TOUR OF DUTY : THE BACKLASH

[strontium71]

This finally came by Amazon today and I held off reading any of it at work until I came home.
As soon as I came in at 17.15 I plonked myself on the sofa , didn't bother having a shower straight away which I normally do , and started reading. I've just finished now and it's what , 20.15!!
That's 3 hours that I was engrossed in this latest graphic novel. Sure , I've read all of it before , but in one chunk like this is just amazing. THIS is how stories should be written. You cannot fault this book in anyway whatsoever.
The only gripe is having to wait now for Tour of Duty volume 2.

[mogzilla]

yep,got mine yesterday but didnt read it all due to a fuzzy day will try again later. but arsomness what i have read !

[SmallBlueThing]

Two thirds of the way through this. Despite having read it, weekly, fairly recently, im impressed with how it flows as one long story. The fact that im finding it impossible to judge where the weekly parts end (without page counting) suggests to me that either Wagner is the underrated master of the subtle cliffhanger, or the strip must be unreadable to the uninitiated, in the prog.
Just one thing: Beeny goes from cadet to judge without us seeing her graduation. Was this in one of the progs they've missed out, or did it never get shown? Im forty, my short term memory has gone...
SBT

[radiator]

Don't think we got to see Beeny's graduation, no.

Got this myself yesterday - It really is a wonderful collection of stories. Superb artwork throughout, too. Waiting on volume two, then I'm gonna do a big reread of Origins, the PJ Maybe/Ambrose stories and Tour of Duty!

[Light Surfer]

I'm going to have to get this. What does it include? The last I read in the prog was the Lust in the dust story.

[IndigoPrime]

I read it today. It's a fantastic collection of Dredd—one of the best. It makes the other Dredd I've got knocking around—the most recent Case Files—look rather facile by comparison.

One thing I've always liked about Wagner—and something he's increasingly been using post-Pit—is his Judges aren't just crazy beat cops with big guns. Instead, they do everything, from investigation to admin, from being 'judges' to making snap judgements. Having Dredd and co. working cases, gathering evidence, and tracking down perps is far more interesting than week-in-week-out 'Dredd shots a hole in a bad guy'. Great stuff.

[radiator]

What does it include?

Intro Page
THE STREETS OF DAN FRANCISCO (2000AD prog 1520)
FIFTY-YEAR MAN (2000AD prog 1536)
MUTANTS IN MEGA-CITY ONE (2000AD progs 1542-1545)
THE FACILITY (2000AD prog 1546)
THE SECRET OF MUTANT CAMP 5 (2000AD progs 1547-1548)
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS (2000AD prog 2008)
EMPHATICALLY EVIL:THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF PJ MAYBE (2000AD progs 1569-1575)
...REGRETS (2000AD progs 1577-1581)
THE EDGAR CASE (2000AD progs 1589-1595)
MUTIE BLOCK (2000AD progs 1600-1603)
MUTOPIA (2000AD progs 1611-1612)
BACKLASH (2000AD progs 1628-1633)

Sadly, no covers/sketches etc - the strip goes right up to the last page. Creator biogs etc are squeezed onto the inside back cover!

Currently £10.49 inc postage on Amazon... It would be rude not to at that price.

[mygrimmbrother]

You're right, I'm gonna have to indulge I think.

[IndigoPrime]

Sadly, no covers/sketches etc - the strip goes right up to the last page. Creator biogs etc are squeezed onto the inside back cover!

For what it's worth, that suggests that the book was squeezed into a price bracket. Had it gone over count, it would have gone up to the next price-point (which, IIRC, would be £19.99).

[Stuzzle]

Currently £10.49 inc postage on Amazon... It would be rude not to at that price.

  £10.49?!! Right, that's the first thing I'll be spunking some of Wednesday's salary on then, find out allll the beginnings and earlier volumes of Tour of Duty before I came in late on The Talented Mayor Ambrose

[radiator]

Even cheaper at The Book Depository - £9.99 inc postage!

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781907519239/Judge-Dredd-Tour-of-Duty-The-backlash

For what it's worth, that suggests that the book was squeezed into a price bracket. Had it gone over count, it would have gone up to the next price-point (which, IIRC, would be £19.99).

Yeah, I wasn't complaining - that sort of stuff is only ever just a nice little extra. I'm glad they did manage to find the room for a little recap/intro page at the start of the book - pretty vital for this collection of stories, I think.

[Light Surfer]

Thanks Radiator.
An essential purchase I think!

[SmallBlueThing]

Technically though, why is it called 'tour of duty'? Surely that's the next story, and just 'the backlash' would have been accurate?
and and and- they changed the 2000ad logo on the spine! I know some people who are not going to like that, one tiny bit!

But it really is fantastic storytelling. This does have the feel of what the 'graphic novel' was supposed to be. Review copies should have gone to the papers as well as genre mags, as i have a sense that this would have been very well received.
SBT

[Jimmy Baker's Assistant]

I got this for Christmas and read it today.

Really excellent, Wagner's writing is better than ever. My only gripe is that there isn't a single part of the actual Tour of Duty strip in this volume, does anyone know when that is coming out in trade form?

[Greg M.]

Amazon seem to have it down as 23rd June.