Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection discussion thread

[Steve Green]

Alan wrote the Cadet Anderson stories, which had a recurring villain also present in the present-day ones.

Emma wrote the last Anderson story set in the Cursed Earth, and Matt wrote the IDW Year One mini-series.

[Magnetica]

I have been reading the Simping Detective volume over Christmas. It is really great and I think one of the best series to ever appear in the Meg. They read very well together as a whole.

It is just a shame they missed out Dorks of War from Meg 227. I don't really remember that one at all, but the whole point of buying the Mega Collection is so I don't have to dig out my old Progs or Megs, which are not filed in any sort of sensible way, more just random piles. 

I guess that was done to get the correct page count with the Demarco stuff.

Funny thing about the Demarco stuff - when it was recently reprinted in the floppies, I couldn't bothered to re-read it, but having paid a tenner for it and having had my appetite whetted for it by both the Simping Detective stories and the Doomsday for Dredd volume, I was more than happy to read it this time.

[I, Cosh]

Dorks of War was a text story rather than a strip, which might explain its exclusion.

[sjarcher73]

Are the allegedly 'complete' Case Files from #2 onwards going to be rereleased in hardback format? To me there's a pressing need: completeness.  The Fink part 4, (prog 196) is missing a page, and the centrespreads for The Apocalypse War, part 4, (prog 248) and Shanty Town, part 4 (prog 303) are edited in Case Files #4 to #6 respectively.  Alas this is what happens when you rely upon Titan reprints etc. for your artwork, however much sterling work they did those many years ago. I well remember their edited Steve Dillon centrespread for City of the Damned, part 12 (prog 404); grumble grouse gripe...

[Steve Green]

Nothing has been announced.

[sjarcher73]

What's with the removal of the 'next prog' boxes from the original artwork?  Seems reminiscent of the bizarre Tipp-Exing that went on with reprints circa 1990 (yes, I'm that old!).  While we're not at the stage of the absolute nadir - the erasure of Judge Death's spirit leaving his body (prog 427's cover), reprinted in the 'Best of 2000AD Monthly' in 1990 – I've a slight worry about this. These removals make reprints of, say, Ro-Busters seem like swings and roundabouts; we get Ian Kennedy's full-colour artwork, and yet the 'next prog' boxes are falling victim to the bacon slicer!

[glassstanley]

I agree with this. It's not as if by removing you feel you're reading a seamless graphic novel. Worst offender is the first part of Deadlock's intro story in Mek-Files 1 as you lose a chunk of his face. It's a shame that the Zenith ones were removed, as they were all song titles. Even the older material with its easily removable 'NEXT PROG +++ THRILL POWER OVERLOAD' captions has had various frames trimmed to make sure a page ends on a straight line.

And someone , presumably, was paid to replace all of the 'Judge Dredd' logos in the 10th anniversary Case Files 1. Not the best use of money...

[Magnetica]

Thanks Cosh - I hadn't realised that it was a text story, so no real loss IMO.

I also agree re losing the next Prog boxes - don't see the point and I would rather see them retained.

I also noticed an amount of cropping of the art working going on in the Mek-Files which I don't understand. I have also noticed it in the Mega Collection - where sometimes a thin line off the side of the art work has been shaved off. It doesn't actually make much difference, but when you compare with the original Progs you can see it happening.

[Mardroid]

i used to have a subscription to these, but i stopped arround issue 15 when I had some financial difficulties, with the idea of picking them up again later.

I see I can order back issues easily enough online, but then of course there is the extra cost of delivery. I considered renewing my subscription again (as I believe the price is all in) but I prefer to not be too bound on a monthly basis I guess. I.e. I plan to collect them all, but when I wish to.

I popped into my local comic shop yesterday hoping their might be some back issues available there. Unfortunately not. The very helpful chap there said he would investigate ordering them in though. If they can that would be great. He could put them aside for me and I'd be paying just the usual price £9.99, as and when I wish to. (They're quite happy to leave stuff in your box which you can collect when you're financially able.) And if it brings the collection to the attention of other customers (assuming they don't just order in one copy of each for me) all well and good.

