the entire book? And if so, why not do it more sympathetically?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 12 August, 2022, 08:47:50 AM
Just got Case Files 40, always great to get the new Case Files. Lotta cool stuff.

On the lettering thing, I notice if the lettering has been changed here since the progs, it was also changed for the previous Total War collection from over 10 years ago I think. I compared all three just now, and the diffence between the Total War Book and CF40 is very subtle. Looks like just about the same font and spacing to me, maybe printed slightly darker in the older Total War book. Very subtle difference to spot, them both being digitally lettered and almost identical sizing and spacing as far as I can tell.

One difference I notice is the first episode of Total War opens on a left page in CF40, but it begins on the right page in the Total War collection. That older collection had a black page with the title and credits on the left. So this makes the pages not line up between the two versions, at least for a bit.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 12 August, 2022, 11:03:11 AM
QuoteI mean, that's basically vandalism.
They actually missed out a speech bubble in America II.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 12 August, 2022, 12:34:50 PM
(My mistake, obviously that wasn't in the Case Files but in another graphic novel.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 31 July, 2023, 09:49:42 AM
Judge Dredd Case Files 04 - I'm a big fan of a big Dredd epic, but this uses the search for the missing Judge Child as a framing device to tell short, mad stories. I like the set up in the Cursed Earth and the trip to Texas, but once they're in space it was a bit of a mixed bag, and even felt like some stories were just filler. Thankfully once Dredd's on Xanadu it becomes great again, and when back on Earth it features some of my favourite ever one or two parters, so I did enjoy those a great deal, but due to the patchy nature of Judge Child I can only rate this 4/5
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: JohnW on 31 July, 2023, 07:17:31 PM
Quote from: BadlyDrawnKano on 31 July, 2023, 09:49:42 AMonce they're in space it was a bit of a mixed bag, and even felt like some stories were just filler.

Filler it may have been, but it was filler drawn by McMahon and Smith (and occasionally Bolland) at the height of their powers, and even when the episodes served no purpose, they were fun and/or thrilling.
The Judge Child was the golden age that I narrowly missed, so its reputation remains pretty much unassailable as far as I'm concerned. (I've always believed that the really good times end about two minutes after I arrive. I try not to take it personally.)

I have recently burbled expounded on this not-quite epic here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48963.msg1100133#msg1100133).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 05 August, 2023, 11:56:20 AM
Quote from: JohnW on 31 July, 2023, 07:17:31 PM
Quote from: BadlyDrawnKano on 31 July, 2023, 09:49:42 AMonce they're in space it was a bit of a mixed bag, and even felt like some stories were just filler.

Filler it may have been, but it was filler drawn by McMahon and Smith (and occasionally Bolland) at the height of their powers, and even when the episodes served no purpose, they were fun and/or thrilling.
The Judge Child was the golden age that I narrowly missed, so its reputation remains pretty much unassailable as far as I'm concerned. (I've always believed that the really good times end about two minutes after I arrive. I try not to take it personally.)

I have recently burbled expounded on this not-quite epic here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48963.msg1100133#msg1100133).


I may have been too harsh on it because it wasn't what I was expecting from a Dredd epic, and I agree with pretty much you say there.

I'm on the fifth Case File now and had a slightly similar reaction to the Crime Rackets storyline, some of them I really enjoyed but it felt like they lacked the light touch that some of the best Dredd stories of the period have. But then it launches in to the second Death story which is a stone cold classic, the diary of the mad citizen, and I'm loving it to pieces again!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 05 August, 2023, 08:27:18 PM
That's the thing with Cursed Earth and Judge Child Quest.  They have more in common with Dredd's stint as Lunar Marshall; a setting for a series of stories rather than an over-arching narrative.  It's a bit like Chaos Day in that respect.

The First Robot War, Origins and Apocalypse War are more singular stories.  The same can be said for City of the Damned (the main sequel to Judge Child Quest). 

So arguably we have two different 'types' of epic.  Both work well and benefit from outstanding artwork quite often. 

Personally I'm with BDK on this one.  As sumptuous as Bolland and McMahon's artwork is (sorry, never been a massive Smith fan.  Don't hate it, just never really been bowled over by it ...), the stories themselves can sometimes feel a little pointless.  Of those early epics it has always felt quite weak.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 05 August, 2023, 09:04:22 PM
I always thought of The Judge Child as one of the weaker epics, but when I re-read it last year it was much better than I had remembered.

Let's have a poll: do people prefer epics that consist of several related stories, such as The Judge Child and The Pit, or epics which consist of a single ongoing narrative, like Necropolis and The Apocalypse War?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: JohnW on 05 August, 2023, 09:07:14 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 August, 2023, 08:27:18 PMSo arguably we have two different 'types' of epic. 

I don't believe this works as a hard and fast rule, but I always saw the two types as 'City In Peril' and 'Journey Into Weird Shit'.

Robot War; The Day the Law Died; The Apocalypse War; NecropolisCity In Peril
The Cursed Earth; The Judge ChildJourney Into Weird Shit

City of the Damned — both

Oz Journey Into Weird Shit (if I have to pick one)

Inferno — we just don't acknowledge. Fuck that noise.

