DREDD: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES 16

[Paul faplad Finch]

I remember that story. The whole Wilderlands thing was my very first Dredd. The way that led straight into all the election stuff and Volt becoming Chief Judge had me genuinely believing that Dredd was completely serialised.

I remember when the next standalone story started I was very confused. It was about travelling back in time to kill a bunch of people before they could spread a disease from space. Can't remember the name offhand but I remember resenting it because it didn't tie directly in with what had come before. 

[radiator]

but in Ennis' defense this was the post-Long Walk bearded royal-we looney-tunes version of McGruder, re-introduced by Wagner, and passing notes with hearts was par for the course.

Nah, still doesn't ring true for me - it's not just McGruder (whose first name is Margaret according to this strip) - all the characters behave like schoolchildren.

I remember when the next standalone story started I was very confused. It was about travelling back in time to kill a bunch of people before they could spread a disease from space.

The Exterminator?

[Paul faplad Finch]

Thats the one.  Had some nice painted art if I remember rightly. I do remember one of Dredds victims being a nice bit of stuff in a see through dressing gown.

Hey, I was a teenager. What can I say?

[radiator]

I've never read the whole thing, but ISTR it started life as a series for the US, but when it was rejected it was rewritten as a Dredd story.

[TordelBack]

Ugh, I just looked at this in FP.  This is the first Casefiles I'm going to have trouble persuading myself to buy.  I understand that Ennis was a young'un, and nobody can replace Wagner, but why were both of them saddled with some of the worst art in the strip's history?  Even stuff from stalwarts of the Prog is murky and frankly ugly, and the Simon Coleby stuff is so wide of my tastes that I want to work out  some causality-violating solution whereby he can travel back in time and restrain his younger self while he (re)draws all his old work with his current godlike prowess.  Flicking through I can see the moment I abandoned the Meg, and the moment I lost my love of Dredd in the Prog.  Painful stuff, and we're not even approaching the outskirts of Millartown yet.  My bookcase quakes in fear.

[dweezil2]

Ugh, I just looked at this in FP.  This is the first Casefiles I'm going to have trouble persuading myself to buy.  I understand that Ennis was a young'un, and nobody can replace Wagner, but why were both of them saddled with some of the worst art in the strip's history?  Even stuff from stalwarts of the Prog is murky and frankly ugly, and the Simon Coleby stuff is so wide of my tastes that I want to work out  some causality-violating solution whereby he can travel back in time and restrain his younger self while he (re)draws all his old work with his current godlike prowess.  Flicking through I can see the moment I abandoned the Meg, and the moment I lost my love of Dredd in the Prog.  Painful stuff, and we're not even approaching the outskirts of Millartown yet.  My bookcase quakes in fear.

Definitely horses for courses time, as in many ways, I think this casefile has generally better artwork than the last one.
There's some exceptional work from Colin Macneil, Peter Doherty, John Burns, Cliff Robinson, Glen Fabry and many more.
I'm not so down on Ennis' work either-I'm rather fond of 'Muzak Killer' and there's the excellent 'Twilight's Last Gleaming' as well as John Wagner's rather great 'The Devil You Know', making this a fine collection in my opinion.

[Greg M.]

Definitely horses for courses time, as in many ways, I think this casefile has generally better artwork than the last one.
There's some exceptional work from Colin Macneil, Peter Doherty, John Burns, Cliff Robinson, Glen Fabry and many more.
I'm not so down on Ennis' work either-I'm rather fond of 'Muzak Killer' and there's the excellent 'Twilight's Last Gleaming' as well as John Wagner's rather great 'The Devil You Know', making this a fine collection in my opinion.

In my view, this one's a right mixed bag, whereas the last one I found fairly solid - even the Ennis stuff I didn't like when first published, like 'Return of the King' and 'Death Aid', I enoyed fine this time, though clearly the presence of Carlos helped a fair bit. As you say, the presence of Ennis and Wagner's concluding chapters of the ongoing Democracy storyline are probably the main highlights of Volume 16, whereas Garth's stuff I found to be incredibly hit and miss. Some of the one-offs, like 'One Better' and 'First of the Many' (the one with Dredd's first perp) I really enjoyed. On the other hand, 'Muzak Killer' and most of the other times Garth does a thinly veiled parody of the pop culture of the time (the Edward Scissorhands one, the Twin Peaks one) I thought were awful. The hidden gem might just be Alan Grant's 'The Art of Geomancy', not least 'cos Mr. John Burns makes it look so good.

[judge cooper]

what famous stories are going to be in it

[JOE SOAP]

They've been mentioned in the previous few posts.

[Greg M.]

what famous stories are going to be in it

I suppose the most well-known one I didn't mention would be 'Raptaur' from the Meg. Which is lovely and colourful.

[Colin Zeal]

When are we likely to get "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" in the case files? Not sure I've ever read it and I always hear good things about it.

[Greg M.]

When are we likely to get "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" in the case files? Not sure I've ever read it and I always hear good things about it.

Well, it was in Meg Vol 2, #46, so given that volumes 15 and 16 have so far covered 20 issues of the Meg in total (all of Vol 1).... hmmm.... maybe Vol 19 maybe? Maybe earlier if they cut down on 2000AD Dredd and beef up the Meg content for when we reach the inevitable horror of the Millar epoch...

"Bury My Knee..." is a great little story though, the kind you couldn't do too often with Dredd, but which is all the better for it.

[Colin Zeal]

Thanks for the answer Greg.

[judge cooper]

When are we likely to get "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" in the case files? Not sure I've ever read it and I always hear good things about it.

i love that prog

[TordelBack]

When are we likely to get "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" in the case files? Not sure I've ever read it and I always hear good things about it.

i love that prog

Megazine.