Hi,
I just wondered if some of you more experienced 2000AD fans could help me?
I've been really getting into Dredd comics since 2012 when I saw the Karl Urban, Dredd, (which totally blew me away - the last film I loved as much as this was Star Wars when I was seven!) Anyway, I have a mild form of autism and because of this I find reading black and white strips quite hard unless they use greyscale shading as well. I just can't seem to 'read' the pictures without a lot of work - I frequently can't see what the picture is of - I've been told this is just the way my brain processes details.
So I've been trying to read as much historical Dredd as I can in colour.
I've got:
- Apocalypse War in the IDW reprint edition which was coloured,
- All 3 Days of Chaos collected editions
- Origins
- Mechismo Mega Collection Edition,
- America Mega Collection Edition and
- Oz Mega Collection Edition - which was mostly black and white - so difficult.
I'm just not sure how to go about getting the rest?
My feeling is that I could either:
(a) get the case files from 12 which goes colour half way through (as I understand it) or
(b) buy up all the graphic novel editions which are coloured from the 2000AD shop 'Graphic Novels / More Dredd' section and then try to put them in order but I might miss the shorter stories which are not part of a longer narrative.
Then I could add any originally black and white stories coloured at IDW to the collection when they get printed?
So what would you guys do?
Thanks,
Jo
Hello there. Search out the Eagle Comics reprints.
These were US sized reprints of 2000AD material in the mid 1980s. They weren't reprinted in any specific order as far as I remember but all the early issues featured great covers by Bolland (and some by Mick McMahon).
you might get some duplication of material you already have but these are nice comics to have. Another comic called Quality took over after Eagle but ironically the quality of the reprints were nowhere as good.
Sounds like the Complete Case Files might be the way to go and volume 12 seems to the one to start with when most of the stuff will be clour. That way you're getting as much as possible in colour in a simple straightforward series. As you say you can go back as you are able to get older material as they are available coloured.
Its a shame you don't get on with black and white strips as they will keep cropping up and you'll miss a lot of good stuff, but if your autism prevents that there's not much to be done except as suggested getting the Eagle reprints (avoid the 'Quality' ones).
The Eagle comics are absolutely the way to go to read most of the classics. As well as the standard numbered run there are also a few standalone series like "the early cases", "the judge child quest" and the "crime files". I would recommend that you do also pick up the quality comics run as though the covers take a dive in quality, you would be missing out on some dredd classics such as cry of the werewolf if you missed them and I think these would be the most cost effective method to get a load of the black and white Dredd run in colour.
After you have those, then picking up the coloured case files trades from number 12 is a great idea.
You don't have the IDW hardcover collection of The Dark Judges? It's in color and same size as (maybe about 1/2" shorter) The Apocalypse War. That's a keeper.
Everyone has had great recommendations already - I also suggest the Complete Case Files as the best way to read Dredd as you get the epics as well as many of the fantastic one offs in-between.
If you want more recent stuff, here is a list of what I hear are some of the best Dredd stories in recent years that are collected in color:
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: The backlash
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice
• Judge Dredd: Trifecta
• Judge Dredd: Dark Justice
• Judge Dredd: Dead Zone
• Judge Dredd: Titan
• Judge Dredd: Every Empire Falls
Well,some digital bootlegs of case files are composed of Eagle reprints and are thus mostly in color.Or so I hear.
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 09 April, 2017, 08:58:02 PM
Everyone has had great recommendations already - I also suggest the Complete Case Files as the best way to read Dredd as you get the epics as well as many of the fantastic one offs in-between.
If you want more recent stuff, here is a list of what I hear are some of the best Dredd stories in recent years that are collected in color:
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: The backlash
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice
• Judge Dredd: Trifecta
• Judge Dredd: Dark Justice
• Judge Dredd: Dead Zone
• Judge Dredd: Titan
• Judge Dredd: Every Empire Falls
Oo, good ones! I do have Dark Justice, that's really nice. Don't know how I forgot that one!
Yeah, Greg Staples artwork on Dark Justice is incredible, it is a must! Also, the Restricted Files # 1-4 are primarily color as well.
These lists might be of help, as suggested the Eagle/Quality/Fleetway Quality might be of help. Most titles are in colour but not all.
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?PubID=9231 (http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?PubID=9231)
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?PubID=9221 (http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?PubID=9221)
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?PubID=8891 (http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?PubID=8891)
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 09 April, 2017, 09:31:54 PM
Yeah, Greg Staples artwork on Dark Justice is incredible, it is a must! Also, the Restricted Files # 1-4 are primarily color as well.
Excellent! I was thinking of ordering those anyway, but now they've move up the list considerably.
Since a few people mentioned the Eagle/Quality monthlies already, I have to wonder why more of those weren't given the same treatment as the
Nemesis the Warlock: Termight Edition, which utilized the same coloring from the Eagle comics in a hardback reprint edition. Perhaps that might be something for IDW to handle, if Rebellion has no interest, since the American market has a greater bias against black and white comics.
