Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection discussion thread

[Jamie1000013]

I was thinking I could make a thread where it lists every Prog and Meg each book contains in order. For a generally new reader like myself I would like to know in which order each event took place. Would it be alright if I did that?

Just got me thinking that I would like to know the span of Progs and Megs covered in this collection is all.

Was gunna set it out like this:

Prog 1 - 25 (Necropolis Issue 31)
Prog 40-52 (Klegg HAl Issue 30)

Just an Example and not at all accurate lol, don't have the books near me ATM.

[IndigoPrime]

I was thinking I could make a thread where it lists every Prog and Meg each book contains in order. For a generally new reader like myself I would like to know in which order each event took place. Would it be alright if I did that?

By all means go for it. I suspect people would be happy when the collection ends to have some kind of usable index. That said, perhaps a thread here could be run in tandem with a publicly editable Google Sheet or something? A bunch of people I know use that system on a magazine we all contribute to, and it works well. It also means you can reorder the list by volume, story title or Prog.

Also: NEW BOOKS. Annoyingly for me, this month's appear to have been used as footballs prior to delivery, but there you go.

Klegg Hai! appears to be a bit of a grab bag for some space war stuff, Klegg one-offs, and Trapper Hag, on the basis that you can "never have too many stories featuring eight-foot-tall angry extra-terrestrials". Stories covered are:

Maelstrom (Meg 2.73–2.80)
The Corps (Progs 918–923)
The Kleggs (Meg 201)
Meatmonger (Progs 1365–1370)
Love Hurts (Prog 1388)
Scavengers (Progs 1842–1844)
The Heart is a Lonely Klegg Hunter (Progs 1888–1889) < YAY!
Trapper Hag (Progs 305–307) < Interestingly, includes colour centre spreads.
Revenge of Trapper Hag (Progs 1165–1166)
Two covers
Sketch work from Chris Halls
'Encyclopedia Galactica' on aliens Dredd has faced

Necropolis, unsurprisingly, is a much more straightforward collection:

By Lethal Injection (Progs 669–670)
Rights of Succession (Prog 671)
Dear Annie (Progs 672–673)
Necropolis (Progs 674–699)
Four covers
Four-page essay by Molcher called 'Return of the King'

I've not read through either yet, but the repro on these books looks very good on a flick-through.

[sheridan]

By all means go for it. I suspect people would be happy when the collection ends to have some kind of usable index. That said, perhaps a thread here could be run in tandem with a publicly editable Google Sheet or something? A bunch of people I know use that system on a magazine we all contribute to, and it works well. It also means you can reorder the list by volume, story title or Prog.

I started doing something similar, but haven't kept it up, so I've changed the sharing options for the Google Sheet I started.

Also, this from the (unofficial) 2000AD wiki.

[Richard]

If you look on the Judge Dredd article on Wikipedia, there are complete indices of stories in the meg and the prog.

[Geoff]

I do hope they'll be producing a comprehensive index for those of us who stay the course and get them all.

On a different tack from the above, it would be nice if they included some of the more memorable covers that relate to the stories in the mega collection volumes..

[Buttonman]

Strange no 'Night of the Blood Beast' which is the first post Cal Klegg reappearance of the Kleggs - disappointed, not least as I have the last page of that Gary Leach loveliness on my wall!

[TordelBack]

Strange no 'Night of the Blood Beast' which is the first post Cal Klegg reappearance of the Kleggs - disappointed, not least as I have the last page of that Gary Leach loveliness on my wall!

I was surprised by this too, and not just because it's some of my favourite Dredd art of that period. Maybe it's in the DtLD volume?

[Richard]

The art might be okay but the story was mediocre. Dredd finds a Klegg; kills it. The end. Not worth including.

[Buttonman]

I disagree! Urk was a nice slow witted Klegg who wasn't evil but that's no defense against breaking the law. The last page (which I have) also has the Spirit, Alex Trench, Digby and other comic heroes - albeit as fancy dress party attendees.

[Skullmo]

is that the original?

Lovely

[Magnetica]

On a different tack from the above, it would be nice if they included some of the more memorable covers that relate to the stories in the mega collection volumes..

I thought they already did that. I have bought approx half the issues so far and they  (IIRC) have all had a covers gallery at the back. As I understand it the page count is fixed, so depending on the length of the story there will be a variable number of pages for the creator interview / feature related to the story plus a covers gallery. Origins for example even had character design sketches.

[Buttonman]

is that the original?

Lovely

Yeah it is - got it at a Glasgow Comic Con for £25 probably 20 years ago. Was introudced to Gary Leach when I was getting an autograph from Steve Dillon and I said 'Oh I have one of yours on my wall' - when I old him which page he look a bit wistful and said that was ages ago.

Page is lovely - all the cross hatching there to see along with Tipp-ex marks and the pasted on speech bubbles, next Prog box and credit card box. Also like that the is a Dredd head shot as well as a half and full figure.

[Skullmo]

is that the original?

Lovely

Yeah it is - got it at a Glasgow Comic Con for £25 probably 20 years ago. Was introudced to Gary Leach when I was getting an autograph from Steve Dillon and I said 'Oh I have one of yours on my wall' - when I old him which page he look a bit wistful and said that was ages ago.

Page is lovely - all the cross hatching there to see along with Tipp-ex marks and the pasted on speech bubbles, next Prog box and credit card box. Also like that the is a Dredd head shot as well as a half and full figure.

Love Leach's art. I'll give you £30 if you ever want to part with it!

[IndigoPrime]

As I understand it the page count is fixed

I recall there's a range, but it's a far smaller 'window' than you had in the first/current Marvel artwork, where the books vary wildly in page count. Judging from the Dredd ones, the tendency has been to get as much strip in there as possible, too. So rather than a load of covers, you'll get an extra six-pager if a suitable one's available. I think it's worked very nicely so far. I just wish the packaging was a little better.

[Spikes]

Just received the latest two issues (onto the reading pile they must go, for now..) but nice to see the later Trapper Hag story included. Never read this, so once again these books are turning out to be a bit of a boon.