Thrill-Power countdown #7: Judge Dredd Annual 1985

What is the best thing about the Judge Dredd 1985 annual? There are a few to choose from.

Is it the way you could go through the Arms Buyers Almanac 2106 and pick out what heavy sci-fi guns and equipment (as rendered by Ian Gibson) you would buy if you had a few spare hundred creds?

Is it the reminder that a nuclear bomb could go off at any moment in Mega-City One and hundreds of thousands of people can die in horrific fire, and it's all part of a short one-off story? 

Is it the reappearance of Judge Giant's first and last air-strike, one of the most action-packed panels in all early Dredd?

Is it more of our man Gibson on Judge Anderson?

Is it the idea that the mutated killer Cursed Earth spiders of an earlier Dredd era just were not big enough, so Dredd now has to face off against GIANT mutated killer Cursed Earth spiders?

Is it the stark red of the cover, one of Carlos Ezquerra finest?

Is it the fatties literally eating an entire vehicle in the finest example of competitive eating?

No, of course not. It's this caption from the fatties story, which as recently noted on the Tearoom of Despair, is truly one of the greats:

Sometimes a great story needs a brilliant artist, or a terrific twist. Sometimes it just needs to point out how fucking stupid human beings can be.

Thrill-Power Countdown #8: Judge Dredd Annual 1983

Mean Machine Angel gets married; there are a couple of punk sci-fi girls by Brett Ewins; Max Normal goes right around the bend; the fleas are so bad that suicide is the only relief possible; Dave Gibbons gets to draw a picture of an alien creature sucking the clothes off an innocent woman; an AI-run hotel kills hundreds of people and because it's a classic reprint, Dredd gets to say 'I TOLD YOU SO'; and Carlos Ezquerra draws most of it.

I don't have much to say about this annual, but holy shit I had a good time reading it.

Thrill-Power Countdown #9: Judge Dredd Annual 1984

There have been literally thousands of individual Judge Dredd stories, they have been breathtakingly exciting, occasionally moving, and frequently absurd. And sometimes - just sometimes - they get a little too silly.

They can be so silly they must never be spoken of again, and are locked away in the darkest, deepest iso-cube. Sometimes it's the story where the Angel Gang get brought back to life in the dumbest possible way - we saw Pa and Junior burn in the fiery lava of Xanadu! - and sometimes it's the story in this annual where Judge Dredd beats up the literal Devil.

The hardcore Dredd fan is not supposed to like these kinds of stories, they disrespect the seriousness of Chaos Day and the Apocalypse War. But I'm as hardcore nerd as it gets, and I freaking love the ridiculous stuff. It's all part of the great buffet of Dredd, just a sweeter taste than usual.

Besides, Carlos Ezquerra draws a bitching Prince of Darkness. And the devil has returned in other stories since then, so he's not totally forgotten.

There's also a great interview with Carlos, and the 1984 annual has two other serious - but still light - Dredd stories by Ezquerra, with a mutant gang on the rampage and a detective story involving time travel from the future. Plus there is some gorgeous black and white art from Jose Casanovas on Max Normal and Mike McMahon doing his 'carved into wood' thing on a text story. 

McMahon also does a timeline of the world of Judge Dredd which must have been a revelation for readers of the time. So things might get silly, but that should keep the nerds who hate the fun a tiny bit happier.

Thrill-Power Countdown #10: 2000ad Annual 1983

By late 1982, 2000ad has got its stomm together. Here comes the first annual that feels like a full package, and while it doesn't start off well with a Strontium Dog story with unfortunate art by Robin Smith, it's almost all killer, with little filler.

By now the reprints are comics that were produced by the command module just a few years ago, so there is a bunch of Dave Gibbons on Harlem Heroes; and some lovely Ian Kennedy on a Bill Savage story; and the dreadfully underrated John Cooper on Mach One.

It also has two minor Alan Moore efforts - a Rogue Trooper fable with Brett Ewins, and a Ro-Busters story which has some terrific Bryan Talbot art, which also has the irritating habit of over-explaining Joe Pineapples' jargon. 

It also has another one of those small Nemesis The Warlock stories, and this one might be my favourite of all of them, because it's the origin of the living spaceship Blitzspear, and Mills and O'Neill show just how fucking alien they are, and it's a glorious burst of pure imagination, in a book that is full of it.

Thrill-Power Countdown #11: Judge Dredd Annual 1986

While it always helps when they are largely drawn by Ezquerra - with a healthy dose of our hero John Higgins - the Dredd stories in this annual really are top stuff.

None of them are particular original plots - one has a low-level perp left tied up on the wrong street and losing everything, the second story has a Citi-Def squad going a little futsie and attacking the city, while the third is a bog-standard hostage situation.

But each story is packed with incident, metaphor and dark humour. Mega-City One is a metropolis with breathtaking technology, but it's also a city where an armed militia might kill hundreds of people in some mad training exercise, or you could be murdered by somebody who just wants to get on TV, or you could be cut up by organ leggers who steal everything but your soul. And that's just a Tuesday in MC-1.

These stories have a lot to say about culture and society, with a healthy dose of commentary on the state of modern media, while also delivering wicked twists and balls-out action. This is classic Dredd, in all senses of the word.

