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Topics - PsychoGoatee

#1
I appreciate that 2000AD lets you download cbz files, this is the way it should be. But they are lower resolution than I'd like, especially older releases. So on a 10 inch tablet the text is smaller, and if you zoom in enough to be close to the actual size of the paper the text is too low quality, pixelated or blurry. And this is also true on PC or other devices.

Other companies like HumbleBundle releases etc tend to have around 3000 x 2000 as the standard resolution these days. Image Comics for example. Even older material like say the first Astro City volume is 1400 x 2150. Your release of say Brink vol 3 is around that, which is ok for now, but around 2000 x 3000 would be better. And more future proof with higher resolution screens.

The real problem is your older releases, which are only around 1000 x 1500. This is way too low, and has the low quality text for reading like I mentioned, if you zoom in to a decent size on high resolution screens. Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dog, all those classics are pretty low resolution, and it's a shame.

And with stuff like The Best of John Wagner release recently for example you have that older material at a higher resolution than that, 1550 x 2070 or so. And I get the impression you do have higher resolution versions of these old books, you just haven't released them? Not sure how much work it would take, but it would be worthwhile in the long run. Hope you fix it sometime.

#2
I've never read any Battle comics, but as a 2000AD fan I'm of course curious to try some. Are there any that might be entertaining and fun to read, and hold up with the least you know racially of the time and uncomfortable with the real issues etc? I know war is a serious subject, but I'm looking at it more for its part in adventure comics history.

I'm curious about Major Eazy of course, for Carlos. John Wagner is my favorite writer, but Darkie's Mob sounds a bit heavy and not on the fun side, which is cool, but I wonder if any of his other war comics might be more my thing as well? And any others in general? Clash of the Guards looks good.

And by fun I mean I still enjoy the drama and intense stuff, but you know in that entertaining 2000AD kind of way, where it does feel safely in the fiction realm etc. Also I heard this kind of comic is an influence on Rogue Trooper. So pretty much looking to take a tourist trip into this era of comics a little, anything that might be a good read for me?
#3
Curious if anyone has favs of Wagner's work for other publishers in the 80s and 90s, or anything since?

I've been meaning to read that Detective Comics run, though that's more Alan Grant I hear who is also a fav always.

Wonder if that The Crow: Dead Time that Wagner wrote is recommended?

Also have some Bogie Man on the shelf, and both Rok comics, Last American. Did read A History of Violence. Anything cool I've missed? I mention 80s and up since that interests me a bit more, but I know he did cool comics before that too.
#4
General / Quick Dredd questions topic
14 October, 2022, 04:32:41 AM
Didn't see one in recent pages, always good to ask some Judge Dredd questions.

My question: are the Angel Gang cannibals in the comics, or just in the 90s movie? Aside from Fink, who I figure is.

And if so, when was that first mentioned?
#5
General / The Strontium Dog is Judge Dredd's future topic
13 February, 2022, 02:02:46 AM
What do you think of the continuity of Strontium Dog's setting being the canon future of Judge Dredd? Do you consider that to be something Wagner intended, or is it just a loose connection? And 2150, the year of the Great Nuclear War, is coming up not too long from now in Judge Dredd.

Has John Wagner said anything about this connection, and what do you think about it?

For me, I kind of like the idea of being able to imagine the Judge Dredd timeline's future, and it being different from Strontium Dog, but I guess it's all similar yet loose enough to fit different ideas in there. And they are set in different locales.
#6
Was looking to see if Wagner or Carlos have mentioned in interviews the importance of not showing Dredd's face. Or any behind the scenes notes about keeping that going over the years.

Googling it I was only able to see talk about the movies. And for behind the scenes, I remember that bit where Bisley drew Dredd's face and the editor said they can't do that. I natural my agree, it's a great thing, just wonder what's been said on it by the creators.
#7
Curious what some of your fav more recent stand-alone Wagner Dredd stories are. I'd say anything under 50 pages or so, but any Wagner talk is good talk.