Even though I'm not autistic, I can readily understand what JoFox2108 is referring to in trying to follow the black and white art. It's doable, but sometimes the amount of detail put in by the artist on linework makes it slower reading at-a-glance than if the art were colorized. You really shouldn't need to spend more than a second or three looking at it, it should just flow without the reader being conscious of it at all -- it varies greatly from one artist to the next, of course, and I think some artists might have a less 'realistic' and looser style which might contribute to that (or perhaps it might be me just not being that familiar with a particular artist's style). I recognize what he's saying because I had just recently read a few 2000 AD stories (can't recall which artist now) where that was more of an issue than it ought to have been. I think it might also have something to do with art reduction to fit into a collected edition format. It's less of a problem with most of the older stories, because they seem less "dense", artistically -- the graphic storytelling style just seems more direct and immediately apparent, and the panels on average are less "cluttered".
Hi Everyone!
Wow - you guys are
EXCELLENT! Thanks so much for the advice. :cool:
I'm going to go for the case files as my main reading and then fill up as much as I can from the early stuff with Eagle Comic Reprints and any other coloured collected editions. Many thanks to Tony Angelino, Colin YNWA, SIP and MaryandDavid for this idea. I had no idea that these Eagle Comic reprints even existed.
Does anyone know if the case files will continue right up to the current 2000AD and Megazine stories eventually? Also, have they got a new name now - Restricted Casefiles?
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 09 April, 2017, 08:58:02 PM
Everyone has had great recommendations already - I also suggest the Complete Case Files as the best way to read Dredd as you get the epics as well as many of the fantastic one offs in-between.
If you want more recent stuff, here is a list of what I hear are some of the best Dredd stories in recent years that are collected in color:
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: The backlash
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice
• Judge Dredd: Trifecta
• Judge Dredd: Dark Justice
• Judge Dredd: Dead Zone
• Judge Dredd: Titan
• Judge Dredd: Every Empire Falls
Thanks Rogue Judge! Do you know if these stories will be collected in the case files too or would I need to get them seperately?
Quote from: positronic on 10 April, 2017, 06:31:33 AM
Even though I'm not autistic, I can readily understand what JoFox2108 is referring to in trying to follow the black and white art. It's doable, but sometimes the amount of detail put in by the artist on linework makes it slower reading at-a-glance than if the art were colorized. You really shouldn't need to spend more than a second or three looking at it, it should just flow without the reader being conscious of it at all -- it varies greatly from one artist to the next, of course, and I think some artists might have a less 'realistic' and looser style which might contribute to that (or perhaps it might be me just not being that familiar with a particular artist's style). I recognize what he's saying because I had just recently read a few 2000 AD stories (can't recall which artist now) where that was more of an issue than it ought to have been. I think it might also have something to do with art reduction to fit into a collected edition format. It's less of a problem with most of the older stories, because they seem less "dense", artistically -- the graphic storytelling style just seems more direct and immediately apparent, and the panels on average are less "cluttered".
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 09 April, 2017, 04:01:17 PM
Its a shame you don't get on with black and white strips as they will keep cropping up and you'll miss a lot of good stuff, but if your autism prevents that there's not much to be done except as suggested getting the Eagle reprints (avoid the 'Quality' ones).
Yeah, I know what you mean. In the 2000AD 40th Anniversay Special I struggled with Ro-Busters - pure black and white art and very dense, but I could read this one with some effort. Henry Flint's Zombo artwork was quite difficult too although the greyscale screentones really helped for me there.
I do keep trying with this stuff, because it pops up everywhere. For instance, I just got 'The Kreeler Consipracy' - Strontium Dog. Online it looked coloured but it has a coloured story first then black and white then coloured again. Fortunately Esquerra's line work on the black and white one looks pretty readable. He's got stronger lines picking out characters and isn't too heavy with the textures on these particular stories. Sometimes when he goes overboard on the textures and doesn't strengthen the lines which define seperate objects I do find his style hard to read, which is a shame because he's a terrific artist! Anyway, thanks guys!
Quote from: positronic on 10 April, 2017, 06:31:33 AMSince a few people mentioned the Eagle/Quality monthlies already, I have to wonder why more of those weren't given the same treatment as the Nemesis the Warlock: Termight Edition, which utilized the same coloring from the Eagle comics in a hardback reprint edition.
Probably due to the nature of how they were created. Nemesis was a special case, with the original artist doing a lot of work on the US takes on the strip. More often, the US reprints had decidedly inferior editing, hacking out panels, and in later comics sometimes omitting even entire pages, including the endings to stories. Essentially, most of them were done on the cheap (which, ironically, might make them suitable for IDW, judging by its US classics Transformers disaster), rather than with love and care.
QuoteEven though I'm not autistic, I can readily understand what JoFox2108 is referring to in trying to follow the black and white art.
Beyond people with certain conditions that make following a specific kind of media tricky, I suspect a lot of this comes down to the language of comics – and that language changing. I grew up with pulp British fare. Almost nothing was coloured. 2000 AD would have its centre spread, and things like The Beano would have a spot colour for some strips, but that was it. US comics, by comparison, were in colour throughout my lifetime – although I'm not sure how much easier some were to follow, given the semi-random and low-quality nature of the colouring jobs. 2000 AD of course switched gears dramatically when painted art came in, although plenty of sub-Bisley clones meant you got a lot of hard-to-follow murky brown crud until artists properly learned to grapple with colour. (You then got crazy digital stuff a few years later, before that too settled down.)
