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Doomsday was probably the best designed at the time (I imagine I wasn't reading) as you could read both 'halves', the Dredd story in 2000ad and the DeMarco story in the Meg, of the story independently BUT read as one, as I tried recently its a bit of a ball ache. My problem, as its not meant to be read like that and still a stonking good read, but not one to try to piece together. I say enjoy each story one after the other.

I've recently (over the last couple of months) been re-reading all of Wagner's Dredd's from Prog 950 on and no surprise its been a delight. Its just a stunning run and having just reached Tour of Duty I'm about to re-read the only Dredd Epic I think can touch The Pit, aside from The Cursed Earth. Its just glorious comics and for me this era set the ground work for so much that was to come. The introduction of Edgar, possibly my favourite ever Dredd 'Villain', setting up Doomsday, another great classic and a time the time after The Pit when Wagner's shorts were simply on fire (... I'll let others run with that... as I'm sure Wagner was!).

This period was just pure simple good comics, the best comics, and you know what it doesn't really let up to this day.

...and whilst it can seem unpleasant and in bad taste to read a comic based on WW2

So I'm guessing you didn't live in the UK in the 70s then (and probably decades before but I can only speak of the 70s)

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Particularly as I ask Mike if I could get a recreation of just this cover a while back. For one reason or another it didn't happen so can't wait to see what I missed out on. Well done that man,

The first Essential volume of Silver Surfer is great fun, reading like a parody of what people who don't read comics probably think comics are really like, with the character draped across his surfboard as it floats around the world going "woe is me".  Daffy, daffy bollocks of the highest order.

Yeah I had a few of those early issues back in the day and they did seem to be the very zenith of Stan Lee's melodrama. I think that kinda put me off the character for life a little...

oh and I forgot the Moebius mini, whose art lifted the story beyond Stan Lee's norm.

Yeah I was thinking I might try that. I haven't really read much Dan Slott and know him from his mixed reputation on Spider-man. Mike Allred makes it tempting but I'm not a massive Surfer fan. I've got the first 12 issues of his 80s (was it 90s) run by Englehart and Marshal which I absolutely love (which is weird cos normally I don't get on at all with Englehart) but that aside the character doesn't really appeal.

So the question is Allred's art enough to tempt me to try it?

Well damn you Marvel. I have a feeling that they might be cancelling the two titles I'm picking up regularly, the December solicitations suggest both FF and X-Men Legacy might be getting to the end of their respective runs and sales do nothing to dissuade me from that view, nor does Mike Allred seeming to move to a new Silver Surfer title if rumours are to be believed.

At one point I was up to three on-goings and Marvel amazingly was in danger of getting more pulls than DC. Alas Superior Foes not being the comic I wanted and the possible end of the other two mean my brief Marvel revival might be over and I'm make to picking up just DD trades again.

Boo Hiss...

[Dredd Vs Mars Attacks 1]

Latest batch was quite the bundle of fun. Well Dredd Vs Mars Attacks 1 aside, which wasn't bad, but from the little I'd read I was expecting a little more from it, felt a bit pedestrian. Still it has potential.

Elsewhere the only thing close to a disappointment was X-Men Legacy 17, which while again far from a bad comic, just wasn't up the standard of this superb series. Mind Six Gun Gorilla 4 shows once again why Si Spurrier is possibly my favourite writer in American comics just at the moment. Once again this is probably the best thing I read this month. Not sure how this is doing but I wish it'd do well enough to convince everyone to make it an ongoing. Just brilliant.

The rest might not be quite to that standard but there's not a bad comic amongst them. While I really dislike these 3D motion comics the only two I picked up Batman 23.2 and Wonder Woman 23.2 both made my eyes fuzzy before getting to the good comics beneath. WW in particular didn't feel intrusive to the ongoing story line which I appreciate.

