JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Discuss or comment on Britain's sole surviving boy's comic from the 1970's. The home of Judge Dredd, Slaine, Nikolai Dante, ABC Warriors and Sinister Dexter. Has been running since 1977.

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philcom55
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by philcom55 »

paw broon wrote:I did not enjoy Toxic. It was just too OTT for me. But there is info here
http://ukcomics.wikia.com/wiki/Toxic!
Groan! I'd forgotten all about 'The Driver' until I checked out that link. Now I've got to try and forget it all over again! :headbash:

I think Mills and his mates were hoping to recapture the 'lightning in a bottle' phenomena of EC's horror comics and IPC's Action with all the OTT content. It might have worked too if it wasn't for the fact that poor marketing meant it passed most of its target audience by (visits from the police notwithstanding!). On the whole I admired Toxic's ambition and off-the-wall creativity, but like you I found it hard to enjoy.

Having said that I thought the Bogie Man was a true classic - it's a shame that the otherwise excellent Robbie Coltrane was so badly miscast in the film. Also I was really impressed by Enrique Alcatena's artwork on 'Makabre' (I don't know what Alcatena's doing these days but he went on to draw some of the best-looking Starblazer stories for DC Thomson, as well as producing a wonderful 'Hawkworld' mini-series with Tim Trueman that - to this diehard Silver Age fan at least - read like an extended love letter to the great Gardner Fox!).

In the end I guess Toxic lived up to its name: good in parts but, like the proverbial curate's egg, not something you'd ever want to swallow whole! :?

- Phil Rushton
Last edited by philcom55 on 23 Feb 2014, 16:39, edited 2 times in total.

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paw broon
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by paw broon »

Re. The Bogie Man, remember that it was an Ameican style comic before it appeared elsewhere. 4 issues, mostly delivered very late, but again, not the fault of the creators most of the time. Having been present to hear the agonies and problems that were part of getting it out, I began to get a bit depressed starting to think it over again. And I had no part, financially or creatively, to play in it, apart from having to run a comic shop while all this hair-tearing was going on around me.
Our fanzine, aka, published a couple of crits on J. D. stories and, somewhere in one of them is a letter from Will Eisner, commenting on the pieces. This before he came to Glasgow for the Central Hotel Con.

Lew Stringer
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by Lew Stringer »

philcom55 wrote: Groan! I'd forgotten all about 'The Driver' until I checked out that link. Now I've got to try and forget it all over again! :headbash:
I thought The Driver was a brilliant black comedy. I was in the company of David Leach and Banx when they were plotting out some of the episodes at Banx's flat. The story was hilariously O.T.T. but it does seem to be a "love it or loathe it" strip as that Wiki entry says.

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philcom55
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by philcom55 »

Hmmm...I really must dig out some old copies and see how they've stood the test of time.

- Phil R.

geoff42
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by geoff42 »

and then, after Driver, the creators did Dinner ladies from hell ( I think that was the title) which was an equally gross out strip that left with you that Marmite taste. I enjoyed the first Accident Man strip from Pat Mills, the second was ok, but the third was disappointing... although Mills did inject a welcoming spark into the concept for a Dark Horse mini-series. A shame he didn't pursue this strip. I'm sure Mills could have maintained an interest in this character given the chance. Little else springs to mind from Toxic. I have the full collection but have no urge to rifle through them. At least the publication kicked 2000 ad's ass into going full colour in the early nineties.

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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by Lew Stringer »

geoff42 wrote:and then, after Driver, the creators did Dinner ladies from hell ( I think that was the title) which was an equally gross out strip that left with you that Marmite taste.
The Driver was by Banx and David Leach; a joint effort on art and script. Dinner Ladies from Hell was by David Leach on his own.

If you like David Leach's work, try Psycho Gran on Comixology. Good fun.
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
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philcom55
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by philcom55 »

It really is odd that the original Toxic! doesn't stir fonder memories. Curiously it seems to have been one of those things where the whole was less than the sum of its parts!

On the subject of the Judge Dredd Megazine I can't help thinking that the current policy of 'bagging' every issue might damage its sales to some people. Though I used to buy every issue of 2000AD and its monthly spin-off as a matter of course I've since restricted myself to those editions with contents that particularly attract me (a new John Burns strip for example). With 'Tooth' itself this is easy enough to do, but my inability to give the Megazine a speculative flick through means that I've probably missed out on some really good things over the last few years. :roll:

- Phil Rushton

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ISPYSHHHGUY
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

I find the MEGAZINE often has one or two items of interest, Phil: often fringe /supporting characters from 2000 AD have been given their own [pretty good] spin-off stories, like Middenface McNulty out of Strontium Dog, or further misdadventures of the ANGEL GANG [pre-Judge Child Quest].

There are quite a lot of all-new Dredd stories worthy of inclusion, ----with sometime-continuous crossovers between the weekly and monthly publications------although some of the quality can be variable.


Overall it's well worth a look in the main.

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philcom55
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by philcom55 »

...but is it worth shelling out £5.79 every single month just to take that look?

geoff42
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by geoff42 »

Now, this may be contentious as regards the Megazine "bagged issue" with free graphic novel, but I actually buy two copies per month. The first copy, I obviously have to open up the bagged issue in order to read it. The second copy is purely to preserve as a "bagged copy". I have no interest in the enclosed graphic novel as I have every 2000 ad and Megazine issue from the past from which the graphic novel exhumes the weaker storylines. Of course, you won't find a Slaine or any other prominent story within these graphic novels. I accept that, for the reader that doesn't have such an exhaustive collection of both 2000 ad and Megazine, it is a bonus. But my main point is this: anyone else out there like me who religiously buys two copies of Megazine per month to simply preserve a collection? And, more pertinently, is Rebellion acutely aware of this fact? If the copies weren't bagged, I would buy only one copy. I would love to know how many readers buy duplicates and, therefore, actually inflate the circulation figures.

geoff42
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by geoff42 »

Anyone else read the interview with Guy Adams in Judge Dredd Megazine issue 351? He states that he has practically a 100% record as regards acceptance of submissions (script writing in both comics and literary books). He has a phenomenal turnaround in writing scripts - like eight or twelve weeks for a novel :shock: He basically makes it up as he goes along (very little research) and hits the button of most publishers every time. I stand in awe. He contacts 2000 ad and enquires about writing a "future shock" story and gets accepted with his first submission. Don't you just hate him? (In a nice way, of course)

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tony ingram
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by tony ingram »

geoff42 wrote:Now, this may be contentious as regards the Megazine "bagged issue" with free graphic novel, but I actually buy two copies per month. The first copy, I obviously have to open up the bagged issue in order to read it. The second copy is purely to preserve as a "bagged copy". I have no interest in the enclosed graphic novel as I have every 2000 ad and Megazine issue from the past from which the graphic novel exhumes the weaker storylines. Of course, you won't find a Slaine or any other prominent story within these graphic novels. I accept that, for the reader that doesn't have such an exhaustive collection of both 2000 ad and Megazine, it is a bonus. But my main point is this: anyone else out there like me who religiously buys two copies of Megazine per month to simply preserve a collection? And, more pertinently, is Rebellion acutely aware of this fact? If the copies weren't bagged, I would buy only one copy. I would love to know how many readers buy duplicates and, therefore, actually inflate the circulation figures.
I just buy one copy and then re-bag it in a standard UK size comic bag, with its graphic novel.

geoff42
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Re: JUDGE DREDD the MEGAZINE

Post by geoff42 »

That way certainly saves on boxes and space. Just glad the Megazine isn't a weekly thing :)

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