I recall talk of the classics here, and I love so many of those, I'm on Case Files 27 in my current read, with a stack of all the latest. And I'm looking forward to reading all the recent bigger stories, Guatamala, Victims of Bennett Beeny etc. And I'll catch up with everything eventually.

But what are your favs of the more stand-alone Judge Dredd stories by Wagner in the past decade or so?

#8
General / Quick Dredd questions
20 January, 2021, 01:21:11 AM
I didn't see a recent one to piggyback on, so made a new one. Always a Dredd question or two!

About the Statue of Liberty. Did we see who first blew it up? I just read America II, Fading of the Light. It mentions that "somebody else" blew it up. Did we see that happen, and if so when?

Bonus question, do Dredd's boots that are a bit too tight ever get referenced later on?

And I figure I'll just post some in here if I think if more, and encourage anybody else to post here if they didn't feel like making a new one.
#9
John Wagner is one of the best writers ever, we can all agree. Any word on how much Wagner we may get in 2000AD this year? Googling for interviews, I saw a 2018 one from August where he jokes "I'm also retired. Or at least I thought I was." Has he mentioned retirement etc? I hope we get more Dredd from him, or anything we wants to write.

I just listened to a very good 40 years interview with John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra from 2017, great listen. John mentions how he'd like to do a story of Dredd's death, done in Elseworlds style (a'la The Dark Knight Returns), so it wouldn't end the comic or anything. He's mentioned this idea before too.

Shouldn't he be able to do any Dredd story he wants? Seeing how he'd handle this, it could end up being one of the most memorable comics ever written if they let him do it. Not to hype it up, but what on Earth are they thinking not encouraging any Wagner Dredd story? But that's a bit more specific, I just think it's a bit of a missed opportunity for them to not let him write that. And who knows if his interest in that story has changed at all a couple years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXQesN7z9EM (that interview)

Anyways, he already has the most impressive resume of any writer, but there's always room for more.  :D
#10
Ok, I know this kind of question requiring a lot of math and research is a bit much, but I'm curious. And somebody might already know, at least roughly. Even just in 2000AD/Judge Dredd Megazine, not having to count annuals and specials. And I'd count the ones from the Alan Grant co-piloted run as well, even though he may have not written a couple of those, since sounds like they were loose like that.

Pretty much just because I've always been impressed by his terrific writing on Judge Dredd over the decades, and I'm curious how it stacks up against some of the other long running comics runs when added up.

For example, sometimes when reading a lot of Case Files, I think oh every 20 or 22 pages is equivalent to a standard comic, and add it up like that. And even just knowing how many Case Files there are, which are mostly Wagner, and the many years after those, I know his run here is much longer than say any of Robert Kirkman's comic runs at the moment. And I'd assume it adds up to much longer than any comic thats under 300 issues.

Anyways, anybody know? I know 2000AD.org has all his thrills up to a point, of varying episode size. If we knew exactly how many episodes he's done total, we could just say well roughly 6 pages each, for some rough math there.

And numbers aside, kudos to John Wagner! The best in the biz!
#11
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadworld

The artist who illustrated John Wagner's A History of Violence, Vince Locke, has been involved with this gory zombie comic called Deadworld since 1987 apparently! I had never heard of it until just now.

Anybody ever read it?
#12
Awesome art aside, Black Hole re-introduces us to the whole team, their dynamic, their psychological issues, and effortlessly juggles lots of out-there concepts, while telling a straightforward thrilling story. That's a long sentence.  :D Anyways, it's an all time classic, and I love it.

I enjoyed the Henry Flint stuff too, and we have a lot of prequels, some side-stories etc. Do you think we'll ever get some more stuff with a good amount of the strengths featured in The Black Hole?

Granted it's all personal taste, I'm sure to some Black Hole isn't their best. So for those in that category my rephrasing of the question would be, rather than will Mills ever top it, do you think he'll ever get back to that style of story?
#13
Haven't seen a lot of general topics about storyline and speculation lately. Years back there was a lot of talk about the end of Joe Dredd, how to handle the end of the saga, and stuff like that.