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 10 April, 2017, 11:51:35 AMDoes anyone know if the case files will continue right up to the current 2000AD and Megazine stories eventually? Also, have they got a new name now - Restricted Casefiles?
There's no way of knowing how long the Case Files will run for. I suspect Rebellion will keep printing them as long as they keep selling. I can't imagine they'd ever 'catch' the comics, unless the comics vanished, though. The Restricted Files are simply the branding for the strips that didn't appear in 2000 AD and the Megazine – in other words, they're compilations of 2000 AD summer/winter specials, Dredd specials, and annuals. To my mind, the second and third books are some of the best Dredd around. They do, however, mix up colour and b+w, so you might want to take a look at them in a comic store before buying.
QuoteThanks Rogue Judge! Do you know if these stories will be collected in the case files too or would I need to get them separately?
There's no reason to think those strips won't end up in the Case Files eventually, although they will in the main be some years off. (An alternate means of grabbing some of these might be Hachette's partworks series (http://www.judgedreddcollection.com), which for hardbacks are dirt cheap. You of course don't get spine art or even an indication of what's in the book, but the actual volumes are on the whole really lovely. You can cherry pick volumes from the company's main website (https://www.hachettepartworks.com/judge-dredd-the-mega-collection). Be mindful that certain series can be split between multiple volumes, and these may not be released in chronological order.
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 10 April, 2017, 11:51:35 AM
Does anyone know if the case files will continue right up to the current 2000AD and Megazine stories eventually? Also, have they got a new name now - Restricted Casefiles?
The CFs will catch up eventually, but it's going to take quite a few years to get there at the current publication schedule. The Restricted Files are a different thing - whilst the Casefiles collect all the prog and Meg stories, the Restricted files collect all the odds and ends - stories from the annuals, summer specials etc. I can't remember off-hand how much is colour and how much is black and white.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 10 April, 2017, 12:16:51 PM
Quote from: positronic on 10 April, 2017, 06:31:33 AMSince a few people mentioned the Eagle/Quality monthlies already, I have to wonder why more of those weren't given the same treatment as the Nemesis the Warlock: Termight Edition, which utilized the same coloring from the Eagle comics in a hardback reprint edition.
Probably due to the nature of how they were created. Nemesis was a special case, with the original artist doing a lot of work on the US takes on the strip. More often, the US reprints had decidedly inferior editing, hacking out panels, and in later comics sometimes omitting even entire pages, including the endings to stories. Essentially, most of them were done on the cheap (which, ironically, might make them suitable for IDW, judging by its US classics Transformers disaster), rather than with love and care.
I'm not quite sure if this is what you had in mind, but are you referring to the latter-1980s period when Quality Comics (which in a way began as a spinoff of Dez Skinn's WARRIOR magazine) was handed off to the production services of Sal Quartuccio Productions in the U.S.? I can remember as far back as when that happened, and the Quality Comics' drop in just about everything (coloring, paper, cover designs, cover art even) just took an absolute nosedive. It felt ironic, since I'd thought the earlier ones (wait, Eagle's production was handled by Titan Books, wasn't it...?) were much better.
Yeah, I'm referring to Quality Comics around the time of Law of Dredd starting up. I most notably remember the Nemesis collection, which was really badly edited, and ABC Warriors, which omitted entire chunks of episodes. Really messy stuff. (LoD was one series in which endings were sometimes missed entirely. Bizarre.) Earlier stuff was better, I agree.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 11 April, 2017, 12:37:53 PM
Yeah, I'm referring to Quality Comics around the time of Law of Dredd starting up. I most notably remember the Nemesis collection, which was really badly edited, and ABC Warriors, which omitted entire chunks of episodes. Really messy stuff. (LoD was one series in which endings were sometimes missed entirely. Bizarre.) Earlier stuff was better, I agree.
And that's what it was. Just as I thought. As I understand it, at that point in time there were enough small American comic book companies that competion was quite stiff, and overall order numbers fell somewhat across the board for all but the most popular mainstream titles. To offset this, the production was shifted to the U.S. as a cost-saving feature and so as to be nearer to printers. IIRC, I also recall some sort of mild insinuations that Sal Quartucccio may not have been spending all the budget he'd been allotted for those comics, with funds skimmed off to aid cash flow to his other ventures.
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 10 April, 2017, 11:51:35 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 09 April, 2017, 04:01:17 PM
Its a shame you don't get on with black and white strips as they will keep cropping up and you'll miss a lot of good stuff, but if your autism prevents that there's not much to be done except as suggested getting the Eagle reprints (avoid the 'Quality' ones).
Yeah, I know what you mean. In the 2000AD 40th Anniversay Special I struggled with Ro-Busters - pure black and white art and very dense, but I could read this one with some effort. Henry Flint's Zombo artwork was quite difficult too although the greyscale screentones really helped for me there.
I do keep trying with this stuff, because it pops up everywhere. For instance, I just got 'The Kreeler Consipracy' - Strontium Dog. Online it looked coloured but it has a coloured story first then black and white then coloured again. Fortunately Esquerra's line work on the black and white one looks pretty readable. He's got stronger lines picking out characters and isn't too heavy with the textures on these particular stories. Sometimes when he goes overboard on the textures and doesn't strengthen the lines which define seperate objects I do find his style hard to read, which is a shame because he's a terrific artist! Anyway, thanks guys!
