Messages

Arthur Wyatt is scripting the final series of The 86ers, which is based on an idea from Gordon Rennie.

PJs on art, and its due for March 2009.

Any word on the new Strontium Dog book?

I didn't include all the graphic novels. I was biased to those that I think are worthwhile, and are part of a larger narrative to give you the essential Dredd experience. I could have included stuff like Death Aid, Fetish and The Three Amigos, but I thought you might be put off by such a long list.

As for America, it includes stories from 1990, 1996 and 2006, so it doesn't really slot in neatly anywhere.

I've taken Tale of the Dead Man off the list, as I've just remembered that Necropolis Book 1 covers that material.

I've also added Democracy Now!, which I'd forgotten.

The Dead Man (Titan)
Necropolis Book 1 (Titan)
Necropolis Book 2 (Titan)
Judgment Day (Rebellion/DC)
Democracy Now! (Hamlyn)
Mechanismo (Hamlyn/Mandarin)
The Pit (Hamlyn)
The Hunting Party (Rebellion)
The Scorpion Dance (Hamlyn)
Doomsday for Dredd (Hamlyn)
Doomsday for Mega City One (Hamlyn)
Satan's Island (Rebellion)
(Vs Aliens) Incubus (Rebellion)
The Chief Judges Man (Rebellion)
Brothers of the Blood (Rebellion)
Total War (Rebellion)
America (Rebellion)
Origins (Rebellion)
Mandroid (Rebellion)

Yep right, I knew I'd forgotten something. I would personally put America just before Origins on the list, as America book 3 references the events of Total War.

You can also slot the Dredd/Aliens book in between Satan's Island and The Chief Judges Man.

Theres a bit of overlap, especially where the most recent books are concerned, but approximately it goes:

The Dead Man (Titan)
Tale of the Dead Man (Titan)
Necropolis Book 1 (Titan)
Necropolis Book 2 (Titan)
Judgment Day (Rebellion/DC)
Mechanismo (Hamlyn/Mandarin)
The Pit (Hamlyn)
The Hunting Party (Rebellion)
The Scorpion Dance (Hamlyn)
Doomsday for Dredd (Hamlyn)
Doomsday for Mega City One (Hamlyn)
Satan's Island (Rebellion)
The Chief Judges Man (Rebellion)
Brothers of the Blood (Rebellion)
Total War (Rebellion)
Origins (Rebellion)
Mandroid (Rebellion)

The Art of Kenny Who?, The Carlos Ezquerra Collection, The Henry Flint Collection and The Complete PJ Maybe all feature stories from different periods of Dredd continuity.

For the non-Rebellion books, you'll need to get them second hand.

One last point on the 'graphic novels' - if there has to be reprint with the Megazine, I'd rather it be well presented and coherent like this than some barrel-scraping exercise like Bob the Galactic Bum.

The price doesn't bother me too much. Look at it in perspective - pretty much all monthly magazines are £4-£6 these days.

Personally I think the Meg is much better now than its been for ages, and I do want to read Canon Fodder and Lawcon again. I don't resent paying for stuff again, as I pay for graphic novels of material I already own for the convenience.

If I had a nitpick with the Megazine right now, I'd say it was that pretty much all strips bar Tank Girl seemingly have to be Dredd spin-offs, which just seems a bit limiting for writers. Series like Black Atlantic and The Angel Gang just seem a bit lightweight and inconsequential. I 'spose you could say without the Dreddworld angle you lose the Meg's sense of purpose or identity. Hmmm.

Also now it's free of reprint, I'd like to see just two or three stories in the Meg itself. Longer episodes go better in a monthly format, I think. I remember the days when the lead Dredd strip was 15 pages or thereabouts - that was great - almost like having a US format monthly Dredd title.

Can I also just say that I'm pleased that the text articles seem much more comics related now, which is IMO a step in the right direction.

Oh, and the Megazine Dredd is ten pages, not eight.

Can someone please explain to me what is so great about The Walking Dead? I've read the first three volumes now and I really can't see the what the big deal is - it's just bog standard zombie stuff, and doesn't add any twists to the formula or try to do anything new. I also found the dialogue to be very poorly written in places, and while I really enjoyed Terry Moore's art in the first volume, Charlie Adlard's art doesn't do anything for me at all.

I'm going to give Invincible a try, see how I get on with that.

