Messages

I loved his stuff too. I accept some of the comments about his character's faces, particularly their mouths, but I loved the way he arranged characters in the frames and stuff like that. I remember asking on the old newsgroup if I was the only person who noticed how good Ronald was at that sort of thing, and thankfully Mark Harrison popped up to say no I wasn't.

Regards

Robin

I think this cloning business really watered down Spiderman. I no longer endear myself to spidey as I did originally. I'd dislike it happening with Dredd. I say, fuck it, keep him comic, constantly within mortal fear but never actually kicking the bucket.

The problem here is that he's already been cloned several times and he has kicked the bucket once before anyway. Not that I'd encourage any more of it, of course.

Regards

Robin

I think it would be far, far braver for Judge Dredd to end without Dredd actually dying. I'd prefer a story in which see we Dredd doing what Dredd needs to do in MC1 (and there are at least some indications of what that is likely to be), but which ends with him simply getting back on his Lawmaster and thundering out onto the streets.

Killing Dredd off is, in a way, the easy option. Ending the Judge Dredd strip and leaving him alive would take some real guts.

Regards

Robin

Wagner himself posted the news on his facebook fan page. Apparently the story will 'sort out a few issues'....

I really hope that means "make it clear that The Final Solution never happened".

Given that The Final Solution is one of my favourite 2000AD stories of all time, I seriously fucking hope it means nothing of the sort.

Regards

Robin

I've collected the comic since Prog 466 and I'll continue at least until John Wagner stops writing Dredd and Strontium Dog.

However, stacks of comics are really inconvenient, especially when you're having a continuity debate, so I've been been buying stuff that I consider part of Dredd continuity (Case Files, SD, Invasion/Savage, Ro-Busters, Robo-Hnter, ABC Warriors, Nemesis) or classic 2000AD (Dante, ACE Trucking, Bad Company, Rogue Trooper, Slaine).

There are several other collections I should get (Button Man, Halo Jones among them), but they're not priorities.

On the whole, I've been very impressed by the Rebellion collections and the respect that's been shown for the fans' hopes and wishes. I'd encourage everyone to support the collections, even if that's only by persuading new fans to take a chance.

Regards

Robin

Blimey, I don't remember that at all. I can't even remember the context. Why was Batman hijacking the transfer of the Dark Judges? Was that in Die Laughing?

Um... given the use of 'clown', do you not think he was more likely referring to a certain Joker...?

Ah, yes, I remember now. That makes more sense. Mind you, given Dredd's attitude to vigilantes, I could easily imagine him referring to Batman as a clown, too.

Regards

Robin

This is the first time I've ever seen Robin Low trying to argue against a tenuous crossover reference.

Heh, that's probably true, but I do normally focus on 2000AD connections. Those are generally more interesting to me.

Regards

Robin

Or simply disregard the crossovers as glorified fan fiction?

I'd like to see another proper Judge Death story.

This goes back to the point of my original post. If we do disregard the Batman crossovers, then we don't know how Death was captured after Necropolis. This would allow us room for a new, proper Death story that wouldn't need to follow on from Wilderness Days.

Regards

Robin

[The Batman/Judge Dredd Files]

I wonder if Rebellion will get around to putting out a new edition of The Batman/Judge Dredd Files with Vendetta in Gotham included (it's not in the DC version). I'd definitely buy that.

Why? It's rubbish.

Why is it rubbish? Personally, I think it's the best of the DC crossovers by far. Dredd is convincingly Dredd, Batman is convincingly Batman, the Ventriloquist is a villain that would work as well in MC1 as he does in Gotham, and it's got a great fight, along with Cam Kennedy on art and Mike Mignola on the cover.

Are you thinking of the Riddler one? Now that was pretty poor.

Regards

Robin

And Anderson returned from her wandering in space after having a vision of an eagle and a bat.

As if that whole sequence of stories wasn't bad enough.

Absolutely.

Anyway, the two examples given of the Dredd/Batman crossovers being officially mentioned are vague enough to write something completely different and create new meanings for those references. The Bat symbol refers to a supernatural entity, perhaps a familiar of the Sisters of Death that was left behind after Necropolis. "That Gotham clown" easily becomes a character called Gotham.


Regards

Robin

[My name is Death]

When has Batman or Gotham been referred to in the strip itself? I'm not saying they haven't been, but I don't remember.

In My name is Death, the crystals cntaining the spirits of the Dark Judges have been transferred to a new underground prison. Dredd remarks that he was taking them there when they were hijacked by "that Gotham clown".

Blimey, I don't remember that at all. I can't even remember the context. Why was Batman hijacking the transfer of the Dark Judges? Was that in Die Laughing? (My copies of DL are in the attic, and My Name in Death is somewhere in a stack.)

Regards

Robin

Would people be interested in seeing John Wagner write a story to explain how Judge Death was really captured after Necropolis?

I can't see any point in that, we already HAVE Young Death & Judgement on Gotham. 

Well, Judgement on Gotham is what I'm taking issue with, and Young Death doesn't address my concerns, so saying "we already HAVE..." doesn't actually resolve anything for me.

No, it's true, the Batman stuff can't be lumped into the Case Files for the copyright reasons you and others suggest, but seeing as the whole thing has been referred to since in the strip itself (only occasionally I'll admit) there's no point retconning this.

When has Batman or Gotham been referred to in the strip itself? I'm not saying they haven't been, but I don't remember.

What you mean is that you don't like non-Twoth crossovers

Nope, that's not what I mean at all. I can cheerfully live with non-2000AD crossovers (I just prefer 2000AD crossovers), but I'd prefer them to be good and essentially disposable.

As it stands, Judgement on Gotham is pretty weak, and the fact that it can't properly be incorporated into the storyline leaves a mysterious gap. I'm not saying that gap has to be filled, just that reading a story written by Wagner to fill it would be fun.


Regards

Robin

Doesn't he just get out of the City by "playing" dead?  We see his body being bulldozed into one of the Cursed Earth burial pits (wishing I'd bought Casefiles 14 when I saw it).

Yes, that's right. My interest is in seeing a new story explaining how Dredd, Anderson and others managed to locate and capture him afterwards that doesn't involve Batman and the over-the-top nonsense of Judgement on Gotham.

(Vendetta in Gotham remains a favourite story of mine, and Die Laughing has the genuine thrill of seeing Dredd in hand-to-hand combat with Death, but do I prefer my continuity cross-overs to involve other 2000AD stories.)


Regards

Robin

I've just re-read Necropolis in Case Files 14 (a much more rewarding re-read than
Mechanismo was, incidentally). It occurred to me that we don't really have a proper resolution regarding Judge Death and his eventual capture - what we have is a Batman/Judge Dredd crossover (of dubious merit) that can't be properly collected as part the Dredd storyline because of the DC connection.

Would people be interested in seeing John Wagner write a story to explain how Judge Death was really captured after Necropolis? If nothing else, it would be great to see a Dredd/Anderson story written by Wagner again.


Regards

Robin

I just read the bland Dredd in the latest issue and flicked through the rest. The Meg just oscillates between being mostly a waste of money and a complete waste of money.

Regards

Robin