Origins  — The Cursed Earth redux, and therefore a Journey Into Weird Shit

Tour of Duty  — a reprise of The Day the Law Died, and thus City In Peril

Day of Chaos  — The Apocalypse War, the sequel, so City In Peril obvs.

There must be a few that have slipped my mind, and The Pit certainly doesn't fit the template, but then I never saw The Pit as an epic – more of a Dredd soap opera really.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: JohnW on 05 August, 2023, 09:10:33 PM
Quote from: Richard on 05 August, 2023, 09:04:22 PMLet's have a poll: do people prefer epics that consist of several related stories, such as The Judge Child and The Pit, or epics which consist of a single ongoing narrative, like Necropolis and The Apocalypse War?

Good idea, and I'm going to start by coming down strongly on the side of 'it depends'.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 06 August, 2023, 07:09:57 AM
That's a fair point and I wouldn't suggest it as a hard and fast rule.  It is possible to have multiple, overlapping categories.  City in Peril and Weird Shit are definitely valid ones.  We could also add in MC1 based and Wider Dredd-World, or Cursed Earth stories and Non-North American.

Personally I've always been curious about what leads to a story being classified as an 'epic'.  Some of them have profound impacts on the city itself.  Apocalypse War and Day of Chaos have seen the city massively changed in size and shape.  Day the Law Died saw the city enclosed and effectively turned into a giant prison.  Others have focused more on the development of Dredd as a character.  Judge Child, City of the Damned and the Pit have focused more on how Dredd deals with almost existential challenges.  As much as I too despise Inferno, it has produced significant changes to Dredd and his world. 

I suppose to me the word 'epic' denotes a quality that places it above others.  So I would agree with AW being called an epic but would struggle when it comes to City of the Damned.  I would consider Robot Wars an epic with its high quality artwork and early attempts to produce a long-take story.  Not to mention its early exploration of the issue of robots in a city of so many unemployed.

Not a simple question really ...

Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 06 August, 2023, 11:09:05 AM
To me the word "epic" means longer than a typical story, i.e. 20+ episodes.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 06 August, 2023, 11:11:54 AM
I'd say The Pit had a profound impact on the strip itself. It was with that run that Wagner cemented Dredd's shift in tone, becoming a more mature procedural, even if it still occasionally dipped into the bonkers nature of the city.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Anthony Garnon on 06 August, 2023, 12:49:08 PM
Quote from: Richard on 06 August, 2023, 11:09:05 AMTo me the word "epic" means longer than a typical story, i.e. 20+ episodes.

I wish could have another of that length. What was the last?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: NapalmKev on 06 August, 2023, 01:38:37 PM
Quote from: Anthony Garnon on 06 August, 2023, 12:49:08 PM
Quote from: Richard on 06 August, 2023, 11:09:05 AMTo me the word "epic" means longer than a typical story, i.e. 20+ episodes.

I wish could have another of that length. What was the last?

The last 20+ Episode Dredd epic was 'Day of Chaos' as I recall.

Cheers
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 06 August, 2023, 03:36:06 PM
Over 11 years ago!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 06 August, 2023, 03:45:35 PM
Yip time for another epic
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 06 August, 2023, 03:55:36 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 06 August, 2023, 03:45:35 PMYip time for another epic
I think that with Dredd no longer dominated by a single writer, it would have to be of the "journey into weird shit" type, or at any rate, a collection of several shorter stories within a longer arc.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 06 August, 2023, 04:45:29 PM
Got to wonder what they could do though.  I mean, we're at the point now where MC1 is a fraction of its original size and the Judges nowhere near their full power.  TBH that is something that has not really, to my mind, been properly explored.  There were elements of this in the aftermath of DOC but then it sort of faded out.

Then there is that intriguing line from Origins ... "it was never meant to be forever ..." What wasn't?  MC1?  The Judge system? Have the Judges actually totally perverted the original vision somehow?  Whatever it is, it has never really been touched on.  Are other writers leaving it alone for Wagner to tackle?  Is this going to be Wagner's Swansong?

There were hints of another epic a few years back with the Sci Fi special and those linked tales.  Remember the one that few people thought that much of, with that sort of environmental theme and Earth as the protagonist?  I wonder if the generally poor response to that nixed that idea.

Wagner seems to have worked hard over the years to chip away at MC1.  If we follow that through to its logical conclusion then there should be some sort of 'final crisis' that sees the Judicial system either dissolved or radically transformed.  What possibilities exist there?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 06 August, 2023, 05:05:00 PM
I have to admit that with 2000AD I often take a year or two off, but then binge 50 or 100 issues over a month or two, and there have been occasions I've just not got on with certain stories or read parts and then skipped the rest, so this might be a very stupid question - but is the idea that the Earth in Nemesis The Warlock is the same as that of Dredd's? Or did someone rewrite it and make it clear that it's no longer the case?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 06 August, 2023, 05:42:59 PM
Quote from: BadlyDrawnKano on 06 August, 2023, 05:05:00 PMI have to admit that with 2000AD I often take a year or two off, but then binge 50 or 100 issues over a month or two, and there have been occasions I've just not got on with certain stories or read parts and then skipped the rest, so this might be a very stupid question - but is the idea that the Earth in Nemesis The Warlock is the same as that of Dredd's? Or did someone rewrite it and make it clear that it's no longer the case?
I think they're all broadly part of the same universe. There have been enough crossovers over the years, even ignoring interdimensional ones like Helter Skelter. But 2000AD has never been as hung up on continuity as Marvel or DC.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 06 August, 2023, 06:19:06 PM
I think the answer is: it depends. Or, more: it depends on how the writer feels at the time. Mills has certainly at points aimed to align the strips. And there are plenty of cross-strip nods during the comic's early days, such as a Judge showing up in Nemesis (as a tasty dino treat), mentions of Mega-City One in various non-Dredd strips, etc. But Mills retconned ABC Warriors and Ro-Busters to expressly remove them from Dredd continuity years back.

