Judge Dredd Casefiles

[Wentworth Smith]

The first Dredd I ever read was, I'm pretty sure, in an annual and whilst I can't remember the Dredd story at all I have it in my head that there was an Angel Gang story in which the Mean Machine jumped off a building to headbutt and try and open a stolen safe below.

I can't believe I made this up so would love to know what annual it was.

[bgmnts]

Just finished Casefile 1.

So fucking cool! I love everything about this, and what surprised me most was I had no idea how funny it was. Obviously after the first few progs I got that it was satire but it genuinely is very funny and entertaining, and gave some genuine huge laughs. Just some of the names, like John Nobody, Call Me Kenneth and Baby Boy Nicely had me howling. Just the pure sci-fi cheese and Dredd's incredible puns and one liners keep me going on their own.

As I said before I think, I love that it is idea driven, every prog has at least one or two new ideas or bits of lore, or a memorable character. Each prog is only a few pages and encourages the writer/rtist to pack a story into that limited space; it must be a good training ground for creators to learn the craft.

I love Walter the Wobot and his pathetic relationship with Dredd, and I even like that Dredd is mostly a complete arsehole. I think anything Wagner came up with was brill, but Howard was a tad hit or miss. But you have all these weird things going on all the time, it really creates the impression that Mega City 1 is an absolute clusterfuck hellhole to live in. There is always a scheme or a gang of apes or a killer car with the mind of a 5 year old or a robot rebellion going. I also love that this is

Finally, I just have to share my two favourite bits:

[Small Man Big Horse]

Really glad you enjoyed it so much, and based on the elements that you like most about it I think you're only going to enjoy it more and more as it goes on.

Weirdly John Howard was a pseudonym that Wagner used, and I gather that was largely because the editor didn't want it to seem that some weeks he was writing almost all of that issue of 2000AD - This bit from Wagner's wikipedia page mentions a couple of names but there were others that aren't mentioned there:

From 1980 to 1988 he (Wagner) wrote in partnership with Alan Grant, an old friend and former D. C. Thomson and 2000 AD sub-editor with whom he was sharing an old farmhouse in Essex, although most stories were credited to Wagner alone (under one of his pseudonyms) or Grant alone – whichever of them typed the script up got the cheque.[5][21] Wagner (as John Howard or T. B. Grover) was credited with "Judge Dredd", and Grant with the less frequent "Robo-Hunter", "Strontium Dog", and the Judge Dredd spin-off "Anderson, Psi Division", while some strips, like the CB-inspired space haulage comedy "Ace Trucking Co.", were credited to "Grant/Grover". "Judge Dredd" was credited to "Wagner/Grant" starting in 1986.[22]

Other pseudonyms were created, at the insistence of publisher John Sanders, to disguise how prolific the two writers were.[19]: p. 96  For the revived Eagle they wrote "Doomlord", "Joe Soap", "Rebel the Police Dog", "Computer Warrior", "The Fists of Danny Pyke",[21] "Manix" and "The House of Daemon"; for Scream! they wrote "The Thirteenth Floor",[23] for Roy of the Rovers they wrote "Dan Harker's War",[21] and for Battle they wrote "Invasion 1984".[24] During this time Wagner wrote the documentary strip "Fight for the Falklands" for Battle, without Grant who had no interest in war stories,[21] and "Dan Dare" with Pat Mills for Eagle.[25]

[bgmnts]

Ha! I had no idea. I honestly do feel that the ones written as John Howard weren't as stellar. A lot of it was on the moon. It was nice to get a change of setting but you get to love Mega City 1.

Maybe it's just the power of an author's name.

One other thing I love is that it's meant to be east coast of America in 2099 but they say 'bent judges' and 'cuppa' and 'mum'. It's ace.

[13 schoolyards]

The first year or so of Dredd was a bit all over the shop writers-wise - there were a number of writers who wrote one or two stories as Pat Mills chopped and changed things to get the character and setting how he wanted it. Both Dredd's creators - Wagner and Ezquerra - quit before the first strip was published, so a lot of other creators worked on it early on.

This (https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/judge-dredd-mega-history/author/jarman-colin/) came out around the time of the first movie and is a pretty interesting guide to the early years of the strip - it covers the back and forth with the origin and then goes through things script by script, pointing out changes and developments as Dredd and MC1 came into focus.

