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From io9: http://io9.com/youll-soon-be-able-to-read-a-classic-judge-dredd-comic-1739509529

Was it already confirmed before deadmans intro that necropolis is vol 5?

Not explicitly but I suppose it was inevitable when they announced Judgement Day as being the volume after Apocalypse War. By the same logic, I think City of the Damned will be 35 making a 2-book Judge Child saga.

Since there was a lot of Judge Dredd that I haven't read, and this is becoming apparent in these books, was Tale of the Dead Man the first appearance of the Sisters of Death?

It was. They get more backstory in Young Death.

I reviewed The Cursed Earth over here. Really loved it: http://www.sidekickcast.com/judge-dredd-mega-collection-8-the-cursed-earth/

I like the cover choice.

I suppose the follow on is what can Hachette do to minimise the requests for reissues.....bubble wrap; more ear markings on the parcels? Z

Though it's actually a UK company, Jacklin Enterprises, who handle logistics.

Seeing how people are complaining about damaged books, it must be very expensive to replace them all. Also leaves fewer copies for back issue sales. Bit of bubble wrap can't cost all that much.

Postal service seems to be a major issue here. That is utterly unacceptable. Z

Privatisation for you. Would never have happened before (Would probably have happened before).

Just arrived home to find my package. Obviously someone at the Post Office ignored the words "Fragile- Please Handle with Care" written in small print on the label. The box had a big score down it and Apocalypse War has had a considerable chunk taken out of it. I'll be onto Hachette now to sort it.

Quite pleased with the badge, a nice bit of tin.

And for those still wondering, issue 5 is Shamballa. It said in a leaflet.

Surely Glimmer Rats would be worth a trade, though?

A sequel would be nice as well if you are reading this Gordon...

It was released as an oversized hardback in 2002. It's long out of print now and is the perfect length for a floppy.

I'll second the request for more Finn as well as the final book of Black Siddha.

[Judge Dredd]

A fantastic start to my subscription right here.

To be honest, when I saw an online preview of the cover, I thought it looked a bit dull. But seeing it in the flesh, as it were, it's definitely quite arresting. Some great detailing - you can see every muscle in Dredd's jaw - and the helmet looks very three-dimensional.

Judge Dredd: Great opener. Obviously, it does feel similar to The Pit but like Mega-City Confidential, it seems like Wagner is very much exploring current issues. In that story, it was the surveillance state, here it's the welfare state. [spoiler]"I believe most students emerge well equipped to cope with a life of welfare dependency"[/spoiler] was a particularly great line.

Ezquerra's art is typically brilliant. I liked the juxtaposition of the futuristic-looking block exterior and the dodgy council-flat corridors within. The panel borders look a bit like chains which feels appropriate. The one fault I can pick out is the depiction of Beeny without her helmet. She looks like a fairly generic Ezquerra woman and not much like Colin MacNeil drew her.

Stickleback: A nice re-introduction to the character though it didn't grab me as much as the other two strips. Lovely art by D'Israeli though especially the last page. The opening had a whiff of Neil Gaiman's American Gods about it and I'm looking forward to seeing it unravel.

Kingdom: Nice to see Richard Elson back in the prog again. I must admit that the previous chapters of this thrill took place in the wilderness years when I wasn't reading Tooth but this all-action episode certainly got me interested. Loved the close-up on Snoop's face as he's firing away. Great colours on this one too. Colourful whilst keeping a fairly limited palette.

The three-page article about previous benchmark progs feels a bit light and slightly pointless but after 1900 issues and change I think Tharg's earned the right to revel in it a bit.

Roll on prog 2000 (or at least 1901).

[Cover]

Like most people, I found this to be a decent but not entirely satisfying prog.

Cover Very nice though very similar subject matter and colour to Robinson's Meg 338 cover. Love the movement portrayed through the blood spatter.

Dredd seems a bit of a by-the-numbers bad judge story so far. Hopefully Wagner has a clever ending up his sleeve. Not loving Willsher on the art either. He's a good story-teller but I'm not particularly into the stylisation and he throws in a few too many angles. It's enough to give motion sickness

Defoe has been a fun romp and this is a satisfying enough end. I wasn't particularly fond of the series as a whole but this story appealed to me a bit better, maybe because most of the supporting characters were pushed off to the side.

Ten-Seconders Willsher again though his art looks a bit better with Abigail Ryder's colouring. The digital Kirby dots are not as good as Bagwell's ink dots. Lots of exploding in this on and it looks set for a big ending.

Age of the Wolf hasn't really grabbed me at all. It should be a lot more exciting than it actually is. Jon Davis-Hunt's figures are losing their stiffness though.

Sláine This whole storyline doesn't really work. We seem to be getting rushed summaries of classic stories and the setup in 1844 seems more like an afterthought. At least we're getting some terrific art out of it. McMahon and Fabry have produced some cracking stuff and it's a real pleasure to see them in the prog again. The previews of Bisley's art for next week look very pretty too. It's just a pity they aren't drawing new stories. Lovely pin-up by Dave Kendall too.

According to Pat Mills's interview in the Meg, Book of Scars is going to be collected in a book together with all the Sláine covers.

Apologies if this has already been asked but does the forthcoming complete Brian Bolland Dredd collection contain the cursed earth chapters he drew that havent been republished since?

Unlikely. Those chapters haven't been republished due to legal reasons. It does say it's "The Complete Brian Bolland" but I think any such collection is going to be necessarily incomplete.

Edit: Looks like I'm correct. From the preview at CBR: This luscious, oversized hardcover volume collects as many Brian Bolland-illustrated Judge Dredd stories as THE LAW* will allow! (*Seriously, there's one we can't publish. Ever.) They are online somewhere. I'll see if I can dredge up a link.

I'd prefer to have the option of buying a floppyless Meg (even at the same price)

Well, no disrespect intended, but you can already do that by simply binning the floppy. You don't have to keep them.

Personally, I only keep the ones I actually enjoy and chuck any that are a bit ropey.

This idea has never crossed my mind - am I the only one?

Yeah, you freak 

The only problem with them is that they sometimes (certainly not always) serve to highlight a poor Meg - if I find that the most enjoyable read out of the whole package is a 20 year old reprint of a  B-list strip, then you have to question what's in the main magazine.

On those occasions I'd rather come away with something than nothing.

/quote]

Seconded. I'm always happy to read these even if the material isn't the best. Plus, there's still plenty of stuff that could be reprinted.