Probably the strongest link between major strips is Dredd and Strontium Dog, which have now crossed over several times, with Alpha being quite pivotal. But those can still ultimately really be put down to 'bit of fun' territory.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 06 August, 2023, 10:05:21 PM
Quote from: nxylas on 06 August, 2023, 05:42:59 PMI think they're all broadly part of the same universe. There have been enough crossovers over the years, even ignoring interdimensional ones like Helter Skelter. But 2000AD has never been as hung up on continuity as Marvel or DC.

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 06 August, 2023, 06:19:06 PMI think the answer is: it depends. Or, more: it depends on how the writer feels at the time. Mills has certainly at points aimed to align the strips. And there are plenty of cross-strip nods during the comic's early days, such as a Judge showing up in Nemesis (as a tasty dino treat), mentions of Mega-City One in various non-Dredd strips, etc. But Mills retconned ABC Warriors and Ro-Busters to expressly remove them from Dredd continuity years back.

Probably the strongest link between major strips is Dredd and Strontium Dog, which have now crossed over several times, with Alpha being quite pivotal. But those can still ultimately really be put down to 'bit of fun' territory.

Thanks for both of those responses, it's interesting to hear that about Mills retconning ABC Warriors and Ro-Busters, which presumably technically has an effect on Nemesis... Yet at the same time I get what you both say about how it's not important, and while the teenage me might have taken it a bit more seriously, I don't really mind either way these days.

As mentioned right now I'm making my way through the Dredd case files (albeit one every couple of months), and I've recently bought Flesh The Dino Files, Halo Jones, Summer Magic and the first Strontium Dog Search/destroy Agency Files, and am really looking forward to reading those again, but after that I definitely want to revisit ABC Warriors as that was a strip I used to love decades ago when I first started reading the comic. That said it could well not take place until 2024 as my comics backlog is so large right now!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 12:52:35 AM
Pat Mills can try to retcon as much as he likes, but I'm not going to forget that scene in Nemesis Book 5 when a mega-city judge was tortured and killed by Thoth and Satanus. 
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: 13school on 07 August, 2023, 07:03:05 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 06 August, 2023, 04:45:29 PMThen there is that intriguing line from Origins ... "it was never meant to be forever ..." What wasn't?  MC1?  The Judge system? Have the Judges actually totally perverted the original vision somehow?  Whatever it is, it has never really been touched on.  Are other writers leaving it alone for Wagner to tackle?  Is this going to be Wagner's Swansong?


I've always thought it was Fargo talking about how the Judges seizing power was only meant to be temporary - the country was in ruins, Booth had destroyed the credibility of the Presidency, the Judges had to step in to hold things together... but they would eventually step back and hand power back to the people. You know, once things were back to normal.

But Fargo was a product of his time, when law officers were servants of the people (well, in theory at least). Dredd's generation of Judges and the ones after him had a very different view of things.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: GoGilesGo on 07 August, 2023, 11:52:50 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 06 August, 2023, 04:45:29 PMGot to wonder what they could do though.  I mean, we're at the point now where MC1 is a fraction of its original size and the Judges nowhere near their full power.  TBH that is something that has not really, to my mind, been properly explored.  There were elements of this in the aftermath of DOC but then it sort of faded out.

Blood of Emeralds / Every Empire Falls, depending what stories you include, comes in around the 170 pages mark which seems pretty epic to me. Post DoC and examines MC1's relations in the world quite nicely, especially how isolated they are:

Oswin "Believe me, the day Mega-City One crumbles, the rest of the planet will have a drokkin' Party!"

Guatemala and Project Providence have explored this thread too but obviously not at epic length. Plenty of that furrow left to plough.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 01:00:23 PM
I'd forgotten Every Empire Falls! *face palm emoji*

I'm sure that qualifies. Still some time ago now though.