*edit* This inspired me to dig out my copy for a quick look - seems Dredd's Luna-1 outfit was the result of Wagner (now back on the job) not liking Dredd's original uniform, only once he saw what the cape looked like he wanted it changed back and the art editor at the time (Kevin O'Neill) told him to get stuffed

[Small Man Big Horse]

The first year or so of Dredd was a bit all over the shop writers-wise - there were a number of writers who wrote one or two stories as Pat Mills chopped and changed things to get the character and setting how he wanted it. Both Dredd's creators - Wagner and Ezquerra - quit before the first strip was published, so a lot of other creators worked on it early on.

This (https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/judge-dredd-mega-history/author/jarman-colin/) came out around the time of the first movie and is a pretty interesting guide to the early years of the strip - it covers the back and forth with the origin and then goes through things script by script, pointing out changes and developments as Dredd and MC1 came into focus.

*edit* This inspired me to dig out my copy for a quick look - seems Dredd's Luna-1 outfit was the result of Wagner (now back on the job) not liking Dredd's original uniform, only once he saw what the cape looked like he wanted it changed back and the art editor at the time (Kevin O'Neill) told him to get stuffed

I'd not heard of that book, but have added it to my Amazon wishlist so will definitely get it at some point. And I really like Dredd's cape, I don't think it should have become a permanent part of his costume but it oddly suits his moon adventures.

[Norton Canes]

Seconded on the Mega History, it's a great, detailed read that also takes in a lot of non-Dredd 2000 AD history.

[Oh, Nobody]

Used to dip into the Mega History whenever I popped in WH Smiths back in the day. Also the A-Z that came out at the same time. Probably the main things that got me interested in Dredd in the first place. Should prolly buy em really.

[johnlogan]

As a long-lapsed reader,* it's been interesting reading this thread. Disappointing to hear that the current writers are a bit shaky - I could remember Williams sort of being maneuvered into the main writer position, but I remember being disappointed with Titan, and it's not great to hear some of my problems with that story are still an issue with the strip today. Certainly, from looking up End of Days, mentioned earlier in the thread, it sounds like something that would have been absolutely crucified in the 1990s - maybe not as bad as Crusade or something, but still.

Is there a consensus on the second-best Dredd writer, after Wagner? Grant wasn't too bad on his own, but sort of lost his touch with the character the more he wrote Anderson solo stories. I remember not being all that enamored with Rennie's stuff either, even though I actually thought highly of other stuff he did for the weekly.




*hadn't read it for a few years by the time I got around to actually cancelling my sub, and when Ezquerra died, who was always my favourite Dredd artist, I didn't see any point in giving it another go

[13 schoolyards]

I rated Al Ewing very highly as a Dredd writer, but he didn't write all that much before moving onto Marvel full-time.

A lot of people seem to like Kenneth Niemand, who's writing a lot of Dredd at the moment. I'm not a huge fan - he appeared out of nowhere in a fashion that had many wondering if it was a pen name (Rennie being the prime suspect), and his work does have similarities to my eyes. The official explanation for his rapid rise is that he's an experienced video game writer who's friends with Rennie, which may very well be true.

Dredd really does seem to be struggling at the moment, though that's largely down to the current writers not being interested in writing the kind of Dredd stories I want to read. The current Dredd story (I'm a few progs behind) seems to have him on yet another top secret mission against the Sovs, and increasingly I wish War Marshal Kazan had won the Apocalypse War.

And yeah, a lot of the current "epics" do read like the kind of thing that would have gone straight in the bin in the 90s. I think the difference is that back then Dredd was still at least partly seen as a humor strip, and so when non-Wagner/Grant writers took it on they tried to keep the humour going and failed miserably. Whereas now Dredd is just serious stories about a humourless thug in a brutal world, which is a lot easier to write to a marginally competent level.

Who reads Dredd for straight-faced tales of political intrigue and geopolitical power struggles? The current fans I guess.

[johnlogan]

I have actually been slowly working through that Mega Collection partwork they did a good few years ago, and I think some of Ewing's stuff is in that, so I will look forward to that.

I suppose it's silly to think of 2000AD as being above having IP to keep going and exploit the same as DC or Marvel, but I suppose they were mostly good as not fiddling about with stuff when creators moved on, and it soured me when I started noticing that sort of plundering going on in the early 2010s. Handing off all of John Smith's stuff to other writers was a move I didn't like at all. I suppose Dredd has been written by people other than Wagner nearly my whole life, but I'm not all that bothered if he's not doing it much anymore.

