2000 AD Online Forum

I keep thinking it would be nice to have a huge delux 'Necropolis' volume, with:
- really good presentation, hard-cover, in a big box etc
- (more importantly) all the various prequel and aftermath stories; Dead Man, Necropolis, that Ennis story where Silver returns, even that Holocaust Denial guy who wound up having to count all the victims

A new Trade printing would be good for me thanks.


Was it mostly in B&W? Just having in the Case Files at some point would probably be just fine too.

I know the basic premises to Dead Man, was there any lead up to that that's necessary to get the whole bit of Necropolis?

PS: How are spoiler tags done again?

A collection should include the Bloodline 2 parter which follows on from OZ then, Dead Man, Letter to Judge Dredd, Lethal Injection & Necropolis, and maybe Yassa Povey gettin' his eyes back.

 The rest after that are Ennis stories so I'd rather they weren't included.

spoiler tags are (spoiler) the spoilery thing you want to write(spoiler/) but with pointy brackets

Some kind of volume explaining who the hell this Kraken guy is would be good. I mean, I get the general jist of it, but would like to read the stories (especially now, during Origins, as I'm sat there going "wow, wish I'd read the judda stories").

spoiler tags are (spoiler) the spoilery thing you want to write(spoiler/) but with pointy brackets

Actually it's "(spoiler) the spoilery thing you want to write(/spoiler) but with pointy brackets"

Cheers,

Wake

In the preface Gaiman explains that he was asked to
create something set in a mix of two literary worlds, much as Kim Newman did with Anno Dracula. Gaiman chose the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft to provide the setting.

The story is freely available on his website.

Link: A Study in Emerald

And the shooting match(?) from prog 650

But really, I'd rather they plowed through all these with the case files

But how do they fit The Dead Man in? A separate trade at the time?

But really, I'd rather they plowed through all these with the case files

In colour, hopefully...

On the subject of Necropolis, we all know that Death gets away - and heads to Gotham - by hiding in a pile of corpses. But did you know that there's a panel showing bodies being piled up in the last episode, and if you look closely you can see Death in it?

I don't have a scanner, but it's true.

I didn't know that.  Now I want to see.

I didn't know that and the relevant Progs are many miles away. Grrr!

Necropolis hasn't been reprinted half as much as the other epics, so I'd be happy to see a break in the Case Files format to accomodate a high quality (2 volume?) reproduction of the whole tale and it's lead-in and aftermath.

Out of sheer selfishness I don't want this as I read the whole thing 6 months back after 2 years getting all the progs.




And now I have to dig them out again so I can see a wee picture of death.

I've gone on about this quite a lot before on other threads, but I too really want to see a 'definitive' edition of Necropolis.

I'm probaly repeating myself, but I read the whole thing quite recently, and I was struck by how the 'Democracy Now' storyline acts as an epilogue to 'Necropolis', with Dredds doubts being laid to rest, and his faith in Justice Department being restored by the referrendum.

IMO, a definitive Necropolis would run:

Introduction (recapping the events of Oz, with a plug for the relevant Case File volume).

Revolution
Bloodline
The Shooting Match
Young Giant
A Letter to Judge Dredd
The Dead Man
Tale Of The Dead Man
By Lethal Injection
Rites of Ascension
Dear Annie
Necropolis
Theatre of Death
Nightmares
Return of the King
Better the Devil
Twilights Last Gleaming  

(possibly missed a few out/got the order wrong)

Could also include 'Death Aid'. But thats a bit shit.

Of course if the Case Files make the jump to colour, and continue, then that's cool, too.

A two/three volume collection of the whole Narcos/Edgar storyline (starting with Statue of Judgement) would also be great. Doomsday gets slated a fair bit, but I like it, and the build up/epilogue stories are fantastic. It's also got some kick arse artwork(Ezquerra/Kennedy/Wilson/McMahon).

Yeah, its been published by Hamlyn, but their edition skipped loads of good stuff.

Oh yeah. There he is. Coo-eee!

>I don't have a scanner, but it's true.

Link: Prog 699

Found Him! Any other secret panels out there?

That's fantastic. Did anyone notice at the time or were John and Carlos the only ones for 15 years who knew about it?

>But how do they fit The Dead Man in? A separate trade at the time?

Stick it inbetween the other stories that will be in that case files. It will only be a problem if you see it as a problem which it isn't.