Is there nothing that could help optically to... I don't want to say 'correct', because I know that isn't... I guess maybe "offset" the problem, is the word, even if it may be somewhat of a kludgy sort of workaround? Or is it strictly a brain/perceptual problem that doesn't respond at all to external physical modification. .. like say, viewing the art through some sort of textured lens? I don't know, just fishing for something here... something that would be affecting/altering contrast or something like that.
Hmm, the Definitive Editions from 1990 are listed as colour...
They include some strips which were originally published as b/w
Bad Science
Metal Fatigue
Hall of Justice
Future Crime
http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=reprint&page=gnprofiles&Comic=DEFINIT (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=reprint&page=gnprofiles&Comic=DEFINIT)
Yeah, they are colouised versions of the strips - not American 4 colour process colouring but a slight bit more fancy painted over style!
Yeah, think I have one of them at least - but can't really remember them.
Quote from: positronic on 11 April, 2017, 01:06:52 PM
Is there nothing that could help optically to... I don't want to say 'correct', because I know that isn't... I guess maybe "offset" the problem, is the word, even if it may be somewhat of a kludgy sort of workaround? Or is it strictly a brain/perceptual problem that doesn't respond at all to external physical modification. .. like say, viewing the art through some sort of textured lens? I don't know, just fishing for something here... something that would be affecting/altering contrast or something like that.
People with Irlen's syndrome find coloured overlays helpful for reading, though not sure if that would be of any use for comics/without Irlen's syndrome http://irlen.com/faqs/
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 10 April, 2017, 12:16:51 PM
QuoteEven though I'm not autistic, I can readily understand what JoFox2108 is referring to in trying to follow the black and white art.
Beyond people with certain conditions that make following a specific kind of media tricky, I suspect a lot of this comes down to the language of comics – and that language changing. I grew up with pulp British fare. Almost nothing was coloured. 2000 AD would have its centre spread, and things like The Beano would have a spot colour for some strips, but that was it. US comics, by comparison, were in colour throughout my lifetime – although I'm not sure how much easier some were to follow, given the semi-random and low-quality nature of the colouring jobs. 2000 AD of course switched gears dramatically when painted art came in, although plenty of sub-Bisley clones meant you got a lot of hard-to-follow murky brown crud until artists properly learned to grapple with colour. (You then got crazy digital stuff a few years later, before that too settled down.)
Thanks Indigo, I've been thinking about the effect the 'language of comics' has had on me as I grew up. I started with 'The Beano' and then went on to 'Commando' when I was about 8 or 9. I read some 2000AD when I was about 16 but couldn't read the black and white art at the time.
After that I didn't follow comics at all until after my son was born. I bought him some Dark Horse Star Wars comics with 5 1/4 " figures attached. He wasn't interested but I got hooked. I was quite happy with the Star Wars Expanded Universe which Dark Horse were doing for years until Marvel took over. Initially I read everything Marvel put out Star Wars-wise but I felt that they had lost something.
After I gave up on Marvel Star Wars I read loads of stuff, fantasy and Science Fiction and plenty of Manga (where I had same problem with the black and white art work). I tried superheroes too but they all seemed like a bunch of similar characters in different coloured tights! I know some people love that stuff but I thought it was boring. Then started reading Dredd and bought my first 2000AD for 30 years and finally I found the stories I really wanted to read.
So, although Commando was in black and white, the rest of my staple reading material for most of my comic life has been coloured art from Darkhorse. Given that background, maybe my ability to read the pictures in black and white comics will get better with practice? I don't know.
Quote from: positronic on 11 April, 2017, 01:06:52 PM
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 10 April, 2017, 11:51:35 AM
Yeah, I know what you mean. In the 2000AD 40th Anniversay Special I struggled with Ro-Busters - pure black and white art and very dense, but I could read this one with some effort. Henry Flint's Zombo artwork was quite difficult too although the greyscale screentones really helped for me there.
I do keep trying with this stuff, because it pops up everywhere. For instance, I just got 'The Kreeler Consipracy' - Strontium Dog. Online it looked coloured but it has a coloured story first then black and white then coloured again. Fortunately Esquerra's line work on the black and white one looks pretty readable. He's got stronger lines picking out characters and isn't too heavy with the textures on these particular stories. Sometimes when he goes overboard on the textures and doesn't strengthen the lines which define seperate objects I do find his style hard to read, which is a shame because he's a terrific artist! Anyway, thanks guys!
Is there nothing that could help optically to... I don't want to say 'correct', because I know that isn't... I guess maybe "offset" the problem, is the word, even if it may be somewhat of a kludgy sort of workaround? Or is it strictly a brain/perceptual problem that doesn't respond at all to external physical modification. .. like say, viewing the art through some sort of textured lens? I don't know, just fishing for something here... something that would be affecting/altering contrast or something like that.
The only thing I can think of which might help is to go through a book with some watered-down ink and ink in some grey tones, then read the book afterwards. That way I can do the work of figuring out the pictures first and then enjoy the story without all this stuff getting in the way. Contrast does help a bit if the artist has made the figure/ground differences stand out by using thicker lines to denote seperate characters and objects. Generally though I think it's a visual processing difference in autism.
