Shock and Awe
December 9, 2015 11:37 AM Subscribe
Zarjaz!
posted by Artw at 11:53 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 11:53 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Money quote: "Judge Dredd was never meant to be serious: the idea of shooting jaywalkers is just very, very funny."
posted by graymouser at 11:55 AM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by graymouser at 11:55 AM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Dredd to a man about to leap off a tall building:
"Don't do it citizen. Littering the streets is an offence."
posted by mdoar at 11:57 AM on December 9, 2015 [8 favorites]
"Don't do it citizen. Littering the streets is an offence."
posted by mdoar at 11:57 AM on December 9, 2015 [8 favorites]
That anti-authoritarian streak is part of the British character: it ran through Dennis the Menace and all the Beano stuff.
For those unfamiliar, Kevin O’Neill is talking about this, not the considerably tamer American comic of the same name.
posted by maxsparber at 12:04 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
For those unfamiliar, Kevin O’Neill is talking about this, not the considerably tamer American comic of the same name.
posted by maxsparber at 12:04 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave.
Oh no, it's Mr Why!
Just... out.
I am the Mushroom! Mayor Mushroom!
A big deal to my formative years. I tried subscribing a year or so back, but it seemed all a bit sexualised up - a storyline about a corrupt Judge justly ending up in an orgy of dubious consent sticks in my mind. Also, they've killed my favourite character off: Mega-City One had 500 million people and huge towerblocks and robots and stretched from Florida to Canada. Now, if I do my maths correctly, it's about the size of Manchester, England, assuming the same towerblocks.
There was also fantastic stuff - three stories merged suddenly and unexpectedly into one, so you suddenly found you could read across the stories and it was a whole.
But the appeal of Dredd, and the Judges in general, was their heroism. Sure, they're a critique of fascism, whatever. But they were superfun, and brave, and beat the bad guys. When it's all angsty shades of grey... well, great, very deep, but not enjoyable for me.
But I'm old, so who cares? Smile.
posted by alasdair at 12:15 PM on December 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
Oh no, it's Mr Why!
Just... out.
I am the Mushroom! Mayor Mushroom!
A big deal to my formative years. I tried subscribing a year or so back, but it seemed all a bit sexualised up - a storyline about a corrupt Judge justly ending up in an orgy of dubious consent sticks in my mind. Also, they've killed my favourite character off: Mega-City One had 500 million people and huge towerblocks and robots and stretched from Florida to Canada. Now, if I do my maths correctly, it's about the size of Manchester, England, assuming the same towerblocks.
There was also fantastic stuff - three stories merged suddenly and unexpectedly into one, so you suddenly found you could read across the stories and it was a whole.
But the appeal of Dredd, and the Judges in general, was their heroism. Sure, they're a critique of fascism, whatever. But they were superfun, and brave, and beat the bad guys. When it's all angsty shades of grey... well, great, very deep, but not enjoyable for me.
But I'm old, so who cares? Smile.
posted by alasdair at 12:15 PM on December 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
Holy Drokk indeed! That's straight on my xmas list.
Formative years for sure, and then again in later (re)formative years, alongside The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers! For some reason the one that stuck in my memory was the oh-too-short Hewligan's Haircut. Loved it all though.
posted by merlynkline at 12:47 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Formative years for sure, and then again in later (re)formative years, alongside The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers! For some reason the one that stuck in my memory was the oh-too-short Hewligan's Haircut. Loved it all though.
posted by merlynkline at 12:47 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hewligan's Haircut!
That was prog 700, the first I ever bought once the local comic shop started carrying 2000AD and one of the best starting points I could've wished for, what with that and one of the best Psi Judge Anderson stories ever starting that issue.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:03 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
That was prog 700, the first I ever bought once the local comic shop started carrying 2000AD and one of the best starting points I could've wished for, what with that and one of the best Psi Judge Anderson stories ever starting that issue.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:03 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
2000AD is something I know very little about, but seems more awesome the more I find out about it.
posted by JHarris at 1:11 PM on December 9, 2015
posted by JHarris at 1:11 PM on December 9, 2015
I am the Mushroom! Mayor Mushroom!
I started reading 2000AD with the last episode of the Apocalypse War (Prog 270, back in 1982), so Jim Grubb's fungal demise was one of the first Dredd strips I ever read. I actually first ordered a copy to get the free pack of Hubba Bubba gum on the front. Which I never got. I've read quite a lot since, they did pretty well out of that promotion.
I'll be watching the documentary over the Xmas break.
Mega-City One had 500 million people and huge towerblocks and robots and stretched from Florida to Canada
800 million before the Apocalypse War.
posted by biffa at 2:01 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I started reading 2000AD with the last episode of the Apocalypse War (Prog 270, back in 1982), so Jim Grubb's fungal demise was one of the first Dredd strips I ever read. I actually first ordered a copy to get the free pack of Hubba Bubba gum on the front. Which I never got. I've read quite a lot since, they did pretty well out of that promotion.
