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Hey all, I previously introduced myself up in introductions, but I thought I would put my questions here in an independent thread.  As I said there, I recently got the first volume of Case Files for half price for a promotion for the new movie.  I really like the stories, but had a few questions, so I thought I'd ask them here:

1)  Here in the US, Dredd has this reputation of complete hardass, and somewhat violent.  Basically Judge, Jury, and Executioner (which is how the Stallone film was marketed), but in the early stories he's very different.  He's certainly stern, but he's also concerned about innocent life, other Judges, and his housekeeper and robot.  At the end of the first Case Files volume, they even mention that he was originally conceived as the Judge Jury Executioner type, but that this was abandoned before publication.  My question is, does that change at some point during the stories?  Or is it just a wrong impression of the character?

2) I know that in general 2000 AD stories are independent, but what other series does Dredd intersect with?  I'm used to the Marvel/DC "shared universe" concept, and am just curious.

3)In the US, we've generally only ever heard of the 2000 AD comics, mostly Dredd to be honest.  What other British comics are out there?  I know there was Dan Dare back in the day, but what else did British comics have?  And what else is being published in Britain besides the current 2000 AD crop?

4)  While I intend to read as many of the Case Files that come out, are there any Dredd stories I should jump ahead to?  And what's the relation of the IDW Dredd series to the "real" 2000 AD Dredd?

I think that's it for now.  Thanks for the warm welcome, and thanks for all your answers in advance.

[incredibly]

I wouldn't describe Dredd as incredibly violent; I think it's really the cynical humour and social commentary that distinguishes Dredd from mainstream US titles. You're right that there's not much of that in the first two years of published material, but if you persevere with The Case Files you'll discover that changes quite quickly once Dredd's US-born creator, John Wagner, takes control of the strip.

At the start of Case Files 3 Dredd's saving cats and adopting kids, by Case Files 5 he's personally responsible for the death of millions, harassing the unemployed and fighting undead supernatural entities. The strip never loses its sense of humour though, and the quality of the art goes through the roof.

Yeah, like I said it was more an impression than anything I had actually seen.  I actually really enjoy these early stories, to the point that I'm almost dreading (natch) the change that's coming in the case files. 

I've actually found the older I get the more I like the older, simpler stories of what we Americans call the Golden and Silver ages (roughly the 30's and 40's and then the 50's and 60's).  One of my favorite recent comic purchases was a reprint of the Carl Barks Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics.  Absolutely brilliant storytelling there.

Still I'm going to stick with it and see what happens.

And Judge Jack, that's the kind of page I love.  It adds depth and nuance to a character I had initially believed to be an unfeeling robot of the law. 

[Hux]

Hiya, Hux. You're exactly what we hoped the film would achieve, so feel free to let loose with the new reader questions whenever and wherever you like.

Thanks! Believe it or not, I actually havent seen the movie yet.  Is it good? And how accurate is it?

Now then Yankee, and welcome to the forum, 

Flash forward to today, and I found a copy of the first Dredd Case Files...

It has a bizarrely Silver Age feel to it. 

Glad your liking what youve seen so far, and hope its grabbed you enough to hang around.
Ive sometimes wondered how those early Dredd stories would come across to new readers. They are gloriously old school, arent they.

They are, and it's something I wasn't expecting at all.  In the U.S., Dredd has this reputation of being incredibly violent and edgy.  I remember reading an interview with, I think it was Warren Ellis, where he said something like "2000 AD took a steaming, violent dump on comics and changed everything forever". So I was expecting something truly bizarre and violent, more like the Incal, but British.  But instead, it's very civil.  There's even one story where Dredd trains a recruit and defends taking them in alive.  In fact, there are several that have Dredd in this paternal, fatherly role, that's ... almost wholesome.  They kind of remind of a 70's version of old 50's crime comics.  They have people committing terrible crimes, but the good guys always win and the message is always "crime does not pay".

Also, I didn't realize Dredd took place in the future of the U.S.  I always figured it was supposed to be in the future of England, that Mega-City was supposed to be London, and that they changed it for the movie.  So it's kind of strange to see all these Britishisms coming out of these ostensibly American characters, like referring to old "petrol burners".  It's kind of funny sometimes.

Hey all,  new American Dredd fan here. 

Well, kind of a returning fan.  Saw the Stallone movie when I was a kid and loved it (I was 10, don't judge me) and tried to find some Dredd comics after that.  I'd been reading comics, mostly DC, for years at the point.  I got a couple, but had no idea what was going on so I stopped.

I remember a few years ago, DC released some Dredd stuff in the US along with the Humanoids stuff, but I got the Incal on a whim and got really into Humanoids, so I missed te 2000 AD stuff that time around.

Flash forward to today, and I found a copy of the first Dredd Case Files for half price in conjunction with the new movie.  I got it and loved it.  It reminds me a lot of some post-apocalyptic Superman story.  Dredd is so dedicated to the law that he reads law books in his spare time at home.  It has a bizarrely Silver Age feel to it. So I think I'm hooked and hope to get more in the future. 

Now I'm not sure if I'm supposed to ask my new reader questions here ot just introduce myself, so I won't yet.  Just wanted to introduce myself.