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I'm actually tempted. A pity the series didn't sell well enough to get these in paper though.

That just makes me want to read it more...

I imagine the only way to get through it in one piece is to take it as an extremist parody of Dredd, in much the same way the Heavy Metal stuff was. Although Morrison for the most part lacks Wagner's ability to write black humour, and doesn't get Dredd or his world (or, possibly, just doesn't care). Inferno is lazy, illogical, dull and hackneyed. The art is quite good, but the writing is atrocious. It's not even curiosity-piquing—it's just plain bad.

I swear, if it hadn't been for John Smith, I'd have quit 2000 AD during that era, because even Dredd had become a joke. (Garth Ennis's run was also frequently poor, although he at least hit a few good notes.)

hope the book has some interesting contextual extras

I'd certainly be interested in the justification for its inclusion, although I imagine it's "because it was written by Grant Morrison".

The strength of this series (& longevity of Dredd) is variety - here's to all the glorious miss-steps & curious cul-de-sacs of Megacity One.

Part of the strength of Dredd, I agree, is the variety. But I don't want to celebrate mis-steps and garbage in a curated collection of hardback books that's going to cost about 800 quid over its run. (I imagine the absolute dross of Heavy Metal Dredd will also show up at some point, but at least a few of those have some knowing black humour from Wagner.)

For me, the Case Files are about everything and the kitchen sink, and the stinky goop down the plughole. This series is supposed to be the best content. Inferno is barely any better than 'Sonny Steelgrave' Dredd. Purgatory is just horrible in every sense of the word.

Hachette have confirmed Inferno as being included. Here's hoping for Purgatory as well. I know there's not always love for these stories but I love the artwork and the change of pace.

Ugh. That's the first wobble, I think; Inferno is an objectively terrible story. Purgatory is, if anything, even worse, crapping over years of Dredd. For a curated collection, it's a very strange inclusion, unless names (Morrison/Miller) trump quality. It won't stop me subscribing, but I hope whatever else shows up that month isn't similarly awful and that the vast majority of the collection doesn't plumb such depths.

This just prompted me to do a quick Amazon search, and:

Resident Alien 3: The Sam Hain Mystery

Hurrah!

24 Nov 2015

Hurroo.

Hmm. I wasn't a big fan of the last Bad Company thing, but Milligan/Dayglo? Yeah, I'm looking forward to that nonetheless.

It's this: http://titanmagazines.com/news/announcements/bbc-doctor-who-comic-coming-uk/

I grabbed issue one. It's a solid mag.

Incidentally, I recently managed to grab the first 60 Marvel books and some extras on eBay for about £200. Comparisons with the Dredd collection are interesting. The Dredd books feel more substantial than the majority of the Marvel ones. The design is a whole lot better too. But most of all, the curation feels more coherent through the books so far released. It'll be really interesting to see the entire Dredd run, assuming it lasts the course.

*looks in vain for local baby-safe showing*

*fails*

Looks like the ratio of decent folk to dolts on Facebook is increasing, too, which is good to see. Fewer people whining about not getting their copy before it hits the stores; more people patiently explaining how partworks are usually distributed, or just saying they're happy.

Abit annoyed at the over priced special edition ccf1 being released soon.

Why? It's not like you're being forced to buy it.

The Origins trade is 16 quid RRP. The Origins partworks book is a tenner.

On the additional material, I rather like it. Given the option of a semi-random five-pager or five pages of context about what's in the book, I'd happily take the latter. To me, the context is one of the things that will make this series special (the other being the format). One thing I would like to see though (and if Rebellion or Hachette don't do this, I'll do it myself)—some kind of really nice index card you can slot into book one, once the series is done, so you can actually find the book you want. (I'm pretty sure my brain's not going to go "36 = Apocalypse War" a few years down the road.)

I'd happily buy a collected edition of Luke Kirby too. I really enjoyed the entire run, and it's a crying shame it never continued.

3 was damaged

As was mine. I mentioned this to Hachette and had a pristine replacement four days later.

As for upcoming books, I've thought about this and I don't really want a full list. I like not really knowing what's coming, and I can't imagine Matt Smith's going to push any crap on us (Volume 22: Sonny Steelgrave's Greatest Hits!).