Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 18

[radiator]

Woohoo! This just arrived!

Collects 2000ad progs 804-829, Megazines 2.12-2.26

Contents:

Innocents Abroad (Ennis/Staples)
The Magic Mellow-Out (Ennis/Williams)
Raider (Ennis/Burns)
Christmas With Attitude (Ennis/Ezquerra)
The Kinda Dead Man (Ennis/Williams)
The Craftsman (Ennis/Mcrea)
Ex-Men (Ennis/Higgins)
Snowstorm (Ennis/Macniel)
PJ and the Mock-Chock Factory (Ennis/Williams)
Last Night Out (Ennis/Ewins/Stein)
A,B or C Warrior (Ennis/Smith)
Blind Mate (Ennis/Staples)
Unwelcome Guests (Ennis/Anderson)
Barfur (Ennis/Haward)
A Man Called Greener (Ennis/Williams)
Happy Birthday Judge Dredd (Millar/Critchlow)
Mechanismo (Wagner/Macniel)
A Christmas Carol (Wagner/Dickens/Kitson/Boutell)
War-Hog (Grant/Xuasus)
Resyk Man (Grant/Luke/Hicklenton)
Deathmask (Wagner/Xuasus)
Mechanismo Returns (Wagner/Doherty)

I think you'll find that that is a pretty damn solid collection. Overall the quality of art and writing is far stronger than the last two or three Case Files books (chunky contributions from the likes of Colin Macniel, Peter Doherty, John Burns and a steadily-improving Greg Staples, and only one single-parter from Mark Millar!). There's also a surprisingly strong showing from Garth Ennis - by this point he's almost over his obsession/crutch of endlessly riffing on 1990s pop-culture (only Blind Mate stands out as a little anachronistic and clunky), and is instead concentrating on writing solid Dredd scripts - there are a few stories here that are generally ranked among his best efforts with the character (Last Night Out, A Man Called Greener, Raider, Unwelcome Guests). Rounding out the package you have the two Mechanismo stories, which are so good I don't even mind that I now own them in three different formats!

[Goaty]

Ahhh! that is great one, with Dredd finally knock out PJ Maybe!

[radiator]

By comparison, it looks like the next few books in the series will look something like this (I'm just speculating) - a few real stinkers (though I'm morbidly curious to revisit some of the Millar/Steelgrave stuff), but there's light at the end of the tunnel...

Case Files 19:

Enter: Jonni Kiss (Ennis/Staples)
The Judge Who Lives Downstairs (Ennis/Ewins)
The Chieftain (Ennis/Austin)
The Great Brain Robbery (Millar/Smith)
Muzak Killer: Live! (Ennis/Power)
Tough Justice (Millar/Austin)
Down Among the Dead Men (Millar/Ewins)
Inferno (Millar/Morrison/Ezquerra)
The Jigsaw Murders (Smith/Xuasus)
Ladonna Fever (Smith/Millgate)
The Hottie House Siege (Wagner/Brown)
The Al Capone Story (Wagner/Vickers)
Bagging the Bagwan (Wagner/Millgate)
Slick Dickens: Dressed to Kill (Wagner/Xuasus)
Revenge of the Egghead (Wagner/Vickers)

Case Files 20:

War Games (Millar/Marshall)
Judge Tyrannosaur (Millar/Smith)
Roadkill (Smith/Doherty)
Book of the Dead (Morrison/Millar/Power)
I Hate Christmas (Millar/Ezquerra)
Frankenstein Division (Millar/Ezquerra)
Crime Prevention (Millar/Percival)
The Sugar Beat (Steelgrave/Smith)
Mechanismo: Body Count (Wagner/Benet)
It's a Dreddful Life (Alexander/Morrison/MacNeil)
Bury My Knee at Wounded Heart (Wagner/Doherty)
You are the Mean Machine (Wagner/Staples)
Freefall (Wagner/Vickers)

Case Files 21:

Top Gun (Millar/Smith)
Under Siege (Millar/Peart)
The Manchu Candidate (Steelgrave/Austin)
Scales of Justice (Higgins)
The Enemy Below (Steelgrave/Langley)
The Accidental Culprit (Steelgrave/Williams)
The Time Machine (Wagner/Ezquerra)
Conspiracy of Silence (Wagner/Harrison)
Rad Blood (Abnett/Smith)
Moving Violations (Standley/Doherty)
TV Babies (Standley/Doherty)
A Guide to Mega-Speak (Wagner/Smith).
Casualties of War (Wagner/Higgins)
Judge Death: The True Story (Wagner/Gibson)
Part Exchange (Abnett/Burns)
Do the Wrong Thing (Rennie/Peart)
Giant (Wagner/Gibson)
Howler (Wagner/McMahon)
Prologue (Wagner/Doherty)
The Tenth Planet (Wagner/Ezquerra)

