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In the unlikely event that you've not seen it yet, Dredds on channel 4 on Saturday night 😀

Enjoy.

Tarantino

It's been a while now but there have been no new updates to the TV series in recent months and its 2018 now. I emailed them at the Mega City one website but had no response. Has anyone else heard anything with regards to the above?

It would be nice to hear something positive, the silence is worrying.

Tarantino

Ive just been watching The Punisher on Netflix and I think that this character compares a lot with Dredd. For example:

1) He's deadpan and emotionless.
2) He wants justice.
3) He's brutal in dispatching justice.
4) He's remorseless
5) He's single minded
6) As a character he's humourless.
7) He kills without hesitating.
8) He avoids relationships

Now I found the way the current actor playing The Punisher was similar to the way that Karl Urban played Dredd, although the way they differ is that there is a slight madness to The Punisher character that is not there in Dredd.

The point I an trying to make is that when I watch a film or a box set I like to identify or relate to either the lead character or someone in the show, but I can't seem to do that with the Punisher. I loved the comic and was looking forward to the Netflix depiction, which, because of the way the Character is so one-dimensional, I am finding really boring. he's brooding, doesn't say much and doesn't let you get inside his head.

Now I really loved the Dredd film but by comparing these two characters I am worried that a Dredd series could become boring very quickly if the lead character (Dredd) follows the above 7 characteristics, without developing, growing, showing vulnerabilities or developing relationships which can be exploited.

In my opinion a character that follows the 7 characteristics mentioned cannot be loved by the public. Now a character like Dredd is not meant to be loved like a partner, friend or parent but he can be loved as a character, if you make him vulnerable and open him up. Also, I think Dredd needs more dialogue than he had in the film or has in the comic if he is to have any longevity. The Punisher has very little dialogue in the show and this is making him a very boring character.

In short, what worked in the short film and still works in the comic won't work in a TV series, if you want the general public to get on board that is.

Tarantino

Just seen this on eBay, the biotronic stickers have just sold for over £400.
Item number 332389134882
They might be worth more than the actual comic?
Tarantino

I just saw two pages of concept art for the Judge Dredd TV series on Comingsoon.net.

http://cdn2-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/gallery/judge-dredd-mega-city-one/mco1.jpg

Not sure how to post a link, I think this may take you to there, if not can someone post a link 😀

Tarantino

Sounds too good to be true, well it's not. I've been buying and selling small collections for a long time in order to get a near mint run of 2000AD and I now have my perfect collection 🙂

As a by-product I have over 1,000 progs ready to be picked up and I mean picked up as I do not plan on posting this lot. 6 big boxes. They are all in pretty ok condition and run from early hundreds up until around prog 1,250.

I'm in Southgate, North London, so if anyone is interested in a genuine give away please get in touch ASAP otherwise I'm giving them to a charity shop. You have 3 days to decide, the clock ticking 🙂

Tarantino

NB please don't contact me asking for individual prongs or a list of what I have, I'm giving them away to save hassle, cheers my dears.

I've been reading 2000AD since Prog 1 and there have been many highs and lows and although I am enjoying individuals story's even more, there are a lot more of the newer thrills that I'm just not getting, such as Defo and quite a few others, that I tend to skip over. With that in mind, if you could have just 5 separate thrills in your dream Prog, what would they be. I'll start you off with mine.

1) Judge Dredd
2) Nikolai Dante
3) Sinistr Dexter
4) Necrophim
5) Button Man

Now to me that would be an amazing Prog.

What about you guys, what would be your dream Prog?

In the past there's been discussions with regards to launching a Dredd film and that some people are of the opionion that you should slowly introduce Dredds world/story to the general public who might not be so familiar with his Universe. Maybe releasing one or two films of that ilk before a huge action packed blockbuster. Well I say fuck that shit, and The first Terminator film was a perfect example of why it's better to go with the blockbuster first and grab the publics attention by the balls. The first Terminator film came out of nowhere, no backstory, nothing, just a great action film, with perfect casting. The public loved the film and then they built a back story and developed a Terminator history after an attention grabbing first film.

This is the same with Dredd, as much as we've know and love the character, the general public will hardly be aware of him. So with the TV series it would be amazing to open it with The Dark Judges. The very first episode should give all the fans and those new to Dredd something to talk about the next day, and go wow, what the fuck was that?  Then build on Dredds history once you've got the casual viewer interested.

