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Very cool! Can't beat Wagner Dredd. And love David Lynch too.

I'm in the middle of a bunch of stuff, here's a few.

Mega Man by Ian Flynn and several cool artists. Some good Nintendo/Capcom nostalgia, fun read.

Saga by Vaughan and Staples, I'm 15 issues in. Solid start, pretty smooth so far, getting more invested in the characters a bit.

Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen, always. Just got the latest extra size wedding issue 267, it rules. One of the back-ups is a recolored Megaton comic from the 80s, always cool.

Usagi Yojimbo, I'm near the beginning, great stuff from the get-go. I've been collecting it for a while since Stan rules and want to support it, yet I am decades behind. Got into it a couple years ago. Lot to enjoy!

Deadpool by Kelly and several artists, the 90s run that made him such a fun character. I'm really liking it. I feel like Marvel bounced back with some titles like this from say 1997, with the more cartoony style and looser vibe.

Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, I'm on the From the Ashes collection, issue 168. Classic.

One Piece by Oda of course. Bless him. We are on the cruise, yes indeed.

Fist of the North Star by Hara and Buronson. Iconic. I read the first 4 or 5 master edition versions 20 years ago, they stopped at 7 or 8 vols. Now Viz picked it back up and they've gotten much more out, finishing the first major saga and getting to the ever classic time skip. Love a good time skip.

Judge Dredd by John Wagner and many cool artists. I have up to Case Files 42 on my shelf, but I am on Case Files 26.  I will read all this, that's a promise to you fine people here.

(Similarly, while I often see calls from the US that they'd buy Dredd or other 2000 AD titles in omnibus format, I suspect that would be maybe a few dozen copies sold and an awful lot of books sitting in warehouses.)

I think there's gotta be at least 100s of us US fans. But I do prefer the regular trade paperbacks to heavy hardcover omnibuses. Although I do like the new Strontium Dog hardcovers, just got the latest Portrait of a Mutant one. Mainly paperback for me though, lightweight works for me.

Great countdown as always! And even 2000AD titles that had kind of slid down my to-read list are being bolstered here and higher. I've never read Bad Company, not much Red Seas etc, so much great stuff to read. Been meaning to read Y too. For Saga, I just started it recently.

Very cool to hear! I've been meaning to read more myself, so many great comics for the read list. I can say I have not read 100 full distinct titles, I think, so I've gotta get reading to get my own top 100 going!

Very cool topic, gotta love comics. And all the different takes, and well said on the contexts and different tastes and what everyone brings to entertainment they take in.

For example, two of my top three comics ever were mentioned and not favs in the topic. Savage Dragon and Invincible. My #1 is of course Wagner Dredd.

I dig what you said about 60s Spider-Man and FF, I did enjoy that issue 32/33 thing where he lifted the heavy thing. 

Great stuff, and reading your write-up just now Human Target by Milligan is on my list now for sure. And lots of others to check out.

Are you a Frank Miller fan, the classic stuff? That's stuff that I know is divisive that I rate high. Also, any manga on the list?

Cool, thanks! Chain Gang War does sound pretty good, that cover that says "say hello, gun" is really funny.

Curious if anyone has favs of Wagner's work for other publishers in the 80s and 90s, or anything since?

I've been meaning to read that Detective Comics run, though that's more Alan Grant I hear who is also a fav always.

Wonder if that The Crow: Dead Time that Wagner wrote is recommended?

Also have some Bogie Man on the shelf, and both Rok comics, Last American. Did read A History of Violence. Anything cool I've missed? I mention 80s and up since that interests me a bit more, but I know he did cool comics before that too.

Happy new year! Any new Wagner to come this year? Wagner Dredd?

Very cool!

Why didn't you read it?! Living up to your username?

Now I don't have to wait so long to see where it goes. It wasn't intentional, my comics backlog goes back many years.

So far we have Spector running in the meg (455-).

That's great, nice to see that's back. I have that special it was originally in but didn't read it. I wonder if there's any script changes in the reprint etc. Cool to see it continue.

Any Wagner news in 2023 so far?

Good to know on Stone Killers, thanks!

Sounds like that Batman/Dredd signing was from around 1991 I think.

Quick question on those classic Grant/Wagner partnership years. What were the last Strontium Dog and Dredd stories they worked on? I know Wagner was on "Bitch", and I found this fun interview with them both from 1988 talking about it, and their partnership. But was Wagner on The Stone Killers etc, stuff from early 1988? Right up to The No-Go Job?

For Dredd, on 2000AD.org they list prog 577 (June 1988)'s The Sage as the last one credited to them both on there.

https://www.tcj.com/the-john-wagner-and-alan-grant-interview/

I've been enjoying some old interviews with Alan and Carlos at the moment, and always enjoy Wagner ones as well. And it's cool that they worked together again on Bogie Man and Batman/Dredd so soon after the split too. Here's a fun tidbit about Batman/Dredd's release from wikipedia:

Igor Goldkind was 2000 AD's marketing consultant at the time and recalls one successful event:

    I also organised more professional press conferences before major signings and national comic book signing tours, which hadn't really been done on a big scale in this country before. I remember the Judge Dredd vs. Batman graphic novel signing launch at the Virgin Megastore at Oxford Circus in London amazed even the police with the numbers that lined up around the block to get their book signed by Simon Bisley, John Wagner and Alan Grant. The store manager said it was a bigger draw than when David Bowie had done a signing the month previously.[2]

Speaking of John Wagner, I hope there's plenty of Wagner Dredd in 2023! And Spector sounds cool, I still haven't read that special it was in yet. I'll read anything he writes for sure.

Also, perhaps the writer really does think all this, which means they've not read much Dredd or this is really what they enjoy. That if nothing else should be an eye-opener regarding how the strip fares in the US.

Hopefully we don't let this article's author represent US comic readers, plenty are zarjaz thrill faithful! But I apologize on behalf of US fans and comics journalists anyway.

Comics in general are pretty niche, Batman for example and any top US comic sells less than 100,000 copies a month generally, plus some digital readers. Invincible is a fav of mine that hovered around 10,000 copies a month. So the people who know and are into it are fellow art/entertainment fans who make the effort to learn about cool stuff like 2000AD. And it's easier than ever to get into stuff like this with the internet. It is all more specialized and smaller audiences for a lot of the cool stuff.

For some US fans/journalists who get it, War Rocket Ajax is a podcast that gives 2000AD and Dredd a lot of credit. And they have some cool favs on their top Every Story Ever list like the Wagner classics. They recently had the editor of Best of 2000AD stop by to talk about it on the show too.

If it helps, CBR has bad articles about US comics and anime too. But it is a baffling article for sure.

When will Dredd die he is so old now.

I don't think we'll see that, since he's the main character of the prog pretty much.

Or at least, John Wagner has mentioned he'd like to write a "final" Dredd story. But even if they published one, I'm guessing it would be set sometime further in the future (or a possible future), so the comic could continue after.

Since Dredd is already in his 80s, though he had that rejuve thing, I'm guessing they could go another 20 years with the comic going as is. With both Dredd and Anderson the real time aspect has been it would seem de-emphasized a bit.