Here's a list of what I've read, if you spot see any epics omitted I'd love to know what they are. Thanks creeps.
1. Call me Kenneth/Luna 1
2. Cursed earth saga
3. The day the law died.
4. Judge child quest.
5. Block mania/apocalypse war.
6. Dredd/Angel
7. City of the damned.
8. Oz (and all of Choppers stories)
9. The dead man/Necropolis.
10. America.
11. The hunting party.
12. Doomsday scenario.
13. The Pit.
14. Chief judges man.
15. Mandroid.
16. Brothers of the blood.
17. Total war.
18. Mechanismo.
19. The wilderlands.
20. Satan's island.
21. Origins.
22. Tour of duty.
23. Day of chaos.
24. Trifecta.
25. Dead zone.
26. Every empire falls.
I'm pretty sure that's it. I've read all of these (except America) for the first time this year. I'm making it my mission to read every Dredd epic.
Judgement Day goes between America and the Hunting Party.
While it's not an epic, Destiny's Angels forms a link between at least two other mega-epics.
You're missing inferno/purgatory and Helter Skelter too, though many folk round here aren't keen on either. I like 'em, though, some fine Carlos art on both.
Quote from: DrRocka on 12 October, 2017, 02:17:14 PM
You're missing inferno/purgatory and Helter Skelter too, though many folk round here aren't keen on either. I like 'em, though, some fine Carlos art on both.
Inferno has Psi-Judge Janus in it and she rewrote her time-line at the end of her Faustus storyline (or everything she did was just a daydream she was having in a break room or something), thus making it entirely possible that she erased Inferno from history in the process (or it was all a dream or something).
The main thing that's missing from that list would be the Democracy storyline, starting with 'Letter from a Democrat', and running across several years from 'Revolution' to 'Devil You Know' and 'Twlight's Last Gleaming'. I'd argue that Alan Grant shorts like 'Politics', (maybe) 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' and 'John Cassavetes is Dead' are also parts of that story. Perhaps not a mega-epic in terms of pacing, publication or page count, but it's the essential fabric within which Dead Man/Necropolis and to a lesser extent Inferno, Total War and Chief Judge's Man take place.
Would the two Judge Death stories not be needed as well then? Arguably they lay the foundation for Necropolis, not to mention introducing Anderson.
True, true! And then what about Judge Giant, you'd need to read 'Academy of Law' to understand the significance of his death in 'Block Mania', and then 'Giant' to understand the presence of his son in 'Necropolis', and if you're going to do that, you may as well throw in his Pappy in Harlem Heroes. Sorry Marko, you're just going to have to start at Prog 1 and work forward, like the rest of us!
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 October, 2017, 03:07:17 PM
I'd argue that Alan Grant shorts like 'Politics', (maybe) 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' and 'John Cassavetes is Dead' are also parts of that story.
Hey, speaking of maybe, maybe we should include the Maybe stories...
.... what Tordels said. In spades. (okay, skip Crusade but otherwise ...)
You've all reminded me of stories I forgot to add to my list. Judgement day, read, not one of my favourite epics. Helter skelter, crusade (terrible) democracy now, I own the JD Meg collection version, my second favourite Dredd novel. Read destinys angels, read all of PJ maybes stories including the great "Lady killer". Read Judge death, JD Lives, Revenge. I've not read inferno/purgatory yet, and I need to read that Giant story. What's the story in case files 29 featuring Death and Joe Dredd? that looks interesting.
Actually, what am I talking about? I have read the Giant story "academy of the law" I own the first case files. I've just pulled it out and gave it a read now, completely forgot about it.
Depends on your definition of what constitutes an 'epic'. For me it was always a story that was 20+ episodes long and ideally has some sort of wider scope or stakes. So in my head it's:
Cursed Earth
The Day the Law Died
Judge Child
Apocalypse War (inc Block Mania)
Oz
Necropolis (inc all the Dead Man stuff)
Judgement Day
Wilderlands (inc Mechanismo)
The Pit
The Hunting Party
The Doomsday Scenario
Total War
Origins
Tour Of Duty
Day of Chaos
The Mechanismo Trilogy and The Tenth Planet, which lead into Wilderlands.
