Merry Christmas!

Judge Dredd by Carlos Ezquerra - does it get much better?

Have a good Christmas everyone!

(I told you this was coming months ago...)

The Invention Of Time Travel

Here's something I didn't know - time travel was invented in Cambridge, here in the dear old UK:

How cool is that? Britain gets to claim the first time travellers.

And when did it happen?

You'd have thought the BBC at least would have covered it, but no, they're off talking about Kosovo.

Priorities, people!

In case you're wondering, this sterling piece of science reporting comes from Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #21 which turned up in the post yesterday. And yes, I have nothing else to blog about right now.

Perusing Previews - August 2013

Oh sure, DC will bring their animated universe in line with the New 52 with the release of the Flashpoint Paradox but when it comes to coffee mugs, they're firmly stuck in the 70's.

Not saying that's a bad thing...

Perusing Previews - July 2013

As typically American as superhero comics are, I think Archie comics are even more so; they're as quintessentially American as the stars and stripes and mom's apple pie. Which is why it was a little surprising to see they're doing a zombie apocalypse story! Not something I ever expected to see.

Early Christmas Present

Oooh, looked what turned up on my doorstep yesterday:

If nothing else, it's provided me with this year's Christmas post! But, of course, you'll need to come back in six months or so to see it.

Mega-City Graffiti

Reading Judge Dredd: Day of Chaos: Fourth Faction over the weekend and I came across this:

Check out the Watchmen logo and, on the left, some graffiti that accompanies it:

There's a small plug for Ma-Ma, the villain from the excellent Dredd film and a slight dig at the Watchmen film all in one panel!

You gotta love 2000AD.

Dredd Sequel

As much as people seemed to enjoy the Dredd movie last year, it didn't do anywhere near the business it needed to ensure a sequel which is a darn shame.

Looks like 2000 AD will be picking it up, though, in September so no budget worries there. Yay!

Gaze!

Two of the best pages of comic art. Ever.

I remember reading this Judge Dredd story in 2000AD way back when and being blown away not only by Judge Death's return but by the appearance of his three deadly comrades, Judges Mortis, Fire and Fear.

Judge Fear had a great look, simple but really effective - big cloak, mantrap shoulder pads and that bat-winged, gated helmet.

Thankfully, Dredd wasn't as impressed as I was:

"Gaze into the fist of Dredd!"

It doesn't get better than that.

Bigger versions of these pages can be found at Brian Bolland's blog.

He IS The Law!

Cocktail post will be delayed this week as I went to see the new Dredd movie and damn me it's good!

Karl Urban completely nails Dredd as a character, Olivia Thirlby is impressive as Anderson, Mega-City One and the environment work a treat. It's loud, violent, bloody and grim - exactly what Judge Dredd is all about.

Go see it if you haven't already.

Perusing Previews - September 2012

While I won't be picking up the IDW Judge Dredd series, I'm interested as to how the US will take to this quintessentially British take on future American law keeping.

Dredd Poster

Blimey, this looks good:

You know, I'm really looking forward to this.

Dredd Trailer

Oh yeah!

Sure, the song at the start's a bit weak (but better than the rash of industrial / grunge metal that gets tagged on to these movies) and the drug slo-mo is bound to invite tons of bullet-time style scenes but Karl Urban looks great as Dredd, although he could do with a shave - Dredd's never been a fan:

Dredd Poster Revealed

SuperheroHype has the new Dredd poster and a couple of stills from the film.

Please be good, please be good . . .

It's The Future, I Tell You

Man, 2012 must have seemed sooooo far away back in 1977 when 2000AD #16 hit the streets.

Still, it'll be nice one they outlaw electrical storms, I suppose.

New Judge Dredd Pictures

Just a quick one - images from next year's Judge Dredd movie have appeared over at Superherohype.

I'm liking the battered, worn look to the helmet/uniform - gives it a sense of realism.

That Time I Interviewed Garth Ennis

Ten years or so ago a writing friend of mine set up The Alien Online, a website featuring monthly columns on a variety of subjects and he asked me to write one on comics. Sadly the site didn't last more than a year or two before biting the dust despite the best intentions of the owner but it was fun while it lasted. The trouble with writing a monthly column, though, was the lack of immediacy - with this blog if I read something interesting, I can post about it in minutes. Back then, it had to be written up and sent over to the editor before seeing the light of day by which time other, larger sites had long since published it and moved on.

However, it did give me the opportunity to interview Garth Ennis. I say interview - I wrote out my questions and sent them to him (using paper and pen - this was the old days!) and he was kind enough to write back with his answers. Moving some old papers around the other day, I came across his reply which got me to thinking: with The Alien Online long-since dead and, in all honesty, not having had a huge readership back in the day (because this blog gets zillions of hits per hour), not many people would have seen this.

So here, for your delectation, warts and all, is a Garth Ennis interview from 2001:

Justice To Your Door

Well, my door anyhow. Just had this through the post:

Volume 17 of the Judge Dredd Complete Case Files.

And in manly pink, too!

Have A Little Faith

I've posted before about not being that excited about the forthcoming Judge Dredd movie but after reading a report over at Bleeding Cool by Dredd co-creator John Wagner, maybe I should just cut them some slack:

No, the uniform doesn’t look like a muscle suit. It is very believable. To others – as they say at PMQs – I refer you to my earlier answers. I’m very satisfied with the way it’s going but it’s not going to fulfill everyone’s hopes and …dreams – that would be impossible with so many diverse demands upon it. Let’s say that it’s a damned good start and my guess is that most fans are going to like it a lot. Remember, if this one does well there will be more films to follow and these will cover other aspects of Mega-City life. By the end of it we should have a very good picture of Dredd’s world in the round.

If Wagner's happy with it, I guess we should be too.

Less Dredd-ful News

I'm sorry, I swear I'll never make another Dredd pun, okay?

Just read the list for 2000AD / Rebellion reprints over at Bleeding Cool and there's some really good news.

Not only will there be volumes 17 and 18 of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files . . .

Not only will there be volume 2 of Judge Anderson: The Psi Files . . .

Starting To Dredd It

Busy as all heck in work in the run up to Christmas so the number of posts might slip but hey, that's life.

I've been kinda looking forward to the forthcoming Judge Dredd movie, particularly after having seen the first image of Karl Urban as Dredd:

That works for me - sure, the oversized shoulder pad and eagle are pretty much non-existant but the general look is there.