Ongoing storylines that recur from time to time, like Enceladus and Providence, aren't technically epics though, because they are broken up by other stories running in between them (even though they are epic length when collected).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 07 August, 2023, 03:04:19 PM
Quote from: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 12:52:35 AMPat Mills can try to retcon as much as he likes, but I'm not going to forget that scene in Nemesis Book 5 when a mega-city judge was tortured and killed by Thoth and Satanus.
I remember an old '80s fanzine interview with John Wagner where he said something like "Judge Dredd's Mega-City One can't be Sam Slade's Mega-City One - it's far too limiting for poor old Sam". A multiverse perhaps? The zombie thing last year pretty much confirms it. I can't be arsed to check the timelines, but ISTR that Robo-Hunter takes place in Mega-City One earlier than Dredd, but I doubt that Hoagy will be making an appearance in Dreadnoughts.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 03:45:55 PM
I thought Sam Slade was in Brit-Cit? Which might just be a name and not the same place as Dredd's Brit-Cit across the Black Atlantic.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 07 August, 2023, 03:54:58 PM
Quote from: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 03:45:55 PMI thought Sam Slade was in Brit-Cit? Which might just be a name and not the same place as Dredd's Brit-Cit across the Black Atlantic.
He started out in Mega-City One, but moved to Brit-Cit later.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 04:47:13 PM
I didn't realise that! Thanks.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 August, 2023, 05:50:27 PM
Quote from: nxylas on 07 August, 2023, 03:54:58 PM
Quote from: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 03:45:55 PMI thought Sam Slade was in Brit-Cit? Which might just be a name and not the same place as Dredd's Brit-Cit across the Black Atlantic.
He started out in Mega-City One, but moved to Brit-Cit later.

I wasn't aware that Sam's location in the US was ever given as MC-1. Are you 100% on that?

He did go to a place named Brit-Cit, but it wasn't the Brit-Cit of the Dreddverse. As per Robo-Hunter, it was heavily populated by droids - to the extent that the soccer team and the prime minister were droids.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 August, 2023, 06:46:47 PM
Quote from: nxylas on 07 August, 2023, 03:54:58 PMHe started out in Mega-City One, but moved to Brit-Cit later.

Was the city Slade originally from ever explicitly named as MC-1, or did we all assume that it was when he relocated to Brit-Cit?

(Actually, I'm pretty sure I just assumed it was a generic name for a large urban conglomerate on the island of Britain at the time, since there appeared to be no real similarity between the Robo-Hunter universe and the Dredd one...)

(EDIT: Ninja-ed by Funt with the exact same point, there. Sorry, Funt!)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 07 August, 2023, 09:24:26 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo [R] on 07 August, 2023, 05:50:27 PMI wasn't aware that Sam's location in the US was ever given as MC-1. Are you 100% on that?
There's very little I'm 100% sure about these days. My name, address and date of birth, and that's about it. I no longer have the comics or reprints to check, but I have a vague memory of one episode (the first, I think) starting with a shot of Sam's business card, giving his address as being in MC-1.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 08 August, 2023, 07:48:22 AM
Quote from: 13school on 07 August, 2023, 07:03:05 AMI've always thought it was Fargo talking about how the Judges seizing power was only meant to be temporary - the country was in ruins, Booth had destroyed the credibility of the Presidency, the Judges had to step in to hold things together... but they would eventually step back and hand power back to the people. You know, once things were back to normal.

But Fargo was a product of his time, when law officers were servants of the people (well, in theory at least). Dredd's generation of Judges and the ones after him had a very different view of things.

That was where I thought Fargo was coming from.  I would agree as well, the world Fargo grew up in had a very different idea of the relationship between the law and the public.  Dredd's generation have been brought up very different.

We've seen Dredd grappling with doubts before to one degree or another.  At the most extreme it led to him taking the long walk and Necropolis.  That event seems to have cemented in his mind the idea that the world is too dangerous for the Judges to let go.  Yet ironically much of that danger appears to be generated by the Judges.

It's also worth considering Fargo's iconic status for Dredd.  As the creator and architect of the Judicial system, there has always been a sort of reverence there.  For Fargo to suggest that something is not quite right with his creation and that he disapproves of what it has evolved into ...

Again though it comes back to this question of different worlds, doesn't it?  Fargo created the Judicial system in a world that still retained many of the sensibilities we are familiar with.  Democracy as a normative political structure, the law to serve and protect.  Even with the breakdowns in society evident in the pre-War era, Fargo would have been trying to square that circle.

By contrast, the Judges were striving to cope with a post-civilisation world (almost).  The environmental damage of the nuclear war, massive reduction of the world population and lethal pollution of so much of the environment.  Dealing with those challenges in addition to the massive (presumably) influx of refugees into the Mega-cities in search of some degree of safety must have forced the Judges to take the Judicial system to its logical (and current) conclusion as a Fascist state.

I'm trying to remember how much of this has been covered down through the years directly or indirectly in the strip.  We have hints in tales like Cursed Earth and Lake Eyrie.  Even Origins is incomplete in its recall, told from Dredd's partial knowledge and potentially biased with its portrayal of Booth.

Dreadnoughts and the early novels cover some aspects too.  I've not read enough of those to be able to comment on how far they explore this.  Something I could probably do with looking at.

What I do wonder though is whether and how Wagner or other writers might tackle this.  There's no guarantee, I know.  We've seen ideas floated and then dropped before.  This one seems a bit more of a serious one, albeit potentially challenging.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 08 August, 2023, 11:10:35 AM
Quote from: Richard on 07 August, 2023, 12:52:35 AMPat Mills can try to retcon as much as he likes, but I'm not going to forget that scene in Nemesis Book 5 when a mega-city judge was tortured and killed by Thoth and Satanus.
Timey-wimey dimension wibbly wobbly etc. That's how my brain thinks of all this stuff, when it can be bothered. (See also: Fr1day rocking up in Mega-City One.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 08 August, 2023, 11:15:35 AM
I don't think there's any likelihood of major change occurring to the foundational aspects of Judge Dredd, because that would kill 2000 AD's biggest strip. Even the Garfield aspect of Dredd's age is being punted away with "oh it's fine, because technology", even if that doesn't align with what's happened previously in the strip. (Although perhaps Dredd and a handful of others get special treatment not even afforded to other judges.)

