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Post by earl on Jan 21, 2015 18:40:56 GMT -5
I'm into the Apocalypse War in Judge Dredd Case Files Vol. 5. This volume of Dredd is amazing, all killer no filler. It definitely should be on the list of great comics from the 80s.
I had read quite a bit of this Dredd run back in the 80s in the Eagle reprints, but it was hit and miss as not all the stories would get reprinted in any kind of order in those comics.
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Jan 21, 2015 19:00:48 GMT -5
I'm into the Apocalypse War in Judge Dredd Case Files Vol. 5. This volume of Dredd is amazing, all killer no filler. It definitely should be on the list of great comics from the 80s. I had read quite a bit of this Dredd run back in the 80s in the Eagle reprints, but it was hit and miss as not all the stories would get reprinted in any kind of order in those comics. All that Carlos Ezquerra artwork, good times indeed.
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Post by fanboystranger on Jan 21, 2015 19:47:49 GMT -5
I'm into the Apocalypse War in Judge Dredd Case Files Vol. 5. This volume of Dredd is amazing, all killer no filler. It definitely should be on the list of great comics from the 80s. I had read quite a bit of this Dredd run back in the 80s in the Eagle reprints, but it was hit and miss as not all the stories would get reprinted in any kind of order in those comics. Apocalypse War is one of those comics where you're like, "Wow! I can't believe that happened!" And considering the time it was originally published, it may have been the ballsiest move in a comic that I've ever seen.
And yeah, that whole volume is fantastic. Everyone talks "Judge Death Lives", "Block Mania", and "Apocalypse War", but the rest of the stuff is equally good. I particualy love "The Hot Dog Run".
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Post by earl on Jan 21, 2015 22:20:04 GMT -5
There is some serious 80s nuclear paranoia in the Apocalypse War. The genius thing in is that the comic is pretty much pure action, not a whole lot of sitting around talking and yet really Dredd is a cold realist. Life in Mega City One really is often just as bad if not worse than the Cursed Earth, everyone is trapped. The short story following up on the lost member of the Angel gang and his rat kidnapping Judge Hershey ending up in the recycle center for dead bodies is pretty hardcore for like 1981/1982. I thought the case file segment was also excellent and the "hacking" story of guys cracking into companies computer systems was pretty prescient.
Another interesting thing about Apocalypse War and Carlos Ezquerra is that while he was an early co-creator of the character and one of the iconic artists of the strip, he really hadn't done all that much Dredd artwork to this point in the series. I'd say that Strontium Dog was his main strip for a few years leading up to this point on Dredd.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,086
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Post by Confessor on Jan 22, 2015 3:03:02 GMT -5
I'm into the Apocalypse War in Judge Dredd Case Files Vol. 5. This volume of Dredd is amazing, all killer no filler. It definitely should be on the list of great comics from the 80s. I had read quite a bit of this Dredd run back in the 80s in the Eagle reprints, but it was hit and miss as not all the stories would get reprinted in any kind of order in those comics. Yeah, early '80s Judge Dredd is fantastic. The Apocalypse War (including the Block Mania lead-in story), The Judge Child-Quest, the early Judge Death stories and pretty much anything starring any member of the Angel Gang are some of the best British comics ever in my view. But then, I was reading those stories between the ages of 9 and 14 in my best friend's copies of 2000AD, as they came out, so I'm certainly a bit biased. There is some serious 80s nuclear paranoia in the Apocalypse War. The genius thing in is that the comic is pretty much pure action, not a whole lot of sitting around talking and yet really Dredd is a cold realist. Life in Mega City One really is often just as bad if not worse than the Cursed Earth, everyone is trapped. Yes, there's some pretty dark critiques of late 20th century society and tons of black humour in these comics. The short story following up on the lost member of the Angel gang and his rat kidnapping Judge Hershey ending up in the recycle center for dead bodies is pretty hardcore for like 1981/1982. That Fink Angel storyline is one of my absolute favourites...the colour Eagle Comics reprint of it was on the short list for my top 12 in this year's Classic Comics Christmas. It's a great little story and, yes, quite hardcore in places.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2015 7:08:44 GMT -5
I've been reading the Tales to Astonish Sub-Mariner stories in the Sub-Mariner MMW vol. 1. And, MAN! those are some excellent stories.