Thanks again to everyone for some mega-helpful ideas - very much appreciated. :D
Maybe it's just me showing my age, and of course you can never imply these type of things across the board, but I wonder sometimes if many of the newer artists just aren't as visually literate as the old-school craftsmen were. Oh, they can draw the heck out of a picture, don't get me wrong. It's just that a comic book page is a lot more than X number of well-drawn pictures. As artists they may well rank high, but as storytellers... not so much. As with all things, there are, of course, many notable exceptions.
I do feel like with certain artists, I get a very strong impression of a man at work thinking. Others, hardly at all.
In fact, the more I'm thinking this over, the more I'm realizing how lesser in importance the idea of drawing pretty really is. I can think of many now whose work, if isolated to a single panel, seems innocuous and inconsequential enough. Taken as a story, however -- there's a horse of a different color.
But as with women so too with comics. It's always the pretty ones that bedazzle us first, until we're less distracted and can recognize the deeper character in one perhaps technically more plain to the eye. Not to say both aren't possible either. Again as with women, somewhat rare in number.
Hi Mr JoFox,
After finally getting to my collection in the loft recently I came across a few eagle reprints I bought back in the day. I actually questioned what I'd be doing with these as I have started the Case Files collecting journey and I need to de-clutter. So if you're interested I could get a list of what I have and hopefully get them to you reasonably soon.
Let me know.
Cheers, Stu
Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 April, 2017, 01:20:57 PM
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 10 April, 2017, 11:51:35 AM
Does anyone know if the case files will continue right up to the current 2000AD and Megazine stories eventually? Also, have they got a new name now - Restricted Casefiles?
The CFs will catch up eventually, but it's going to take quite a few years to get there at the current publication schedule. The Restricted Files are a different thing - whilst the Casefiles collect all the prog and Meg stories, the Restricted files collect all the odds and ends - stories from the annuals, summer specials etc. I can't remember off-hand how much is colour and how much is black and white.
If it's a special or annual, isn't Judge Dredd the most likely story to be in color? I'm just trying to imagine a special or annual where some other story gets the lead spot with color, and Judge Dredd gets bumped to a black & white slot behind... That's not to say there might not be MORE than one Dredd story in special or annual, with the first in color and the second in black and white. Most likely there would be two or three stories in color in a special or annual, wouldn't there, with one of them being Dredd? At least looking at the 1980s Judge Dredd and 2000 AD Annuals that I have. I don't have a lot of the specials, but it would seem pretty UNspecial if it were entirely in black and white. And Dredd IS the most popular character.
Quote from: Stu101 on 17 April, 2017, 11:15:20 PM
Hi Mr JoFox,
After finally getting to my collection in the loft recently I came across a few eagle reprints I bought back in the day. I actually questioned what I'd be doing with these as I have started the Case Files collecting journey and I need to de-clutter. So if you're interested I could get a list of what I have and hopefully get them to you reasonably soon.
Let me know.
Cheers, Stu
Hi Stu, That sounds wonderful! Can you see my email address in my profile? (Sorry I'm a bit new to the forum). If not I'll PM it to you!
Thanks,
Jo
PS: I'm a female. Jo is short for Joanne! :)
Quote from: positronic on 17 April, 2017, 11:35:17 PMIf it's a special or annual, isn't Judge Dredd the most likely story to be in color?
Not really. You have to bear in mind that in the early days, the annuals and specials had very few colour pages, and in the very early days, Dredd vied for top spot with other strips, including Dan Dare (and also appeared in the Dan Dare annual). Also, plenty of Dredd annuals/specials had multiple tales, hence some of them not being in colour.
Flicking through the RFs I have, the majority of tales are in colour, but every one of the book has at least some black and white strip. The first two seem to have somewhat more – in the first there are eight or nine. The latter RFs have fewer, but the fourth one is a pretty weak collection, IMO. (The second is easily the best.)
There's also a nice old Titan book that collected a few colour Mike McMahon Dredd stories that originally appeared in annuals (1981-82). It's easy to find on eBay for a few quid (under a tenner, at least), but this is the one I mean:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JUDGE-DREDD-COLOUR-SERIES-Book-1-The-Streets-of-Mega-city-Titan-Book-/231554818496?hash=item35e9be21c0:g:5~kAAOSwPhdVS5j3
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/graphicnovels/hires/colour1.jpg)
I preferred Titan's album format to the Rebellion standard size (a little wider than American TPs, same height) trade paperbacks. I miss them as I'm sitting here trying to read word balloons and captions stuck in the binding between two pages as reprinted from an original 2000 AD centerspread. Titan's graphic albums were a good size.
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 19 April, 2017, 08:28:29 AM
PS: I'm a female. Jo is short for Joanne! :)
Whoops, sorry Jo, there's me presuming! :-[
I'll PM you with some details.
Forgot to mention this last week when I got my copy, but JUDGE DREDD: THE CAPE AND COWL CRIMES was a recent Rebellion TP release, and it's about 80% in color.
Hi everyone, Thanks again for all your advice! Just wanted to let you know, Case Files 12, 13 and 14 just arrived this morning. Oh my goodness, so much Dredd to read. This is the best Saturday morning ever!
Thx Positronic, I'll look into that Cape and Cowl Crimes book too.