According to Wikipedia:

    Judge Dredd:
          o Dredd vs Death (Gordon Rennie, October 2003, ISBN 1-84416-061-0)
          o Bad Moon Rising (David Bishop, June 2004, ISBN 1-84416-107-2)
          o Black Atlantic (Simon Jowett and Peter J Evans, June 2004, ISBN 1-84416-108-0)
          o Eclipse (James Swallow, August 2004, ISBN 1-84416-122-6)
          o Kingdom of the Blind (David Bishop, November 2004, ISBN 1-84416-133-1)
          o Swine Fever (Andrew Cartmel, May 2005, ISBN 1-84416-174-9)
          o Final Cut (Matt Smith, January 2005, ISBN 1-84416-135-8)
          o Whiteout (James Swallow, September 2005, ISBN 1-84416-219-2)
          o Psykogeddon (Dave Stone, January 2006, ISBN 1-84416-321-0)

    ABC Warriors:
          o The Medusa War (Pat Mills, April 2004, ISBN 1-84416-109-9)
          o Rage Against the Machines (Mike Wild, June 2005, ISBN 1-84416-178-1)

    Strontium Dog:
          o Bad Timing (Rebecca Levene, June 2004, ISBN 1-84416-110-2)
          o Prophet Margin (Simon Spurrier, December 2004, ISBN 1-84416-134-X)
          o Ruthless (Jonathan Clements, April 2005, ISBN 1-84416-136-6)
          o Day of the Dogs (Andrew Cartmel, July 2005, ISBN 1-84416-218-4)
          o A Fistful of Strontium (Jaspre Bark and Steve Lyons, October 2005, ISBN 1-84416-270-2)

    Durham Red (all by Peter J. Evans):
          o The Unquiet Grave (August 2004, ISBN 1-84416-159-5)
          o The Omega Solution (May 2005, ISBN 1-84416-175-7)
          o The Encoded Heart (October 2005, ISBN 1-84416-272-9)
          o Manticore Reborn (January 2006, ISBN 1-84416-323-7)
          o Black Dawn (July 2006, ISBN 1-84416-382-2)

    Rogue Trooper:
          o Crucible (Gordon Rennie, October 2004, ISBN 1-84416-061-0)
          o Blood Relative (James Swallow, March 2005, ISBN 1-84416-061-0)
          o The Quartz Massacre (Rebecca Levene, March 2006, ISBN 1-84416-110-2)

    Nikolai Dante (all by David Bishop):
          o From Russia with Lust: The Nikolai Dante Omnibus (672 pages, March 2007, ISBN 1-84416-454-3) collects:
                + The Strangelove Gambit (January 2005, ISBN 1-84416-139-0)
                + Imperial Black (August 2005, ISBN 1-84416-180-3)
                + Honour Be Damned (March 2006, ISBN 1-84416-324-5)

    Fiends of the Eastern Front (all by David Bishop):
          o Fiends of the Eastern Front (672 pages, February 2007, ISBN 1-84416-455-1) collects:
                + Operation Vampyr (December 2005 ISBN 1-84416-274-5)
                + The Blood Red Army (April 2006,, ISBN 1-84416-325-3)
                + Twilight of the Dead (August 2006, ISBN 1-84416-384-9)
          o Fiends of the Rising Sun (July 2007, ISBN 1-84416-494-2)

    Anderson: PSI Division (all by Mitchel Scanlon):
          o Fear the Darkness (February 2006)
          o Red Shadows (May 2006)
          o Sins of the Father (Jan 2007)

    Caballistics, Inc. (all by Mike Wild):
          o Hell on Earth (August 2006, ISBN 1-84416-386-5)
          o Better the Devil (March 2007, ISBN 1-84416-432-2)

    Sláine: Slaine the Exile (Steven Savile, December 2006, ISBN 1-84416-387-3)

I believe Stalag 666 is 15 episodes long.

I'm pretty sure that its 112. IIRC, the book was originally going to include Hellbringer as well, but for cost reasons they put Hellbringer in its own book.

Hi ctaylor, I got back on board for Origins too - its been pretty great hasn't it.

In my opinion, the period from 1000-1300 is nowhere near as bad as the period from 700-900. I remember the time from 1000-1050 being a little rocky, but it goes rapidly uphill from there. As Leigh says, most of the less suitable writers had been gotten rid of by prog 1000, and the likes of Gordon Rennie, Robbie Morrison, and Dan Abnett really start to come into their own. This period also sees the end of 2000ad's dodgy early experiments with computer colouring. Highlights - you have the arrival of Nikolai Dante and his finest adventures, such as The Great Game, the mighty Prog 2000, Necronauts, Shakara series 1, the 'golden age' of Sinister Dexter including Eurocrash, their finest outing, Atavar, Missionary Man, Storming Heaven, the return of Strontium Dog, Devlin Waugh's classic Sirius Rising epic, not to mention some downright classic Dredd - the Doomsday saga, Beyond the call of Duty, Blood Cadet, just too many to mention.

Go for it!