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[Kingdom]

This week's cover is for Kingdom, and quite right too. I turned to this story first, which is something I almost never do because I usually start with Dredd, but after last week's cliffhanger I had to see what happened next. This week's episode didn't disappoint! This is a brilliant series, and might be the best thing Dan Abnett has ever done. Looking forward to seeing how it all ends (not just the current book but Kingdom generally).

Going back to the proper reading order, the Judge Dredd story ended well. I thought this was a good, old-fashioned romp. I like that Dredd is a bit of an arsehole in this story, like he is in the Daily Dredds of the '80s.

There's a one-off Sinister Dexter story exploring the aftermath of that whole Moses storyline, which might not be altogether clear to new readers, but otherwise works quite well.

Kingmaker was mostly predictable, but was redeemed by one excellent panel where something important and tragic happened and yet wasn't highlighted or spoon-fed to us, the writer trusting the reader to figure it out for him/herself. I really liked it.

The Order has one of those clichéd scenes in which somebody delivers a long monologue to his enemy instead of actually fighting. Maybe he'll do something next week.

A very good prog this week, and Scarlet Traces will be back in prog 2023.

An outstanding Dredd cover by Greg Staples.

An equally good picture on the inside back cover by Nick Percival, with some very interesting and welcome news.

The Dredd story concludes in a very satisfactory way, and is my favourite episode of this 8-parter.

There's a new Sinister Dexter story, not a one-off this time but looks likely to be two or three episodes. Quite a fun one.

An action-packed episode of Kingmaker, with a big eye-catching picture of some [spoiler]dragons[/spoiler] which I liked.

The Order carries on. I'm not really a fan, but is suspect that the people who are are going to love it this week. There's lots of fighting.

And there's a particularly gory episode of Kingdom.

All round, a very good prog this week I think. My 40th anniversary prog didn't arrive though, so I suspect those of us who ordered it won't get it early.

Michael Carroll's latest Dredd story ends on a very interesting note! [spoiler]No spoilers here -- you have to see it for yourself![/spoiler]

There's a full list of the stories in the 40th birthday special, and TPO finishes.

There's a Tale From the Black Museum, which is alright if a bit longer than it needed to be. Pretty good art by Staz Johnson, and I'd like to see more from him.

I went along to the Cartoon Museum's exhibition on 2000 AD today (35 Little Russell St, London, £7). Thought it was quite good. I enjoyed seeing original artwork and recognising which stories they were from without needing to read the captions. Hadn't realised how big they are in actual size before they're published. Some seem to have been lent to the museum by people who post on this board, so thank you to them.

[Judge Dredd: Boxing Day]

A rare Friday arrival! Lucky me!

The stand-out story this week is Judge Dredd: Boxing Day by Rob Williams and Chris Weston. It's a fun story of the old school variety, with lots of references to classic characters, but done in a way that won't alienate readers who don't know them. Weston's art is characteristically very detailed and colourful, and when I finished the story I went back and looked at all the pages again, something I almost never do. Later I discovered that he's also done a double-page pin-up of [spoiler]Dredd and Chopper.[/spoiler]

My second favourite was new thrill Hope, by Guy Adams and Jimmy Broxton. Only five pages to go on, but it looks promising. A sort of 1940s cross between Hellblazer and Watchmen, by the look of it. Looking forward to see how it develops.

The new series of Kingdom gets off to a cracking start. There's a new series called Kingmaker by Ian Edginton and Leigh Gallagher (in colour),

There are one-off episodes of Deadworld, Ace Trucking Co and Aquila. Aquila moves into the 14th century and is an enjoyably bloody tale, and my favourite instalment of the series so far. The other two, and The Order, I haven't read yet as I don't want to finish the whole thing in one sitting. And there are text articles about Misty and about a novel by Pat Mills and Kev O'Neill. And a Droid Life.

All in all, a very good end of year prog.

A new Dredd story starts this week, by Rob Williams and Henry Flint, and starting the guy stranded on Enceladus who saved Mega-City One from the Titan convicts. This and Get Sin last week seem to be the start of a new and longer story arc. Also, nice to see Judge Giant back in the prog.

More glorious art from Dylan Teague on Savage, and Clint Langley on Flesh. There's a good little picture of someone being dismembered.

We learn about the motivation of the Traitor General in Hunted, and I'm kind of on his side now.

And after not liking Counterfeit Girl at first, I quite like it now.

I recently moved house, and now that things have settled down a bit I've got round to thinking about adding my comics collection to my insurance policy as a valuable item. I'd sincerely appreciate any thoughts or advice anyone may have about what they might be worth. (I'm not selling them, sorry.)

I think I have every comic that Tharg has published, except for Tornado and Revolver. Specifically:
Every 2000 AD (free gifts generally missing up to around prog 900, and generally present after that).
Every Judge Dredd Megazine.
Every 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special, and the 1977 summer special.
Every Winter Special.
Every Judge Dredd Mega-Special.
All the Free Comic Book issues to have new material in them (but not the first one, which I understand to have been reprint only).
Every 2000 AD annual and yearbook.
Every Judge Dredd annual and yearbook.
The two Dan Dare annuals.
The Rogue Trooper Annual 1991.
The Dan Dare Poster Prog from 1977, and those poster progs from the mid-1990s.
2000 AD presents Diceman (5 issues).
The 2000 AD Action Special.
Starlord: every issue, a holiday special, and three annuals.
Every issue of Crisis, and two "Xpresso specials."

The condition of the issues is quite variable, as some were second hand, and they were all bought for reading, not for collecting or investing. Issues 900 to 999 were all stored vertically and unbagged for a few years and so they've sagged quite badly. Some have a newsagent's scrawlings on the front cover. But there are no missing pages or missing covers.