There's a complete list of stories on Wikipedia.
Quote from: radiator on 12 October, 2017, 07:24:02 PM
Depends on your definition of what constitutes an 'epic'. For me it was always a story that was 20+ episodes long and ideally has some sort of wider scope or stakes.
I agree with that definition*. I agree with your list too, although not much between
Judgement Day and
Tour Of Duty really fulfills the
scope or
stakes criteria**. The idea of the huge destruction porn epic seemed a bit threadbare after
Necropolis.
The accidental, retrospective epic,
Tour Of Duty is my favourite, because it's really a bunch of great stories stuck together. If you did the same with the
Democracy/Necropolis *** period stories (as described above), it would be
even better.* Ideally, you end up with a different Chief Judge, too.
** Like the great stories suggested by others (above), the stories billed as epics from Wilderlands to Origins (inclusive) are really significant and/or very good stories, rather than The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (Total War's a partial exception). Necropolis left the Mega-epic with nowhere left to go in the stakes stakes, and the misfire of Judgement Day demonstrated that widening the scope to destroy a world we never really got to know or care about wasn't a viable option.
*** Maybe including Crazy Barry, Banana City, and the first run of Maybe stories too. I was thinking you could collect them under the title The Long Walk, and it occurred to me that's almost the title of Nelson Mandela's autobiography. The name predates Mandela's book - it's a reference to the phrase TAKE A LONG WALK OFF A SHORT PIER, isn't it?
I would definitely count The Pit as an epic. Low stakes, but for me it really broadened the scope of what could be done with a Dredd story, and when it was over, and all of the various subplots dovetailed beautifully, it felt truly epic.
And yeah, I include all the lead in and follow up stories as part of epics like Necropolis (in which I'd go waaaay back to include the Question of Judgement trilogy, Revolution!, Young Giant, Twilight's Last Gleaming etc etc) and Doomsday and Tour of Duty would include perhaps dozens of individual stories or mini arcs, whereas you could argue that 'The Judge Child' encompasses not just The Fink and Destiny's Angels, but also City of the Damned (which to me doesn't really justify itself as a 'mega epic' in it's own right) and ending over a decade later in 'In the Year 2120'.
What I also like about my list is that all the stories are great and still hold up well, with the exception of Judgement Day and maybe The Day the Law Died (sorry!).
The Day The Law Died is bonkers-wonderful and y'know, Bolland. Quite odd to hear a vote against it.
Point is, it's all subjective. I found the Pit tedious after a strong start. Judgement Day was dreadful. You consider quality or it's all a bit pointless.
When it comes to Mega-Epic, I agree with the rule fo thumb of 20+ episodes; the question of 'stakes' is a tricky one as the Pit definitely counts, but is pointedly a procedural rather than a 'the whole city is under attack' type thriller.
What about the Mega-Rackets sequence from Progs 207-220ish? There's clearly an overall story about Dredd taking on various mobsters, building to a proper climactic battle, and although it's episodic in nature, that's not really any different from the Cursed Earth or the Judge Child.
Also Dredd/Aliens: Incubus may not quite be 20 epsiodes long, but it's close, and is also pretty good fun if inconsequential.
In terms of continuity-bridging stories, I'd also put in a word for 'Sector House' and 'Beyond the Call of Duty' as essential follow-ups to the Pit, especially if you're curious about what happens to Judge DeMarco.
They're both mini-epics rather than mega-epics in terms of length, though.
I loved the mega rackets. The hunters club was pretty epic as well, along with the wally squad which I think was in case files 6. Well I suppose you have the mega epics that are twenty plus pages, and then you have what I would call major story arcs... America, democracy now and young death which are probably my favourite dredd stories. As for mega epics I would pick apocalypse war and Day of chaos.