I love the strip as is and even with aging and a real time timeline with consequences, I'm okay with having Dredd be active into very advanced years. Lately there seems to be less talk about Dredd stepping down or being killed off, which is fine with me. But interesting.

In general, where do you think the story is taking Dredd? Will his titular strip still be going more or less as it is now in 10 years? We do like the idea of time passing and Judge Dredd being very different from other comics, but do we still like that if it means we won't have this anymore, and maybe not that long from now? Not to get all existential with it, but hey.  :P

And if they do choose to continue the comic without Judge Dredd being in it, would they change the name of the strip? And would this massively lower the marketability and appeal of the book?

Anderson doesn't seem to be aging all that much considering it's been 34 years since her debut. I don't mind this either, I don't think we need to put a strict time limit on the potential of some storytelling, but it is kind of part of the book's credibility in a way. And if Dredd himself ends up being semi-immortal thanks to sci-fi treatments and whatnot, would it hurt the book? How many decades would it take for us to notice he's kind of immortal? ;) That said, I'm happy it's lasted so long, and with original creators still on board too, and I'm in no rush to see the end. But you gotta wonder...

Long story short, where do you see this strip in 10 years?
#14
General / Judge Death, where are you?
23 August, 2013, 11:27:21 PM
Hey there, I remember a couple years back there was word that John Wagner was working on a new Judge Death story. Any recent updates on that? And when do you think it'll happen? Was nice to see his Dark Judge buddies.

Needless to say the book is rocking and it's great to have Wagner giving us new great stuff in general, I just like to check in on Judge Death every year or two.  :D
#15
Film & TV / John Dies At The End
17 January, 2013, 03:52:27 AM
This movie (based on the cult hit book) rocks, and its out on demand services online etc. Dark humor and badassery I think would appeal to 2000AD fans. By the director of Phantasm and Bubba Hotep, check it out folks.
#16
General / Judge Death, when's he coming around?
12 September, 2012, 01:47:23 AM
A couple years ago there was talk about it here, and a few years ago I made a topic about it here. And I gather the popular opinion is to keep Death dead. And that Wagner didn't currently feel the urge to use the character.

But, I for one love a little Judge Death every now and then, and it's been eight years now. Plus, with his buddies The Dark Judges recently making an appearance, I take that as some foreshadowing that we'll see the other JD back in a story sometime in the next couple years.

What do you think folks?
#17
Books & Comics / Hack/Slash
11 June, 2012, 06:25:06 AM
Any Hack/Slash fans on here? The mix of 80s slasher fun, blood and guts, good comedy, solid characterization, drama, it's all there. Easily one of my fav indie comics out there, going strong. Omnibus 4 just hit, it's preeeeetty sexy. Just sayin'.

#18
Wasn't sure where to post this, but since it's pretty much fan-fiction I figured it'd go in here. :D

Invincible vs. Judge Dredd vs. Savage Dragon vs. Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) vs. Hellboy vs. Snake Eyes (GI Joe) vs. Michelangelo (TMNT) vs. Scott Pilgrim vs. Conan vs. Rick Grimes (Walking Dead) vs. Cassie (Hack/Slash) vs. Superpatriot.

A twelve-way rumble, a battle to the death. Here's how I think it could go... :D

Invincible is having a slugfest with Dragon. Fatigued after landing a big punch, Invincible gets hit by Scott Pilgrim's lightsaber of love, and is reduced to a pile of coins. Then Rick Grimes shoots Scott Pilgrim in the head and Pilgrim is dead. Judge Dredd stabs Rick in the heart with his boot-knife, Rick is down.

Snake Eyes is having a glorious fight with Michelangelo, he cuts off one of Michelangelo's arms but Mikey keeps rockin'. Conan splits Snake's head open with a battle-axe from behind killing him, and after some back-and-forth Hellboy punches through Conan's head.

While that was going on Buffy fights Cassie, who stabs Buffy in the ribs a couple times before being staked in the chest with the stake end of Buffy's uber-scythe.