I haven't counted them all up but this must be around 2,600 items or so.

I'd be grateful for your views.

A big but welcome surprise this month as Terror Rising ends and [spoiler]Beeny joins the Council of Five![/spoiler] I'm excited to see where Wagner takes that.

Blimey! What a great prog this week!

Highlight is the Terror Tale The Crow Gifts -- very bleak! A great script by David Baillie, but what really stands out is the detailed art by newcomer Joshua George -- I loved it. I want to see more from him soon.

A new Dredd story begins, by John Wagner and Patrick Goddard, and it's very intriguing. Can't wait to see what happens with this one. And we learn about some more of the long-term repercussions from Chaos Day. Also, Goddard is one of my favourite artists, so it's good to see him back in Dredd.

Defoe looks like he might finally remember his Leveller roots at last. That's good, because for me that was always the most interesting aspect of this character -- that he'd given up on what he believed in, but there was always the prospect of him turning on his new masters again.

Not much to say about the other two that hadn't been said already in previous weeks.

Prog 2016 will be on 16 December, so only two more episodes to go of the current line-up.

One major event that happened in Day of Chaos but hadn't been followed up on is the destruction of the Academy and the slaughter of almost all the cafets. The few that survived aren't enough to continue the Justice Department on their own. In DoC this was said to harbinger the end of the Judged as we know them. Yet three years on and this hadn't been so much as remarked on since.

I'd like someone (preferably Wagner, but whoever's willing to do it) to address this soon. It could make for a good story in its own right.

A good prog to end on before 1950 next week. I especially liked the Death episode of DoD. But can't say why without spoiling it.

Another double episode of Dredd. Not as good as last week's I thought.

A very good Future Shock from David Baillie, and a new artist (I think) called Nick Brokenshire, who I wouldn't mind seeing again.

The Alienist ended quite well, with the promise of a new series. I liked that [spoiler]none of the supporting cast survived[/spoiler].

Dredd concentrates on supporting characters this week. Not a bad thing in my opinion.

The Alienist wasn't as good as previous episodes this week, but still enjoyable.

3riller - need it to finish before I can decide what I make of it. I like this artist though.

Grey Area - not a series I like I'm afraid, so I'm not really qualified to say what fans of it will think. At least something is starting to happen at last. And I liked the [spoiler]assholes[/spoiler] joke.

Dreams of Deadworld is an interesting new mini-series. Fabulous art. A new dark judge, sort of. Looking forward to the rest of it.

There's a letter page, for people who care about that sort of thing.

Does anyone happen to know if there will be a paperback edition of this? I don't want to get the hardback if I can possibly help it.

Brilliant, brilliant artwork by Nick Percival on the Mean Machine story. More of this please.

Some more gruesome nastiness in Dredd this month, and American Reaper finishes. It's not for everyone, but I liked it.

A very nice tribute to Brett Ewins on the back cover, inside and out.

A sick (in both senses of the word) Judge Dredd story by John Wagner. Really keen to see what happens next month!

A new Dan Abnett series with a new character. This looks promising, but I hope she has her own individual identity and doesn't just turn out to be a copy of Anderson.

The Man From the Ministry: not sure about this yet.

A new movie-Dredd strip starts, not with Henry Flint this time but I like the art all the same.

And a poster by Brian Bolland!

According to the shop, the next volume of Anderson stories has got Half-Life, WMD, and City of the Dead, but not Lucid:
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_anderson_psi_files_volume_04
The first three stories were part of that massive story arc illustrated by Arthur Ranson, where the head of Magick in Psi Division was trying to make himself immortal. Lucid is also by Ranson, and I was wondering if anyone knows if that is also part of the same story line? Because it it is, it will be pretty annoying to have an incomplete story and have to wait a year for the ending in volume 5.

No prog today, but at least there was a good Megazine. Anderson is the best story in this issue. I especially like the bit where [spoiler]Dredd deals with a block war all by himself and his dialogue with the late-arriving back-up.[/spoiler]

Dredd was alright, although it reminds me a little bit of [spoiler]Anderson: Childhood's End.[/spoiler]

An interesting and different one-off story by Rob Williams and an amazing artist called Rey Maculay, from who I would like to see much more in the future.

DeMarco heading towards its conclusion in next issue. It's not my favourite story, but I liked the [spoiler]"...yet" on page four.[/spoiler]

Brilliant debut of new series Ordinary by Rob Williams and D'Israeli, as well as a three page feature about how it all came about. I am really interested in seeing how this story plays out. It is already the best new series since Lilly MacKenzie (whatever happened to that?).

Some good Henry Flint art too, on the new Dredd strip.

[Edited to set correct issue number—IP]

REALLY???!!! Has nobody bagged this thread yet? If they have, I can't find it... So here goes.

Mike McMahon Slaine cover, eye-catching, but I can't see why they didn't use Nick Percival's Slaine Star Scan which is astoundingly good.

Judge Dredd: Bender takes an unexpected turn. Still not sure how this is going to end. Good fun.

Age of the Wolf: A bit of a twist here too. If I had been paying more attention, I might have been able to predict where this is going, but I have no idea. But for the first time since this series began, I am looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Steve Bisley back on Slaine for the first time since 1990. Much better than that awful Prog 1800 cover., and 3ight pages! Good stuff.

A mediocre Past Imperfect.

ANd The Ten-Seconders: Godsend, still with Ben Willsher, is really moving along, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. [spoiler]Two major characters die![/spoiler]

A pretty good prog this week.

I have just been re-reading "Served Cold" by Al Ewing and John Higgins in progs 1718-1725, and really enjoyed it. And Al Ewing clearly intended to follow it up with a sequel some time. I would love to see it happen, but it's been two years. Sort it out Tharg!