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The review in the latest Meg savaged it, but the handful of reviews I've looked at online seem positive. Any thoughts? Worth the time and money?

Despite buying the orginal four issues and the fancy hardback years ago (current hardback edition is horribly expensive and the reproduction doesn't so hot), I still haven't read it yet. I'm wondering if I can watch the film without having the original spoiled.

Regards

Robin

"A great-grandfather of mine was a conscientious objector during the Great War, which caused him all sorts of trouble, according to my mum. As an alternative to prison, he agreed to be an ambulance driver and went on to win the Military Medal, and bar."

He was one of a number of people who chose the same option and demonstrated true bravery without having to kill anyone. I think people like him who to stood up for their beliefs in the face of the truly horrendous social pressure and hostility faced by conscientious objectors and then went on to risk their lives on the battlefields to save others were amazing.

Regards

Robin

"I now wish Critchlow had been on Mandroid since the beginning."

Likewise. Considering that I can't help associating his current style with jokey stuff like Lobster Random, it works surprisingly well here.

Regards

Robin

I never understood what the gripe was with the pirate stuff, either. It worked from for me just fine as a reasonable change of pace and theme, and Burns' art was far superior to Fraser's (which was not bad).

However, I thought I saw a new Dante title when I was searching under 2000ad on Amazon recently, and I didn't think it was called Sword of the Tsar. Try searching for NIKOLAI DANTA: HELL AND HIGH WATER (including the spelling mistake). There's no cover, but the date of 15 March 2008 is given, and the title is suspiciously piratical in flavour... Only 192 pages, however.

Regards

Robin

"The whole Big Robots thing is just odd. I mean, it's just not easy to take it in any way seriously."

It was a strange series in that the title character was virtually irrelevant to the story. However, I thought the last two episodes were actually very, very good, with the final pages of each being outstanding. I agree with your comments about the colouring.

"Finally, Fink. Remember when Fink Angel first turned up, he was actually quite disturbing. Like Judge Death? And now he's like a comedy cadaver. Like Judge Death. Tales from the Black Museum - comedy. The Black Atlantic - comedy. The Angel Gang - comedy. Fuck off! Give us some drama."

To be fair, there always was an undeniable comic element to the Angel Gang and Fink; it's just taken too far here. I'm trying to think of a better approach to the character(s) and all I can think is Moore's The Killing Joke.

Regards

Robin

Peterwolf, could you possibly post some close ups of the various symbols and inscriptions? Particularly the right hand edge. Could you tell us the dimensions, too. My girlfriend knows a worrying amount of stuff on the occult and magic, and we might be able to shed some light on it.

Do you know the circumstances of the house clearance?

Regards

Robin

"I like your style, since you leave in more stories. To me though, Robot Wars is not very strong for a Dredd epic."

Thanks. Robot Wars is a bit old-fashioned, but I think it could be tarted up a bit.

I know what you mean about Cursed Earth and Day the Law Died, but the first leaves the city behind, and before we see the craziness of the latter we need to see more of the city as it normally is (even if that is a bit odd, too).

"Plus, if we ever want to see an animated Necropolis, we'd need to pick up the pace. ;)"

True - taking my approach, the series would get cancelled well before then!

Regards

Robin

I think you're cramming too much into one series. I'd use series one to introduce the city , with more single episodes that combined elements from two or three stories. Like you, I'd also draw on stories featuring significant characters (Rico, Giant, perhaps Vienna). The big story of the first series would be The Robot Wars.

Series two would start with the Spikes Harvey Rotten story (Mega-City 5000). Follow this with a Luna-City sequence, partly to introduce the Sovs. We'd then move back to the city before going into the Cursed Earth.

Series three draws on Crime and Punishment, Judge Dredd Outlaw, and The Day the Law Died.

Series four is more episodic, and starts with Punks Rule, Battle of the Black Atlantic, Sob Story, Judge Minty and a few others single-prog stories combined, before we do Judge Death, probably as a two-parter. Some more one-offs like Block War and two parters like The Black Plague, before jumping ahead to finish the series with Judge Death Lives.

Series five goes back a bit and does The Judge Child Quest.

Series six does Block Mania and The Apocalypse War.

Series seven focuses on longer stories: Shanty Town, Destiny's Angels, The Executioner, Cry of the Werewolf, Graveyard Shift, Dredd Angel, the Judgement Trilogy, ending with City of the Damned.

And so on. Rather too ambitious, but nevermind.

Regards

Robin

Got to say, even though it's not the old-fashioned action-with-speech-bubble cover I always hope for, it's still a fantastic, attention-grabbing picture. Her face is wonderful; it holds your attention and won't let go.

If this could be released as a poster (without any logo) I think it would be a really big seller, adorning students' walls across the land.

Regards

Robin

"save yourself the bother and get the Hellblazer spin-off Heartland instead. It's similar, but written after Ennis had spent quite a few years becoming a better writer."

Yes, that was a good one. I kept Heartland when I sold off my Ennis Hellblazers. It's not the only one of Ennis's spin-offs I've found more interesting than the series it came from - I think The Story of You Know Who is so much better than Preacher. One of these days I'll pick up the Saint of Killers spin-off - the only major character aside from Arseface I found remotely likeable.

Regards

Robin

"A don't see why that's a tragedy, unless you're hankering to see Troubled Souls on the shelves again."

Yes, that's pretty much my reasoning. I'm happy to say I already have the collection, but I think TS is Ennis's most worthwhile effort, all the more impressive for being his first published series.

I understand him wanting control of characters he created, but if I remember rightly he specifically wanted the pathetic characters from A Few Troubles More (right title?), which was drivel.

Regards

Robin

"Having re-read Helter Skelter a while back, it's not nearly as bad as I remembered it, but it's certainly not great Carlos art."

Going from memory, that's probably a pretty fair assessment of both story and art. It wasn't so much bad as terribly disappointing. It's a greater tragedy that Ennis was paid for HS with the rights for Troubled Souls, which he never wants reprinted (or so I heard).

Regards

Robin

"The Neon Man 1 episode (Prog 951) 6 pages
Script: John Wagner, Artist: Carlos Ezquerra"

If that's the story I'm thinking of, I remember the colouring almost shining from the pages. Literally brilliant.

Regards

Robin

"It really is utterly fucking awful"

I don't why, but that line has really made me laugh, and even as I read it out loud now I'm laughing again. It's almost joyous, a fundamental truth beautifully expressed.

Regards

Robin

"But I remember Dredd telling some girl 'I am incapable of loving you', could have been Bella Bagley."

That's a wonderfully ambiguous phrase, but I read it as Dredd speaking on an emotional rather than physiological level.

And, yes, I thing the name of the girl was Bella Bagley.

"Was this genetic trait weeded out of his genes before he was born?"

I don't think there's any evidence to support it, but then who knows what Judd got up to?

Regards

Robin