Case Files 22:

Wilderlands (Wagner/Ezquerra/Austin)
Parting Shots (Wagner/Ezquerra)
The Candidate (Wagner/Austin/Ezquerra)
Voting Day (Wagner/Ezquerra)
Farewell to the Chief (Wagner/Julien)
The Exterminator (Wagner/Burns/Frejo)
Crash Diner (Wagner/Julien)
Fall of the House of Esher (Spencer/Ormston)
Addiction (Wagner/Carney)
The Strange Case of Bill Clinton (Wagner/Siku)
Skar (Wagner/Wood)

[TordelBack]

Interesting speculation.  On that basis, I bailed out of the Prog (and Meg) early in Casefiles 19, came back briefly in the middle of CF20 and left again almost immediately, then came back again for a while at the end of CF21 for The Tenth Planet/Wilderlands.  So there's a huge amount here I've never read.  That might make up for my reluctance to look at a lot of this material...

Reflecting on this period of non-scrotness, I can actually remember specific hopeful purchases of individual Progs.  The Dermot Power gold-themed cover for Book of the Dead, for example, I remember buying that Prog to read on the train, only to be cruelly diasappointed.  I gave it one more Prog after that (a Dobbyn Feral cover, I think), and then lapsed again.  Strange days.

[James Stacey]

It covers large swathes I missed too after I lapsed into boredom though all the crap in the prog at the time. Going on the current release schedule only another 3 or 4 years and we get to read Wilderlands.

[radiator]

Because I clearly have nothing better to do (speculating wildly here, doubtful we'll ever get this far, but if they do, CF 26 onwards are gonna be arsom - so many Wagner stories I've never read). Amazing just how much material there still is to collect:

Case Files 23:

The Big Sleet (Hogan/Dearsley/Power)
Crusade (Millar/Morrison/Austin)
Escape from Kurt Russell (Wagner/Marshall)
Goodnight Kiss (Ennis/Percival)
Poor Johnny (Wagner/Sampson)
The Secret Life of Judge Pal (Wagner/Davis)
Terror with Mrs Gunderson (Wagner/Brashill)
Whatever Happened to Bill Clinton? (Wagner/Siku)
Repeat Offender (Wagner/Carney)
Bug Crazy (Wagner/Gillespie)
Skedway Madness (Alexander/Murray)
Face of Justice (Morrison/Sampson)
Family Feud (Standley/Johnson/P.B. Smith)
Get Me to the Church on Time (Rennie/Venters)

Case Files 24:

Blowout (Wagner/Hine)
Language Barrier (Wagner/Brashill)
The Return of Rico (Mills/Johnson)
The Neon Man (Wagner/Ezquerra)
Megalot (Wagner/Ezquerra)
Jigsaw! (Wagner/Foss)
Caught Short (Wagner/Higgins)
Statue of Judgement (Wagner/Burns)
Blaster Buddy (Wagner/Williams)
My Son the Hero (Wagner/Higgins)
Bad Frendz (Wagner/Ezquerra)
To Thing With Love (Wagner/Weston/Hadley)
The Decision (Wagner/Currie)
Awakening Angels (Wagner/Ezquerra)
The Cal Files (Wagner/Burns)
The Three Amigos (Wagner/Hairsine)
The Wall (Morrison/Carney/Smith)
Hot Pursuit (Standley/McMahon)
Stalking the Law (Morrison/Sanders/Smith)
Tattoo Hell (Alexander/Sanders/P.B. Smith)
Compassion Fatigue (Morrison/S.B. Davis)
Visions (Smith/Wood)
Killing Time (Wagner/Marshall)
Judge Spotters (Wagner/Tom Carney)

Case Files 25:

Hammerstein (Mills/Skinner/Brashill)
Dead Simple (Wagner/Robinson)
The Ballad of Devil Angel (Grant/Jacob)
C-H-A-M-P! (Abnett/Williams)
The Man Who Broke the Law (Millar/Yeowell)
The Pit (Wagner/Ezquerra/MacNeil/Sullivan/Hadley)
The Pit: True Grot (Wagner/Ronald)
The Pit: Unjudicial Liaisons (Wagner/Ezquerra)
The Pit: Last Rites (Wagner/Sullivan)
The Pit: Declaration of War (Wagner/Sullivan)
The Pit: Bongo War (Wagner/Sullivan/Ronald/Ezquerra)
Blood Sports (Cartmel/Gavin)
The Ballad of Cindy Crawlskin (Smith/Hart)
Killing Grounds (Smith/Ormston)
High Octane (Morrison/Bryant)
Tickers (Barnes/Gavin)
Shooting (Neal/Wigmore)