I suppose there was some political intrigue stuff with some of Wagner's later doorstops like Tour of Duty and Day of Chaos, but they also paid off by the end of their stories. I'm actually having trouble with Day of Chaos going through the partwork - I remember finding it really thrilling as it was coming out, but I suppose slogging through, knowing how it ends, it can feel a bit of a drag.

[13 schoolyards]

I've never gone back to Day of Chaos for pretty much that reason - once you know the outcome there's not a lot to look forward to. Though as you say, it was thrilling to read in weekly installments.

I think what made Wagner's more political stories work was that Dredd's character was always at the center of them. Wagner was great at showing Dredd starting to mellow and throwing his status behind changes to the status quo that not everyone else supported. I have no idea how far Wagner planned on taking things, but having ultimate hardass Dredd being a force for change within Justice Department and how that played out against a system designed to remain unchanging was a lot more exciting and interesting than "oh no, the Sovs are up to no good yet again, bet you feel guilty about nuking them hey Dredd?"

[Small Man Big Horse]

Thought I'd put this here rather than the film thread, if only because I'm quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Judge Dredd (1995) - This bombed when it came out and was giving a critical mauling, but watching it tonight it's pretty amazing as to how much it gets right. The biggest problem is Rob Schneider's comedy sidekick, Fergee, who would be annoying in any movie but is especially shit here, and the attempts to humanise Dredd don't work, while Stallone screeching "I am the law!" early on is a laughably dodgy line reading. But he's pretty great when surly, and visually the film captures Mega City One beautifully, it's at times breath-taking but also grimy and feels lived in. Diane Lane is really impressive as Hershey, poor old Hammerstein gets a bleakly amusing reprogramming, and the movie does a whole lot of world building in a very short time period really effectively. Okay, it's missing the satirical elements, and Armand Assante hams it up no end, but I found myself enjoying this a lot, and it really didn't deserve the vicious reviews it received upon release. 7.1/10

[13 schoolyards]

The first ten minutes or so - right up to when Stallone takes the helmet off - are a near-perfect Dredd short film. The Angel Gang scene is pretty good too, which pretty much brings it up to "it's worth a look" even if the rest is a bit iffy.

The problem Dredd has always had as far as movies go is that so much of what makes it good has been pilfered by other movies - both Robocop and Demolition Man are much better at being Dredd than either of the Dredd movies (I like the second Dredd movie a lot as it's a really good action movie, but it's a very limited version of Dredd and it leaves out a lot of what the comic does best. Plus Urban's helmet is too big for him).

[Fambo Number Mive]

It always annoyed me that for some reason in the film only Dredd (I think) wore the eagle. I suppose they did that to make Dredd stand out more, but it's silly. The world building of MC1 is very good. If they hadn't had Fergie, all the judges were dressed properly, someone different had played Dredd and Dredd had kept his helmet on, I think it would have been a pretty decent film. But whenever I think of the 1995 film I think of Rob Schnider being very annoying.

I'm a big fan of the Judge Minty fan film (or whatever you call it), I think that is very good. Are there any other good Judge Dredd fan films out there?

I'm wondering what Dredd stories would make the best films or a TV series. Two of my favourite Dredd strips, Dredd vs The Marshall and Dredd vs Raider, would in my view translate well to the big screen. The Pit would also work well.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Incidentally, there's a new Deadworld story in some of the latest Progs (though I don't think it's in the one that came out on 1st November). Deadworld's still my favourite part of the 2000AD universe.

[13 schoolyards]

This remains very impressive, though for a while there you could find versions with different music and I much preferred the one that used the Akira soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVo4jTwJuZ0

[Small Man Big Horse]

The first ten minutes or so - right up to when Stallone takes the helmet off - are a near-perfect Dredd short film. The Angel Gang scene is pretty good too, which pretty much brings it up to "it's worth a look" even if the rest is a bit iffy.

I forgot to mention The Angel Gang but they are a real highlight, though their inclusion made me wish more time was spent in the Cursed Earth. In fact it's a rare movie where I wish it was half an hour longer, and could have explored the madness of living in Mega City One further.