I'm not sure it matters all that much. Mega-City One makes no logical sense once you peel away even the first layer or two. It's just a mechanism for telling stories. And the Fargo line was likely written by Wagner with a big grin on his face, because he knew it would be a talking point for a long time – even if the sentiment from Fargo would never fully be acted upon. (My guess is we will see a thread from that play out with whatever Maitland does, and she will – for whatever reason – 'fail'. Dredd may well end up saying "no blame attached" and that it wasn't a bad idea – just the world they live in that couldn't let it happen. But there's no way her ideas will be allowed to stick, both from an in-universe standpoint AND an editorial one.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tjm86 on 09 August, 2023, 06:40:57 AM
TBH I don't think there is likely to be anything massive happening.  I agree, Dredd is too much of an anchor strip for the prog.  It's a bit like when Eagle finished the original Mekon strip, the comic lost itself to some extent.  The only time Dare really shined was when the Mekon was in play which kind of shows the limitations of the character.

Where Maitland is going is another interesting one.  Again, you raise some fair points there IP.  The narrative tendencies of Dredd mean that in all likelihood it is going to blow up spectacularly.  Either through direct sabotage or some surrounding-sector backlash.  The numbers may not lie but they also don't show what works on a larger scale. 

It's possible that Wagner threw that line in for jollies.  It wouldn't be the first time he has done that or put something out there and then realised it doesn't really work all that well after all.  Still think the best 'solution' to this problem is the idea that while the Judicial System wasn't meant to last forever, it was designed in a pre-apocalypse world.  The constraints of the current Dredd-world are such that it is unavoidable if things are to be 'managed' to any degree. 

Of course this does also pose a question for consideration; is totalitarianism inevitable?  Given how much of what Dredd has 'predicted' as a strip, together with things like the 'climate catastrophe', is this the only possible solution to managing populations?  :think:
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 10 August, 2023, 02:23:28 PM
Well, at least the trains will run on time.

Even if we all do have to eat munce.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 06 September, 2023, 04:33:06 PM
A little confusion over what will be in Dredd Case Files 43 (due to ship in January 2024): the blurb says that it will feature stories from Progs 1485 to 1504 and Megs 245-257 but it also says it will include the 'Origins' storyline which runs from Prog 1505 for 23 episodes. Will 'Origins' make the final cut or not? What is also not clear is whether the story 'Cadet' (Megs 250-252) will be the final offering from the Megazine in this volume?

Something slightly amiss in what we are being told to expect!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 06 September, 2023, 06:05:28 PM
Quote from: Max Headroom on 06 September, 2023, 04:33:06 PMA little confusion over what will be in Dredd Case Files 43 (due to ship in January 2024): the blurb says that it will feature stories from Progs 1485 to 1504 and Megs 245-257 but it also says it will include the 'Origins' storyline which runs from Prog 1505 for 23 episodes. Will 'Origins' make the final cut or not? What is also not clear is whether the story 'Cadet' (Megs 250-252) will be the final offering from the Megazine in this volume?

Something slightly amiss in what we are being told to expect!
42 episodes plus 12 Megazine stories sounds about the right length.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 06 September, 2023, 07:58:31 PM
The cover in the press release has Meg 245–257.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 06 September, 2023, 08:42:32 PM

Quote42 episodes plus 12 Megazine stories sounds about the right length.

No it doesn't. None of the recent case files have had as many as that. For example, Case File 42 covered progs 1465 to 1484 (and nine Megazines), which is typical.

The story in progs 1500 to 1504 was the prologue to Origins, which is probably what the blurb is referring to.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 27 September, 2023, 06:40:12 PM
So in Case Files 42, page 143, there has been some kind of error where some words in bold type have been left out of a speech bubble:

(https://i.imgur.com/EDvxa0j.jpg)


Here is the original from prog 1482:

(https://i.imgur.com/XnKxmpb.jpg)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 27 September, 2023, 07:58:10 PM
How bizarre. Hard to know how that happened. And just for one bubble. (This is also in the digital file, FWIW.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 September, 2023, 11:25:47 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 September, 2023, 07:58:10 PMHow bizarre. Hard to know how that happened. And just for one bubble. (This is also in the digital file, FWIW.)

I'd bet hard cash that's font substitution. The original is, I suspect, un-outlined text in Tom Frame's own font which has been substituted for Comicraft's MarianChurchland font in the new one, hence the reflow in the first balloon. Somehow, the bold/bolditalic hasn't been substituted at all in the second and the words have dropped out entirely...
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 September, 2023, 11:33:04 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 September, 2023, 11:25:47 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 September, 2023, 07:58:10 PMHow bizarre. Hard to know how that happened. And just for one bubble. (This is also in the digital file, FWIW.)

