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Does 2000 AD need another 'Judge Dredd'?

Started by norton canes, 07 August, 2019, 05:05:29 PM

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IndigoPrime

Mm. It's an interesting idea. When Jaegir stops, roll in something else from Nu-Earth. Could work nicely, if the movie happens.

Frank

Quote from: norton canes on 07 August, 2019, 05:05:29 PM
Just wondering if people think 2000 AD could benefit from another strip like 'Dredd'? By which I mean an ever-present strip where a roster of script and art droids take turns to create short to medium length stories centered on the same character and their 'universe', self-contained but often part of their own 'continuity bubble' of developing plot arcs. 

With the rest of the prog featuring creator-owned strips generally served in long chapters and where art droids will spend a long stint, Dredd is something of an anomaly. What's the likelihood that a writer would want to create a character, start it off in a new strip then hand it over for others to develop? How would payments work practically? Would it effectively mean a return to the not fondly looked-upon days of the publishing company taking more profits?

Would the prog even benefit from such a strip? How difficult would it be to create an appealing character with defining characteristics that was nevertheless flexible enough to be cultivated by other writers? Would the prospect of such a major launch being a flop put Rebellion off trying?

Got any ideas about what this new 2000 AD hero(ine) could be like?

Just a few questions that popped into my mind :)

The good burghers of the Board covered some of this same ground all the way back in 2013, when the Labour leader was accused of being a dangerous lefty, there was no end in sight to austerity, and we were all wondering when we'd get to see that Dredd thing we'd heard might be happening.

How times have changed.

L I N K



Magnetica

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 August, 2019, 12:37:46 PM
Likewise. My copy arrived yesterday, and I dug out its predecessor. I'm half tempted to grab the special that the universe originated in too.

What special is that?

The Adventurer

IMO I don't think we need another Judge Dredd. But we could really use another Nikolai Dante. Something regular recurring, bombastic, high adventure, and a little scandalous.  I can't think of anything since that really hit its mark, even temporarily.

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

broodblik

I agree with The Adventurer, a story that not necessarily runs every week but is semi-regular but not in the mold of Dredd. Interesting characters build on a world that is on par with the characters. An awesome villain we will all hate to love.
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TordelBack

Quote from: broodblik on 09 August, 2019, 03:58:32 AM
... a story that not necessarily runs every week but is semi-regular but not in the mold of Dredd. Interesting characters build on a world that is on par with the characters. An awesome villain we will all hate to love.

When you put it like that, it ought to be a doddle to come up with half a dozen of those... Tharg's a slacker, that's all there is to it.

sheridan

Quote from: Magnetica on 08 August, 2019, 09:47:47 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 August, 2019, 12:37:46 PM
Likewise. My copy arrived yesterday, and I dug out its predecessor. I'm half tempted to grab the special that the universe originated in too.

What special is that?


It's not been released yet - out next week.

IndigoPrime

Quote from: Magnetica on 08 August, 2019, 09:47:47 PMWhat special is that?
Death Man: The Gathering in the 2017 Scream special was a Vigilant prototype/pilot. (Looking again at that special, I'd happily have The Sentinels in 2000 AD.)

AlexF

Short answer: no, 2000AD doesn't need a new Dredd, it seems to be getting along just fine as it is!

Longer answer: it sure would be fun if a collective of writers/artists got together to dream up a new character/setting and took turns crafting stories over a whole year. See, for example, team Trifecta. I'm sure dividing up the spoils would be a bit of a challenge but not an impossible one.

I, for one, think that 2000AD is missing a bit of the classic Brit comics formula of having a character who pointedly doesn't move forward or change with each episode, and in fact each episode is more or less the same as the last. It worked for Dredd for 30 years before we started getting used to, and hence demanding, more stories that progress an overall plot, likewise Sinister Dexter for the first decade.

Hard to do, especially when it's unfashionable. But this is, more or less, what the likes of Wagner and Mills did when they set up Battle, Action, 2000AD and so on, isn't it? Created a story set up, then farmed out scripts and art duties to trusted creators?

Richard

I wouldn't want to read a series where the writers were forbidden by the editor from ever developing the strip or its characters.

2000AD was conceived and set up to be the antithesis of the old way of doing things in comics. It has lasted for 42 years, while its predecessors have not, because it did things differently and didn't cling to the past.

sheridan

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 09 August, 2019, 10:35:42 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 08 August, 2019, 09:47:47 PMWhat special is that?
Death Man: The Gathering in the 2017 Scream special was a Vigilant prototype/pilot. (Looking again at that special, I'd happily have The Sentinels in 2000 AD.)


Another vote for the Sentinels here.  Maybe have Max installed in one of them :-)

IndigoPrime

I get that Matt Smith doesn't want to cross the streams, but it does strike me that there are so many great strips that just won't get a new home – at least one where the publishing frequency is more than once a year. I find that a great pity.

Professor Bear

Quote from: CalHab on 08 August, 2019, 09:42:22 AM
The Vigilant would have made more sense as a limited series to test the waters.

They did try that, but even with DC comics behind it, it didn't really fly.

milstar

I, for one, would have nothing against Elseworlds Dredd (yes, DC Elseworlds). Dredd sheriff on the Wild West.
Reyt, you lot. Shut up, belt up, 'n if ye can't see t' bloody exit, ye must be bloody blind.