Case Files 26:

Dead Reckoning (Wagner/Staples)
Return to the Hottie House (Wagner/Davis)
Awayday (Wagner/Staples)
Death of a Legend (Wagner/Doherty)
My Brilliant Career (Wagner/Ronald)
Question of Sport (Wagner/Carney)
The Rise & Fall of Chair Man Dilbert (Wagner/Hairsine)
The Pack (Wagner/Flint)
Darkside (Smith/Marshall)
Mondo Simp (Smith/Marshall)
One Breath (Wigmore)
Weapon (Wagner/Brashill)
The Wounded (Neal/Wigmore)
Control (Morrison/Peart)
Web (Morrison/Julien)
View from a Window (John Wagner/Covenay)

Case Files 27:

The Big Hit (Millar/Couvella)
Lonesome Dave (Wagner/Burns)
He Came from Outer Space! (Wagner/Murray)
The Hunting Party (Wagner/Phillips)
Lost in Americana (Wagner/Hairsine)
Fog on the Eerie (Wagner/Watt)
Dance of the Spider Queen (Wagner/Flint)
Camp Demento (Wagner/Brashill)
Shark Country (Wagner/Bircham)
Trail of the Man-Eaters (Wagner/Flint)
Fetish (Smith/Siku)
Warriors (Morrison/Couvella)
Zero Tolerance (Rennie/Rebollo)

Case Files 28:

Mad City (Wagner/Staples)
Holiday Special (Wagner/Burns)
Fast Food (Wagner/Walker)
Spooks (Wagner/Watt)
A Walk on Gang Alley (Wagner/Ronald)
Mrs. Gunderson's Little Adventure (Wagner/Flint)
Attack of the Sex-Crazed Love Dolls! (Wagner/Staples)
Spawney (Wagner/Doherty)
Bo Peeper (Wagner/Robinson)
Bum Rap (Wagner/Gibson)
Escape from Old New York Street (Wagner/Marshall)
The Story of Genes (Wagner/Sullivan)
To Die For (Wagner/Marshall)
Ojay (Wagner/Ronald)
Simple Domestic (Wagner/Tappin)
No More Jimmy Deans (Wagner/Hairsine)
Sleaze (Wagner/Burns)
Sex, Lies and Vidslugs (Wagner/Sullivan)
The Bouncey Brats Heist (Wagner/Siku)

Case Files 29:

In the Year 2120 (Wagner/Brashill)
Missing (Wagner/Sullivan)
Headbangers (Wagner/Ronald)
Pup Fiction (Wagner/Cliff Robinson)
Revenge of the Taxidermist (Wagner/Hairsine)
Angel of Mercy (Wagner/Ronald)
Down on Sausage Tree Farm (Wagner/Marshall)
You've Been Fingered (Wagner/Gibson)
Stone Killer (Wagner/Burns)
Vidspex (Wagner/Siku)
A Death in the Family (Wagner/Phillips)
Worst of Frendz (Wagner/Tappin)
Who's Wally? (Wagner/Kennedy)
Apetown (Wagner/Brashill)
Grud's Big Day (Grant/Currie/Tappin)

Case Files 30:

In the Ugly Hour (Wagner/Plunkett)
When the El Breaks (Wagner/Siku)
Beyond the Call of Duty (Wagner/Ezquerra)
The Mega-City Way of Death (Wagner/Staples)
Dreams of Glory (Wagner/Murray)
Death Becomes Him (Wagner/Ronald)
There's Something About Four Marys (Wagner/Tappin)
Virtual Soldier (Wagner/Garres)
Simp City (Wagner/Doherty)
Wounded Heart (Wagner/Marshall)
Gun Play (Wagner/Parente)
The Contract (Wagner/Cam Kennedy)
There Be Dragons (Wagner/Staples)
The Narcos Connection (Wagner/Currie/Tappin)

[Greg M.]

Damn shame 'Bury My Knee...' will likely end up in the otherwise horrific-looking Case Files 20... a largely toxic volume and then some! Then again, I suppose part of 'Knee's...' charms was not simply that it was great in its own right, but that it stood in such stark comparison to the mind-numbing drivel that was being published in 2000AD at the time

[radiator]

Agreed. Interesting also that while 'Sonny Steelgrave' was building up to this very tedious retread of the Apocalypse War (The Sino-Cit invasion that never was), Wagner was quietly laying the foundations for far more interesting plots (Mechanismo/Wilderlands etc).

Interesting too that each volume, no matter how dire most of the contents are, have something good in them that will make them worth buying.