I'd bet hard cash that's font substitution. The original is, I suspect, un-outlined text in Tom Frame's own font which has been substituted for Comicraft's MarianChurchland font in the new one, hence the reflow in the first balloon. Somehow, the bold/bolditalic hasn't been substituted at all in the second and the words have dropped out entirely...

Why would they do that, Jim? It didn't need improving. The new "E"s are worse, with their shortened bottom line, and the "M" is all curved and too big for its boots.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2023, 07:29:20 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 September, 2023, 11:33:04 PMWhy would they do that, Jim? It didn't need improving. The new "E"s are worse, with their shortened bottom line, and the "M" is all curved and too big for its boots.

After Tom's death, his family felt it would be appropriate to 'retire' Tom's custom lettering font, so I imagine that any existing Frame digital lettering that, for whatever reason, hadn't been converted from live text to outlines would need substituting for something that looked reasonably close to the Frame droid's work.

Given that it's based on someone else's hand lettering (Marian Churchland's, obviously!) the Churchland font is a surprisingly good fit, although I run it with the horizontal scale up a little for the 'Frame tribute' style I use on Spector.

It's possible that Rebellion hold/held a copy of Tom's original font from back in the day, but there are any number of reasons why they might not be able to use it (not least because it might well be in the deprecated .ttf format, which a lot of print workflows will no longer accept).

So... my money is on an automatic font substitution routine that hit a glitch here and somehow slipped through the net.

(Please note that everything I've said here is speculation: I have no insight into the production/pre-press pipeline at Rebellion.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 29 September, 2023, 09:59:04 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2023, 07:29:20 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 September, 2023, 11:33:04 PMWhy would they do that, Jim? It didn't need improving. The new "E"s are worse, with their shortened bottom line, and the "M" is all curved and too big for its boots.

After Tom's death, his family felt it would be appropriate to 'retire' Tom's custom lettering font, so I imagine that any existing Frame digital lettering that, for whatever reason, hadn't been converted from live text to outlines would need substituting for something that looked reasonably close to the Frame droid's work.

Given that it's based on someone else's hand lettering (Marian Churchland's, obviously!) the Churchland font is a surprisingly good fit, although I run it with the horizontal scale up a little for the 'Frame tribute' style I use on Spector.

It's possible that Rebellion hold/held a copy of Tom's original font from back in the day, but there are any number of reasons why they might not be able to use it (not least because it might well be in the deprecated .ttf format, which a lot of print workflows will no longer accept).

So... my money is on an automatic font substitution routine that hit a glitch here and somehow slipped through the net.

(Please note that everything I've said here is speculation: I have no insight into the production/pre-press pipeline at Rebellion.)
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2023, 07:29:20 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 September, 2023, 11:33:04 PMWhy would they do that, Jim? It didn't need improving. The new "E"s are worse, with their shortened bottom line, and the "M" is all curved and too big for its boots.

After Tom's death, his family felt it would be appropriate to 'retire' Tom's custom lettering font, so I imagine that any existing Frame digital lettering that, for whatever reason, hadn't been converted from live text to outlines would need substituting for something that looked reasonably close to the Frame droid's work.

Given that it's based on someone else's hand lettering (Marian Churchland's, obviously!) the Churchland font is a surprisingly good fit, although I run it with the horizontal scale up a little for the 'Frame tribute' style I use on Spector.

It's possible that Rebellion hold/held a copy of Tom's original font from back in the day, but there are any number of reasons why they might not be able to use it (not least because it might well be in the deprecated .ttf format, which a lot of print workflows will no longer accept).

So... my money is on an automatic font substitution routine that hit a glitch here and somehow slipped through the net.

(Please note that everything I've said here is speculation: I have no insight into the production/pre-press pipeline at Rebellion.)

Thanks, Jim. That makes sense and I am glad it's likely a problem arising out of respect. Not that it helps those affected.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: dan200 on 30 September, 2023, 08:49:14 AM
I'm pretty sure it's just a technical glitch with the digital versions. The printed versions have no such issue.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 30 September, 2023, 02:26:43 PM
I have the printed issue. That's what I took a photo of.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: dan200 on 01 October, 2023, 12:16:57 AM
My bad, I got confused with an earlier post showing a digital version with the whole book in the wrong font.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Lorenzo on 01 October, 2023, 09:28:37 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2023, 07:29:20 AM...
It's possible that Rebellion hold/held a copy of Tom's original font from back in the day, but there are any number of reasons why they might not be able to use it (not least because it might well be in the deprecated .ttf format, which a lot of print workflows will no longer accept)....

I think you meant PS Type 1 fonts which Adobe stopped supporting this year. .ttf are still used alongside .otf, the only difference being copyright control and max glyph totals.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 October, 2023, 08:54:48 AM
Quote from: Lorenzo on 01 October, 2023, 09:28:37 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2023, 07:29:20 AM...
I think you meant PS Type 1 fonts which Adobe stopped supporting this year. .ttf are still used alongside .otf, the only difference being copyright control and max glyph totals.

I haven't used a .ttf in years, and a number of font houses have stopped offering them as an option so they may not be 'officially' deprecated but the format's days definitely seem numbered (and I've seen some print specs that specifically ask that fonts in that format aren't used). It's been so long since I encountered a Postscript font in the wild that I'd forgotten they still existed!

