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What am I missing - what new iteration of Harlem Heroes?

There have been a couple single-part stories included as exclusives in the Regened Vols 3-4 trades. As per the stories Aeroball makes a comeback in the Meg and a new team led by Jem Giant - descendant of John Clay and presumably cousin to Giant Jr. - takes on the championship.

Which ones are already out and where are they available? I see Zavvi's website is starting to list sold out figures for pre-order again. But despite alleged release for Dredd & Death in a couple days time, I've had no word on dispatch.

I've seen no update on the movie, show, or even the Uprising experience in years. The latter I assume by now is canned?

They do promote FCBD near me but it's become such a pain to get to that it's easier to buy the books I want online. A couple hours time aside, it would cost more to get to the comic stores and back, plus they tend to offer the books as mystery bags with no guarantee you'll get the one you want. Understanding of course that FCBD isn't exactly intended for existing readers.

Gotta say I'm not personally a fan of this new iteration of Harlem Heroes. Not into sports in general but I did really enjoy the original run for it's focus on values of camaraderie, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Perhaps it's the lengthier stories but in the OG I knew all the characters and their personalities, and the journey to winning the Aeroball championship took time/effort and meant something as a result.

All of this seems absent from the new iteration. I get that it targets a different audience but I feel no connection to Jem Giant and the team, and the tales are over so rapidly that there's no sense of tension/conflict. Kind of "we played, we won, we're the best, the end". Rather than the more humble Giant Sr, Jem comes across quite arrogant but his traits aren't explored in any depth. Limitations of the format perhaps.

Anyone else had more order updates? Zavvi say Fire, Fear, Mortis and Giant are coming in December now, no specific date given.

Well that Judge badge packaging is neat, I like it. Just hope it doesn't arrive damaged around the edges. My SDCC Dredd/Death arrived with some bending to the upper card, with a split at the back, due to being stuffed in a slightly-too-small postage box. Managed to restore it with a little glue, filler, paint and a dab of gloss lacquer. Can hardly be seen now, but it irks me nonetheless.

[Crusade]

The bottom ten would easily include Crusade and Purgatory/Inferno, both of which were written by Grant Morrison.

Inferno certainly isn't the smartest of plots, though it's close to comedy gold in parts....

- A few thousand convicts across 15 ships escape Titan
- Grice's melted hand magically heals before reaching Earth
- Ship crash destroys nuke-proof HoJ and fewer convicts than the population of a single citi-block take over a city of 400mil cits armed to the teeth
- Virus spreads across the entirety of MC-1 instantly
- Judges are dying from the virus and flee in H-Wagons over the west wall
- Dredd sneaks back in with ease, goes down after two hits
- Judges forget a) they chose to flee, b) they flew over the wall, c) Dredd got back in easily. They're now 'trapped' outside
- Statue of Justice smashes a hole in the wall. Judges who flew over the top are now free, forget they're dying and do what they could've done in the first place
- Grice reflects on 'all those years on Titan' - actually about 17 months
- Dredd ships the inmates back to Titan colony, which no longer exists, then blows them out of the sky anyway

I too felt the IDW miniseries were consistently better than the ongoing (though I did enjoy Nelson Daniel's art style).

I re-read MC-2 recently in trade form and thought it definitely read better collected. There's a lot of diversions from the core plot and with a month between issues I recall losing track of what exactly was going on. Whether or not it succeeded aside, I like what it tried to achieve in giving MC-2 it's own unique identity with hyper-exaggerated west-coast culture. Though I guess the same corporate entertainment themes were explored more subtly and successfully in Song of the Surfer.

How do you all feel about the more recent books? Under Siege/Toxic/False Witness, or JD v Predator v Aliens?

Same email for Cal and B&W Dredd/Mortis Though on the bright side; there was a point where they reckoned the lot would be out within a two-month period. At least they're spacing out again. Dread to think what the bill would be, should they take payment for the lot in one go!

Yes to Rico, I had meant to say him as well but was thinking more in the Titan uniform from the novella cover. Also a Fall of Deadworld Judge Fairfax with Byke would be cool. As you suggest a cranky exaggerated Esquerra CJ McGruder could be hilarious.

Alas, we now have a B&W Fire announced... Obviously there's no requirement to purchase but I had hoped to complete the set. Think I have to draw the line now; I'm happy to buy new characters but won't be buying each one multiple times. Are they planning on doing B&W for every single one?

As far as I can tell, stores seem to have stopped putting the figures up for preorder now. Zavvi and Co have been radio silent since B&W Fear and the Anderson Lawmaster were announced. Perhaps they're holding fire until proof the line will see light of day?

I received an email saying Dredd and Death would be arriving on Dec 13th. Curious whether they'll keep the same helmet-shaped 'Boing' packaging now, or whether it'll be changed for the core line.

The original product descriptions stated they'd be in window boxes, presumably something a little smaller and more collector-friendly than a blister pack.

Awesome thank you for the reply! I think I missed that Griffin hit reference. Might be time for a re-read of Apocalypse War before the dossier arrives

Hi everyone! I've been keen to send a writing submission to Tharg for some time, and notice the site still states subs are closed due to the pandemic. I've seen/heard no update in absolutely ages on when open submissions might reopen, and wondered if anybody might have any idea?