Tarantino

Can't believe what this sold for, prog 150 first Judge Anderson. I stopped bidding at £9

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=263006046877&globalID=EBAY-GB

I think with all the WhoHa about 2000AD's 40th we have forgotten that it's actually Judge Dredd's birthday today. Prog 2 was dated 5th March. So happy birthday to the big guy. I'm sure he's eating cake somewhere before going out to bust some perps head 😎

I'm very frustrated at at how saturated the comic market is at the moment, who's buying all these titles? There's such disparate continuities in both Marvel and DC that it's impossible to follow what's happening and nothing makes that much sense. I've now stopped buying regular titles and have started to pick up more and more graphic novels, as they tend to bring a story together.

Although I would love to see the 2000AD's universe expanded and more titles brought out, I would hate for this to happen at the expense of continuity. One of the things that has kept me reading 2000AD is the fact that the continuity is kept intact.

And don't even get me started on all the variant front pages, that is such bullshit and designed to keep us spending money on the same thing multiple times. I would like to start a campaign, which I hope you will all support me in. If you are one of the victims of this corporate greed, please stop buying all the variant covers, it's started to make me hate Marvel and DC.

Tarantino

Fighting corporate greed

I've been reading comics for as long as I can remember, and I usually visit Forbidden Planet on a fortnightly basis. Whenever I'm browsing and looking for a new title to read, for me it's all about the artwork, I hardly even consider the story.

I'm not saying the story is irrelevant to me, there are certain genres that I prefer and also certain characters and as long as the artwork is to my liking I'll usually buy it.

I think, what it all boils down to, is that great art can make up for a poor story, but a great story can't make up for poor artwork and I wouldn't even consider buying a comic just for the story but I would just for the artwork.

Am I being a heathen? Or, like me, do most readers think that as comics are primarily a visual medium it's all about the art?

Tarantino

Just bought this from Forbidden Planet. After weeks of drooling they reduced it from £225 to £175, so I couldn't resist. I used a Dredd DVD as reference so you can see the size.

I turned 50 in September and it's given me cause to reflect on my life. I've come to the conclusion that life is too short and that I should really get round to doing all the things I've been wanting to do. One of them is to travel around England this summer, which is still on my to do list, but the other was to start collecting superhero figurines. I already had a couple, obviously one of Dredd and another small Thanos figure, but the ones I really like are in Forbidden Planet. I would have started collecting years ago but they are so expensive for what they are, but I've finally bit the bullet and shipped one over from America, saving over £100 on the FP price.

It was the die cast Iron Man Mark III. I feel such a geek at 50 for buying it and I don't have any children, so how do I explain this to my friends and family when they visit?

It actually feels like one of the best things I've bought in recent years. I have it on display in the living room and I'm loving it but I still feel a bit silly.

What do you guys think? Am I too old? Or do you have any similar guilty pleasures?

Tarantino

I've just seen Deadpool, great film by the way, very funny with over the top violence, I loved every minute of it, except for a burning rage inside my stomach, that increased with almost every scene.

I have one question, how the hell did Deadpool get a 15 certificate and Dredd receive an 18? Almost every scene in Deadpool had either sexual references, extreme and gory violence and nudity. The gore and violence was comparable to Dredd and in my opinion, even more extreme than Dredd, in fact it blew Dredd out of the water in all aspects that I would assume a censor would be taking into consideration when deciding what certificate to award a film. It just doesn't make sense that Dredd would get an 18 whilst Deadpool gets a 15 certificate. That for me was a huge reason why Dredd didn't make such an impact at the box office. When I looked around the cinema the majority of the audience looked under 18, which should have been Dredd's target audience, if they wanted a box office hit that is.

The only difference between the two films, that I can see, is that Deadpool used humour to lessen the impact of the violent and sexual scenes, other then that I can't see how Deadpool got away with a 15 certificate.

If Dredd was awarded an 18 certificate because of the man being thrown head first off a balcony and showing his brains splattered over the floor then taking that out to get a 15 certificate would not have made it any less of a film.

I Googled Deadpool and censors just now and there is a big debate about how it got away with a 15 rating. Apparently the censors asked them to remove quite a few scenes for it to get a 15 certificate, so maybe that's what they should have done when making Dredd. Overload the film with sex and violence and then when the censors get hold of it they get to take out a lot of violent scenes and when they are left with a film that is still action packed and "violent" they assume they have done enough to give it a lesser rating.