The problem Dredd has always had as far as movies go is that so much of what makes it good has been pilfered by other movies - both Robocop and Demolition Man are much better at being Dredd than either of the Dredd movies (I like the second Dredd movie a lot as it's a really good action movie, but it's a very limited version of Dredd and it leaves out a lot of what the comic does best. Plus Urban's helmet is too big for him).

That's a good point about Robocop and Demolition Man, and I feel the same way about Garland's Dredd, it's a decent action movie but it could have featured any action hero, there's not enough about the world he's part of and what it means to be a judge in it.

[Oh, Nobody]

The Stallone movie actually got me back into the comics after being in and out for a few years, so it obviously worked on some people. I think it got the spirit of the thing right mostly. And hey Ian Dury!

Always thought it was weird that they got a different actor to play Rico despite him being Dredd's clone brother- if Stallone had played both he could've kept the helmet on for Dredd and you'd still see those matinee idol good looks as Rico. Win win.

Also Fergie should've been a big dumb hillbilly like in the comics but I don't have a casting suggestion for that.

[Oh, Nobody]

Obligatory early Robocop design post

[Small Man Big Horse]

The Stallone movie actually got me back into the comics after being in and out for a few years, so it obviously worked on some people. I think it got the spirit of the thing right mostly. And hey Ian Dury!

Always thought it was weird that they got a different actor to play Rico despite him being Dredd's clone brother- if Stallone had played both he could've kept the helmet on for Dredd and you'd still see those matinee idol good looks as Rico. Win win.

That would have made perfect sense, Assante's clearly doing his best to impersonate Stallone so why they didn't go with your idea seems bizarre, it's not like they share many scenes either so there wouldn't have been much need to use cgi / stunt doubles.

Also Fergie should've been a big dumb hillbilly like in the comics but I don't have a casting suggestion for that.

I found myself thinking that but even in 1995 it would have been a cancellable offence. But Randy Quaid could have pulled it off I reckon, or Bobcat Goldthwait if he used his normal voice but affected a southern drawl.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Judge Dredd Case Files 15 - Perhaps it's because of the break I took and that I'd missed the world of Mega City One an awful lot, but I really enjoyed this. The first few stories tackle the city attempting to recover after Necropolis and McGruder alone makes them worthwhile, and even though I've seen a lot of criticism of him I didn't mind Garth Ennis's stories at all, even if Emerald Isle takes it a bit far with the spud gun. Then there's the stories from the Megazine which I also enjoyed a lot, John Hicklenton's art on the Black Widow storyline is incredible, and I intend to get the 16th volume when I get paid next. 4.25/5

[badaids]

I'm glad somone mentioned Robocop, I remember watching that as a kid in 1987 and thinking 'they've just nicked Judge Dredd!'.  It is still amazing though of course.

[Catalogue Trousers]

Also Fergie should've been a big dumb hillbilly like in the comics but I don't have a casting suggestion for that.

This was around the time that Bill Fagerbakke played Tom Cullen in the miniseries of The Stand. I reckon that he could've made a pretty good comics-faithful Fergee then.

[13 schoolyards]

Judge Dredd Case Files 15 - Perhaps it's because of the break I took and that I'd missed the world of Mega City One an awful lot, but I really enjoyed this. The first few stories tackle the city attempting to recover after Necropolis and McGruder alone makes them worthwhile, and even though I've seen a lot of criticism of him I didn't mind Garth Ennis's stories at all, even if Emerald Isle takes it a bit far with the spud gun. Then there's the stories from the Megazine which I also enjoyed a lot, John Hicklenton's art on the Black Widow storyline is incredible, and I intend to get the 16th volume when I get paid next. 4.25/5

I've never quite got the hate for Ennis' Dredd, but I think he does drop off fairly steeply after a while. It was the period where the strip leaned a bit more towards comedy and Ennis seemed to run out of ideas after a while - to be fair, it's hard to imagine anyone keeping up the level of productivity of Wagner / Grant, Ennis just had the misfortune to be the first one to stumble.

Judgement Day being a bit of a misfire didn't help much either

[Small Man Big Horse]

Judge Dredd Case Files 16 by John Wagner, Garth Ennis + I've had this sitting in note form on my laptop for a while now because I started reading it and then had a break as I was a bit frustrated by one aspect, so this might be a bit all over the place and not in chronological order.