Thanks again guys,
Jo
Was Judgment Day (Garth Ennis +various artists) already mentioned? I was going to start reading that the other day, but looking at the timeline that prefaces the book, it occurs to me that I should get a copy of Necropolis and read that first (since it was already on my want list anyway). Judgment Day winds up with a visit from the time-traveling Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha, so it's something I look forward to reading. If I have any difficulty locating a copy of Necropolis, then I'll probably just skip it and go straight into Judgment Day.
Quote from: positronic on 22 April, 2017, 04:50:36 PM
Was Judgment Day (Garth Ennis +various artists) already mentioned? I was going to start reading that the other day, but looking at the timeline that prefaces the book, it occurs to me that I should get a copy of Necropolis and read that first (since it was already on my want list anyway). Judgment Day winds up with a visit from the time-traveling Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha, so it's something I look forward to reading. If I have any difficulty locating a copy of Necropolis, then I'll probably just skip it and go straight into Judgment Day.
You don't need to have read Necropolis to read Judgement Day. It probably wasn't mentioned as it is not a very well regarded story.
Necropolis is a far far better story than Judgement Day but you should read the strips leading up to it (Case Files 13) as well as the Dead Man before reading Necropolis.
Quote from: JoFox2108 on 10 April, 2017, 11:51:35 AM
Hi Everyone!
Wow - you guys are EXCELLENT! Thanks so much for the advice. :cool:
I'm going to go for the case files as my main reading and then fill up as much as I can from the early stuff with Eagle Comic Reprints and any other coloured collected editions. Many thanks to Tony Angelino, Colin YNWA, SIP and MaryandDavid for this idea. I had no idea that these Eagle Comic reprints even existed.
Does anyone know if the case files will continue right up to the current 2000AD and Megazine stories eventually? Also, have they got a new name now - Restricted Casefiles?
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 09 April, 2017, 08:58:02 PM
Everyone has had great recommendations already - I also suggest the Complete Case Files as the best way to read Dredd as you get the epics as well as many of the fantastic one offs in-between.
If you want more recent stuff, here is a list of what I hear are some of the best Dredd stories in recent years that are collected in color:
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: The backlash
• Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice
• Judge Dredd: Trifecta
• Judge Dredd: Dark Justice
• Judge Dredd: Dead Zone
• Judge Dredd: Titan
• Judge Dredd: Every Empire Falls
Thanks Rogue Judge! Do you know if these stories will be collected in the case files too or would I need to get them seperately?
Hey JoFox, I am excited for you - so many great stories ahead of you, especially Case files 13 & 14 are great! These stories will be collected in the case files
eventually - I don't know how long but Im guessing well over a decade before they appear in the case files.
Also, the Restricted files are volumes that collect material from the annuals and specials and are color - I think there are 4 volumes.
Let us know how your reading goes and enjoy the thrill power.
Quote from: WhizzBang on 22 April, 2017, 05:12:07 PM
Quote from: positronic on 22 April, 2017, 04:50:36 PM
Was Judgment Day (Garth Ennis +various artists) already mentioned? I was going to start reading that the other day, but looking at the timeline that prefaces the book, it occurs to me that I should get a copy of Necropolis and read that first (since it was already on my want list anyway). Judgment Day winds up with a visit from the time-traveling Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha, so it's something I look forward to reading. If I have any difficulty locating a copy of Necropolis, then I'll probably just skip it and go straight into Judgment Day.
You don't need to have read Necropolis to read Judgement Day. It probably wasn't mentioned as it is not a very well regarded story.
Necropolis is a far far better story than Judgement Day but you should read the strips leading up to it (Case Files 13) as well as the Dead Man before reading Necropolis.
Thanks for the background. I only hesitated because there was some mention of the Mega City One mass dead lying in pits outlying the city, attributed to the events of Necropolis, which I gather is key to the setup of events that will transpire in Judgment Day (which takes place 2 years later, according to the timeline preceding the actual story in Judgment Day). So does Case Files 13 include Necropolis as well as the the stories leading into it, or are they separate? And you say Judgment Day isn't well-regarded by Dredd fans?
Quote from: positronic on 23 April, 2017, 01:41:20 AM
Thanks for the background. I only hesitated because there was some mention of the Mega City One mass dead lying in pits outlying the city, attributed to the events of Necropolis, which I gather is key to the setup of events that will transpire in Judgment Day (which takes place 2 years later, according to the timeline preceding the actual story in Judgment Day). So does Case Files 13 include Necropolis as well as the the stories leading into it, or are they separate? And you say Judgment Day isn't well-regarded by Dredd fans?
CF13 is perhaps, not essential to Necropolis but it does have some build up towards it regarding Dredd's doubts about the system and also Cadet Giant who has a significant role in Necropolis. The Dead Man comes next and then it is CF14 which is entirely made up of Necropolis proper.
Take a look at Douglas Wolk's excellent Dredd Blog called Dredd Reckoning to get a fair view on Judgement Day: http://dreddreviews.blogspot.se/2012/02/complete-case-files-17.html
Quote from: WhizzBang on 23 April, 2017, 05:08:10 AM
Quote from: positronic on 23 April, 2017, 01:41:20 AM
Thanks for the background. I only hesitated because there was some mention of the Mega City One mass dead lying in pits outlying the city, attributed to the events of Necropolis, which I gather is key to the setup of events that will transpire in Judgment Day (which takes place 2 years later, according to the timeline preceding the actual story in Judgment Day). So does Case Files 13 include Necropolis as well as the the stories leading into it, or are they separate? And you say Judgment Day isn't well-regarded by Dredd fans?