Dredd goes to shoot Mikey but he knocks the lawgiver gun out of Dredd's hand ("Drokk!"), and cracks Dredd's visor with a nunchaku. Dredd uppercuts Mikey in the face, rocking him, and tackles him, some back and forth, Dredd again gets his hand to that boot-knife holster and stabs it into Mikey's neck. Mikey down, Dredd retrieves his gun.

Meanwhile Buffy has been duking it out with Hellboy, she manages to get a good upward swing in, from the groin up cutting Hellboy in half. "He had to split!"

Dragon, Superpatriot, and Dredd engage in a three-way rumble. Superpatriot blasts Dragon with explosive rounds, and so does Dredd, peppering numerous wounds and a few straight holes through Dragon's body, but he keeps fighting, ripping Dredd's right arm off and beating him down with it. Superpatriot's extended long metal arm nails Dragon in the face, rocking him. Buffy jumps in and cuts that arm off with her uber-scythe, then does a spinkick to Patriot's head, dizzying him a bit.

From the ground Dredd fires a high-explosive round directly at Buffy's head, he doesn't miss.

Patriot aims his guns at Dredd, Dredd rolls but takes numerous bullet hits. Dredd's right arm smacks Patriot in the back of the head, thrown by Dragon. Dragon and Patriot proceed to fight further, Dragon getting heavy punches in, while Patriot continues blasting him with bullets and explosives. Dragon finally manages to rip through Superpatriots neck, rupturing various circuits and putting Patriot down for the count.

Dragon, with large holes throughout his chest and most of his body, gets hit by an incendiary round from Dredd, now Dragon is ablaze. Both men still standing, Dredd switches his lawgiver to high-ex and Dragon's already damaged head is exploded.

Dredd wins.

I put this together for a "rumble" comics subforum, needless to say people disagreed with my proposed series of events and Dredd as the victor. :P Go Dredd go!
#19
General / Judge Dredd: The hero or villain issue
22 August, 2010, 06:07:25 AM
I sometimes see people say that Dredd is the villain. I saw this mentioned elsewhere but didn't want to derail that topic. What are people's thoughts on that, Judge Dredd, the hero or villain thing? Of course it varies wildly depending on the story or the era, but the overall character encompassing everything he's done, how would you describe him?

For one thing, I disagree with those who flat out say he's a villain, because that discounts all the stories where he's a clear cut hero. It was mentioned in I think Thrill Power Overload, how The Cursed Earth and Day The Law Died early on defined that important part of Dredd, where he's a freakin' hero.

Of course, there are also those stories where he kills or otherwise does serious harm to sympathetic good people who are focused on. Even though I don't like to define Dredd as a villain, I'll admit he's the villain in those stories, though I'd prefer to say antagonist.

For example in Chopper stories he's certainly an antagonist, but I don't think he's a villain there, even if we do care about the character he's against.

As for his usual throwing people in the cubes for long stays for hilariously minor offenses like having sugar or whatnot, that never makes me think of him as a villain. For one thing it's usually played for laughs, but I just chalk it up to collateral damage. We know superheroes like The Hulk will throw a car through some poor barber's shop or something in a fight, but Hulk is still the hero.

So, if I had to pick either hero or villain to define Judge Dredd, I'd pick hero, even though it's not that simple. While it might be too easy, I think the best answer is to say he's an antihero. Which he is, a protagonist we sympathize with who doesn't have all the usual attributes that make a hero.

Also to nerd it up a bit, in D&D character alignment Judge Dredd would be lawful neutral. :D Oddly enough on the wiki defining lawful neutral it even says "Examples of Lawful Neutral characters might include a soldier who always follows orders, a judge or enforcer that adheres mercilessly to the word of the law, a disciplined monk". Sounds about right.

What do you think?
#20
Well I was curious, as I've seen it mentioned that the majority of the posters on this forum are in their 40 or 50s. Which makes sense, for those who were reading since the first issue of 2000AD was published.

Of course, there are always new fans hopping on board, personally I'm 24 and there are a lot of comic fans in their 20s who are into 2000AD too. And those in their 30s, even more so I'd imagine. Not sure how many teenagers, but I've seen at least one or two on here too.

So, here is the handy poll. How old is everyone? :D