Um, I noticed. And wrote to Tharg to tell him. But the letter wasn't printed.

...that's what you get for being a smart-arse.

Big mega Slip case thing sounds the way to go to me, I like the case files format but something such as this should get the full treatment.  Several books in a slip case seperated into the Lead Up storied, Deadman/tale of the deadman Stories, Necroplolis its self and a small one with the aftermath/followup stories.
Top Idea Floyd.

CU Radbacker

Sounds like a huge waste of money to me. I'd much rather have it in an afordable format, so I can read it for the first time.

Plus is Necropolis really the end all, be all, of Dredd Mega Epics, deserving of such treatment?

I think it's the best of the Mega Epic myself but I'm sure there are pleanty who would disagree with me.  My whole love for the thing is probably due to the fact that thiis was in some of the first back issues i managed to get hold of and this along wiyth Dead Man(which I had no idea was DREDD) and Song of the Surfer and Zenith Phase whatever number it was, all some of my all time fav thrills.  
Oh and Judge Death is one mean son of a bitch in this one too, Nausia and Phobia, Young Giant, the chase through the undercity just too many awsom moments.  Yep my favorite Mega Epic by far.

CU Radbacker

bollocks, that didn't quite work out :)

CU Radbacker

Hey Buttonman, I can't believe you missed the guy who died with his pants down!

If you were to do a really mega-complete Necropolis collection I'd argue if you'd need to include the OZ epic as this gives Judd and Kracken's backstories, therefore you'd have to include all of the Chopper stuff. That was the amazing thing about Necropolis, it drew together so many amazing stories and spawned quite a few more. Best time for Dredd evah!

Plus is Necropolis really the end all, be all, of Dredd Mega Epics, deserving of such treatment?

No but like Pete says, there are so many plot strands that finally come together in Necropolis that it was a defining moment in the character's history.

"Hey Buttonman, I can't believe you missed the guy who died with his pants down! "

You look for arses and I'll look for big knockers!

As for the definitive edition who could forget 'Plagues of Necropolis'. Apart from all who read them of course.

I'm surprised Necropolis is so well remembered by so many, it was a low point for me, had a real 'it's mega epic time again so here we go' feel.

Great artwork though.

>>But how do they fit The Dead Man in? A separate trade at the time?

How to read Necropolis

1) 'The Shooting Match' - Prog 650

2) 'A Letter To Judge Dredd' - Prog 661

3) 'Tale Of The Dead Man' - Prog 662 - 668

4) 'Countdown To Necropolis' - Prog 669 673

5) 'Necropolis' - Prog 674 - 684

6) 'The Dead Man' - Prog 650 - 662

7) 'Necropolis' - Prog 685 - 699

Oooh, controversial!  I see where you're going with this, Logan, and it makes sense, but I'd have to put The Dead Man back in before Letter to Judge Dredd/Tale of the Dead Man.  

Reading it afterwards, it's just an annoyingly extended (if beautifully drawn) shoot-out with some neanderthals.  You'll never recapture the original thrill of the mystery, but at least the Phobia/Nausea reveal is a shocker.  It's very much a prologue, making you want to know what did lead Dredd to quit, and what is going on in the Meg, rather than an interlude in the 'main' story.  

I first came to 2000ad in issue 690 with Necropolis right in there (along with Harlem Heroes which I didn't mind at the time and Dry Run which I just thought odd).

In fact the moment I read about Kraken's demise is the exact moment I fell in love with Dredd. Despite the fact that I didn't know all the back story.

In fact the moment I read about Kraken's demise is the exact moment I fell in love with Dredd.

Both of Kraken's 'executions' are absolutely classic moments, although I'd have to go with the first as being slightly better.  Exactly how many times has a Fargo/clone turned a gun and/or needle against themselves?  Recent Rico Snr revisionism suggests that he tried to manoeuvre Joe into shooting him too (pre-Titan).    

No, it`s not the be-all and end all of Mega Epics, but it has all this good stuff leading up to it and all this other good stuff following on.  Anyway, doesn`t it already exist in an affordable format?
  As for whether it was a waste of money, that would depend on how many people bought it.  I think the huge super duper Watchmen thing is a waste of money, since I already have Watchmen, so there you go.
  I hadn`t spotted all those interesting details (Judge Death, man who died with pants down etc), so thanks for that.

I must be tired, as I read that as "It's not the bell-end of Mega Epics"...

-Noisywils