So this volume is where Garth Ennis has written majority of the stories and Wagner only pops up a couple of times, though I'm not sure about the Megazine stories as they're oddly without credits. In Case Files 15 I was largely impressed with Ennis's work, but there's some stories here which were a bit poor, and a lot of them are when he tries to pull off a comedy Dredd story. So one with a mutant teddy bear didn't really do it for me, neither did the Edward Scissorhands parody, and A Clockwork Pineapple actively irritated for the cliched portrayal of the Sovs who are now suddenly very chilled horny lads, and the names they're saddled with are awful puns. I'm well aware of other writers sneaking in this sort of thing in the past but it needs to smarter than what Ennis trots out here (Supreme Judge Traktor-Faktori and Judges Dimmbotri Riboflavin and Marki Breelkreem for the record).

Some of Ennis's subtler use of humour I find more appealing, a story with a selection of citizens spying on Dredd and the Cool Johnny Cool stories amused, and he kind of half pulls off a Twin Peaks spoof but I have a feeling that I only liked it because it's nice to see Jack Nance in Mega City One. Muzak Killer was reasonably decent too, and I liked how brutal Dredd was in it.

But about a third (ish) of the way through the volume it wraps up the Democracy story, and does so in a way I found enormously disappointing. Initially it's okay, The Devil You Know feels quite tense in places as other Judges try to kill Dredd, and when Dredd himself breaks a law in his encounter with Grice I found it quite shocking, and presumed there'd be consequences to his behaviour, but nope, it's completely ignored.

Then we get to Twilight's Last Gleaming, and Ennis has some nice moments early as he depicts how Dredd feels about the city, and I've no real problem with the result of the vote which is more a reflection as to how damaged the Mega City One citizens are. But the way the democrat leader Blondel Dupre begins to question whether or not they've done the right thing as Dredd has sacrificed so much for the city just didn't work for me. It's established early on that it's a kind of "Not All Judges" situation, and that Dredd could be trustworthy, but it's the whole system that the democrats hate, not just one man. So for Dupre to crumble so quickly, and then actually go out and admit she loves the law, well, maybe I'm missing something here but I thought it was a terrible piece of writing and a deeply disappointing ending to the storyline. Which I know rumbles on in the background every so often, but it actually made me put the book down for a couple of weeks as I was so annoyed with it.

When I did return I found myself enjoying it more, but it was rarely anything than "pretty good but not great". Dredd as a rookie was a nice idea but far too brief, and the unofficial Dredd Vs Alien story was fun, though the art being so beautifully odd had a lot to do with that.

Overall I can only give it 3.5/5, but I do so in a frustrated manner as there's so much here which could have been better if a little more thought and consideration had been put in to it. I do plan to get Volume 17, but I think leaving it a few months and going in with much lower expectations will result in my enjoying it more.

[madhair60]

i think i've asked this before and forgot but which volumes would i need to buy to get the main body of Ennis' Dredd work? I know he did some random stuff here and there too... I want to say 15-18?

17 is Judgment Day iirc, which is, sheesh

[13 schoolyards]

I'd say that's a pretty reasonable reaction. I didn't mind Ennis' Dredd (and these days it looks even better), but it was definitely rough around the edges and the quality dropped off pretty quickly.

I suspect part of the problem (as I've probably said elsewhere) was that at that time Dredd was much more of a comedy series than it is now, and Ennis' sense of humour was (and is) pretty broad in a way that doesn't really work with Dredd on a regular basis.

The wrap up of the Democracy storyline (which I think Wagner co-wrote? Or maybe just co-plotted?) was a bit abrupt, though I think the basic idea - that the cits would go with the devil they knew - was a logical result. And it opened the way for some future storylines, though they're a few years off from where you are now. The stuff with Blondel was very much Ennis' love for Dredd coming through; it wasn't enough for Dredd to win, he had to be right as well, which isn't really something Wagner needed to put in. When Wagner's Dredd won, he won - he didn't give a shit what the other side thought of him.

The real problem (which from what I can gather has turned up again in recent progs) is that these storylines can only ever end up one way. You can't have real change in MC1 without breaking the basic premise of Dredd, and it's only because Dredd has always been a strip with lasting consequences that readers buy into these storylines and don't see them as just wheel spinning like you would if it was in an American comic ("Whoa, Batman is dead?").