I'll be watching the documentary over the Xmas break.
Mega-City One had 500 million people and huge towerblocks and robots and stretched from Florida to Canada
800 million before the Apocalypse War.
posted by biffa at 2:01 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I went from Look and Learn to 2000AD.
One small step for a boy, one giant leap for boyhoodkind
posted by Devonian at 2:13 PM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
One small step for a boy, one giant leap for boyhoodkind
posted by Devonian at 2:13 PM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Croydon
posted by fallingbadgers at 2:21 PM on December 9, 2015
posted by fallingbadgers at 2:21 PM on December 9, 2015
I went from Warlord to Battle to 2000AD, with a sprinkling of Action and Starlord annuals, so not really the same step up. Pat Mills all the way. Since I was about six. I dread to think how he warped my sensibilities over the years.
posted by biffa at 2:24 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 2:24 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
> A big deal to my formative years. I tried subscribing a year or so back, but it seemed all a bit sexualised up - a storyline about a corrupt Judge justly ending up in an orgy of dubious consent sticks in my mind.
I suspect that Anderson trapped in Boing® dropped into my teenage brain like a lead weight into jelly. So it wasn't completely asexual back then.
I started out on Eagle, moved on to 2000AD, then Revolver/Crisis, then graphic novels before it all just petered out for me (probably coincides with going away to uni).
The stories that stand out for me are the satires of British life (Judge Dredd, Sooner or Later), the deconstruction-of-the-genre stories that were so popular in the 90s (Zenith, Grant Morrison's Dare), and a whole bunch of other stuff that... well, I don't know what to call it, but it was all transgressive in one way or another... Halo Jones, Skizz, Sláine, Devlin Waugh, Skin.
I am very grateful to all those writers, but I'm never going to read them again because in my memory they're perfect - especially Zenith.
Anything drawn by Carlos Ezquerra is still terrible, though. Something about those dotted lines just sucks the life out of a script. Strontium Dog didn't get interesting until Simon Harrison got his hands on it.
I am really looking forward to watching this, so thanks for this post.
posted by Leon at 4:35 PM on December 9, 2015
I suspect that Anderson trapped in Boing® dropped into my teenage brain like a lead weight into jelly. So it wasn't completely asexual back then.
I started out on Eagle, moved on to 2000AD, then Revolver/Crisis, then graphic novels before it all just petered out for me (probably coincides with going away to uni).
The stories that stand out for me are the satires of British life (Judge Dredd, Sooner or Later), the deconstruction-of-the-genre stories that were so popular in the 90s (Zenith, Grant Morrison's Dare), and a whole bunch of other stuff that... well, I don't know what to call it, but it was all transgressive in one way or another... Halo Jones, Skizz, Sláine, Devlin Waugh, Skin.
I am very grateful to all those writers, but I'm never going to read them again because in my memory they're perfect - especially Zenith.
Anything drawn by Carlos Ezquerra is still terrible, though. Something about those dotted lines just sucks the life out of a script. Strontium Dog didn't get interesting until Simon Harrison got his hands on it.
I am really looking forward to watching this, so thanks for this post.
posted by Leon at 4:35 PM on December 9, 2015
Anything drawn by Carlos Ezquerra is still terrible, though.
Lawgivers at dawn.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:01 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lawgivers at dawn.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:01 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
God, it's so hard to read up on 2000AD. It all seems so awesome, but as someone who only heard of it (mostly of Judge Dredd) but wasn't exposed to it directly, it's been nearly impossible to figure out where to start reading to get into their stuff. Like, just start reading the Dredd reprints or start somewhere else? I have no idea.
posted by shmegegge at 5:42 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by shmegegge at 5:42 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Start with cursed earth.
posted by maxsparber at 6:02 PM on December 9, 2015
posted by maxsparber at 6:02 PM on December 9, 2015
I handed over hard-earned pocket money for 2000AD #1 back when it appeared to get the cool Space Spinner (some cheap little Frisbee-type thing) sticky-taped to the front cover. Once I was bored throwing it around (5 minutes or thereabouts) I read the comic and was hooked.
Invasion and Mach 1 were good but Flesh and Harlem Heroes were great; full-contact dodgeball with jetpacks was the greatest concept ever. No Dredd, had to wait for issue #2, and it took a while for his story to get moving. Once they got to the Cursed Earth arc and Spikes Harvey Rotten I was in for the long haul, not even Walter the Robot could turn pre-teen me off 2000AD.
