Its time again for another Weekly Comics Hype. Im doing these alphabetically, but skipping around a bit, and Ive been torn as to what Judge Dredd volume to recommend to you. Quite a few have been offered from several publishers and most are out of print, but if you want a really awesome, recent story of the character, you wont go wrong if you look into Total War.
To give you the bare-bones backstory: Judge Dredd is the lead character in two comics you may have heard me mention from time to time: 2000 AD, where he gets a six-page story weekly, and the Judge Dredd Megazine, where he gets a 12-page lead story alongside several other series which are set in his universe. Most of the best creators in British comics have taken a crack at Dredd from time to time; this book gives you three connected stories written by John Wagner and illustrated by Colin MacNeil, Henry Flint and Jason Brashill.
Judge Dredd has always taken inspiration from the world around it, and some recent storylines have dealt with a terrorist organization called Total War picking up where the movement towards peaceful democracy have failed and demanding the judges relinquish power to the citizens. As the series depicts an entire planet of giant city-states, even the most liberal of which is fairly totalitarian, the worlds eyes are on Mega-City One, which occupies most of the present eastern seaboard, as they deal with the terrorists.
The Total War collection compiles 23 episodes of the series which first appeared in 2000 AD in 2004-05. Terror, featuring fully painted art by Colin MacNeil, sees the judges desperately trying to tie a suspect back to his cells leaders, while at the same time protecting an unwitting informant whom Total War must eliminate at all costs. Total War, with thrilling, freakout art by Henry Flint, sees the terror threat ramped up when the terrorists inform Justice Department that they have a number of nuclear devices hidden in the city. After the Bombs deals with the ugly aftermath of this story and is painted by Jason Brashill.
Longtime readers probably recall my championing of the DC Comics / Rebellion partnership, which resulted in a couple of dozen really nice collections of classic 2000 AD material in rainbow-spined designed collections. Since DC ended the relationship with Rebellion (and, at the same time, French publishers Humanoids), the collections are being designed by the publishers themselves and the results are simply wonderful. Theyve been somewhat redesigned from the first 26 books, but with some of the same design elements, but theyre printed on heavier, shiny paper and the covers feature a lovely matte finish. All told, the books are of far higher quality than most anything else on your comic shop shelves. A full catalog of available titles can be seen on my 2000 AD website, http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpower/rebellion.html
Alternately, you can visit Thargs Future Shop to learn more about Judge Dredd: Total War and the other Rebellion trade paperbacks. Of course, your local comic shop would enjoy your custom; new books ship each Wednesday, so why not stop in after work tonight?
To give you the bare-bones backstory: Judge Dredd is the lead character in two comics you may have heard me mention from time to time: 2000 AD, where he gets a six-page story weekly, and the Judge Dredd Megazine, where he gets a 12-page lead story alongside several other series which are set in his universe. Most of the best creators in British comics have taken a crack at Dredd from time to time; this book gives you three connected stories written by John Wagner and illustrated by Colin MacNeil, Henry Flint and Jason Brashill.
Judge Dredd has always taken inspiration from the world around it, and some recent storylines have dealt with a terrorist organization called Total War picking up where the movement towards peaceful democracy have failed and demanding the judges relinquish power to the citizens. As the series depicts an entire planet of giant city-states, even the most liberal of which is fairly totalitarian, the worlds eyes are on Mega-City One, which occupies most of the present eastern seaboard, as they deal with the terrorists.
The Total War collection compiles 23 episodes of the series which first appeared in 2000 AD in 2004-05. Terror, featuring fully painted art by Colin MacNeil, sees the judges desperately trying to tie a suspect back to his cells leaders, while at the same time protecting an unwitting informant whom Total War must eliminate at all costs. Total War, with thrilling, freakout art by Henry Flint, sees the terror threat ramped up when the terrorists inform Justice Department that they have a number of nuclear devices hidden in the city. After the Bombs deals with the ugly aftermath of this story and is painted by Jason Brashill.
Longtime readers probably recall my championing of the DC Comics / Rebellion partnership, which resulted in a couple of dozen really nice collections of classic 2000 AD material in rainbow-spined designed collections. Since DC ended the relationship with Rebellion (and, at the same time, French publishers Humanoids), the collections are being designed by the publishers themselves and the results are simply wonderful. Theyve been somewhat redesigned from the first 26 books, but with some of the same design elements, but theyre printed on heavier, shiny paper and the covers feature a lovely matte finish. All told, the books are of far higher quality than most anything else on your comic shop shelves. A full catalog of available titles can be seen on my 2000 AD website, http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpower/rebellion.html
Alternately, you can visit Thargs Future Shop to learn more about Judge Dredd: Total War and the other Rebellion trade paperbacks. Of course, your local comic shop would enjoy your custom; new books ship each Wednesday, so why not stop in after work tonight?
Devlin is my boy!
Hope all is well. I live in Athens but own a house in Kennesaw. I used to make the same commute for comics that you do, except mine was to see Five EIght play.
Don't know much about Judge Dred except for Sylvester Stallone and the Batman crossover they did back in the day.
take care,
ph
So, thank you very very much for your nice comment on my set! It is appreciated.
Happy Valentines Day!