Anyway, I'm still angry. It just doesn't make sense.

Tarantino

I know it's still a couple of years away, but I've just celebrated my 50th year on this planet and it got me to thinking, I have been a reader of 2000AD since day one and so I'm thinking we could all make some suggestions as to what we could do to celebrate. It's two years away but time fly's when you're having fun  and it will soon be upon us.

Which brings me to my first suggestion. I loved the Royal Mails stamps of British comic covers a couple of years back, one of which was a 2000AD cover. They have also recently announced that they are going to do some stamps dedicated to Star Wars, which means it would not be unthinkable to ask them to do some stamps dedicated to 2000AD, which would be amazing if it were to coincide with it's 40th birthday. Imagine, each stamp with an iconic 2000AD character on the front.

Does anyone know how we would go about getting the Royal Mail to do this?

And has anyone got any other ideas for 2000ADs 40th birthday?

Tarantino

With regards to the tower blocks in Mega City One, many of them have been given the names of famous people from the 20th Century, but can anyone recall any blocks being named after female celebrities? The only ones I can find are male.

This is just one of the questions that keeps me awake at night 

I've just been to Mega City comics after not being able to find prog 1934, (which is relatively recent) in Forbidden Planet and they also didn't have it. I was told be that they are reducing the numbers of Progs that they are getting in and so selling out much faster than normal, and I'm guessing that's what's been happening at FP.

I know Rebellion are always trying to push their subscription service, but surely they should be wiser to raise their profile in retail outlets, or where are they going to get new readers? You can hardly find a prog in any newsagents anymore.

All the original readers from 1977 (myself included) are close to death now, so who's going to replace us?

I'm not so sure of the merits of promoting the subscription service to the detriment of progs on shelves. The droids at 2000AD produce some amazing eye catching front covers, and that's how you are going to get new readers, if they spot a prog in the shops. One of the recent letters in 2000AD was from a guy who said he is constantly rediscovering 2000AD after cancelling his subscription, he often dips in and out of the comic and he probably only comes back because he spots a rare prog on a shop shelf and wants to see what's happening in the 2000AD Universe.

Tarantino

Way back when Rebellion took over ownership of 2000AD I thought their thinking would be to create video games based on the stable of characters from the amazing back catalogue of stories in this iconic comic.

As far as I am aware, they have only created Judge Dredd Vs Death to coincide with the Judge Dredd Movie and Rogue Trooper back in 2006 and then nothing.

I don't think either of the above games were a commercial success, but surely there has to be so much more potential in other characters. Were Rebellion scared off trying out new developments based on 2000AD characters because of the lack of commercial success?

My ideal character to make the leap from comic to computer game would be Nikolai Dante; he would make an amazing character to portray. His weapons crest has so much potential and I'm sure he would be an instant hit.

This leads me on to the ABC Warriors. Surely Rebellion have no other characters to match their potential. I've just finished watching Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, this was an ok film but the real stars were the robots. The reason I am bringing this film up is it just shows how far production companies have come along with regards to special affects, there doesn't seem to be a line between fantasy and reality. The ABC Warriors as a film would be nothing short of amazing. I think it was in 2009 when Firestep released their short animation based on the ABC Warriors, which was one of the coolest animations I have ever seen, everybody raved about it and nobody has had the balls to follow up on it. I hate to say it but if this were in America somebody would have recognised the potential and had the foresight to take it further.

Anyway, whether it's a film or a computer game, I say to Rebellion you are sitting on a gold mine, do what you set out to originally do and start developing games based on 2000AD characters again. You seem to have focused on Dredd and may have been waiting for him to take off before developing further characters, but that hasn't happened, so stop licking your wounds and get back on the saddle, I'm sure it's not just me that would like to see more of our much loved characters on screen somewhere, be it computer or cinema.

Oh and as a footnote, does anyone know what the purpose of the ABC warrior's animation by Firestep was for?

Tarantino.

The upcoming Dredd Dark Justice looks to me like it's going to be the best thing since sliced Dredd and I don't think I've been more excited about anything else Dredd related than this new story. (apart from the movie of course)

Is everyone else as excited as me, or have I now built it up out of all proportion?

Tarantino