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Borag Thungg Dakkanauts!

I'm not big on DC or Marvel, but I do quite like bits of the mishmash collection that is 2000AD.

Recently I took a bit of a gamble and decided to order both Lawless books (Welcome to Badrock and Long-Range War), which I enjoyed so much that I've decided to also order the "prequels" to this all, the Insurrection trilogy, a.k.a. what if a big galactic war like we see in 40k all the time were to happen some time in the Dredd universe? Pleasantly surprised by these, as much as I like Dan Abnett as an author, I've always found his comic writing to be meh, but I'm glad to be proven wrong with this setting and the stories he penned for them.

So, what the title says really. I've already got six Dredd casefiles and the Sci-fi Thrillers anthology book, which I also enjoyed to some degree, but I want to devour more! Anyone got any recommendations on what else I should read from 2000AD? A specific character, or maybe a good arc from a certain setting? Preferably in collected books / trades, for ease of reading.

Florix Grabundae!

Rogue Trooper as a whole, like a lot of 2000AD stuff, becomes rather silly at point. Though if you can find the collected editions there's some good one shots in there if you're a fan of future wars or post-apocalyptic tropes. The two gentlemen scavenger characters are quite fun. Of the original run I'd recommend whatever edition covers The Dixie Front. However, that's not what I'd specifically shout out here.

The newer Jaegir series tends to be well written across the board. It drops the Southers as their protagonists and delves into the Nort's background. Following a political officer as she investigates corruption within the Nort hierarchy. Some of the plot can be hit or miss, but overall if you're a fan of Rogue Trooper its a more serious take on the setting. Particularly in being a bit less black and white on who's the villains.

On the subject of Rogue Trooper's shorts, there are two which were my favourites. One follows a pair of Nort conscripts as they attempt to surrender to the Southers. The other's set on the Moon. I wouldn't bother actually reading it, but with a lot of Rogue Trooper there's little tidbits of story on the setting's background. The Moon's not seen much in the way of fighting, so when Rogue visits there he discovers a plaque reading, "We came in peace, for all Mankind. ...This time we'll do it right" - beneath a statue of an Astronaut curiously wearing a mix of the Nort/ Souther uniforms.


Ah, anyway, enough waxing about Rogue Trooper.


Of all the Dredd comics there's two I'd recommend. Seemingly again as they built up the lore, though are still good romps if you're not too into the background.

Origins - which crosses between present day Mega City one President Booth shenanigans and flashbacks to the downfall of America and establishment of the Justice System. With pre-Mega City days segments - with proto-judges acting besides police officers out in what would become the Cursed Earth, and later sections with the political dealings in the White House, and appearances of the US army. They could have done more with this part of the timeline however, as despite being one of the longer arcs they are still shorter than I'd have liked. Though more recently there was a story in Dredd Magazine in the same period, and another where Judges wearing their Pre-Justice System uniform appeared out in the now Cursed Earth. I'd take these prequels over a random filler Dredd story any day.

The obligatory mention of the Dead World prequels go here. The various runs of this have been in my opinion 2000AD's best work in years, if not my favourite Dredd comics. They use the Judge Death prequel as a starting point, though are a bit more ground representation of the Pre- ...dead Dead World. Instead with it being more of an Earth where the Atomic Wars didn't happen and instead America continued to spiral even with the introduction of the Justice System (without the Atomic Wars still working alongside the Police Department). The whole thing's a kind of pre-Post-Apocalyptic setting - with things being pretty bad all over, and getting worse, though with some hold outs (I've not followed recent 2000AD issues, but from where the comic last left off they were introducing the Soviet Union - showing the Dark Judge's influence hadn't spread beyond America). A cameo from a certain Dredd prequel character already mentioned here was neat as well.

If reading the main Dead World prequels, there was also a separate series (similarly titled, though I can't remember the name. Tainted: Fall of Dead World? Damned? One of them) charting a later period, but still pre-Dark Judges appearing in Dredd's timeline. Which was kind of a re-imagining of a another short, but in a less comical way. Showing off events featuring each of the Dark Judges from after they'd mostly conquered the planet. Some threads from this were later picked up by the other prequels - in particular that there were more than four Dark Judges; some of whom appear in a form in the other prequels (oh hey that random Judge who seems all right has started being corrupted. Hey their name sounds familiar. Oh... now they don't have any eyes, oh).