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Jan 22, 2015 7:38:06 GMT -5
There is some serious 80s nuclear paranoia in the Apocalypse War. The genius thing in is that the comic is pretty much pure action, not a whole lot of sitting around talking and yet really Dredd is a cold realist. Life in Mega City One really is often just as bad if not worse than the Cursed Earth, everyone is trapped. The short story following up on the lost member of the Angel gang and his rat kidnapping Judge Hershey ending up in the recycle center for dead bodies is pretty hardcore for like 1981/1982. I thought the case file segment was also excellent and the "hacking" story of guys cracking into companies computer systems was pretty prescient. Another interesting thing about Apocalypse War and Carlos Ezquerra is that while he was an early co-creator of the character and one of the iconic artists of the strip, he really hadn't done all that much Dredd artwork to this point in the series. I'd say that Strontium Dog was his main strip for a few years leading up to this point on Dredd. Reading them when they came out was a blast, you never knew where the ride was taking you, and you never cared. The unlimited imagination and amazing artwork by Bolland et al kept you going back week after week. I think Ezquerra had a beef with the management about Dredd, lack of credit or somesuch, and refused to work on the strip for years. (or equally possible is that I have it utterly wrong )
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 22, 2015 8:13:32 GMT -5
I've been reading the Tales to Astonish Sub-Mariner stories in the Sub-Mariner MMW vol. 1. And, MAN! those are some excellent stories. I read those last year. I agree, they were very good, and I'm not really much of a Sub-Mariner fan. I was happy to find most of the 1979 reprint series in a dollar bin.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 22, 2015 9:32:48 GMT -5
Sandman and Thing having a beer together? Now that's something interesting to read. The story occurs immediately after Sandman's traumatic bonding experience with Hydro-Man . He decides he's done with the criminal life...but he has to convince Ben. Then Sandman joined the Avengers, right? Yeesh.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 22, 2015 9:34:38 GMT -5
Cool. I have a few of those issues, but haven't gotten to them yet. I just finished #88. It starts to get really good again around #76 and keeps getting better until #118. There is also one last beautiful Gene Day issue, #120, which sort of serves as both eulogy and epilogue since the last 5 issues could never be what anyone needed them to be. Thanks for the review. I'll have to fill in some of my missing issues. My MOKF collection is growing, but is still too scattered and random.
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Post by Jesse on Jan 22, 2015 10:38:57 GMT -5
Came across an odd short lived series from Marvel's Epic line called Void Indigo by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik. Apparently the series was controversial at the time because of the gratuitous violence depicted. (By today's standards it's not really extreme but for 1983 it was ultra violent.) The story is about an alien named Jaghur (who in human form goes by Michael Jagger, an obvious nod to Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger) returns to Earth to get revenge of the demons that tortured and killed him. Only two issues were ever published but Gerber's synopsis of the unpublished issues is available online to read.
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Post by fanboystranger on Jan 22, 2015 10:46:45 GMT -5
Came across an odd short lived series from Marvel's Epic line called Void Indigo by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik. Apparently the series was controversial at the time because of the gratuitous violence depicted. (By today's standards it's not really extreme but for 1983 it was ultra violent.) The story is about an alien named Jaghur (who in human form goes by Michael Jagger, an obvious nod to Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger) returns to Earth to get revenge of the demons that tortured and killed him. Only two issues were ever published but Gerber's synopsis of the unpublished issues is available online to read. Another excellent series that was way ahead of its time. (It started in the Void Indigo graphic novel, and the series was a follow-up.) I don't think it was the violence so much as the sex and nudity that got retailers' panties in a bunch-- a few years later, this wouldn't have been so contraversial. In any event, Gerber at his most misanthropic. He'd revisit some of the ideas in Nevada and especially Hard Time, both of which are excellent series.
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Post by badwolf on Jan 22, 2015 11:12:43 GMT -5
I had those two issues and the graphic novel. I was 14 at the time, so it was pretty exciting! (I remember my mom telling me the comic shop guy warning her about the GN when she picked it up for me.)
(And hey, there's an eye cover for this week's contest!)
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Post by paulie on Jan 22, 2015 12:05:42 GMT -5
Came across an odd short lived series from Marvel's Epic line called Void Indigo by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik. Apparently the series was controversial at the time because of the gratuitous violence depicted. (By today's standards it's not really extreme but for 1983 it was ultra violent.) The story is about an alien named Jaghur (who in human form goes by Michael Jagger, an obvious nod to Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger) returns to Earth to get revenge of the demons that tortured and killed him. Only two issues were ever published but Gerber's synopsis of the unpublished issues is available online to read. I really did not like the Val Mayerik art on these and the GN. It really distracted me from the story. And I'm an unabashed Gerber lover as I have posted many times.
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fred2
Junior Member
Posts: 78
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Post by fred2 on Jan 22, 2015 19:07:24 GMT -5
I got a showcase for Silver Age Doom Patrol. Man, I was looking forward to this, but a little disappointed. Finally got to the first Brotherhood of Evil story. Now, I could read a whole book full of the Brotherhood of Evil. The Brain, Mallah the gorilla and Madame Rouge are interesting characters. I find them more interesting than the heroes of the Doom Patrol. Will keep plugging through, but the non-Brotherhood stories are little bit of a drag. Art is pretty good. The stories are Silver age fer sure. They have a long build up; however, usually come to an abrupt end that neatly ties up everything. (that is not necessarily a bad thing). I think the thing that I dislike is the Marvelesque pathos of the "woe is me I am a freak" thing.
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