I suspect Wagner spent his last few years on Dredd pushing things that way and planting the seeds of change because he knew it was his last few years. As far as he was concerned, he was out the door anyway - if they let him change the strip that severely (and supposedly he has a "final Dredd story" plotted out but Tharg doesn't want it) then great, if they don't, well, he's moving on anyway. So now there's a bit of an expectation that things are up in the air when "this story will change the basic power structure in MC1" is really just as much a part of the status quo as any other reoccurring villain.

[Small Man Big Horse]

i think i've asked this before and forgot but which volumes would i need to buy to get the main body of Ennis' Dredd work? I know he did some random stuff here and there too... I want to say 15-18?

17 is Judgment Day iirc, which is, sheesh

15 features the first Ennis strips, 16 is probably about 80% him, and that's as far as I've got so far.

I'd say that's a pretty reasonable reaction. I didn't mind Ennis' Dredd (and these days it looks even better), but it was definitely rough around the edges and the quality dropped off pretty quickly.

I suspect part of the problem (as I've probably said elsewhere) was that at that time Dredd was much more of a comedy series than it is now, and Ennis' sense of humour was (and is) pretty broad in a way that doesn't really work with Dredd on a regular basis.

I do agree with you there, but sometimes it also feels like it's rehashing old ideas as well, I know the teddy bear thing hadn't been done before but there are a number of "weird mutie tries to live in Mega City One" stories which made it feel quite unoriginal.

The wrap up of the Democracy storyline (which I think Wagner co-wrote? Or maybe just co-plotted?) was a bit abrupt, though I think the basic idea - that the cits would go with the devil they knew - was a logical result. And it opened the way for some future storylines, though they're a few years off from where you are now. The stuff with Blondel was very much Ennis' love for Dredd coming through; it wasn't enough for Dredd to win, he had to be right as well, which isn't really something Wagner needed to put in. When Wagner's Dredd won, he won - he didn't give a shit what the other side thought of him.

According to the credits Wagner wrote "The Devil You Know" and then Ennis was responsible for "Twilight's Last Gleaming" but I imagine a fair amount of collaboration took place on both.

The real problem (which from what I can gather has turned up again in recent progs) is that these storylines can only ever end up one way. You can't have real change in MC1 without breaking the basic premise of Dredd, and it's only because Dredd has always been a strip with lasting consequences that readers buy into these storylines and don't see them as just wheel spinning like you would if it was in an American comic ("Whoa, Batman is dead?").

I was thinking about this earlier, and probably for a bit too long, but I feel it might have worked better as a proper "Dredd Epic" starting with The Devil You Know but perhaps adding a couple of more parts where we see Dredd being attacked not only by his own people but the citizens who hear about it on one of the many illegal news networks. After that their could be a five parter covering the final seven days before the vote that spent a lot more time with the Democrats so we'd really get to know and care about them them, along with a subplot involving one of them almost convincing Dredd that democracy is a good thing. Finally make Twilight's Last Gleaming double the size, really ramp up the tension before the result, and then expand upon the protest march and have Dredd only convincing most of them to leave, and having to murder the rest.

I get what you mean about "Democracy" essentially being Dredd's ultimate villain, and so it's unlikely to ever happen, but I would be intrigued by a storyline where it took place but the Judges were kept on as the city's police force, albeit one who had far less power. It wouldn't work as something you could do forever, but I think there's a fair amount of scope to play around with the idea before the citizens realise that this future city is so enormous, and so fucked up, that you need something like the Judges to make the decisions that no one else wants to.

I suspect Wagner spent his last few years on Dredd pushing things that way and planting the seeds of change because he knew it was his last few years. As far as he was concerned, he was out the door anyway - if they let him change the strip that severely (and supposedly he has a "final Dredd story" plotted out but Tharg doesn't want it) then great, if they don't, well, he's moving on anyway. So now there's a bit of an expectation that things are up in the air when "this story will change the basic power structure in MC1" is really just as much a part of the status quo as any other reoccurring villain.

I think it's a shame that the story was rejected, it could at least have been published as a sort of "Elseworlds / Alternative Dimension" strip, and given how much Wagner has contributed to 2000AD over the years it feels quite mean spirited to turn it down.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm about a quarter of the way through the first Restricted Case Files and loving it an enormous amount, partially because some of it is very, very silly. I'll post a full review when I've finished it but I was especially fond of the story that features a very horny Walter The Robot.



(That's a scan I stole from one of the dodgy read comics online sites, the printed version is a much better quality).