Dredd Reckoning blog by Douglas Wolk

[Emperor]

Douglas Wolk's new blog is Dredd Reckoning where he tries to review all the Judge Dredd volumes chronologically:

http://dreddreviews.blogspot.com

Even got a write-up over on CBR:

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/07/douglas-wolk-gazes-into-the-fist-of-dredd/

[Dandontdare]

An interesting read, I'll be following that blog, though he is pretty scathing about some of the early stories, especially the Restricted Files ones. I hadn't really thought about how often Wagner uses the sports announcer as a narative device, but it's pretty obvious when pointed out. And he has a little pop at John Byrne, which is always nice. 

[radiator]

Really enjoying following this blog - though I'm at a loss as to how to post comments there so I'll post here instead.

He's worked his way through Case Files 01, 02 and 03 now, as well as volume 01 of the Restricted Files. While he is a little harsh on those early stories, he clearly has a love and understanding of Dredd so it'll be interesting to read what he has to say about later volumes.

[radiator]

Wolk has now fairly exhaustively covered up to Case Files 05, including a lengthy discussion of Block Mania and The Apocalypse War. Next week he's covering the first collection of Daily Star Dredds.

Well worth a read:

http://dreddreviews.blogspot.com/

He's actually pretty critical (for someone who claims to be a fan of Dredd). I for one really like the choppy, episodic nature of many Dredd epics, they are after all, primarily written for weekly serialisation. I don't think the episodic nature of the likes of The Judge Child, The Hunting Party etc takes any of the fun out of reading them all at once.

[radiator]

(Damn, no edit function!)

...but I should say that it's quite refreshing to see someone who appears to prefer the more recent Dredd material to 'the classics' - much like myself. As great as those early stories are, it can sometimes feel like Judge Death Lives/The Apocalypse War etc etc  are the be all and end all of Dredd, people go on about them so much.

[Strontium Claw]

It's interesting to learn from Tucker Stone that he'd helped 2000 AD set up a focus group of American comic readers. I'm normally sceptical of this kind of thing but to be honest in this case I'd love to know the outcome!

The early Dredd stuff is a fantastic example of world-building, as a kid I loved the 'anything can happen next' nature of the stories, I couldn't wait for the next issue. The thing is, classic Dredd tales have been reprinted so many times they do seem to outweigh the later stuff. So I'm glad the casefiles have progressed into reprinting 90's Dredd so that era can be properly assessed, although I don't expect the Millar/Morrison stories will get any better with age.

Comparing classic Dredd tales to modern stuff only goes to show how good John Wagner is as a writer, 'form is temporary, class is permanent'.

[Emperor]

The blog has made it to Psi Files 01:

http://dreddreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/judge-anderson-psi-files-volume-01.html

[TordelBack]

Really fascinating overview of the early years of Anderson from Douglas.  I'd agree with most of his thoughts there, although for some reason I'd never clocked that Wagner was involved in the first few series.  Also, my thanks for linking back to the 2000AD Review Alan Grant interview - I ended up re-reading the whole thing, boy does that man give good value!

[radiator]

After an aside looking at the many Chopper solo series, the last few weeks have seen the blog tackle The Dead Man and Necropolis.

Great stuff - well worth a read.

http://dreddreviews.blogspot.com/

[brendan1]

Great stuff, this.

[James Stacey]

My Monday morning read. One point it raises this week is something I hadn't twigged. How many Dredd covers has Carloss drawn in the last decade? I looked it up and was shocked at the result. Sort it out Thargy

[PreacherCain]

Interesting that he notes 'The Big Lie' reference that Kraken comes across while reading Dredd's comportment in Necropolis.  That's some forward thinking there from the Wagner droid!  When was it mentioned next: Origins?!

Great blog. I do think he's a little over-critical of the chaotic/inconsistent nature of the weekly episode; for me it's what always made 2000AD so exciting and dynamic. It means you can take a risk or go completely the other way thematically each week without having to upset a load of continuity-porn fanboys. I understand that it reads differently when collected in the Case Files book, of course, but I think Wolk puts too much emphasis or worth on these volumes having a consistent tone or storyline. In my opinion it shows just how much depth the character and his world has that so many different types of story can be done with him!

[douglaswolk]

Thanks so much for all the kind words. I'm enjoying doing the blog ENORMOUSLY. And I recently did a quick off-the-cuff count, and realized that there are enough books to keep me going through the end of 2012...

[vzzbux]

You've started so you'll finish.




V

[PreacherCain]

Thanks so much for all the kind words. I'm enjoying doing the blog ENORMOUSLY. And I recently did a quick off-the-cuff count, and realized that there are enough books to keep me going through the end of 2012...

And after that there's always Strontium Dog!