The time is now for Dredd's history. Called 'Legacy'.

[W. R. Logan]

>Was there a sergeant in the same strip who was blind and didn't know hammerstein was a robot?

Yup.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.http://www.2000adonline.com/covers/2000ad/mediumres/88.jpg">

[Smiley]

"Sure! Volgs take prisoners... especially the big Asiatics... they keep you 'alive' for three days - even after the things they do to you! Well, they ain't getting their paws on this boy from the bronx!"

[Devons Daddy]

no
the command from the volgan commander went something like any solider taking prisoners will  feed them with your own rations.that kind of got rid of any idea of taking prisoners,

the sargeant in question asked hammerstien if he liked blondes, to which hammerstien informed him he was rather fond of  chrome. the sarge was against robots replacing soldiers, that was the basis of the story line,he was blinded by a mortar attack leaving only him and hammerstien alive, they where behind enemy lines and had to get back,
it was a wonderful script for its time, though likely to look cliched and dated now, then it was ground breaking stuff for 2000ad.

as for the history of the justice dept,
only if wagner was going to write it,
but what a saga that would be, its got classic thrill power potential tattooed on it.

[John Caliber]

"as for the history of the justice dept,
only if wagner was going to write it,
but what a saga that would be, its got classic thrill power potential tattooed on it."

That's 2003's mega-epic sorted then ... I wish! Black and white art alternating between Henry Flint and Carlos Ezquerra, the first and last episode by Brian Bolland, lettered by Tom Frame.

- TCC

Link: http://www.jdrpg.com/jdss" target="_blank">THE JUDGE DREDD STREET SIM

[Banners]

The short-lived DC Dredd started off with an MC1 pre-history that involved hovering justice machines floating around. Cops would bundle perps inside them to be judged - I think!

Anyway, it was bobbins.

The problem with any pre-history is you know where it's going to end up, so there is no feeling of impending danger or even excitement. Witness "Phantom Menace" and "Clones" - it's all just detail that works far better in your own imagination.

M@

[John Caliber]

The problem with any pre-history is you know where it's going to end up, so there is no feeling of impending danger or even excitement. Witness "Phantom Menace" and "Clones" - it's all just detail that works far better in your own imagination.

Not really, as long as you don't follow the continuity right up to 2098-99 when the Dredd strips started. The poltical intrique, assassinations, corruption and global terrorism would make for a great World War 3 scenario. A second book could document the Atom War and then leave history at that. I am tempted to write the thing myself and publish it on the 2000AD web-site in serial format ...

- TCC

Link: http://www.jdrpg.com/jdss" target="_blank">THE JUDGE DREDD STREET SIM

[Banners]

If a story - any fictional story - is essentially about getting from A to B, then if you already know what B is, it's pointless.

M@

[El Spurioso]

But there are ways of making that sort of thing interesting.  Whilst I'm loathe to use the example, they had a fairly decent stab at it in 'Titanic'.  You know the ship's gonna sink, but the story's not about that: it's about a couple of bad actors stuck aboard an enormous film set.

Same *could* apply here: the political events leading-up to the establishment of the Judges are a background - you can bung whatever story you want over the top to weave in-and-out with its own highly personalised conclusion.  Maybe tell the story from the POV of an everyday beat-bobby, a construction robot - etc etc.  Endless possibilities.

[GordonR]

I think the idea's a bit of a non-starter.  It's a real "yes, *shrug*, but what would be the _point_?" kind of deal.

John Wagner and successive editors of the Meg and 2000AD apparently think likewise, especially if it went on into any 'Dredd: Year One' nonsense.

There was the Armageddeon series in the early Megs.  It was supposed to be the real 'secret' histoy behind the origins of Dredd's world.  It only lasted a series, reportedly because all the parties involved more or less lost interest in the whole dumb idea.

[Banners]

To get back to the original post. Don't you think the current Rogue and Stront lack urgency? All right, I know they're both good fun and that in the grand scheme it doesn't really matter, but we *know* Rogue finds the Traitor General. Equally we *know* Bubba kills Wulf and then Jonny gets spiked by a big horrid spiky thing.

This goes contrary to The VCs of course, which progresses the legacy well.

So, without even a hint of danger surrounding the current retro strips, you know nothing's going to change - and so a vital potent element is lost. To me it's all so 'yeah, whatever'...

SD and Rogue are rock-solid franchises (and hence part-reason why Rebellion bought 2000AD) so they need to be visible. But to me, although the current strips are fun and well-executed, they're soul-less.

And I wouldn't want that to happen to Dredd.

M@

[Oddboy]

It only lasted a series, reportedly because all the parties involved more or less lost interest in the whole dumb idea.

I heard that it was because that Grant/Ezquerra were doing it as a creator-owned project & that IPC (or whoever owned 2K at the time) realised that they were giving away Dredd's history to a couple of sly droids.

I think Bish-Op said that, but he might not have.
Maybe I made it up or it was just a dream.

[Wake]

Didn't Alan Grant himself say that at Comics 1999 (or was it 2000)?

Wake

[John Caliber]

I really do think the Armageddon concept can be developed into a great series. I'll think it over and see if a brand-new comic strip published on the 2000AD web-site might be warranted. I'd like to tie it into the Bad Man material, but not rely much on that material as a foundation.

One other possibility is running the Dredd prequel as a RPG adventure on my JDSS site. Quite a number of players have already asked for such a campaign to get their teeth into, so there definitely is a market for Prequel Dredd.

- TCC

Link: http://www.jdrpg.com/jdss" target="_blank">THE JUDGE DREDD STREET SIM

[Smiley]

no
the command from the volgan commander went something like any solider taking prisoners will feed them with your own rations.that kind of got rid of any idea of taking prisoners,

No DD, that was from a different episode, "Wheels Of Terror", the one that involved blowing up the 'Volganaya'. And occured after blind Sgt. Kowalski copping a bullet.

I quoted Kowalski's opinion on Volg's from the episode "Baptism Of Fire", which IS the one with references to blondes, chrome etc, which we were on about.

I hope this qualifies me for Trout's pedantry thread...?

[pauljholden]

In reply to Someone who was Spur:
"To get back to the original post. Don't you think the current Rogue and Stront lack urgency? All right, I know they're both good fun and that in the grand scheme it doesn't really matter, but we *know* Rogue finds the Traitor General. Equally we *know* Bubba kills Wulf and then Jonny gets spiked by a big horrid spiky thing. "

"This goes contrary to The VCs of course, which progresses the legacy well.

"So, without even a hint of danger surrounding the current retro strips, you know nothing's going to change - and so a vital potent element is lost. To me it's all so 'yeah, whatever'...

"SD and Rogue are rock-solid franchises (and hence part-reason why Rebellion bought 2000AD) so they need to be visible. But to me, although the current strips are fun and well-executed, they're soul-less.

"And I wouldn't want that to happen to Dredd.

"M@

I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but Dredd is a rock-solid franchise and he's not going to die, so, in essence, that's already happened. Having said that, the won't stop me reading the strips or enjoying them. There's nothing to stop the Rogue strip from say introducing new characters (via new adventures) and then killing them, there's still a sense of urgency to that. And in fact, the Dylan Teague illustrated episode of Rogue introduced a "genetic flaw" in Rogues makeup which means his body is going to self-destruct. Now, obviously the character won't die, but now I'd like to know how this flaw is resolved so it *won't* impact on what's gone before.

Knowing Gordon, though, Rogue will wake up and it'll all have been a dream. :P

-pj