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Been too busy to post recently but I saw DREDD on the opening weekend at an early afternoon screening. There were only about 15 people in the audience but everyone seemed to enjoy it.

After the 1995 disaster it so refreshing to be able to just relax and enjoy Karl Urban's performance without cringing in my seat like I did when I saw Stallone's first appearance as Dredd. The bleak near future look of MC1 worked really well, and helped set it apart from the comics version of MC1.
The city has a distinct look and character that hopefully can be expanded upon in sequels. Though not exactly original, the story is perfectly fine as a vehicle to  introduce the characters which is really all it needed to be.
I loved the brutal, uncompromising nature of the movie which reminded me of the violent action and science fiction films of the 70's and 80's.
Looking at comments on Twitter it seems to be a hit with UK audiences too.
Congratulations to everyone involved in its production and to those boarders who got a name-check in the film - you jammy bastards! 

I could tell you why Carter is an anti-semite in my own words, but you would just say I'm a right-wing bigot (the last defense of an exhausted argument from libs), I could link to a web page that explains Carter's deep-rooted hatred for the Jewish state in specific detail, but you would just denounce it as right-wing propaganda.

You do realise that it's possible to dislike the actions of the Israeli state (or disagree with its existence full stop) without disliking the people in it?

In a sort of, you know... hate the sin, love the sinner kind of thing 

Not defending the Stallone debacle, but John Wagner and Alan Grant were commissioned by Ed Pressman to write a treatment for the movie in late 1991, which they spent six weeks on, only to demand payment upfront for it, which was totally ridiculous, you did not get paid upfront for a mere story outline treatment in 1991/2 unless you're name was Shane Black, Michael Crichton, or Joe Ezsterhas, and Wagner and Grant should have been aware of that fact, and because they wouldn't back down over payment, that treatment didn't go any further in the development process, alas...

Hmmm....

Harlan Ellison - PAY THE WRITER http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE

Mostly positve reactions here...

Comic Vine http://www.comicvine.com/news/check-out-the-official-dredd-movie-trailer/144855/

LOVED IT!!!!

Ignore the haters and know-nothings, after all these years we're finally getting a proper Judge Dredd movie!   
Is it perfect? No. But I'm more than willing to ignore any minor flaws because the film makers appear to have got so much right.

I mean...  is that a batglider I see before me?!!!     

["2000Ad might just be the best it's ever been"]

The Mindless Ones review Dredd, Zilk and Flesh in SILENCE! the best and funniest comics podcast on web.

http://mindlessones.com/2012/05/23/silence-15/   35mins in

Their verdict: "2000Ad might just be the best it's ever been"

It's great to hear 2000AD and John Wagner get such praise from from non regular readers.

Matt Seneca is great when he's writing purely about art, anything else however and he's on shaky ground (as well as a high horse).
His previous post about Morrison sets up so many straw man arguments, for instance, GM has always said he has a populist mainstream taste yet Seneca criticizes him for not being radical enough.

Roger Langridge mentions in this interview that he's working on something for IDW thats "pretty different" to his regular stuff.
Just a thought but could he be writing the new IDW Judge Dredd title?

1h13m50s in

http://www.orbitalcomics.com/blog/2012/05/11/episode-65/

Having bought the first two volumes of the Manara Library I can say they're beautifully produced books and well worth £30 of anyones money.
Story-wise Volume 1 is the better of the two though, as 'Trial by Jury' in Volume 2 is a bit too 'Look and Learn'. Volume 3 apparently has stories by Federico Fellini! Hopefully future volumes will contain Jodorowsky and Manara's fully painted historical romp 'Borgia'.

[FULL STRENGTH McCARTHYISM!!!]

Fantastic prog.
Dredd, Dante and Flesh - all great.
AotW - not bad
The Zaucer of Zilk - FULL STRENGTH McCARTHYISM!!!

That is all.

Good to see that someone else is enjoying (well I'm assuming you are) 'Planet of the Apes' the current series really is a delight and not enough people are singing its praises from what I can see.

Absolutely. 'Planet of the Apes' is one of my current faves.
Never heard of the creators before but this book should be held up as an example of how to do monthlies properly, I mean, if any comic has to cost $3.99 an issue at least make sure it has a talented and regular creative team with a story to tell, comes out on time and is printed on 22 pages of quality paper with no ads so it's actually a nice thing to own and read.

[FLOPPIES]

I prefer to wait for the trade on almost everything these days,
but I regularly collect the following titles:

FLOPPIES
2000AD
Judge Dredd Megazine
The Boys
Batman Inc
Hellblazer
Animal Man
Swamp Thing
Planet of the Apes
Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred


TRADEWAITING
Scalped
Northlanders
Judge Dredd Case Files & trades
Gødland
Elephantmen
Orc Stain
Hellboy
Tomb of Dracula
Astro City

HARDBACKS
Charley's War
Johnny Red
Batman books by Grant Morrison
Dan Dare
The Manara Library

RECENT PURCHASES
The Metabarons Ultimate Collecton HC
X-Statix Omnibus
Forming Vol. 1
Shaky Kane's Monster Truck
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec Vol. 1
Xombi

I get impression that the reboot was ordered by DC executves at very short notice to avoid any further copyright disputes, to make matters worse it was implemented by half-wits who don't seem to understand the appeal of their own characters.
'Batman Inc' being kicked into the long grass, 'Before Watchmen', Poor costume redesigns, new logos, slow TV style pacing, creator changes etc, it all adds up to a new era of corporate comics where everything is just an IP to be exploited.

It would've been pretty smart if Moebius' concept work had turned into a full adaptation of Dune.

Bill Sienkiewicz drew a cool looking adaptation of David Lynch's Dune for Marvel, it seemed to make more sense than the movie.

I remember buying two issues of Marvel UK's 'The Empire Strikes Back, Weekly' in a charity shop when I was 8 or 9 years old,
Al Williamson's art was stunning, I wish I still had them. Kirby's 2001 is brilliant, such a shame it's not been reprinted.

The rioters may well be mindless, uneducated thugs out for a spot of opportunistic looting and vandalism
but violence on this scale is inherently political, whether they realise it or not. They're the disenfranchised generation who have been failed by successive governments and left to rot, fester and go feral. There's more than one way to be poor, it's not so much a lack of money but a lack of hope for anything better in their lives; no job and no prospects.
Their only ideology is consumerism, material goods are the only things they value, capitalism has taught them that.

I sympathise with all those who've been affected by the violence and of course I hope the police are able to restore order and arrest and charge those responsible, but that won't solve the problem, it will merely brush it under the carpet.
We need real political, economic and social reform not empty promises.