Dredd! Judge Joseph Dredd. Clone-child of Eustace Fargo. Break the Law and he'll break you, creep.
Surely the longest running British comic book character by now (or is it Dan Dare - Mr Nimbus over to you) and yet someone on this very forum recently questioned if he was still going.
Drokk! This cannot stand. (I'm going for comical pomposity here, I'm not really outraged).
And as OKComics are having a "push" on 200AD/Dredd why not have a thread?
Anyone want to contribute a potted history? Do you have any questions about the Dredd world the OKForumites can help with? Do you wish to vote for the best villain (Skank,Traktofacktori,Death,Satanus,Orlok,Angels and on and on)? Childhood memories of Dredd scaring your tiny mind into red goo? ("Blood of Satanus" for me...Or the one with the giant spiders in the Mutant shanty town. Waves of spiders. Eeee!) McMahon versus Bolland? Ron Smith - overshadowed genius? Why couldn't Morrison/Millar get a grip on the character? John Wagner. I mean, just, John Wagner. What tenacity. UK Dredd vs. US Dredd? No! Not the film! Is Old Stoney Face going to....die?<choke>
And so on.
I would give it more form but thinking is a trial at the mo as I am sick-a-bed, and I want people to be able to talk about anything and everything to do with old chin-face. I'll be checking in while I pule and moan self piteously, so give generously and keep me entertained.
So rev your Lawmasters and let's bring law to the lawless. Let's ride!
I borrowed a few from various librarys, i loved the block mania story with east meg invading after and dreadd vs death was a corker too. He's like the ultimate law enforcer, no slacking, criminals don't slack so why should he!!
I have to say, the covers always look good and the stories seem good and I am fascinated by how the real world is converted in them but I have yet to read to a proper Judge Dreed graphic from beginning to end.
Does anyone remember them Dredd strips you used to get in some newspapers? I cant remember which it was if it was the old metro or if it was something like the daily star?
I remember one story featured Ken Livingstone and Dredd busted him for making a tacx on fat people to use the pavement. There was one that had a mock up of the english football team in the world cup and naother that featured Bill Clinton.
Oddly, cross-over Dredd is quite common despite him never having made it big in America.
As you say Walkin -X, Dredd vs.Predator and also Dredd vs. Aliens (from the movie Alien not just some random aliens). The former is okay but the latter has the edge because Henry Flint draws nasty, nasty Aliens, and it has more plot. They all read surprisingly well. They do what they say on the tin.
He has also faced up to The Batman in at least four cross-overs, which are much better, but that might be because I loves me The Bat.
Characters from other universes (Superman, Spider-man etc.) have shown up renamed and rejigged as one episode pee takes.
I wish I could say there has been a Judge Dredd vs.The X-Men. But I can't (They'd all be executed as Muties anyway, and you'd be sad.) Or am I wrong? I could be wrong.
All the Dredd strips are being reprinted in order in small, sturdy trade paperbacks (available at OKComics?) but due to the scrappy start, you're probably skipping ahead a bit before going back, if you see what I mean. To start with I'd big up the Cursed Earth Saga or The Judge Child Quest. Both big big chunks of mental s-f fun.
But Arseface's Block Mania/Apocalypse War, Dredd vs. Death combo is pretty scrotnig.
there used to be a daily judge dredd mini strip in the metro but then they got soft and took it out and put nemi in which sucks. The Emerald Isle story which is written by garth ennis is pretty funny and he did Muzak Killer (i think thats what it's called) which was really really bad. They've got loads of stuff in the library so anyone whos interested should go an borrow some, I'd love to read more of the classic JD storys.
Ah well, Dredd's universe is pretty big and flexible so the Aliens & Predator just dropped in to visit from Predworld and Alienworld. The Batman ones were due to a gizmo that can shift you through time/dimensions. Handy, huh.
Ennis' run was pretty dire shifting between "comedy" and "highlights from Clint films". He was way too inexperienced, but he tried. Bless.
I forgot to say you were right with both The Star and Metro Walkin-X. Kudos!
Lamont ~ longevity has got to go to any of the characters in the Beano or Dandy. Are the reprint volumes in colour? The only decent colour versions of Dredd stories I've seen were the monthly issues printed by Eagle during the 80s before Quality took over publication (and quality went doooooownnnhilllll. Fast).
The reprints currently being published are from the very beginning and are in glorious black and white. (Or slightly muddy b&w where the pages were in colour.)
I'm not a big fan of going back and colouring in b&w artwork, I reckon drawing for colour is different to drawing for b&w. But then, I can't draw can I? No.
Seamlessley leading to Dredd trivia: McMahon believed Dredd was a black man for his initial stint on drawing the series.
Ha! Those Quality issues were astonishingly unprofessional. Those Eagle issues had some Scrotnig original covers by Bolland and McMahon etc. as well as being nicely coloured. But Quality! Dear God! My eyes!
