Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection discussion thread

[robert_ellis]

I really enjoyed Banzai Battallion having never heard of it before. Much like Rok of the Reds it seems to hark back to more innocent times. I never thought a book on future gardening could be such fun. I think this & the taxidermist volume have been my favourites so far. Praise to Tharg for selecting tales so wisely - all is forgiven for the odd duff book. I guess every thrill is someone's favourite!

[IndigoPrime]

Yep, this was a great volume. I'm really glad Matt Smith included the two garden stories prior to the BB stuff. The original in particular is great and the collection would have been poorer without it. And while Ennis wields only a sledgehammer, that at least sets things up for Wagner.

I also just noticed that there's a Molch-R piece in this book, too. (I didn't spot it before.) So that'll be a nice read this evening, I'm sure.

[Davgardo]

Heavy Metal Dredd: I think just the Wagner/Grant/Bisley stuff would've sufficed as it's just a very monotonous read reading it all collected together.
Several themed volumes (Alien Nations springs to mind) have suffered from a lack of variety while a desire for completion (Calhab) has negated inclusion of much superior strips. Heavy Metal Dredd suffers from both.

On the plus side I've never seen The Weatherman reproduced as well as it has here. In particular the centrespread of pt 2 is great: I remember The Complete Judge Dredd reprint being horrible.

But overall, I wouldn't have bought this if I wasn't a subscriber. And oh great, here come Armitage and Helltrekkers. Seriously in need of a decent volume soon 

[Molch-R]

And oh great, here come Armitage and Helltrekkers. Seriously in need of a decent volume soon 

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? You DON'T like watching Wagner and Grant torturing a group of innocent civilians to death over 28 episodes?!?!?

[maryanddavid]

I never got the lack of love for the Helltrekkers, love it!

[IndigoPrime]

Armitage is an odd one. It primarily suffered from an art standpoint after the glorious first book, but I always enjoy reading that initial run and will be happy to have it in hardback. (I'm not sure I need all of Armitage, but oh well.) Helltrekkers... is fine. I imagine I'll at least enjoy reading that again more than the mid-90s bilge lurking in Heavy Mob.

[Trent]

Helltrekkers is somewhat juvenile with so-so art but good fun in the same way as old Action or Battle strips.

Re Armitage I have to agree with Indigo. Sean Phillips art was superb and made the story work but later runs from the likes of Charlie Gillespie did not work for me at all.
Based on the info that we are getting 2 volumes of it some stories probably need to be excluded given the total pagecount.
Also depends on whether the volumes are pure Armitage or a diluted version with added Dredd a la Missionary Man.

[Mardroid]

The two books I ordered during the sale* arrived well packaged and in great condition. (As far as I can tell with the wrapper still on. If I open it and a bunch of loose pages spill out, I'll let you know, but they don't tend to do that.  )

* Or was it a mistake? According to someone who called Hatchette it was just that, but I'm not sure.

[GordonR]

Helltrekkers is somewhat juvenile with so-so art but good fun in the same way as old Action or Battle strips.

Re Armitage I have to agree with Indigo. Sean Phillips art was superb and made the story work but later runs from the likes of Charlie Gillespie did not work for me at all.
Based on the info that we are getting 2 volumes of it some stories probably need to be excluded given the total pagecount.
Also depends on whether the volumes are pure Armitage or a diluted version with added Dredd a la Missionary Man.

There's a bunch of perfectly good Charlie Adlard art in there too, after the Sean Phillips stuff.

[Trent]

Yes there was, but at the time it still felt like a downgrade.
Charlie Adlard is one of those artists who was below the radar for me when his work appeared in the Prog and Meg but later reflection allowed me to appreciate his work on Dredd, Savage (much prefer his work on the early books compared with the more recent ones) and Dante to name a few.

[robert_ellis]

I remember reading the Sean Philips Armitage in a Megazine floppy and being blown away. I'm always amazed by people knocking this series when it's included all the epics. For those interested Hachette replaced my copy of the Day the Law Died with a fixed copy. How do folks find out what's up next - has Armitage been officially announced?

[COMMANDO FORCES]

I sent off a box of these to the Netherlands yesterday and it was a postman killing 22 KG. Now our fellow Dredd fan will have an enjoyable read before he comes over for the 40th

[IndigoPrime]

* Or was it a mistake? According to someone who called Hatchette it was just that, but I'm not sure.

I think it was a mistake in the sense they shouldn't have done it, rather than an error in making the price changes live. Still, I grabbed some Marvel books, each for a quid more than most single comics cost these days, so I'm not grumbling.

For those interested Hachette replaced my copy of the Day the Law Died with a fixed copy.

Is that the one that had the wrong back cover details?

The only fix i've asked for content-wise (rather than due to damage) was Total War. Sadly, the second one arrived like it had been used for a football, and I couldn't be arsed to ask for a third crack at that volume.

[robert_ellis]

Yes it the Judge Cal volume had the Necropolis blurb on the back. I really wish I could pay an extra £2 per delivery for better packaging. This series deserves better. I really hope all the text pieces get collected at some point - I'd never thought about the links from Battle to Bad Company.

[Tjm86]

Yes there was, but at the time it still felt like a downgrade.
Charlie Adlard is one of those artists who was below the radar for me when his work appeared in the Prog and Meg but later reflection allowed me to appreciate his work on Dredd, Savage (much prefer his work on the early books compared with the more recent ones) and Dante to name a few.

Amen.  much as I like the current crop, Mr Adlard's work really revived the series.  Took the time and trouble to get a prog signed by him in Cardiff a few years back.  The blue cover with the volg helmet lying on the ground (can't remember which prog number off top of my head).  Always loved the way he made the volgs look like American infantry.  Bearing in mind this was the era of the occupation / balls up in Iraq.  His artwork really brought home Mills' appropriately targeted satire.  A couple of his pages are now part of my slowly growing tooth original artwork collection (pride of place belonging to an Ezquerra SSR piece).