If you are taking quality into account then the Mega Rackets definitely counts.
I seem to recall though that it came about to give Bolland longer to complete Judge Death Lives. I think I read that somewhere anyway.
Quote from: AlexF on 13 October, 2017, 11:29:37 AM
Also Dredd/Aliens: Incubus may not quite be 20 epsiodes long, but it's close, and is also pretty good fun if inconsequential.
Especially if you include the other two parts of 'the Undercity trilogy'.
Undercity trilogy? What's the three titles to that called? What's this about a mechanismo trilogy? I know there's mechanismo and wilder lands.
Quote from: marko10174 on 13 October, 2017, 03:54:20 PM
Undercity trilogy? What's the three titles to that called? What's this about a mechanismo trilogy? I know there's mechanismo and wilder lands.
There are three Mechanismo stories - Mechanismo, Mechanismo Returns and Mechanismo: Body Count.
IIRC, Body Count was left out of the original graphic novel collection (probably because it had sub-par artwork) and wasn't reprinted until a few years ago.
Quote from: marko10174 on 13 October, 2017, 03:54:20 PM
Undercity trilogy? What's the three titles to that called?
Acknowledged classic
Cry of the Werewolf then its direct but belated sequel
Out of the Undercity, which introduces the main villian of...
Incubus.
QuoteThe Day The Law Died is bonkers-wonderful and y'know, Bolland. Quite odd to hear a vote against it.
Least satisfying and most dated of all the megaepics for my money. I know a lot of people love it, but I've never really cared for it, and it isn't one I'd recommend to new readers.
Is Graveyard Shift too short to be considered epic? That was a long night!
Quote from: radiator on 13 October, 2017, 07:15:28 PM
(The Day The Law Died) isn't one I'd recommend to new readers.
Yep. Like
The Cursed Earth, it's a collection of fun bits that doesn't read well as a continuous narrative*. There's not much from Tharg's first few years that reads well to modern eyes.
I don't know whether that's just because everyone was pitching the language and tone at ten year olds, or if the same friendly rivalry that meant artists started putting more into their work than their pay packets warranted inspired Mills and Wagner to up their game as they entered the eighties.**
But that's fine; it means Wagner gets to rewrite his old stuff for contemporary sensibilities. What's
Tour Of Duty but
The Day The Law Died with Judge March instead of Judge Fish?
* Which is fair enough. They were written to be enjoyed as single instalments, by kids who probably hadn't read the previous episodes.
** We have Nick Landau, Forbidden Planet, and Titan to thank in either case. Creators credit Forbidden Planet's annual signings with making them realise older kids were reading their work, and the Titan collections meant their efforts were no longer single use (and single pay day) propositions.
Pretty much on board with Radiator's list from a page or so back. All the rest are great (on the whole) stories, or series of stories, but a Mega Epic that alone does make. ..
... yes I know late to the party!
I bloody love Judgement Day.that splash page at the end is still my favourite piece of artwork 2000ad has ever produced.
Quote from: Lobo Baggins on 12 October, 2017, 02:33:34 PM
Quote from: DrRocka on 12 October, 2017, 02:17:14 PM
You're missing inferno/purgatory and Helter Skelter too, though many folk round here aren't keen on either. I like 'em, though, some fine Carlos art on both.
Inferno has Psi-Judge Janus in it and she rewrote her time-line at the end of her Faustus storyline (or everything she did was just a daydream she was having in a break room or something), thus making it entirely possible that she erased Inferno from history in the process (or it was all a dream or something).
If only we could erase it from history...
Quote from: Dandontdare on 13 October, 2017, 08:27:50 PM
Is Graveyard Shift too short to be considered epic? That was a long night!
The Graveyard Shift is pretty much everything that is excellent about Dredd.
It's an excellent story, and a classic. But if you think that seven episodes is long enough to call it an "epic" then you've rendered that word devoid of meaning.