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I'd interested to see if many Dredd stories adopted this kind of grittier tone in future editions of the Case Files.

I think the Mechanismo/Wilderlands epic was where Dredd as a series seemed to turn a corner and become a bit more grown up. In contrast to what had come before, Wilderlands seemed smaller scale - more about the human conflict than the escalating body count of Necropolis and Judgement Day.

The Pit then built on this new approach, leading into more smaller scale, character based stories like Beyond the Call of Duty and Sector House.

The Case Files are in a bit of a slump at the moment with Book of the Dead and Crusade still to come, but in a couple of volumes time we're out of the woods, and we're going to get about 4 or 5 books in a row that are almost entirely cover to cover John Wagner at his best, much of it being reprinted for the first time ever.

I can't wait.

Me neither Radiator!  That sounds great!  Like you, when I read both Necropolis & Judgement Day I felt both stories were too obsessed with the body count.  While the Necropolis story was interesting to me from the point of view of ending the Dredd / Kraken arc, I didn't feel it lived up to the sweep and scale of the absoultely wonderful Block War / Apocalypse War run (admittedly though, how could you top that?).  Judgement Day was enjoyable enough in a kind of mindless way, but I was infuriated by [spoiler]the destruction of MC-2.  For those of us who were familiar with early Dredd, this throwaway moment was a complete insult to the Cursed Earth epic. [/spoiler]

As a teenager I always enjoyed these overblown epic tales, but as an adult fast-approaching middle-age, the prospect of seeing some smaller-scale, more mature Dredd delights me!  Bring it on!

Given that this will take us to almost a year since the release of CF19, I'm beginning to worry that the project has been abandoned.  Is there anyone who can advise if the Case Files will indeed continue?

It hasn't. They will.

Thanks (once again) for clarifying the situation Molch-R!

The Pit won't be in the Case Files until 22 or possibly even 23, which are still some way off. But if that still seems too soon for you then there are plenty of more recent stories worth getting, especially America since that will never be in the Case Files.

Mandroid, Origins, Chief Judge's Man, Doomsday, people will suggest some others too.

Cheers Richard, finally got my copy of America last week - absolutely brilliant!  Apart from the refreshing take on Dredd himself, I thought the story was one of the most imaginative and touching tales I'd ever read.  I was quite surprised at just how adult the second story (in particular) was.  I'd interested to see if many Dredd stories adopted this kind of grittier tone in future editions of the Case Files.

Alarmingly, 2000AD's coming soon thread lists releases up to April 2013 and there is no mention of CF20.  Given that this will take us to almost a year since the release of CF19, I'm beginning to worry that the project has been abandoned. 

Is there anyone who can advise if the Case Files will indeed continue?

Just realised i've still not read this. It's been on my shelf for ages now, and everytime i pick it up and vow to give it a go, the art puts me off. They should really get 20 out asap... (i'm hoping that 20 will be more... attractive upon perusal).

SBT

It wasn't the art but the quality (or lack thereof) of writing that bothered me about CF19.  Totally agree that I'd like to see CF20 out very soon, but my ongoing scouring of Amazon for a release date continues to be fruitless...

Given that the release of the Case Files seems to have slowed to a crawl, I was wondering if there were any other Judge Dredd books that people could recommend to me to buy.  I'm specifically looking for stories that have not and will not be featured in the Case Files for some time to come.

I've heard "Origins" is a good one to get, as is "The Pit", but understand the latter is likely to feature either in CF 20, or 21 (so would avoid).

Can any of you good people in the know offer me some pointers please?

I'd say the Avengers is the exception to the rule; I agree with Teivion that 3 - 4 months for a film to be released is pretty normal.  It's one reason I think very carefully about going to the cinema these days.  It's always in my mind that rather than paying £20 for myself & my wife to get through the front door, I could just wait a few months to buy the film for a lesser price and be able to watch it over and over again in the comfort of my own home.  Obviously I did go and see Dredd though - and it was well worth the money!

Home video!?!

People should remember that Pete is on Teeside - it's like a special magical flickerbook that tells stories.