CF13 is perhaps, not essential to Necropolis but it does have some build up towards it regarding Dredd's doubts about the system and also Cadet Giant who has a significant role in Necropolis. The Dead Man comes next and then it is CF14 which is entirely made up of Necropolis proper.
Take a look at Douglas Wolk's excellent Dredd Blog called Dredd Reckoning to get a fair view on Judgement Day: http://dreddreviews.blogspot.se/2012/02/complete-case-files-17.html
Thank you again. There's a bookmark'er for sure. I know of Douglas Wolk through his "Dredd's Comportment" text pages in IDW's Judge Dredd #1-22, which, if I am being completely honest, I will say is the best thing in those issues. If they had decided to reprint them all in a one-shot issue, I would have bought it again. Very illuminating regarding background details on the (original) series and various characters and themes in it.
I would definately like to see a complete Bix Barton
I have a question. Can anyone tell me what's in the MEGA CITY MASTERS collections? Not sure how many of those there were... at least 3 volumes, though. And are they in color?
I read the description of those but it's just so generic that all you can tell is that it's a Judge Dredd collection of various well-regarded creators. I presume that they must all be done-in-one-Prog stories or close to it, so they can fit in as many popular name artists and writers as possible in the collection.
Just to step in with something mentioned earlier, Dead Man is entirely b+w. So if the OP's reading this, it's probably a book to avoid.
Quote from: positronic link=topic=44339.msg954119#msg954119 date=1492908080And you say Judgment Day isn't well-regarded by Dredd fans?/quote]
I imagine it has its fans, but they're relatively low in number. I remember there at the time being quite the surprise when Judgment Day was the first DC/Rebellion co-op Dredd trade (presumably decided on due to Ennis being the writer). For me, it's not the worst Dredd tale in the world by any stretch (and there have been inferior epics and multi-parters, such as the risible Inferno, and Book of the Dead), but it's just Dredd by the numbers, and with Ennis's SUPERHERO Dredd at the helm.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 24 April, 2017, 09:59:23 AM
Just to step in with something mentioned earlier, Dead Man is entirely b+w. So if the OP's reading this, it's probably a book to avoid.
Quote from: positronic link=topic=44339.msg954119#msg954119 date=1492908080And you say Judgment Day isn't well-regarded by Dredd fans?/quote]
I imagine it has its fans, but they're relatively low in number. I remember there at the time being quite the surprise when Judgment Day was the first DC/Rebellion co-op Dredd trade (presumably decided on due to Ennis being the writer). For me, it's not the worst Dredd tale in the world by any stretch (and there have been inferior epics and multi-parters, such as the risible Inferno, and Book of the Dead), but it's just Dredd by the numbers, and with Ennis's SUPERHERO Dredd at the helm.
If Ennis' Dredd stories are really that (relatively) unpopular with 2000 AD's readers, I wonder why they did another trade entitled Judge Dredd: The Garth Ennis Collection? Or is that one of those things aimed at grabbing the attention of the American fans of PREACHER and THE PUNISHER?
I was going to mention this when I asked about it earlier, but I forgot. The trade collection I have of Judgment Day is indeed the very DC Comics edition you cited. I think there were something like a couple dozen different DC/Rebellion trade co-productions, which were identical to the standard Rebellion edition with the exception of having different cover artwork and a small DC/Rebellion imprint icon on the cover. I got the impression in looking over the list of titles which were released that they were all selections from more-or-less contemporary Rebellion editions.
Almost more of a random selection of what was then in-print at Rebellion than any kind of real attempt at cherry-picking some "best of" selections to represent the various series, or to choose a good entry-point or something. I think the only of one of the classic characters they did that with was Strontium Dog: The Early Cases (which nevertheless omitted the earliest of the early SD stories from Starlord), and the first Bad Company collection. I think the only other Dredd collection besides Judgment Day was Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death (a fairly no-brainer choice). Then there was Shimura, which was re-released more recently by Rebellion under the title Hondo City Law (or at least, it appears to be mainly the same stories... not sure if it's completely identical).
There's a difference between things liked by core fandom and those that might attract a wider audience. Publishing tries to balance the two, usually tending towards the latter, although I'd argue Rebellion if anything cares at least as much about the core fans, given the trades we've got over the years. So Ennis is something of a no-brainer, given his reach outside of the UK, and also when you bear in mind that initial run of trades was done in collaboration with DC Comics.
And, yeah, that early selection was a bit scattergun, and you could feel that Rebellion felt a bit hemmed in, given that it also released its own line of hardbacks with more oddball characters lurking within. (I recall when that DC deal ended, and wondered what would happen next. Little did we all know at the time it was probably the best thing for everyone. Just looking at the trade line Rebellion's done in those years since is really quite the eye-opener.)
Quote from: positronic on 24 April, 2017, 08:44:16 AM
I have a question. Can anyone tell me what's in the MEGA CITY MASTERS collections? Not sure how many of those there were... at least 3 volumes, though. And are they in color?
There were only three volumes of "Mega City Masters". They're all a mix of colour and black & white stories.