I'm not up on the technical differences between .ttf and .otf, but .otf seems to have much better ligature/autolig options.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 15 October, 2023, 11:34:48 AM
Is/Will the problem be fixed in future editions...?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: dan200 on 15 October, 2023, 09:19:14 PM
Probably worth emailing Rebellion about it so they can fix it on the digital versions for future printings, they may not be reading this thread.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 15 October, 2023, 09:28:10 PM
Thanks, I'll do that sometime this week
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Tu-plang on 16 October, 2023, 02:58:57 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2023, 07:29:20 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 September, 2023, 11:33:04 PMWhy would they do that, Jim? It didn't need improving. The new "E"s are worse, with their shortened bottom line, and the "M" is all curved and too big for its boots.

After Tom's death, his family felt it would be appropriate to 'retire' Tom's custom lettering font, so I imagine that any existing Frame digital lettering that, for whatever reason, hadn't been converted from live text to outlines would need substituting for something that looked reasonably close to the Frame droid's work.

Given that it's based on someone else's hand lettering (Marian Churchland's, obviously!) the Churchland font is a surprisingly good fit, although I run it with the horizontal scale up a little for the 'Frame tribute' style I use on Spector.

It's possible that Rebellion hold/held a copy of Tom's original font from back in the day, but there are any number of reasons why they might not be able to use it (not least because it might well be in the deprecated .ttf format, which a lot of print workflows will no longer accept).

So... my money is on an automatic font substitution routine that hit a glitch here and somehow slipped through the net.

(Please note that everything I've said here is speculation: I have no insight into the production/pre-press pipeline at Rebellion.)

I'm pretty sure that font isn't Churchland though--it's Tom's font, from around 2000-2003. After c.2003 it was  replaced by the rounder version in the second image. So they've replaced one Tom font with another.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 16 October, 2023, 10:15:50 PM
Quote from: Richard on 27 September, 2023, 06:40:12 PMSo in Case Files 42, page 143, there has been some kind of error where some words in bold type have been left out of a speech bubble:

(https://i.imgur.com/EDvxa0j.jpg)


Here is the original from prog 1482:

(https://i.imgur.com/XnKxmpb.jpg)

I've contacted Rebellion about this problem and will hopefully update this thread when, or even if, I finally receive a response.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 October, 2023, 08:06:44 PM
@Richard , sorry for the double post but I've finally gotten a response from Rebellion.

QuoteHello there, I hope you're well and apologies for the wait.
We've of yet only had one printing of Case Files 42 and I've just checked three different copies here at the office and not one of them has the error you mention so I suspect that Forum member Richard's copy must be one off.
(At least, as far as I can tell)
 
If you DO pick one up and it's got this error you let me know, with a picture ofc, and we'll happily replace.
 
Regards,
2000 AD, Rebellion Publishing and Unplugged
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Le Fink on 19 October, 2023, 08:27:56 PM
I have the same problem in my copy.

(https://i.imgur.com/MwqfGY0.jpg)

One-off, right...
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: nxylas on 19 October, 2023, 09:59:46 PM
Release the East-Meg Sleeper cut.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 October, 2023, 10:09:14 PM
Just messaged them of this persistent problem and will inform you lot of any and all updates.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Dash Decent on 20 October, 2023, 07:44:38 AM
I've just checked my copy and, sad to say, it also has the fault.

On the positive side, this is just one more reason why I'm so glad we finally got page numbers in the trades.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Le Fink on 20 October, 2023, 11:18:05 AM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 October, 2023, 10:09:14 PMJust messaged them of this persistent problem and will inform you lot of any and all updates.
Thanks, Batman's Supe... - wait a minute, do you not have a more concise superhero name? I'm not up on my Batman lore.

Anyway - thanks!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 20 October, 2023, 11:37:23 AM
Thanks, Batman's cousin.

(I'm not using the adjective publicly just in case I run into your cousin. But I'm secretly thinking it.)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 20 October, 2023, 06:01:45 PM
Quote from: Le Fink on 20 October, 2023, 11:18:05 AM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 October, 2023, 10:09:14 PMJust messaged them of this persistent problem and will inform you lot of any and all updates.
Thanks, Batman's Supe... - wait a minute, do you not have a more concise superhero name? I'm not up on my Batman lore.

Anyway - thanks!
Quote from: Richard on 20 October, 2023, 11:37:23 AMThanks, Batman's cousin.

(I'm not using the adjective publicly just in case I run into your cousin. But I'm secretly thinking it.)