East of West 6, Sex 7, Fatale 17, FBP 3 are all quite fantastic. I'll make special mention if Resident Alien 1 which is very refreshing as well as brilliant, compared to the others mentioned which all feel like they tread similar ground... well feel like they could fit without a beat (if some compression) into 2000ad.

Finally we get to Planet of the Apes Giant 1, which wraps up Daryl Gregory's wonderful story set in the PotA universe well before the films. Its a great, suitable ending and I think it marks the end of Boom!'s wonderful Apes line. So sad to see it go as they've done just about all the comics so very very well. Still while I'm sad they are over I'm very happy that they've left us some 40 plus great comics better than any other re-visiting to this cinema classic that I've either seen or read. A bitter sweet farewell.

Comics right now are very, very god.

Tour of Duty and the parallel Mayor Ambrose storyline was probably my favourite Dredd of recent years.  After decades of everyone proclaiming that the City was the main character and Dredd wasn't really the same when taken out of it for any length of time, here was a Dredd in abject exile for month after month, while his enemies schemed away back home, and it was wholly convincing and gripping. 

Does that hold though as while people talk specifically about MC1 it really the boarder world he inhabits that support him as a character. The Cursed Earth is as least as rich a story yard as MC1 and while Dredd was situated there much of the tension of the larger story was still in fact unfolding in the city.

Also its not as if taking Dredd from the city for months at a time is in any way a new thing!

All that said with a re-read on its was I susepct that Tour of Duty is up there as my favourite Dredd epic... well up there with Cursed Earth and The Pit.

I've been pretty busy with one thing and another and so been saving this thread for a chance to sit and read it properly before trying to add anything. Had great fun just now catching up with its main theme (we've done the Apocalypse War one before so I'll park that one for now) and hope I can express why I love both him (Character) and it (strip) without retreading too much of what wiser people than I have already said, though retreading there will be.

For me the City gives the strip its legs and longevity, the man gives the strip its depth.

Its also a strip that's grown up with its audience, those of us that are lucky enough to be of that age, or there abouts, I can't speak for the rest of course. Its always had its wonderful satire, but in the beginning it was veiled in wonderful 'childish' farce. Its tongue planted in its cheek while as a kid I just loved the explosions and this crazy hard fella that was so very British in this take. He was embedded in the grim times that birthed him, but so where a lot of the cultural reference points I had, obviously. He made perfect sense in my world without me knowing it. While America and Star Wars provided my hopes and dreams with a shiny light.

As I grew so did the strip, or rather the veil of satire was pulled back a little and it became more forthright and the satire and led grew darker and more obviously mature. It was no longer 'hidden' behind the trappings of a kids comic, though those trappings still existed and become even more knowing, now winking at its audience. The explosions and robots and aliens and dinosaurs and other cool stuff was all still there, but there as so much more.

Okay so sure that meant that like me it went through its slightly awkward teen phase, but even then as it made its mis-steps, as with teen life there's some all mighty glories in there.

What of course has held it all together is John Wagner, at whatever point, realising he really was telling the story of a life. A single life, all be it in the most amazing, versatile setting. So its become the most fantastic, slow burning, dark, violent soap opera of them all. The wonder of the strip is the setting which means that while Wagner can weave his grand opera other writers can add their own unfettered take on things. Sure some more successfully than others, but when they make it work its grand scope allows them to create some bloody amazing comics. In short Mega City One is the single greatest setting for a comic series ever. In the world. EVER. (I looked that up in a big book, it was leather bound and had gold embossing and stuff so you can take that one to the bank!)

As for the character? My favourite telly character is Tony Soprano and Dredd is just the same. Well now he is. When I was younger to me he as just a kick ass fella with a sharp line. That as cool. As I got a bit older he was the villain pure and simple. I loved to hate him and the city as the star and he its dark shadow. The very devil. Now he's Tony. Still a vile, terrible man, but one made human and one we are made to understand, empathise with, sympathise with, even as we question him and watch him burst into fits of terrible violence. He's a child of his environment and time, we can't judge his decisions by our standards as to him they don't exist. So he is utterly fascinating a monster, capable of things we can barely imagine (luckily we have people bold enough to show us) and yet utterly real, human and likable to me. If one of the great things fiction can give us is insight into others, Dredd and Tony are clearly great characters, the best as they give us insight into monsters (sorry as ever Tordelback is right), into things we'd otherwise have no way of understanding.