The whole Trifecta/ Day of Chaos arc starts off rather well. I can't say it stuck the landing, but the run up as seemingly unrelated stories from characters we hadn't seen for a while come together with Dredd's. I guess like the old Dead Man story - where you discover this random series unrelated to Dredd's story creeps into a major arc. Unfortunately the payoff didn't go where I'd have hoped, as I guess 2000AD didn't want to completely tear down their setting. Still, if you're reading any of the current Dredd run its kind of obligatory for the backstory (so I'd assume you've read it).

I'd give the Dredd movie comics a miss unless you read 2000AD compulsively. The stories are a bit shallow and make the film's setting less grounded in our world, and rather over each arc it pretty much just becomes another Dredd story in the same Mega City as the comics. I'd have preferred if they had distanced themselves from all the weird looking skyscrapers and hover cars and instead kept things looking like they were set in a futuristic Joburg. With more recent stories literally just being regular Dredd with maybe some reference to the movies. And the art style is definitely one of my least liked, but 2000AD keep coming back to it for quite a few of their more recent major stories. :/

Ah.

Step into my parlor, Good Sir!

First and foremost, you need to be aware of Hachette's 2000AD Ultimate Collection

Currently on issue 46 myself, which is the sublime 'Stickleback'. Lo-fi Steampunk type affair, but with a conscious effort against 'cogs FOR EVERYONE!'.

This series is a good place to start, as the collection is curated.

Now, classics are classics for a reason. Slaine, Rogue Trooper, Ballad of Halo Jones et al. Just magnificent stuff from top to bottom.

But there are also modern classics. Recent stuff from 2000AD which is absolutely standout. For me, that's Zombo (gloriously bonkers), Shakara (just excellent) and Stickleback (goodness me! Steampunk that isn't a lazy trope used by a hack write as a replacement for imagination and originality!)

The best bit is, whilst still being released, they're mostly doing each strip in original release order (only exception so far being Slaine). So if you're interested, you can quite happily dip in with the first volume in this collection, see if you like it.

It's currently set to run to 80 issues. So a total of £800. Sounds like a sting, but for collected back issues, in hardback no less, £10 a copy is pretty reasonable.

They also completed the 90 issue Dredd Mega Collection. I've got the lot, and it's pretty fabby. Except for the CalHab stuff. Found the art abysmal, and the stories worse. But that's my main disappointment. Oh, and I find Dirty Frank largely OK, but not quite to my tastes. But hey, that's 2000AD for you!

The upside of the Mega Collection? You can get most of say, PJ Maybe's misadventures in a single issue. Which is nice.

Downside? As you'll see, availability is, well, spotty at best. Some outright unavailable, others out of stock with no confirmation they'll be back.


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Oh, and keep your peepers peeled on the 2000AD Ultimate Collection around 19 June 2019....entire volume dedicated to not just Tharg's Future Shocks, but Alan Moore's contribution to those glorious little one-shots.

Unless of course Alan Moore isn't to your taste

Wyrmalla wrote:Rogue Trooper as a whole, like a lot of 2000AD stuff, becomes rather silly at point. Though if you can find the collected editions there's some good one shots in there if you're a fan of future wars or post-apocalyptic tropes. The two gentlemen scavenger characters are quite fun. Of the original run I'd recommend whatever edition covers The Dixie Front. However, that's not what I'd specifically shout out here.

The newer Jaegir series tends to be well written across the board. It drops the Southers as their protagonists and delves into the Nort's background. Following a political officer as she investigates corruption within the Nort hierarchy. Some of the plot can be hit or miss, but overall if you're a fan of Rogue Trooper its a more serious take on the setting. Particularly in being a bit less black and white on who's the villains.

Of all the Dredd comics there's two I'd recommend. Seemingly again as they built up the lore, though are still good romps if you're not too into the background.

I've put Rogue Trooper on my list and budget permitting, will probably order the first two big books come next pay day. I've read a more recent story written by the Warhammer Adventures author of all people, which was okay. And I do recall the two scavengers from the pages of 2000AD, or a special of some sort, they left a good impression on me.

Jaegir sounds interesting, so long as she doesn't shout "NAIN!" all the time..

I'll keep an eye out for the Origins stuff, I've read some of the Dead World stuff, but found it not to my tastes.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:First and foremost, you need to be aware of Hachette's 2000AD Ultimate Collection

Sadly Hachette is a UK only thing.

