Minor Orgins Gripe

[I, Cosh]

"are you including all the Dreddworld spin-offs in your timeline?"

I've tried to limit myself to 2000AD stories that are (A) regarded as absolute classics

Surely, using that criteria, you can completely disregard Strontium Dog from Dredd continuity.

[Steve Green]

Top Dog was pretty good...

- Steve

[Robin Low]

I've tried to limit myself to 2000AD stories that are (A) regarded as absolute classics

"Surely, using that criteria, you can completely disregard Strontium Dog from Dredd continuity."

You may not like Strontium Dog, but I think you'll find that it's been regarded as an absolute classic by a lot of the readership for quite a long time.

Or were you just talking about the specific cross-overs? (In which case, I should have said series, not stories.) Well, Top Dog is a pretty good story, and Judgement Day is established continuity whether anyone likes it or not. Personally, I did like it a lot. There were some foolish decisions made (like the destruction of MC2, the deaths of some characters and the cross-over with the Meg), but on the whole it was a classic epic.

Regards

Robin

[[YT-2]]

>the deaths of some characters

his best cadet bar none

[Bart Oliver]

IIRC I'd stopped reading 2000 and the Meg for nearly two years when Judgement Day was introduced. Initially cover art work drew me back into making a couple of purchases but the textural content was confusing and frustrating in parts- it just didn't read like any of the other Dredd epics I'd grown up with and too much like some Marvel/DC hero team-up (which is no bad thing in itself just not Dredd) so I promptly gave up on it.

As for the civil conflict between MC1 (with MC2, together as Union forces?) and Texas City- can a cover poster be considered canon? I'd like to think so ;)

Who knows, John Wagner may or may not visit this particular part of history to provide some backstory for a contemporary tale yet to be told. If he felt it would actually add value to a narrative there's every possibility it might feature, however to include it in an historical arc for completion's sake just seems a bit pointless to me.

Unless I'm very much mistaken the whole reason Wagner (and Grant) touched on times and places beyond the walls of Mega City One was to give depth and meaning to the fabric of the strip, it's plot lines, characters and no more.
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[Bart Oliver]

My original reason for posting was to put this up..
http://www.2000adonline.com/covers/usreprints/hires/edredd6.jpg">

[Robin Low]

::the deaths of some characters::

"his best cadet bar none"

Precisely. I still don't know how to react to that one. On the one hand, I'm still annoyed that we lost a significant characater (Dekker or Decker? I can never remember) and at the same time it was interesting to see Dredd affected by something for a change.

Regards

Robin

[Robin Low]

"IIRC I'd stopped reading 2000 and the Meg for nearly two years when Judgement Day was introduced. Initially cover art work drew me back into making a couple of purchases but the textural content was confusing and frustrating in parts- it just didn't read like any of the other Dredd epics I'd grown up with and too much like some Marvel/DC hero team-up (which is no bad thing in itself just not Dredd) so I promptly gave up on it."

Although I loved reading it and still have very fond memories of key moments in it, I admit that if I went through it with a fine-toothed comb I could easily find a hell of a lot to criticise. Even little things like that machine gun irritated me. Fine a new gun, but why call it Widowmaker after a real-world weapon? It doesn't sound like a name the Judges would give a weapon - Law-something-or-other would have been more appropriate.

Anyway, I think there's a Judgement Day collection now, so maybe you could give it another go in a more convenient format?

"As for the civil conflict between MC1 (with MC2, together as Union forces?) and Texas City- can a cover poster be considered canon? I'd like to think so ;)"

Me too. It would be an absolutely fantastic story to tell and I can't see it having any impact at all on continuity.

"Who knows, John Wagner may or may not visit this particular part of history to provide some backstory for a contemporary tale yet to be told. If he felt it would actually add value to a narrative there's every possibility it might feature, however to include it in an historical arc for completion's sake just seems a bit pointless to me."

It wouldn't be entirely pointless - if nothing else it would be one less thing for continuity freaks like myself to keep going on about! But like you say, it might be better as a backdrop to another story. Hmmm, it's been a while since Dredd was in Texas City...

Oh, worth noting, if/when these historical stories get told, for god's sake, don't let anyone but Wagner write them! Or Rennie. But nobody else.

Regards

Robin

[Steve Green]

I wonder if there's any mileage in throwaway lines like the Great Germ War mentioned in the Cursed Earth.

Whether that was a last throw of the dice by Booth (since he had loyal Mek-troops), or part of the Civil War between the Mega-Cities, or something else entirely.

- Steve

[Robin Low]

"I wonder if there's any mileage in throwaway lines like the Great Germ War mentioned in the Cursed Earth."

I think there's always mileage in these things, but there seems to be a reluctance on the part of many writers to take advantage of them.

Similarly, I find the linkage of the various 2000AD series to be full of potential for new and exciting stories. However, I've seen writers claim that tying series together will stifle creativity. It's not an argument I buy into; I just see stories to be told.

I think part of the truth is that linking series or taking advantage of throwaway lines requires writers to go back and re-read their own work and that other writers. Such research eats into their work time, they don't always have access to back issues anyway, and drawing on other writers' ideas can cause problems.

Regards

Robin

[Steve Green]

Yeah, I can understand why there aren't more, but the alternate view is that something like that might inspire a story that might not otherwise come about.

The 20 years of Dredd between graduation and his first appearance seems like such a rich area to explore.

Maybe that's something more suited to the Meg, unless it uses more flashbacks?

Does anyone know if there are plans for any Origins spin-offs?

- Steve

[Woolly]

"Does anyone know if there are plans for any Origins spin-offs?"


Well, theres gonna be 'Mutants in Mega-City One'...

I wonder what thats going to be about?
;)

[Steve Green]

Well, I meant more like a post-flashback story, rather than the aftermath of the present-day storyline... :)

- Steve

[opaque]

"Unless I'm very much mistaken the whole reason Wagner (and Grant) touched on times and places beyond the walls of Mega City One was to give depth and meaning to the fabric of the strip, it's plot lines, characters and no more. "

I agree but the problem with the example of say Supersurf 7 is that that was 22 years ago.
22 years of amazing Dredd after that and really you can't ignore the rest of the Earth. Of course Judgement Day sorted out some of the potential stories but I think theres SO much more potential in other city state stories, and thats without Hondo-Cit taking over the site of MC2 or some sort of Sino-Cit conspiracy. (examples of trials of expanding the world that never went anywhere.)

We've had a lot of content from other cities of course, Armitage being the best example, Oz, Cuidad Barranquilla but never in as much detail as might have been done. Mind you saying that with the recent involvement of MC1 there who knows if that is a precursor to something else or a deadend political point story?

[[YT-2]]

If Wagner was to write stories linked to Origins such as the battle of armageddon would he incur the wrath of Pat Mills for writing about things he created 8-)