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Texas City

Started by Sandman1, 06 September, 2017, 05:38:31 PM

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Greg M.

Quote from: Frank on 08 September, 2017, 11:04:13 AM
Origins makes no mention of any civil war. I'm pretty sure war between the US megacities has stopped having happened.

Apparently (and I can't say I remember this) Garth Ennis makes brief mention of it in 'Monkey On My Back'.

Frank

Quote from: Greg M. on 08 September, 2017, 11:46:57 AM
Quote from: Frank on 08 September, 2017, 11:04:13 AM
Origins makes no mention of any civil war. I'm pretty sure war between the US megacities has stopped having happened.

Apparently (and I can't say I remember this) Garth Ennis makes brief mention of it in 'Monkey On My Back'.

I can't respond to that without insulting - insulting, I say - all the talented and principled creators who write the other episodes that are every bit as good (and just as important) as all the rest of the strips.



Dark Jimbo

Say what you like about Garth, but Monkey on my Back is great. One of my favourite-ever Dredd stories, to be honest.
@jamesfeistdraws

Steve Green

Yeah, I wish he'd done a few more after that.

Sandman1

Do the judges in Texas City usually wear cowboy hats or the standard helmet with a lone star?
Error...

Leigh S

Being swept under by Mills overdose last month or so, but doesn't he state that he had a plan for a Cursed Earth followup Dredd epic about that Civil War that didnt come to pass - maybe the cover was connected in some way?  Can;t remember if this was in his book or one of the many interviews he has given recently.

Monkey On My Back falls apart with the west wall existing pre Cal doesnt it?  Remember thinking it was one of his weaker efforts (I'm half and half on Ennis stuff) but for continuity answers, probably not the first go to!

Frank

Quote from: Leigh S on 08 September, 2017, 03:50:30 PM
... but for continuity answers, probably not the first go to!

Yeah, that's all I meant. It's an okay story, and if Ennis ever wants to follow Milligan back to Tharg's command module I wouldn't grumble.

Thanks to Wagner's unprecedented - completely unprecedented, I say - tenure on the strip, it's fairly easy to work out what counts and what needs a pinch of salt. Must be murder reading Batman or The X-Men.



Robin Low

Quote from: Frank on 08 September, 2017, 11:04:13 AM
Quote from: Robin Low on 08 September, 2017, 08:02:03 AM
It's reasonable to say that Texas City is MC3 and the Civil War (technically Mega Civil War, because everything's Mega) was between Texas City and MC1 and possibly MC2.

Origins makes no mention of any civil war.

It doesn't, but it only takes the story so far. Origins is concerned with Fargo and Booth, and that story is finished before the civil war ('post-atomic America') takes place.

QuoteI'm pretty sure war between the US megacities has stopped having happened.

That's your choice and you're entitled to it. Some of us choose otherwise.

Maybe one day someone will pitch a story to Tharg concerning the civil war, perhaps for the Megazine. Given that we have MC1 running TC at the moment, it might not be that bad an idea to delve into the history. Hell, we get stories about Judges in space that (regardless how good) have even less connection to the actual Judge Dredd series, so why not something that would actually fit.

Regards,

Robin

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Frank on 08 September, 2017, 11:04:13 AMOrigins makes no mention of any civil war. I'm pretty sure war between the US megacities has stopped having happened.

Wouldn't really be an Origins thing: doubling up the conflict quota for a Cursed Earth skirmish that's tangential to Fargo's story and Dredd's a big lad by the time it happens -going by Mick McMahon's Civil War cyclorama inspired cover- so it could still be a pre-2099/Prog 2 event. Plenty of room there to fit it in.

Robin Low

Quote from: Frank on 08 September, 2017, 04:10:23 PMMust be murder reading Batman or The X-Men.

Indeed, which is why I read Batman between 1989 and 1996 and then stopped.

I may stop with Dredd in the not too distant future. There are some good writers who get Dredd's voice right, but it sometimes feels like its pulling in different directions, none of them really getting to grips with the post-Chaos Day setting.

Regards,

Robin

Dandontdare

#25
Quote from: Robin Low on 08 September, 2017, 04:16:12 PM
It doesn't, but it only takes the story so far. Origins is concerned with Fargo and Booth, and that story is finished before the civil war ('post-atomic America') takes place.

Yup, I agree with Robin (about the war, not about dropping Dredd!) - It's perfectly feasible that after the war when Dredd & Rico went back to finish their last 5 years of training,or in the 20 years after that, TC and MC had a disagreement about the future of America. Now that I think of it, that's a story I'd really like to read!

I always thought that the wraparound cover was supposed to depict the war between the judges and Booth's forces in Death Valley.

Frank

Quote from: Robin Low on 08 September, 2017, 04:16:12 PM
Quote from: Frank on 08 September, 2017, 04:16:12 PM
I'm pretty sure war between the US megacities has stopped having happened.

That's your choice and you're entitled to it.

I don't mean I don't like the idea or that it can't have happened.

I'm saying the last four decades of stories offer no evidence* that a caption some sub-editor stuck on one cover 37 years ago is anything more than a caption some sub-editor stuck on one cover 37 years ago.

I mentioned Origins because it was intended to address exactly this kind of thing.**


* A passing reference to 'the civil war in Texas' (Meg 204) from a writer whose conception of Dredd history ends around 1982 notwithstanding (PS, cheers, Greg)

**  By which I mean, to take Dredd's hugger mugger of dates and events, cobbled together over many years by many hands, and fix the important bits in a consistent narrative. After the nukes fly, events are figured as a dick measuring contest between Goodman and Booth, and the TC Chief doesn't respond to Bulgarin's request not to come to the Big Meg's aid by saying 'shit no, why would I help the motherfuckers we just fought in a civil war?'

Sandman1

Considering the previous posts, this fierce dissent between Texas City and MC-1 seems to constitute some untapped, fertile ground. Is this conflict really not featured in any substantial way in a published story?
Error...

Frank

Quote from: Sandman1 on 10 September, 2017, 11:02:05 PM
Is this conflict really not featured in any substantial way in a published story?

Every Empire Falls was about a megalomaniac Texan Chief Judge who wanted to reunite Texas and MC1, which would be an odd ambition for a state that had fought a (successful) war to achieve the exact opposite.

She ranted a bit about MC1's arrogance, but didn't mention them killing her Pa' in no civil war.*


* Good luck finding an argument between a German and a Brit that doesn't descend into insults concerning WWII - a conflict further in the past than any civil war would be in the MC1 timeline.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Frank on 10 September, 2017, 11:53:25 PM
Every Empire Falls was about a megalomaniac Texan Chief Judge who wanted to reunite Texas and MC1, which would be an odd ambition for a state that had fought a (successful) war to achieve the exact opposite.

Chief Judge Oswin's real plan was one of conquest over a newly weakened state rather than a reunification in ideological terms for old times' sake.