I'm wittering, that's nowhere near as coherent as I hoped it'd be (and I've not even checked for my normal mistakes yet!) but there's so much to say about both the man and the strip that one message, hurriedly written fifteen minutes before much needed sleep aren't going to get there (hey and Tony in a different guise just came on the telly, who'd have thunk!). But then, there you are, as this wonderful tread shows, the reason we love him is there is so much to say. So many takes. So much depth and variance in the character. He's living an astonishing life and we're lucky enough to be hanging onto the coat tails of the single greatest, coherent fictional telling of a life I'm aware of.

Ask me in 20 years and maybe I'll be admiring his insight into retirement too no doubt!

I need to sleep...

With all the attention seemingly distracted elsewhere, for understandable reasons I've forgotten to mention that those two Henry Flint pieces that SimeonB posted are quite superb. That Zombo cover is absolutely spot on.

Well I've discussed in previous review thread (1850 and 1851) that the thrills have felt like they are building, 1850 was all about potential (one giant aside), 1851 was a move towards that potential (one giant aside) and well it would seem that 1852 is all about reaching that potential.

Well except hell and Damnation, Damnation Station, while was full of wonderful words, intriguing ideas and yet which I still have a massive disconnect with, so it just kinda floated past. I kinda figure if you've already bought into this series this would be a blindin' part. As I haven't it isn't. This one is still all about potential and that potential is really now how I react to it on re-read I fear. I'll get around to that one day.

Flesh is a really nice episode, not much happens but it sets things up, fills in our Mill's troop of seven (or should that be Trope of seven?) once again underlines a lot of the reasons for the actions of Carter that have coursed issues for some in the past. Nice little character episode this one, with a glorious final page.

That Aquila is only my third favourite thrill is testament to the form the Prog has returned to. Its a blindin' episode filled with lovely touches that cranks the story forward at a deceptive pace. Brilliant stuff.

Dredd though has been playing and building to being a good story and this week is throws off its guise and shows itself to be the cracker it is. Pax's commentry is an absolute joy to read, be it on Dredd, or creating a sense of impending doom for some of our now assembled company. First panel third page is just a fantastic little summary of Dredd. Mike Carroll's done things like that before and he seems to have this fantastic ability to give to a perfect encapsulation of the man doing very little. Here its hard honesty and purpose. Brilliant.

The giant aside mentioned before still however towers head and shoulders above everything else though. Not much to say about Brass Sun except perfect comics. Beautiful pacing, like Aquilla deceptively charging the story forward, glorious character moments, action, adventure filled with tension all cramped into five exquisitely rendered pages. Perfect.

Oh and from three of the thrills (Flesh, Brass Sun and Dredd) we get a wonderful lesson, all kinda doing the same thing, in how to get your audience pining for next week already. Fantastic.

Oh and the 'Thrills of the Future' for Slaine shows that visually at least its going to surely return to the thrill I've wanted it to be for the longest time.

Prog 1852 sees the return of the Greatest to its rightful place after a wee bit of a lull.

Wes Anderson may well be my favourite director... him or the Cohen's. Rushmore and Life Aquatic are two of my favourite films of all time. The rest ain't bad but those two are just pretty hard to beat.

Strontium Dog cover to issue 13 of Starlord?

What is it defo not this one, its was my firstst guess but I'm convinced its thats the one. Weird.

Wow thats a whole chunk of my childhood right there. Who knew Talisman would get so costly! Very tempted to bid on Chainsaw Warrior.