Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection discussion thread

[rogue69]

 just got it today vol 77 Horror Stories contains the stories The Haunting of sector house 9 by Alan Grant & John Wagner art by Brett Ewins progs 359-363, judgement from progs 1523-1528 by Gordon Rennie & Ian Gibson, Roadstory progs 1582-1586 by Gordon Rennie & Dave Taylor The Fear That Made Milwaukee Famous! by John Wagner & Mick McMahon,  judge Dredd Annual 1981, The Vampire effect by John Wagner & Mick McMahon Judge Dredd Annual1982 & a few other stories

[Davgardo]

just got it today vol 77 Horror Stories contains the stories The Haunting of sector house 9 by Alan Grant & John Wagner art by Brett Ewins progs 359-363, judgement from progs 1523-1528 by Gordon Rennie & Ian Gibson, Roadstory progs 1582-1586 by Gordon Rennie & Dave Taylor The Fear That Made Milwaukee Famous! by John Wagner & Mick McMahon,  judge Dredd Annual 1981, The Vampire effect by John Wagner & Mick McMahon Judge Dredd Annual1982 & a few other stories

McMahon really hit a high standard with that annual art, can't wait to see those stories again. It would be nice to see more annual and sci fi special stories.

I really hope they include Bury My Knee at Wounded Heart, The Falucci Tape and The Exterminator at some point. The first one especially. Although, if a Chopper collection can omit Unamerican Graffiti, I guess anything's possible.

[Tjm86]

Mine turned up today which was a bit of a surprise.  Normally they show up mid week.

Had a flick through the Horror Stories volume and I have to say I'm really disappointed with the reproduction quality on Sector House 9.  The same problem as with Father Earth; detail washed out in a mass of black in some places.  Then the colour spreads are B&W whereas they are colour for Beating Heart.  Day The Law Died doesn't seem to suffer from the same problems, in fact it seems on a par with the old Titan books.  This is my only bugbear with this series, the consistency.  Otherwise they are great.

[Dandontdare]

well drawn drivel that reads like fan fiction.

Best description of helterskelter ever.

I've not been buying this collection as I've got virtually all the progs but I'm impressed with the curation - that haunting one is an excellent selection of spooky stories.

[IronGraham]

has anyone noticed the blurb on the back of the day the law died is Necroplisis'

[IndigoPrime]

Oops. The same happened on their FB feed. A pity that wasn't just a posting error then.

[Anzati]

I was just nipping on here to ask about the fuck up on The Day the Law Died blurb too...

[Trent]

Sounds like a good mix of stories in Horror Stories. Chuffed Milwaukee is in there, probably my favourite McMahon art. Already have it in the original Annual (my treasured signed copy), Restricted files etc but glad to have it as part of the Collection. Interesting contrast with the art used in Vampire Effect. Still terrific but very different. Mike's evolution as an artist is fascinating. Prefer his earlier work to say Howler or Doomsday but all is majestic. I see Henry Flint on a similar journey with his art reducing in lines but increasing in quality over the years.

[Satanist]

Just read Frankenstein Division for first time at the weekend. WOW! That is an impressive level if shit 

[IndigoPrime]

I'm catching up on the last two sets of books. Started re-reading Purgatory/Inferno. Urgh. It's like Dredd fan-fiction written by an angry and sexist 15-year-old.

[robert_ellis]

I loved Death Aid - although I'd like to have seen it partnered with previous hunter's clubs material. Purgatory & Inferno are dumb, fun & saved by stellar art. They are never dull - a bit like all-star Batman & Robin!

[IndigoPrime]

Yeah, it's a pity Hunter's Club stuff was separated out. I suppose there wasn't enough material for a standalone volume. As for P/I, they're certainly dumb.

[robert_ellis]

I'd really wanted more off the b&w stories included in this series but after seeing some of the reprint quality maybe its best skipped. Did "Haunting of Sector House 9" look this bad in the casefiles? The more modern stuff looked great & I dont want to moan about an otherwise stellar series. The text pieces have been outstanding - and quite bold!

[IndigoPrime]

Mm. Some of the b/w repro is terrible. A great pity to see so much detail eradicated, and so many solid blacks that weren't there in the original art. All of the post-digital stuff is excellent, and some of the earlier colour stuff isn't too bad either (with low amounts of moire).

[Trent]

I don't understand the b&w repro issue, has it been explained?
The Casefiles can be ropey at times and some of the Complete Bolland Dredd was shamefully from the same source (given the prestige marketing of the book) but the old Titan volumes were superb so decent source material was out there.
It is a definite blight on a wonderful collection, I have bemoaned the lack of classic Dredd a few times but maybe if the likes of Haunting of Sector House 5 is what they have to work with then that might explain the situation.
Such a shame, I adore some of these older tales and still hope to see them done justice in the future.
The use, or not, of colour spreads is another oddity (Trapper Hag and Beating Heart but not Judge Dredd Lives or Apocalypse War) and often another missed opportunity to differentiate the Mega Collection from other material out there which must surely be owned by much of the target market.