Forthcoming Thrills & Trades!

[Colin YNWA]

Found some confirmation of the Rat Pack collection, another one I'm very much looking forward to

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rat-Pack-Carlos-Ezquerra/dp/1848560354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268738727&sr=1-1

Now I guess we'd better get back to our regularly scheduled programme.

[Cpt Rhodes]

Good to see some of the Battle strips getting TPB release. Hope Fleetway do the same with Action.
I'd love to see DC Thomson release 70's Warlord and Bullet in graphic novel format but i've heard they are not interested in reprinting them which is a shame.

[James Stacey]

There seems to be a growing demand for these 'retro' branded collections so there is always hope.

[Goatilocks]

2000ad Graphic Novels and Books - US:

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 - June 2010
The Complete DR & Quinch - June 2010
Judge Death: Death Lives! - July 2010
ABC Warriors: The Meknificent Seven - July 2010
Harry Twenty on the High Rock - August 2010
Judge Dredd: Mega-City Masters 01 (Artists) - August 2010
The Complete Ballad of Halo Jones - September 2010
The Complete Nemesis the Warlock 01 - September 2010
Judge Dredd: Mega-City Masters 02 (Writers) - October 2010
Zombo: Can I Eat You Please? - October 2010
Slaine: Warriors Dawn - November 2010
Hewligan's Haircut - November 2010
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 02 - December 2010
Missionary Man - TBC

Hopefully Rebellion's US push will be successful and, dare I say it, gain renewed interest in persuing rights for movies.

In my dreams I'm standing in a cinema queue waiting to see Nemesis the Warlock 2: Torquemada's Revenge ...

It could happen, couldn't it ..?

[radiator]

I'm just a bit concerned that this new strategy (marketing books on the strength of names like Moore, Millar and Bolland) is just the same thing as what the DC line tried, and failed, to do a few years ago.

Hopefully, this new line will be a bit more discerning in both it's presentation (the DC books looked cheap and nasty) and choice of reprints - no Red Razors, Judgement Day etc just because they can slap the name of the writers on the cover.

The Mega City Masters books seem like quite a good idea, especially running in tandem with the Case Files - look forward to seeing what the contents of those books are...

[radiator]

I have long thought that a lot of the more recent 2000ad material is strong enough to gain a following in the US with the right backing.

In particular, I have a firm belief that John Wagner's work on Dredd WILL one day gain wider acceptance and a bigger fan base (perhaps even years after 2000ad and Dredd have ceased publication). It will be remembered as a classic, and loads of people will claim that they always liked it and read it at the time!

The retro stuff less so - there is much less of a nostalgia market over there, and I can completely understand them being completely bemused by the likes of Robo-Hunter back in 2005.

[mygrimmbrother]

I'm wondering why 'Backlash' and 'Under New Management are listed as 2 separate titels - could it be that Backlash will collect earlier mutie-themed strips too, and UNM the first arc or 2 of Tour of Duty?

And while I'm on the subject - how is that S/D Blood Moon has a page count of 208 pages? What else is in there?

[radiator]

I expect that TOD: Backlash will collect all of the related stories from Mutants in Mega-City One up to Backlash - there is a surprisingly large amount of these - easy to overlook as they have been spread out over such a long period of time... Off the top of my head there's:

The Streets of Dan Francisco
Mutants in Mega City One
The Facility
The Secret of Mutant Camp 5
The Gingerbread Man
The Spirit of Christmas
What I Did for Crissmass
Emphatically Evil: The Life and Crimes of PJ Maybe
...Regrets
Mutie-Block
The Edgar Case
Backlash

TOD: Under New Management will obviously feature the title story, along with all of the main (Wagner-scripted) TOD stories that have been running this last year - though it will be interesting to see what is and isn't included from the interludes like Dragon's Den and Lust in the Dust.

[TordelBack]

I would be seriously peed off if the interludes weren't included.  Fluff they may be, but they're (generally) high quality fluff, and as noted elsewhere, they give the story real heft as a major event in Dredd's life.  Imagine if the three Al Ewing ToD stories were left out, it'd be a disaster (in my opinion).  And who doesn't love the armoured Dredd from Dragon's Den?  I'd rather lose the Edgar Case, whch is only peripherally relevant (the erosion of Dredd's faith in his peers, and his own support on the Council).

[radiator]

Sure, but there's so many of them I'm not sure it would make for a viable book? They'll probably HAVE to cut a few, won't they, especially as the Wagner-written material alone is likely to add up to 30+ episodes....

I'd rather lose the Edgar Case, whch is only peripherally relevant (the erosion of Dredd's faith in his peers, and his own support on the Council).

There's also scenes of civil unrest about the whole mutant issue. If I was in charge, I'd kick the first book off with Fifty Year Man - it shows Dredd at the absolute height of his powers and popularity, adding weight to his fall from grace.

[TordelBack]

Sure, but there's so many of them I'm not sure it would make for a viable book?

True, but why not a series of chunky books?  TOD Book 3:  Exile, or something like that.  Do we have any indication yet of when this is all going to end?

[Mike Gloady]

I'm very pleased the Mutants in Mega City One/Tour of Duty arc is getting this kind of treatment.  Well deserved and I'd appreciate it if it came with ALL the fluff (Edgar Case, Dragon's Den etc).  It's mostly pretty good.

[radiator]

True, but why not a series of chunky books?  TOD Book 3:  Exile, or something like that.  Do we have any indication yet of when this is all going to end?

I suppose that's a possibility. As for the length of TOD, Wagner has only said that though it will eventually end, themes and characters will feed out of it into future storylines, as he sees Dredd as kind of a soap opera.

While it's amazing that Wagner is able to generate this always-unfolding, organic narrative with no clear delineation between stories, it must make compiling these graphic novels a bit of a bitch!

[TordelBack]

While it's amazing that Wagner is able to generate this always-unfolding, organic narrative with no clear delineation between stories, it must make compiling these graphic novels a bit of a bitch!

Well put, and it really is what keeps me coming back for more, and what makes the Casefiles so compelling.  'Course, it also makes selling Dredd to the yanks that bit more difficult.

[Mike Gloady]

Selling Dredd to the yanks may be difficult, but one of hte things that keeps me avoiding mainstream DC/Marvel (and to some extent other publishers) is the flat-out NEED to have a marketing gimmick disguised as a storyline inserted every 8 months.  YAWN.

And they think that Dredd's soap-operaness (essentially one long continuous timeline from which elements can be plucked for future storys - like DC/Marvel used to do) is a "difficult" sell?  Pot and kettle spring to mind.  Except in this case the kettle is merely very very very dark grey.  Like priest socks.