Dredd Case Files post Necropolis

[Super Mario]

I've just finished reading case files 14 (which was excellent, possibly the high point of the entire series so far), but I've been lead to believe that from this point on we're in much rockier territory. Is it still worth collecting every volume?

I don't really wanna waste my money on subpar material just for completions sake...

thoughts?

[Steve Green]

I'd say yes, mainly because there's both the megazine and prog stories, so if one's weaker, there's always the other.

It might depend on whether you have existing collections though, if you've got Judgement Day or Mechanismo, then that's going to be a good portion of stories you already have.

[Greg M.]

The main thing to note is that no volume is irredeemable - even the worst of them (CF 19 & 20) also have some fantastic stories and art in them to balance out the rot. For what it's worth, I'd suggest that 15 & 18 are pretty good, 16&17 are a bit middle-of-the-road but with some definite highlights, and from 21 we're pretty much back on track (though 22 is a bit wobbly.)

[NapalmKev]

It's all about personal taste. I wouldn't dismiss a story on the basis of someone else's opinion.

One man's meat is another man's poison, or some bollocks like that!

Cheers

[Frank]

I don't think there was really such a drastic plunge in the quality of the Dredd stories of the nineties. Necropolis was undoubtedly a high water mark in the early phase of John Wagner's development as a writer, but there was always a ton of crap running alongside the classics - dumb monster hunts or extended punch ups that were only really distinguished by the calibre of the artist assigned to them.

There's a definite thinning of the ranks of great artists available to Tharg around the time of the move to full colour, and imagining how much more positively I would have received something like Hottie House Siege (Case Files 19) if Cam Kennedy or Ron Smith had been on art duties * is one of my hobbies.

That said, Garth Ennis has a 50/50 strike rate during his time on the strip (Case Files 15-18), and even the Morrison and Millar era - which comes in for the worst criticism - is really no more or less ridiculous than City Of The Damned or Gator, and stories like Inferno, Book of the Dead (both Case Files 19) and maybe even Crusade (Case Files 22) are made worthwhile by artists turning in work much better than the scripts demand.



* rather than the unfortunately named paint enthusiast, Steve Brown

[Apestrife]

I went to CF16 after Necropolis. From there I use Mechanismo to cover enough ground to CF21 (the wilderlands saga). I think the next CF I'll buy is no 24 if it packs Dead Reckoning, and hopefully no Mark Millar.

[Greg M.]

Bad news - Millar's second-last Dredd story will be in CF24, though it's only a two-parter. And I think Dead Reckoning will be in CF25 - CF24 will presumably mostly be The Pit.

[Dark Jimbo]

I went to CF16 after Necropolis. From there I use Mechanismo to cover enough ground to CF21 (the wilderlands saga). I think the next CF I'll buy is no 24 if it packs Dead Reckoning, and hopefully no Mark Millar.

I got CF15, for all the aftermath stories and loose-end tying up - Nightmares, Theatre of Death, Death Aid, Return of the King, etc. Then I jumped more or less straight to CF21, with the Mechanismo, Complete PJ Maybe and America collections plugging the important gaps. I'm going to skip 22, but from 23 onwards I'm very much back on board.

[Skullmo]

I recommend - buy them - read them. If you dont like the book then give it to a kid or donate it to charity - 2000ad may get a new reader that way!

[PsychoGoatee]

No shame in skipping a couple Case Files from that era I'd say, it is personal taste but it also to me is true that the Ennis/Millar stuff is very skippable. Though I'm sure it is true there will be at least some good stuff in every volume.

Gotta love The Pit, and I recommend Case Files 21 with Wilderlands and whatnot, I liked that time with more Wagner.

[Apestrife]

I got CF15, for all the aftermath stories and loose-end tying up - Nightmares, Theatre of Death, Death Aid, Return of the King, etc. Then I jumped more or less straight to CF21, with the Mechanismo, Complete PJ Maybe and America collections plugging the important gaps. I'm going to skip 22, but from 23 onwards I'm very much back on board.

I pretty much got CF16 because of "The Devil You Know"/"Twilight's Last Gleaming", but sticking to America p.2 works well enough.

I quite like the PJ Maybe gap in books (from CF15 to Tour of duty). PJ posing as Ambrose and filling in on what's happened before reads funny since it sounds so overcomplicated. I wouldn't mind if Anderson gets a similar moment in Dark Justice, the soul search in space leading to falling in love with Orlock and what not deserves some fun injected into it.

Bad news - Millar's second-last Dredd story will be in CF24, though it's only a two-parter. And I think Dead Reckoning will be in CF25 - CF24 will presumably mostly be The Pit.

As long as it's not a story with the same length as purgatory or crusade it's quite okay actually

[Mark Taylor]

I don't think there's a volume in the 15-20 range that's an absolute dead loss. Sure, there is some pretty ropey material and some downright awful material in there but even in the worst of these volumes the occasional gem shines out. The question is, do you consider them worth the price for the occasional gem?

Mechanismo is pretty essential but the fact is, you can still pick it up in a single volume if you'd rather skip case files 18 and 19.

Personally, I find them worthwhile both for the occasional gems and just for the sake of having the 'complete' Judge Dredd stories.

[Richard]

Well exactly. It's hardly the COMPLETE Judge Dredd if you skip a volume is it?

Anyway, CF 15 has Nightmares with some great art by Steve Dillon, a whole load of other post-Necropolis aftermath stories, and the fate of Chief Judge Silver with some of Ezquerra's best work.

[Skullmo]

Case files 20 is one of the best - it has book of the dead in.

Which gives me a chance to roll this out again http://gruddammit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/10-reasons-why-judge-dredd-book-of-dead.html

[Recrewt]

Case files 20 is one of the best - it has book of the dead in.

Which gives me a chance to roll this out again http://gruddammit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/10-reasons-why-judge-dredd-book-of-dead.html

No, just No.