Purgatory

[Richard]

I think the story Inferno with Judge Grice is due to appear in the next Case File in May. It would be nice if at the same time the prequel, Purgatory, was released at the same time, if not as a normal graphic novel then as a Megazine supplement.

[radiator]

Ha! Good timing - unless I'm very much mistaken, subscribers will be receiving a copy of Purgatory with issue 322 of the Megazine tomorrow morning!

Or possibly next week.... can't remember when the Meg is due.

[maryanddavid]

I liked Purgatory when it came out, the art was fantastic, and the story was OK as well.

[radiator]

Yep, Inferno and Frankenstein Division frequently pop up in 'worst Dredd ever' type lists, but no, they're not - Carlos drew them, which automatically disqualifies them from that.

[TordelBack]

It was daft as a brush, but yeah, it was good fun and it looked absolutely great.  I fully understand why it's not in the Casefiles, but it's one of those situations where a leetle flexibility would have been useful (see also: America). 

[Greg M.]

Yep, Inferno and Frankenstein Division frequently pop up in 'worst Dredd ever' type lists, but no, they're not - Carlos drew them, which automatically disqualifies them from that.

On the other hand, it rubs salt into the wound that Carlos's glorious artwork was wasted on 'em - and in all fairness, Inferno in particular is pretty gorgeous.

[House of Usher]

Conversely, I wanted the story to continue in next month's Megazine reprint edition. I can always dig out my Progs from 1993, I suppose.

[TordelBack]

I'm tempted to try to scare up the cash for this month's Meg just to read Purgatory in collected form.  What else is good in there to persuade me?

(I had hoped to be able to start getting the Meg again with moolah from piece work I've been doing, but (as an avid consumer of Local Authority services like libraries which it will allegedly fund) I foolishly just paid the new Household Tax and my son has started Kung Fu lessons at €10 a go, which together constitute a version of purgatory.  That said, I get to read my weekly Prog with a nice pot of herbal tea while watching Master Dong (I kid you not) put a bunch of 5 year old through their paces). 

[Satanist]

I too am tempted to pick up a meg for the first time in ages just to check this out as I had jumped ship when this was first run. It cant be that bad, or can it?

[Proudhuff]

I'm tempted to try to scare up the cash for this month's Meg just to read Purgatory in collected form.  What else is good in there to persuade me?

(I had hoped to be able to start getting the Meg again with moolah from piece work I've been doing, but (as an avid consumer of Local Authority services like libraries which it will allegedly fund) I foolishly just paid the new Household Tax and my son has started Kung Fu lessons at €10 a go, which together constitute a version of purgatory.  That said, I get to read my weekly Prog with a nice pot of herbal tea while watching Master Dong (I kid you not) put a bunch of 5 year old through their paces).

I could pop purgatory in th epost to you if you like? no probs

[JOE SOAP]

I foolishly just paid the new Household Tax

Oops.

[IndigoPrime]

I too am tempted to pick up a meg for the first time in ages just to check this out as I had jumped ship when this was first run. It cant be that bad, or can it?

It's not that it's really bad, it's just utterly mediocre, in that way almost the entire Prog was during that era. If it hadn't been for John Smith, I'd have almost certainly stopped reading. Millar in particular churned out the same old garbage time and time again, with his indestructible bad guys.

At its best, the Meg floppy reminds you of great stories or unearths forgotten gems; Purgatory's like lifting up a plant in your back garden, only to find a semi-fossilised cat turd.

[TordelBack]

I could pop purgatory in th epost to you if you like? no probs

See, I knew no-one could be as utterly devoid of human decency as Watson of Paisley so often asserts.  Very generous of you Proudhuff, but I'm on a masochistic if-I-don't-buy-it-I-won't-read-it kick.  Keeps me accutely conscious of what an unproductive parasite on the body politic I am these days.  I do have the progs in catpiss-stained boxes the attic somewhere, so it's only laziness and a sense of smell that prevents me re-reading it whenever I wish anyway.

I foolishly just paid the new Household Tax

Oops.

I know, I know.  But this is a (sort of) democracy, and I vote as my conscience dictates and accept the results, and I avail of many local authority services to which this is supposedly linked, as well as social welfare payments.  It's hard to argue against paying a tax just because I don't want to, particularly as I fundamentally approve of a property-based tax for which this is a start-point.  I also suspect that much of the more sophisticated opposition to the Household Tax this is being orchestrated by people with extensive property interests.  But maybe that's for another thread.

[Proudhuff]

Well its there if you want it TB, along with a pile of other (non-Dredd) floppies, and that Winker Watson, he loves me really 

[JayzusB.Christ]

I liked the Summer Offensive. There, I said it.  There was no way 2000ad could continue with that sort of rudderless editorial policy, but for me it was a welcome relief from the likes of Garth Ennis Dredd, 'updated' Robohunter and Tharg's Dragon Tales .  I loved Big Dave (and I know i'm in a minority), Inferno was an enjoyable piece of steroided-up testosterone, Slaughterbowl was great fun, Really and Truly made sense if you took drugs, and Maniac 5 wasn't good but my friend liked it.

But Purgatory - nahh.  You don't fall into molten pig-iron and crawl out with  few scars on your back.  I used to work in a metal foundry, and heard of a man who was literally vapourised in a similar incident.  But even without that, the storyline was all over the shop and Mark Millar didn't seem to care about any kind of character consistency at all