Good memories racing to the newsagent every Wednesday to grab the latest..
posted by N-stoff at 8:03 PM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Invasion and Mach 1 were good but Flesh and Harlem Heroes were great; full-contact dodgeball with jetpacks was the greatest concept ever. No Dredd, had to wait for issue #2, and it took a while for his story to get moving. Once they got to the Cursed Earth arc and Spikes Harvey Rotten I was in for the long haul, not even Walter the Robot could turn pre-teen me off 2000AD.
Good memories racing to the newsagent every Wednesday to grab the latest..
posted by N-stoff at 8:03 PM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also, Starblazer. Was that only Scotland?
posted by alasdair at 12:37 AM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by alasdair at 12:37 AM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
No, we had that as well. slightly different kettle of fish, more equivalent to the little Commando comics than the standard A4 /quarto(?) fleetway comics, of which there were quite a few, my sister got Misty on a regular basis, often with similar writers and artists.
posted by biffa at 2:28 AM on December 10, 2015
posted by biffa at 2:28 AM on December 10, 2015
→ I am the Mushroom! Mayor Mushroom!
I still find the story of Mayor Grubb oddly affecting. Dredd wasn't just about shooting bad guys.
Above all, though, I have attempted to emulate the life and model of Abelard Snazz. Apart from having only 50% of the eyes, I'm pretty close …
posted by scruss at 5:43 AM on December 10, 2015
I still find the story of Mayor Grubb oddly affecting. Dredd wasn't just about shooting bad guys.
Above all, though, I have attempted to emulate the life and model of Abelard Snazz. Apart from having only 50% of the eyes, I'm pretty close …
posted by scruss at 5:43 AM on December 10, 2015
Ah, Starblazer. Good times! According to the Wikipedia article it was "rare in parts of Scotland and almost unknown in the rest of the United Kingdom". I picked mine up in northern England, when visiting.
posted by Triplanetary at 11:15 AM on December 10, 2015
posted by Triplanetary at 11:15 AM on December 10, 2015
I would have loved to have started with Métal Hurlant but it was a little too ... French ... for the English town I grew up in. (For those who don't know about MH, think a darkly serious 'Barbarella' rather than 'Star Trek'. If you don't know about 'Barberella', then you should start with 'Zardoz' and work your way up.)
I fell into reading 2000AD, by accident, because I happened to be buying comics when the first progs came out. Had my mum worked out what was actually in these comics, I'm sure she would have been less happy but it sat next to Beano and Dandy and I continued reading about future worlds where the endings were not always fair or happy.
INVASION! FLESH! DREDD! The darkness of the humour and the dystopian settings warped me for life, I'm happy to say. Despite all this, I managed to keep a quiet optimism. Yes, even when the dinosaurs win and the Cursed Earth claims life after life.
I watched Silent Running a few years later and remember thinking "Oh, humanity would never be that stupid."
DAMN IT!
(PotA reference removed.)
posted by nfalkner at 5:24 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I fell into reading 2000AD, by accident, because I happened to be buying comics when the first progs came out. Had my mum worked out what was actually in these comics, I'm sure she would have been less happy but it sat next to Beano and Dandy and I continued reading about future worlds where the endings were not always fair or happy.
INVASION! FLESH! DREDD! The darkness of the humour and the dystopian settings warped me for life, I'm happy to say. Despite all this, I managed to keep a quiet optimism. Yes, even when the dinosaurs win and the Cursed Earth claims life after life.
I watched Silent Running a few years later and remember thinking "Oh, humanity would never be that stupid."
DAMN IT!
(PotA reference removed.)
posted by nfalkner at 5:24 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Critic Mark Kermode talks about the doc on Kermode Uncut
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:35 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:35 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
In other news, DVD arrived today, will be watching over the weekend
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:35 AM on December 11, 2015
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:35 AM on December 11, 2015
Punk, Politics and Paranoia: 2000AD is Still Britain's Most Subversive Comic
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:59 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:59 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bizarro Back Issues: How Tharg Saved Christmas
This is actually a GREAT time of year to get into 2000ad, with the yearly holiday issues of 2000ad and the Megazine having lots of jumping on stories for new readers.
Points off for the Judge Dredd Megazine cover for not being very festive, I guess they've got a new strip based on the Dredd movie written by some chancer to flog.
For US readers the ipad and Android apps are probably the best way to get the comic - note that you get a bunch of free stuff when you download without buying anything, so it will give you a good taster.
posted by Artw at 9:28 AM on December 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is actually a GREAT time of year to get into 2000ad, with the yearly holiday issues of 2000ad and the Megazine having lots of jumping on stories for new readers.
Points off for the Judge Dredd Megazine cover for not being very festive, I guess they've got a new strip based on the Dredd movie written by some chancer to flog.
For US readers the ipad and Android apps are probably the best way to get the comic - note that you get a bunch of free stuff when you download without buying anything, so it will give you a good taster.
posted by Artw at 9:28 AM on December 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
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posted by MartinWisse at 11:50 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]