I'm so old that I never completely accepted "Home Video" as being the normal term.  I'm hoping to grab a Betamax copy!

Oh yeah that's true. Still, better to get in on the Christmas sales too, surely.

Think you are both right!  Get it out a week or two before Xmas, shift a load of copies, and in January hopefully there'll be a second wave of good sales as people start using up those gift vouchers!

Thanks Joe - that is the first time I've looked at the UK box office figures for some time, and (given the disappointing and somewhat depressing news from the U.S.) I'm pleasantly surprised to see that the overall takings for Dredd seem to be on a par with most of the competition.
After weeks of badgering, I finally managed to talk a few people in my work into seeing it this week.  They absolutely loved it, but I just wished I could have talked them into going sooner so there would have been more time for them to have recommended it to their friends...  At least one of them is now going to try out the Case Files as a result!

There's two copies still left at Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-America-John-Wagner/dp/1905437587/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348598561&sr=8-1

... assuming I'm not missing the point here???

You're not missing the point Colin, I was!  I was expecting to see this in the 2000AD store and ignored the Amazon edition as it said it was released in 2008 rather than 2012 as I had been expecting  (as stated above I was worried that might be an edition which only had one of three parts of the story arc)...  It's been ordered now though, can't wait!

Vote for Dredd:



http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/rorschachsrants/news/?a=67737

Cheers Joe - done!

now that dredd3d has opened in AMERICA pheww   its time to flood the cinemas in britain with the 2d version  then theyll get a flood of sales   

Good idea!  One of my friends is desperate to see the film but as he has some problem with his eyes which means he can't see images in 3D, there's no point in him going.  Unless 2D starts getting shown he'll have to wait for the BluRay (which he hopes will be out in time for Xmas).

Gutted to hear the news about the US box office takings.  It's a real kick in the teeth for all of us champing at the bit to get a sequel, but I feel sorriest for the people who worked so hard on making what has turned out to be an excellent film.  Their efforts deserved to be seen by a much wider audience.  I just hope that word of mouth can maybe turn things around...

Ah!  Thanks for the explanation!  I couldn't work that out at all.

The best thing is the check the RRPs. Generally, UK RRPs end in .99, whereas US ones are more random, due to price conversions. (This is sometimes complicated by US editions being restickered in the UK in place of reprints, note.) By the looks of the page count/previews, Mutant for Hire is essentially The Kreeler Conspiracy, released in the UK in late 2008.

Cheers Indigo!  I'll bear that in mind when scouring Amazon in future!

I'm gutted as well that the reprinting of America that was reported as being rereleased in July (on the main 2000AD news page) never seemed to materialise either.

Er ... it did happen, as promised. Copies were on Amazon in July.

Thanks for clarifying this.  I had been constantly checking on the 2000AD online store plus local comic shops for this book but could find no listing of it.   (Rightly or wrongly) I'd heard that there were editions of this graphic that only captured one arc of what I understand to be a three story arc.  When I spotted copies on Amazon I saw that this was referred to as a 2008 release rather than one in 2012.  As I couldn't find the book here on what I considered to be the official home of Dredd, I was reluctant to purchase from Amazon in case it was the edition that only featured the first story.  I'll get my order in now!  Cheers Michael!

[*not so subtle hint*]

Volume 4 is the last one, according to tharg.

It'd have to be, it goes up to 2134.  Which is good, as it means more Case Files.  Hopefully Dredd the movie will intrigue enough people that it's worth putting out four volumes a year *not so subtle hint* - but I guess it's more likely Rebellion will start reprinting the early phonebooks first.

Four a year would be fantastic, even three a year would be an improvement. I've been harping on about this for ages. Any improvment over the snail's pace we're enjoying right now would be welcome.

Totally agree Mark!  It's looking suspiciously like we are only going to get the one volume this year.  Given that the film has made this an unofficial year of Dredd (for me at least) I think this is a real shame.  I'm gutted as well that the reprinting of America that was reported as being rereleased in July (on the main 2000AD news page) never seemed to materialise either.  Any news on the release dates of this and CF20 would be very much appreciated...