Thank you, thank you, you're all so kind!! In the meantime, I've since received a further update from one of Tharg's many minions.
QuoteOh my sincere apologies, I misunderstood you to mean the words were present, but printed outside of the speech bubble!
Going to raise with the head editor and head of reprographics.
Many thanks for bringing this to our attention and will be in touch soon.
(though maybe not until Monday+ now)
 
Regards,
2000 AD, Rebellion Publishing and Unplugged
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 20 October, 2023, 08:18:14 PM
Are we thinking that we might get a reprint of the physical version at some point? Or, is it more likely that just the digital copy will be amended? Being a perfectionist and completist I would by another trade paperback to replace my erroneous copy, but would others do the same?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 20 October, 2023, 09:18:56 PM
Quote from: Max Headroom on 20 October, 2023, 08:18:14 PMAre we thinking that we might get a reprint of the physical version at some point? Or, is it more likely that just the digital copy will be amended? Being a perfectionist and completist I would by another trade paperback to replace my erroneous copy, but would others do the same?
Yes, I certainly would. That was one reason why I contacted Rebellion about this problem.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 21 October, 2023, 12:20:29 AM
Well, let's not encourage them to introduce deliberate misprints so that we buy two copies of each volume...
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: 13school on 30 October, 2023, 10:14:07 AM
Just to add, my copy (sent all the way out to Oz) also has the misprint
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 01 November, 2023, 02:21:49 PM
@Richard , @Dash Decent & @13school , apparently I received a follow up E-mail about 30 minutes later, which strangely enough did not flag as unread like the others. Their reply, as it now stands, is this:

QuoteHave confirmation that this omission has been noted and adjusted in the digital editions and all future printings will be corrected.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Richard on 01 November, 2023, 04:12:33 PM
Nice work!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 01 November, 2023, 07:03:12 PM
I will have to look out for when an updated physical copy is available - I wonder if we will be notified when they are first out??
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 01 November, 2023, 07:38:41 PM
Presumably if and when there's a reprint.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 01 November, 2023, 07:51:31 PM
Quote from: Richard on 01 November, 2023, 04:12:33 PMNice work!

No problemo!
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 31 January, 2024, 05:57:57 PM
I was thinking if the mistake in Case Files 42 is going to be fixed, is there any chance errors in other books could be addressed for subsequent printings? I was thinking of 'The Out', 'Fiends of the Eastern Front' volume 1 (i.e. 'Stalingrad') and 'America 2'.

P.S. Any further news about the Case File, Batman's Superior Cousin?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 31 January, 2024, 07:32:48 PM
Quote from: Max Headroom on 31 January, 2024, 05:57:57 PMI was thinking if the mistake in Case Files 42 is going to be fixed, is there any chance errors in other books could be addressed for subsequent printings? I was thinking of 'The Out', 'Fiends of the Eastern Front' volume 1 (i.e. 'Stalingrad') and 'America 2'.

P.S. Any further news about the Case File, Batman's Superior Cousin?
What do you mean by that Max...?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 01 February, 2024, 11:26:38 AM
I meant have you any more news about when the updated and corrected JD Case Files 42 might be available for purchase. (Sorry if this was not immediately clear).
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 01 February, 2024, 11:48:28 AM
Quote from: Max Headroom on 01 February, 2024, 11:26:38 AMI meant have you any more news about when the updated and corrected JD Case Files 42 might be available for purchase. (Sorry if this was not immediately clear).

Sadly not, other than what I mentioned in #294.

Strangely enough, I recently had a dream where I received said Case File and I discovered that most of pages were blank. What does it all mean...?
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: broodblik on 01 February, 2024, 01:51:41 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 01 February, 2024, 11:48:28 AMStrangely enough, I recently had a dream where I received said Case File and I discovered that most of pages were blank. What does it all mean...?

The end of the universe with a reverse big bang and everything gets compressed into a Uncle Ump's Umpty Candy bar
 
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 01 February, 2024, 02:13:50 PM
Hmmm, quite possibly...
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: dan200 on 08 February, 2024, 03:14:10 PM
Quote from: Max Headroom on 31 January, 2024, 05:57:57 PMI was thinking if the mistake in Case Files 42 is going to be fixed, is there any chance errors in other books could be addressed for subsequent printings? I was thinking of 'The Out', 'Fiends of the Eastern Front' volume 1 (i.e. 'Stalingrad') and 'America 2'.

It's probably worth contacting them yourself like BSS did, it's unlikely they're reading this thread.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Max Headroom on 12 February, 2024, 12:32:18 PM
I have now been in touch with Rebellion about the omissions in 'The Out', 'Fiends of the Eastern Front' and 'America 2' and have been assured by kind staff that any mistakes will be rectified for future graphic novel runs and for digital immediately.

(Many thanks to Batman's Superior Cousin for assisting me in this!)
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 12 February, 2024, 12:39:24 PM
Not a problem Max, glad you gotten any and all mistakes made in those books rectified in further reprints for the foreseeable future.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: GoGilesGo on 12 February, 2024, 01:14:01 PM
Quick question about varying width of these case files. I've cherry picked a few paperback copies of these over the years and know the case files after 13 are way thinner, though I don't own any after the first 12.

I'm tempted to pick up CS 40 but want to know what the difference is.

Can someone with the entire run, or anyway, a lot of them, post a picture of the spines together?



Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: IndigoPrime on 12 February, 2024, 01:23:14 PM
I think this shot (not mine) shows the difference pretty well: https://www.reddit.com/r/JudgeDredd/comments/b4blj3/finally_got_my_hands_on_complete_case_files/

In terms of page count, early ones were mostly in the ~330–400-page range, and were printed on low-quality paper stock and entirely in greyscale. From 12, they headed into the 270–330-page range, but are printed on high-quality paper and include colour.
Title: Re: Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Post by: GoGilesGo on 12 February, 2024, 01:46:00 PM
Thanks, that is just what i was looking for.

Case Files 40 bought.