I've ordered my copy and look forward to reading it when it arrives

Without asking for any spoilers JWare, I'm curious as to how you interpret the timeline of the Apocalypse War and whether this is addressed within the stories? I'm busying away on a Dreddverse chronology and have encounterd some apparent inconsistencies with regards the setting and duration of the War;

In The Doomsday Scenario: The Trial pt. 2 (Prog 1149), Dredd is put on trial by the remnants of East-Meg One for his destruction of the city at the climax of The Apocalypse War. It is stated that the war ended on July 9th 2104, a date known to the Sovs as 'Black July'.

It is also given that Orlok the Assassin entered the Meg in December 2103 (Progs 236-244). Are we to believe the war lasted seven months? This seems inconsistent with the content of the Block Mania and Apocalypse War stories, which appear to take place over a couple of weeks and thus suggest the end of the war occurred in January 2104.

The release of Block Mania 31.10- 26.12.1981 would be roughly consistent with a December setting. The Apocalypse War released 02.01- 26.06.1982 which even by release date of the end of the story, is inconsistent with July 9th (though I appreciate the stories don't always occur in line with release date, especially the mega-epics).

Further evidence can be found in the saga leading into City of the Damned, beginning with A Question of Judgement (Prog 387) which was set on Apocalypse Day (though no placement was given in that story). The eventual City of the Damned (Progs 393-406) saw Dredd and Cass arrive in the year 2120 on April 30th, suggesting they travelled a round 13 years into the future and it would have been the same date in 2107 when the story began. With a few stories passed by this point since A Question of Judgement, this again suggests that Apocalypse Day must occur pre-April in the calendar year and is inconsistent with a July setting.

It is, to my knowledge, never stated whether Apocalypse Day represents the anniversary of the start of the war or the end, though according to what is seen in The Apocalypse War, these dates should be quite close together by a matter of weeks.

Further evidence for a January ending to the Apocalypse War comes from novel Silencer, set May 19-22 2116, which sees a flashback in Chapter 3 recounting a couple emerging from the rubble into early Spring sunshine (as per my notes on that story, "On hearing the bombs of the Apocalypse War begin to fall, Genya Berger and boyfriend Tony hide out and make love in a Citi-Def bomb shelter. 'Nearly six weeks' later they decide to leave. Two days of digging and they emerge into 'early Spring sunshine' - giving the Apocalypse War as occurring around six weeks prior to the beginning of Spring. This is fairly consistent with our placement of that mega-epic at the start of 2104.")

The Big Hit (Progs 1029-1030) released 11.02- 18.02.1997, featured an assassination attempt on Chief Judge Volt at the remembrance day celebration. It was implied that this celebration was for all Big Meg tragedies including the Apocalypse War, Necropolis and Judgement Day, and may be a different event to Apocalypse Day. Perhaps given the amount of tragedies, it has superceded Apocalypse Day? Either way, this story released in February with likely setting in a similar timeframe, which again would be roughly consistent with my estimated end for the Apocalypse War.

Let's not also forget the snow which fell during the war itself, suggesting a winter setting! Though I suppose in a world of rad storms and weather control, anything is possible. Unless any new info comes to light, I'm thus far inclined to regard reference to Black July as erroneous - as far as I can deduce, it should be Black January!

I wasn't sold on Dredd's head from the promo images, as others have said, but have to say it looks great in person and has won me over. The Dredd that comes with the Lawmaster set looks like it has a new headsculpt though, so perhaps it'll be more of a variant figure.

I admit, I was hesitant at first but I've gone all-in on these. The first few looked nice but as others have said, were characters we've all seen as figures before. It was when they announced Fire, Anderson and the Klegg they caught my attention properly. There's some nice variety there.

I do think the range needs more focus on unique sculpts as opposed to repaints. I can understand why it's being done but admittedly I'm rolling my eyes a little with every announcement of another B&W variant - nice as a novelty to begin with, but I think if they want lower-production-cost variants they could achieve far more by being a little more creative with paint and accessories. For example, use the CJ shield from Cal and make a Chief Judge Hershey variant. Or do a small sculpt edit with blue colour scheme and make a Hell Street Blues vampire Hershey. Give Dredd his Apocalypse War bullet-hole badge with some battle damage, or paint him up as a corrupted Kraken. I'd much more happily spend money on that than a simple B&W version of the exact same figure.

Moving forward, what characters would everyone like to see? I think anything from the following would add some nice variation to the line;

Armitage
Chopper with powerboard
DeMarco (P.I. as opposed to Judge uniform for variety)
Devlin Waugh
Don Uggie
Dredd 2012 - Dredd and Anderson
Fink Angel with Ratty
Mechanismo Mk.1 (larger scale like the Klegg)
Metta Lawson
Preacher Cain
Shimura (with cloak)
Tweak
Walter the Wobot

PS: Those who ordered from Zavvi; what is their packing like on arrival? I hope they box them properly and don't just ship the figure pack in a plastic wrap!

Hello hello! I believe I am in the same situation as has been mentioned here regards being unable to reply to certain topics! Could somebody help please?