That said, I'll keep an eye out for Ballad of Halo jones trades (shame they never finished it) and maybe Slaine if I'm feeling adventurous, as I find the art style somewhat.. hard to follow sometimes, though this may be me trying to read it during the period of a certain artist.




Thanks for the suggestions and info you two!

Slaine’s art does vary.

I like the earlier line and ink only stuff. Once it heads to colour, defo a bit choppy. But hey, that’s art!

Outside of the Dredd Collection, keep on keeping on with the ‘Case Files’ series. Far as I recall, it’s chronological, and pretty much complete!

Hehe, complete aside from a few chapters of the Dead Earth saga, which they recently re-released at long last.

Ah yes....those ones


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Oh, and definitely, definitely track down ‘Dredd; Origins’, alongside America and Democracy.

Devlin Waugh is one of my all time favourites, gloriously camp like Terry Thomas starring in Carry On Exorcist.

Halo Jones is a must, Sinister/Dexter is a near perfect buddy movie in graphic form and you can't go far wrong with Strontium Dog. I strongly suspect the Space Wolves were a tribute to Wulf Sternhammer.

Jaegir was readable as it trod the line between the existing comics and grounding them a bit more with modern sensibilities. You don't have as many comics these days which were as silly as the old 2000AD could be. So there's none of the Nort generals dressing up like the Allied leaders in WWII, but they now have strong German overtones (instead of Soviet) and hang about like Bavarian nobles.

...Ah, though yeah, there are plenty of soldiers who served on the Nu Earth front. I liked how other fronts are discussed, and Nu Earth seems to be a backwater where only the blacklisted or foolish are sent (which goes to explain how dumb leadership seems to be there). In fact most of the series had been set on those other fronts or back on the Nort controlled planets, with only the most recent arc returning to Nu Earth. Even that from what I remember was unrelated to the Rogue Trooper (because, well, he's just one guy who can't be everywhere. Though is spoken of like a Souther War Criminal / repulsive genetic monster who kills barely trained conscripts without cause > which is kind of true).

Yes, my own tastes are more towards the bit more meta comics. I'd rather see concepts explored and the setting flashed out more than just another jaunt around the Meg or elsewhere. How did we jump from our reality to Dredd's, or what goes on to explain how all this stuff works. I'd totally be in for a one shot on the Accounts Department at The Grand Hall of Justice, or a high street shop in Mega City One or elsewhere.


America (ah, outside of Origins) is one of the better written Dredd stories. It is dated however, so its a bit messier than it could be, and some characters are more paper cutouts than people (America's parents wouldn't make it to the screen adaption, but the stupid accents were the norm back when the story was published). The main America story and its sequel are for the most part fine. Though I dislike where other writers decided to take the premise later on. Turning the whole Democracy movement into just another villain of the week, and over time turning its members into just more idiots for Dredd to kill. Since then there's not really been much done with them which harked back to America - which like a few plot threads with Dredd, could make for great stories, but are put to the side as maybe being not flashy enough.

I still wonder what would have happened if they'd continued with the story set up by Day of Chaos. Which I assume was dropped as they couldn't just kill off Dredd and have to work out something new to do with Mega City One. Where at the end of that arc seemingly was going senile/ dealing with extreme PTSD and potentially would have been unfit to carry out his duties (taking another Long Walk I hope). Mega City One had lost too much of its population to be a sustainable city without systemic change. So had allowed the mutants in, and Dredd was ruminating that they'd have to get rid of the Justice System and return to Democracy.

Instead Dredd plods along with no issues (there's since been a single reference to his mental issues). The mutants were kicked out. New Judges from other cities were brought in, and eventually largely forgotten about besides one character. The population seems to be doing fine despite being at an all time low. There was a Pro-Democracy character, but she turned out to be a dumb villain who killed the whole movement. And besides a few mentions of Chaos Day being a major shake up to the city, its largely the status quo. I.e. the same as every other big event in Mega City One. ...I just thought it'd be different this time, given that the guys behind 2000AD had said they were giving up on Dredd whilst the Arc was being published.

I think America, Democracy and Origins work a lot better when read in conjunction with their contemporary Dredd strips.

And the fact that Dredd actually develops throughout his now 40 years history is wonderful!