Any 2000AD fans?

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:50 pm

I'm guessing a few

on the strength of the new movie I've been reading the Judge Dredd comics- I'm currently up to the Cursed Earth epic and it's really good. I don't think I've read anything so darkly funny! It feels almost like if Viz tried to write something serious!

Do you have any recommendations after Cursed Earth? I skimmed through the Complete Cases v1, which was okay although his robot side-kick was the highlight. V2 is a very different beast, the comic has taken a far larger and darker turn.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:01 pm

I read the Complete Cases Vol 1 recently. Good fun, though the short stories always made it hard for me to get into 2000AD. It was always cool to see TF alumni make an appearance on the credits though.

Post by **Kaylee** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 9:43 am

Yeah the shorts are okay, but volume 2 is much better. Vol 1 reminded me a lot of the early DC/Marvel stuff

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:48 pm

I'll grab a copy of Vol 2 then.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:31 pm

The Day The Law Died is a good fun early epic, and, IIRC comes right after The Cursed Earth so this is pretty much a useless recommendation. Yay.

Are you reading official reprints or... perhaps more Dredd infuriatingly illegal means of reading the stories? Because with the later you might actually get to read the stuff in The Cursed Earth that hasn't seen the light of day since the original Prog's after McDonald's and the Jolly Green Giant people threatened hefty legal action (though the one page strip consisting of Dredd basically saying the real Jolly Green Giant is a really great guy and that the person he met in The Cursed Earth in no way represents the tasty wholesome goodness Dredd himself likes to eat that was published as part of the legal settlement is reprinted in the Thrill Power book).

The Apocalypse War is the big Big Dredd story in terms of how much impact it has throughout the rest of the run.

The Big Finish audio progs are well worth checking out as well, though I don't think they're all currently avaliable (a combination of most of the CD's having shifted and them not yet having sorted out downloads for all of them).

Despite Urban's great performance, Toby Longworth is still the definitive Judge Dredd for me. And the last "Full cast" Big Finish play, Solo, sees him give one of the greatest acting performances I've ever heard. Because it's written as a full drama, but he plays every single part. In a play with about 30 characters. And you can't tell. The superb editing of his performances plays a large part, but that is still some serious vocal acting.

Their two Strontium Dog plays are worth listening to for what Simon Pegg did between Spaced and Shaun of the Dead as well (basically, if you want someone to play a 2000 AD character, get a bloke who gives off a Star Trek vibe). The crossover one with Dredd is good as well, but is a direct sequel to their big comic meeting in Judgement Day so it doesn't work so well in isolation.

The Radio 1 adaptations of The Day The Law Died and The Apocalypse War are well worth tracking down as well. Once you get past Dredd being played by the Honey Monster (or the Law Master sounding exactly like the Batmobile in their version of Knightfall if you're real geeky).

The Apocalypse War does have a less dramatic ending though...:

SPOILERS FOR THIRTY YEAR OLD COMICS AND TWENTY YEAR OLD RADIO SHOWS...

In the comic version, Dredd ends the war by completely nuking East Meg One, killing all 500 million citizens who live there. That's... dark. But hard to argue against when the alternative was Mega City One being destroyed and the 500 million living there being killed instead. Plus East Meg started the war by nuking Mega City One first (and around half of it is destroyed during the story- indeed the whole reason for it in the first place was Wagner deciding a coast to coast city was too big and unweildly and needed to be shrunk down somehow).

it's a difficult, thorny decision with repercussions the comic would explore for decades..

The radio version handwaves it so he only destroys military targets, because killing citizens is wrong no matter what. Much more black and white. How nuclear weapons so poweful they're called Total Annihilation Devices (a name kept in the show) can destroy the Kremlin but not kill millions of the innocents around it is just ignored.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Sep 29, 2012 11:44 am

Gah don't spoil it- I've not read it yet!

I really liked the Cursed Earth. Yes, my version did... ahem... fall off the back of the Internet, so to speak, so it has all the good stuff in it. I can't decide if Ronald McDonald vs the Burger King is genius or idiocy but it was damned entertaining!

The Day the Law Died was a good read, although went on a little long I felt. I did like Judge Fish, though

Currently munching through vol 3, I think the Apocalypse War comes later- maybe volume 5?

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm really enjoying it, it's one of the best comics I've read.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:02 pm

Loved The Origin and Necropolis.

Non-Dredd, check out Tale of the Dead Man. Around the same time as Necropolis, iirc.

ProwlingAroundAllDay · Post by **ProwlingAroundAllDay** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 7:08 pm

Hello all,

All new to this posting thing so firstly. Hello.

Anyway, 2000AD..Well, where do I start.?
Try Judge Dredd"America" - often hailed as a classic. Or, "The Pit".
Also, you might want to seek out "Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files 3" Featuring short stories by a certain Mr. Furman and some full colour art by a Mr. Senior - Both stories date back to 1991 (or 2)

Enjoy!