The only real stinker in the bunch looks to be 19 (20 at least has Mechanismo: Body Count as well as Bury My Knee...), but even that will probably have a few bits of Wagner goodness, and I must admit I'm very curious to finally read all of Inferno - I've only read about half the episodes with loads of gaps between them). It's surprising how little Dredd material Millar and Morrison actually wrote when you break it down, but I guess this era is a bit murkier because it seems like 2000ad editorial were commissioning Dredd scripts from any fucker with a word processor during the early nineties.

[Greg M.]

The only real stinker in the bunch looks to be 19 (20 at least has Mechanismo: Body Count as well as Bury My Knee...), but even that will probably have a few bits of Wagner goodness, and I must admit I'm very curious to finally read all of Inferno - I've only read about half the episodes with loads of gaps between them). It's surprising how little Dredd material Millar and Morrison actually wrote when you break it down, but I guess this era is a bit murkier because it seems like 2000ad editorial were commissioning Dredd scripts from any fucker with a word processor during the early nineties.

19 doesn't have quite so lethal a set of lows as 20, but it doesn't have 20's redeeming features either. (Well, I personally like 'The Chieftain', but I know from past posts that you reckon it's rotten, radiator, so fair enough.) That said, whilst 'Inferno' is not really any good, it's not totally worthless - Carlos excels himself, and there are a few strong moments. It helps enormously that it's not co-written by Mark Millar. (I wonder if 'Purgatory' will get a reprint? I assume not.) You're right that Millar / Morrison didn't actually write that many Dredds, but several of the ones they did write, like 'Book of the Dead' and 'Crusade' are long. Long and painful.

[IndigoPrime]

The other problem to my mind is that in its weakest moments, the Prog was still carried by Dredd. In 2000 AD's darkest period, Dredd utterly ceased to be reliable, and because just another strip—and often a poor one. To my recollection, whether I bothered to read a Prog eventually came down to if there was something by John Smith in it at that time, because he was the one person churning out reliably interesting content.

[radiator]

I wonder if 'Purgatory' will get a reprint? I assume not.

I'd be very surprised if it doesn't get bagged with the May 2012 issue of the Megazine to coincide with the launch of CF19.

As for me, I'm very curious to read Missing and The Exterminator, probably the two longest Dredd serials I have never read. I can vaguely remember reading a couple of odd episodes of the latter (which was a rehash of a Wagner script for a US publisher IIRC), but never read any of Missing.

To my recollection, whether I bothered to read a Prog eventually came down to if there was something by John Smith in it at that time, because he was the one person churning out reliably interesting content.

Smith is something of an an underrated Dredd writer imo, shame he hasn't written more of it. I remember quite enjoying Darkside, and Fetish - the Black Sheep of Dredd epics, is at least servicable - ISTR it suffered somewhat from delays, then being cut in half by editorial.

[Greg M.]

I wonder if 'Purgatory' will get a reprint? I assume not.

I'd be very surprised if it doesn't get bagged with the May 2012 issue of the Megazine to coincide with the launch of CF19.

That would make a lot of sense. I'm vaguely interested in seeing it again... nonsensical as it was, it might be the 'best' thing Millar ever did for 2000AD. (As in, it's got some good bits. Which were probably secretly scripted by Grant Morrison. And I do like the shameless recycling of the 'Never trust a hippy' line from 'Zenith'.)

As for me, I'm very curious to read Missing and The Exterminator, probably the two longest Dredd serials I have never read. I can vaguely remember reading a couple of odd episodes of the latter (which was a rehash of a Wagner script for a US publisher IIRC), but never read any of Missing.

I really didn't like The Exterminator at the time... I think as the name suggests it was indeed a recycled Terminator script? It seemed very un-Dreddlike. 'Missing' isn't ringing any bells though... what was that about?

[radiator]

Missing 6 episodes (Progs 1078 to 1083) 36 pages
Script: John Wagner, Artist: Lee Sullivan



I'm assuming it's not that great, seeing as it's never been reprinted and doesn't get talked about that much. I'm quite curious about it mainly because it's a 6 part Wagner story that I've never read before (wasn't getting the weekly at that time), and it appears to feature Demarco, and I really love all those stories with her and Dredd like Beyond the Call of Duty and The Scorpion Dance.

I'm vaguely interested in seeing it again... nonsensical as it was, it might be the 'best' thing Millar ever did for 2000AD. (As in, it's got some good bits. Which were probably secretly scripted by Grant Morrison. And I do like the shameless recycling of the 'Never trust a hippy' line from 'Zenith'.)

As with Inferno, it's also got some pretty stunning work by Ezquerra - I adore his hand coloured stuff from that period.

[James Stacey]

mmm. No one draws DeMarco like Brashill

[radiator]

mmm. No one draws DeMarco like Brashill

What, with a unconvincing-looking claw hand?

Sorry.