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Well, those absolute sods at Hachette have done it again.

Very nearly at the end of the frankly superb Dredd Megacollection, and what do I see?

The 2000AD Collection

And what a thing of beauty! Certainly easier than hunting down old back copies of 2000AD, and definitely cheaper than TPBs typically are - how can I say no?

I mean, look at it. 80 volumes of 2000AD's greatest craziness. Given I very much agree they're The Galaxy's Greatest Comic, I had to sign up.

Now, some Americans and assorted non-Brits might be wondering why I'm such a fan of 2000AD. It's no DC. It's no Marvel. And you're right. It's not. Instead, it's a glorious, weekly anthology of scifi insanity, and it's been going for over 40 years this year.

Typically, each issue will contain four or five different strips. Some will be in the middle of their story, one just beginning, and one on it's final entry. Yes, tastes vary and some strips simply fail to make much of an impact - but in my experience they're very much the odd ones out. This is the comic that's spawned not only Judge Dredd and his world, but stuff like Halo Jones, Slaine, Nemesis The Warlock and ABC Warriors, but has also proven to be the place for new British comic writers and artists to cut their teeth. If you can think of a big British name in modern comics, there's a frankly excellent chance it was 2000AD that gave them their first shot at publication.

And it's the anthology nature that really makes it. The Prog (colloquial term for issue) is going out anyway, and it needs to be filled. From time to time, it's into the pile of random submissions, see if there's one ready to go. If so, in it goes. It's this anarchic system which keeps the gates open to new and returning talent. One strip might be utter blessed nonsense in the style of Hewligan's Haircut, the next some more conventional sci-fi such as Shakara. Strip after that? Might be a one-off Tharg's Future Shock (another excellent place to drop in random submissions).

Whilst the Hachette collection isn't going to be available everywhere (particularly, never in the US, for reasons I don't know), I strongly urge comic nerds everywhere to indulge in a little 2000AD. Give it a shot, I reckon you'll like it

Dreaming of what could have been...

I loved Carlos Ezquerra's run on Dredd from...a long time ago (1982!).

The Apocalypse War - awesome!

Interesting thing about Judge Dredd and associate stories?

It's a single timeline. Any 'retcons' are instead resurrections of thought-deceased characters.

A single timeline, for a little over 40 years? Mental.

All of the original stories were B&W right?

I only read them here in the USA as 're-colored' reprints, I'm pretty sure.

It's funny that to me they look 'off' in B&W though.

I'm thinking about re-reading a bunch of story arcs via the "Complete Casefiles" collections though.

Any suggestions?

Quite a lot of them were. Even kids comics, such as the Beano rarely printed in anymore than three colours well into my childhood.

Complete Casefiles? Start at the beginning and go through the lot!

I'm currently collecting the Hachette 'Dredd Megacollection', which will be 90 volumes in total (over 75% of the way there now, which is exciting!). So far the only true crap I've read was CalHab Justice - art is awful, stories are lame.


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The other good thing about 2000AD strips is that the stories tend to be quite densely plotted.

When you're lucky to get more than 8 pages in a single Prog to deliver the next installment, it's difficult to waff around with superfluous plottage.

It forces an economy of words on would-be writers, and helps to encourage artists to do more with each panel - the characters really need to emote stuff whenever they're 'in shot'.

It's just so different to US style comics, I feel it deserves a far wider international appreciation.

I don't know about that - I'd suggest starting a bit later with the Case Files - 3 or 4 - then going back. I found Case Files 1 an awful slog, while they get the hang of the character.

The evolution of Dredd is important though

Yeah, but most people will be more familiar with Dredd as he is now - starting a bit later on makes it more accessible, then you can go back and see how the character is developed to that point. IMO, of course. I started with Case Files 1, and bounced off it for a few months because of all the early one-off stories about bank robberies and the like.

Still important for exploring MC-1, and Dredd's personal philosophy.

Seeing his humble beginnings at the start of the story let's things build nicely.

So I'm now four issues in.

Slaine, Halo Jones, Shakra and Strontium Dog is a strong opening, and I've found a useful Wiki page which lists some future issues.

There's a helluva lot to enjoy here!

the Slaine one is tempting, was a totally bonkers romp though Irish Mythology, and Ukko might welk be the greatest hench-dwarf ever, it went a bit wibbly with the timetravel but still endearingly crazy

Not subscribed yet but I might do soon if the unofficial coming soon list is to be believed. Ampney Crucis, Skizz and DR & Quinch are well worth a re-read. I have just finished reading through Halo Jones, absolute classic from start to finish. Not sure about Shakara though, it might grow on me...

Not available in Gemany... sadly.