Volume 1 has the most B&W content - about half - and strangely includes both "Joe Dredd's Blues" (from 2000AD Annual 1989) and the near-identical "A Mega-City Primer" (from JD Megazine 1.14).
Volume 2 has the most colour, with only five pages in B&W ("The Comeback", seven pages but with two colour pages), though I regret to inform you it also contains "Book of the Dead". "Book of the Dead" gets plus points here for being in colour, but minus points for being "Book of the Dead".
Volume 3 has "Trapper Hag", "The Power of the Gods" and "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" in B&W but on the plus side is mostly in colour, including "Bad Mother" (with Cam Kennedy on art duties), "Safe Hands" (Jock), "Sturm und Dang" (Carlos Ezquerra), "Turkey Shoot" (Henry Flint) and "PF" (Arthur Ranson) amongst others.
Ennis wrote some really good stories, but J Day wasn't one of them. Karl Urban said that Raider was one of his favourite stories that he read when he was researching the role.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 24 April, 2017, 11:33:55 AM
There's a difference between things liked by core fandom and those that might attract a wider audience. Publishing tries to balance the two, usually tending towards the latter, although I'd argue Rebellion if anything cares at least as much about the core fans, given the trades we've got over the years. So Ennis is something of a no-brainer, given his reach outside of the UK, and also when you bear in mind that initial run of trades was done in collaboration with DC Comics.
Oh, I'm not doubting what you say, Indigo. It's just that I wondered about "the Garth Ennis Collection" because that one
wasn't one of the DC/2000 AD releases. But I completely take your meaning here. I generally enjoy Ennis' work, but I definitely enjoy
some things
much more than others (his Punisher was outstanding... best version of the character
ever), but his war stories are what really stand out to me as exceptional (of which the Punisher, in a way, is one). Some other things like The Boys started out fine, but should have been more self-contained... it suffered as a whole from dragging on far too long.
But I know exactly what you're talking about, some writers are just not well-suited to some characters -- they seem to want to write them in a way that leans towards their particular strengths or interests, but is essentially all wrong for that character -- they're just not following in the spirit or tradition of the character's roots. Or perhaps in this instance, it's just too early in Ennis' career, before he'd developed into a better writer. Might even be that this is one of those instances of "Oh, he's
great on his own creator-owned stuff or some obscure sixth-string character, but please -- just
keep him away from the company icons". I've seen a few writers like that -- J. Michael Straczynski comes immediately to mind.
Ennis himself has said Dredd was too soon for him, and I think it's clear he'd not really clocked the character's nuances that Wagner had increasingly instilled. So while Dredd had been gradually shifting from hardliner to very slightly less hardliner, Ennis and others from that era turned Dredd into something more akin to the most extreme take on the character. The problem is, a lot of the satire was paper thin and the undefeatable hero aspect didn't work. Millar was far worse at this, and Ennis did also manage to write some decent stuff, but I can't imagine Judgment Day's too high up anyone's list of favourites. That said, it does – bar a few really awful scenes – read better in collection. I certainly didn't feel miffed about it being in the Mega Collection, unlike the irredeemable garbage that was Inferno. (And, yes, I know: nice Ezquerra art. Still not nearly enough.)
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 24 April, 2017, 03:45:38 PM
Ennis himself has said Dredd was too soon for him, and I think it's clear he'd not really clocked the character's nuances that Wagner had increasingly instilled. So while Dredd had been gradually shifting from hardliner to very slightly less hardliner, Ennis and others from that era turned Dredd into something more akin to the most extreme take on the character. The problem is, a lot of the satire was paper thin and the undefeatable hero aspect didn't work. Millar was far worse at this, and Ennis did also manage to write some decent stuff, but I can't imagine Judgment Day's too high up anyone's list of favourites. That said, it does – bar a few really awful scenes – read better in collection. I certainly didn't feel miffed about it being in the Mega Collection, unlike the irredeemable garbage that was Inferno. (And, yes, I know: nice Ezquerra art. Still not nearly enough.)
Well, I bought it a long time ago. Sometimes graphic collections get backed up for
years for me. As I mentioned, it was one of the few of those DC/2000 AD things that I saw back then, but somehow I always knew it would be a while before I'd get to it, because I needed to get some info backup on the (tons of) stuff I'd missed in the years leading up to it. I hadn't read a Dredd story (at the time) since the Titan album days, apart from the DC and Dark Horse crossovers. I wasn't even buying it for Garth, I was buying it for the Dredd/Alpha mashup. Well, now that I'm sitting and waiting on a few deliveries of collections I've ordered, I guess I'll just polish it off and not fuss over it too much.
Yes, Wagner & Ezquerra! Close to as perfect Dredd as you can get. Loved ORIGINS.
Doing a search to find the first full color Dredd strip in 2000AD i came up with this thread...anyone know which prog contained it? I thought it would be easier to find!
Quote from: mattp9989 on 22 August, 2017, 02:24:11 AM
Doing a search to find the first full color Dredd strip in 2000AD i came up with this thread...anyone know which prog contained it? I thought it would be easier to find!
Judge Dredd: Twister Part Three PROG#590 (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=prog&page=profiles&choice=590Prog) was the first Dredd story in 2000AD to go full colour.
It's a parody on
The Wizard of Oz with the first instalment in black + white and the second going full colour in its last three pages.
Thanks for letting me know!