The 1986 annual also comes with a Judge Anderson story drawn by Ian Gibson, and this might be  a controversial opinion, but I genuinely believe Gibson is the best Judge Anderson artist, so that's also always welcome.

Thrill-Power Countdown #12: 2000ad Annual 1990

In the late 1980s, while the rest of the comic book world is losing their shit over things like Watchmen and Maus, my absolute favourite comic in the entire world is Zenith by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell.

Zenith hits hard, and not just when the title character is punching holes through the chests of super-dimensional Nazis. It's the first time I really take note of who the writer is and make a vow to follow them wherever they go (literally one of the best decisions of my entire life), and I have vivid dreams I had about being a member of Cloud 9. So when I see the ads for the 1990 Annual in the weekly prog and see there is a Zenith story in there, it physically pains me that I can't get a copy.

Of all of these annuals on this list, only two are ever sold in bookstores near me so that I can buy them at the time. I come to almost all of them late, and it's almost a decade before I get the 1990 effort and finally read this lost Zenith story. And it's not really much of a story at all - Peter St John is telepathically attacked and things get very weird - and doesn't even have the glorious art of Steve Yeowell (Jim McCarthy is an excellent artist - I still have a soft spot for Bix Barton - but Yeowell is the only true Zenith artist.) 

The rest of this annual is fairly mediocre, with forgettable Dredd and Moonrunners, and the reprint is a godawful Tharg-starring story, but it will always be one of my favourite annuals because of that Zenith connection, because there is always a small part of me that still thinks it is the best comic in the world.

Thrill-Power Countdown #13: Judge Dredd Annual 1987

The basic design of Judge Dredd - as envisioned by co-creator Carlos Ezquerra - hasn't changed much in half a century. Those ridiculous shoulder pads, the truly iconic helmet, the gun in the boot, the badge on a chain - it still all looks drokking fantastic.

One of the reasons for this staying power is that it is as rigid as old Joe himself, but still gives artists with very different styles the chance to stamp their own mark. And while this annual is sadly lacking in any new work from our man Carlos, it does have three very different artists bringing some very different styles 

It starts with Ian Gibson - more well known as the definitive Robo Hunter artist and for his work on Halo Jones - who does a great Dredd, although I do prefer his later version with the more ridiculous proportions. Then there is more Bryan Talbot, who somehow gives a very, very silly story about dwarves led by a Sylvester Stallone clone some grit and heft.

And there is Brendan McCarthy, one of the most extraordinary Dredd artists ever, and someone who never tones down his ridiculously trippy style, and gets given a story where Dredd is totally off his tits on some alien hallucinogen, which might make it the ultimate McCarthy Dredd ever. 

With Ron Smith doing his thing on a classic reprint - Dredd versus a horde of Cursed Earth killer spider - this gives any reader a great taste of the various flavours of Dredd, and the heights it can reach.

Thrill-Power countdown #14: 2000ad Annual 2025

It shouldn't rate this highly. On a purely craft level, it's competent enough, but there are no modern classics lurking within.

The Lawless text story is probably the best thing inside those thick covers, because Lawless is always good, but there is also a Tales from the Black Museum, which is the definition of a filler, and the first Rogue Trooper story is reprinted with some grudawful modern colouring.

But the real thrill was in the very existence of a new annual, after all these years. Especially if you got the website edition, with a Bolland cover on a bright primary colour, with that shiny 1980s logo - still the best logo the galaxy's greatest ever had. (The only sign it wasn't done by Bolland back in the day are two background characters looking at the heroes, as if it to say look at these dweebs, a very modern touch from old Brian.)

Just to have something like that in my hands was as thrilling as a thousand future shocks, a back to the future moment that gave me the purest of joys. 

It does annoy me that it's physical dimensions are very slightly bigger than the old annuals though. If you're going to have the Splundig Vur Thrigg badge on the back, you should be able to get the size right. But a new 2000ad annual for Christmas is a true light in the winter darkness.  

Thrill-Power Countdown interlude: Here come the Yearbooks

The 2000ad and Judge Dredd Yearbooks don't get a rating this month - they would all be down in the basement of the rankings if they were - but it's worth mentioning there were a few odd gems in the four years they were produced.

So you get some Cam Kennedy Dredd and some Glen Fabry Slaine. Some Rogue Trooper goodness by the Indigo Prime team of Smith and Weston; and some black-and-white Durham Red by Grant and Ezquerra; a Judge Joyce story by Ennis and Dillon just as they were starting to really kick arse on Hellblazer.  

There is also far, far too muany Mark Millar stories, when the writer reallywas at his most obnoxiously provocative, and great artists like Steve Yeowell are wasted on nothing stories.

The soft covers mean the actual package feels flimsier and lighter, and that sense fills much of these efforts, although there are some excellent reprint choices that look spectacular on the glossy, large-size paper.

But it's no surprise the Yearbooks never caught on - they only lasted four years, and were later replaced by the end-of-year giant prog, a formula that has remained successful for more than 20 years now. The Yearbooks were nothing special, even with those odd gems, and certainly not as special as the annuals.