[IndigoPrime]

To the people complaining about repro/removed elements: as far as I'm aware, reprint at Rebellion works on the basis of the best available source. In a lot of cases for pre-digital strips, the art's no longer available. The originals are long gone and the films are too damaged to be usable. That leaves the option of scanning the comics (which is often not viable, due to the nature of the original printing, moire, and so on), scanning from a collected edition (typically better), or in some cases using films from later editions.

In a perfect world, there would be a complete, pristine set of prints of every single thing 2000 AD ever printed. The reality is, we get what we get, which has usually involved a significant amount of unseen clean-up and attention.

[O Lucky Stevie!]

In a perfect world Stevie would have picked up his delayed Democracy Now! volume from  his Down Under newsagent on the weekend.

Which he did.

Bliss.

[sjarcher73]

I believe Titan had to keep to a specified page count for their 'Chronicles of Judge Dredd' way back when, hence the shortening of City of the Damned, Dredd Angel part 7, etc.  I understand perfectly that Rebellion have to make use of the best sources that are available; my point is completeness, and if the only immaculate source of, say, The Fink you have comes from the 'Best of 2000ad Monthly' and that source is missing a page, then (to me at least) you stick the original prog on the printer/photocopier etc.  I don't doubt that a lot of the material from the Restricted (Dredd) Files was handled in this way.  The loss of the 'prog boxes' is significant because, as has been pointed out, it results in the loss of artwork and tries to confer seamlessness upon (a given story) that never existed.

[TordelBack]

You can have it perfect, or you can have it now.

I agree entirely about retaining the Next Progs, and episode titles and recap boxes for that matter, and plugging gaps with inferior sources where necessary, but I am also in awe of Rebellion's reprint programme.  26(+4) Dredd Casefiles alone!  Literally all of Strontium Dog, Slaine, Zenith, Ro-Busters/ABCs and Nemesis! Deluxe hardbacks sprinkled about! Did you ever think you'd see the day?

I'd rather they continue to get what they can out there in the best format feasible, and worry abot the 'archival' editions later. After all if you want to see the originals they're not hard to come by.

[IndigoPrime]

if the only immaculate source of, say, The Fink you have comes from the 'Best of 2000ad Monthly' and that source is missing a page, then (to me at least) you stick the original prog on the printer/photocopier etc.

At which point you get horrible repro and people start moaning about that instead. In other words, they'd damned if they do, damned if they don't.

I agree entirely about retaining the Next Progs, and episode titles and recap boxes for that matter,

So how do you feel about more modern fare? Would the Brass Sun trade, for example, have benefitted from a bloody great logo every six or so pages, and loads of 'next prog' bits sprinkled about? I'd say it depends on the era, how much 'damage' is caused by any removal, and the availability of art along with associated costs.

I am also in awe of Rebellion's reprint programme.  26(+4) Dredd Casefiles alone!  Literally all of Strontium Dog, Slaine, Zenith, Ro-Busters/ABCs and Nemesis! Deluxe hardbacks sprinkled about! Did you ever think you'd see the day?

Exactly. I remember that DC/Rebellion deal, the promise and then the weird choices that were made. When that all fell through, Rebellion could have said sod it. Instead, it doubled down and kickstarted a massive range of books that feels like it's arrived from a much larger publisher. And there's also been a substantial amount of response to feedback, regarding contents in the actual books, through to the format and nature of what is released.

So I agree with this entirely:

I'd rather they continue to get what they can out there in the best format feasible, and worry abot the 'archival' editions later. After all if you want to see the originals they're not hard to come by.

[Max Headroom]

Would the repro really be that bad from original comics (considering the advances of modern technology)? I think I would prefer that to actually missing a page of the story which is not good at all.