Judge Dredd - an Appreciation for the Man Who is the Law

When a character has been around for nearly 30 years, I figured it was high time to see what the fuss is all about, so I've been scoping out some Judge Dredd titles the past few years

The Judge Dredd universe is a post-apocalyptic future where the average populace crams into large cities like Mega-City One, and the rest of the Earth is a radioactive wasteland filled with mutants and such. The judicial system consists of the Judges, who have the singular authority to immediately arrest, try and convict criminals in this fast-paced, overpopulated world. The toughest of these Judges is Dredd, a no-nonsense lawman trying his best to maintain order in an out of control system.

Forget that hideous film with Sylvester Stallone, which watered down the entire concept into standard sci-fi with bad comic relief. Everything I've been reading of Judge Dredd as originally presented in the pages of 2000AD magazine is highly entertaining with a wicked sense of black humor. But let's get into some specifics.

Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death - This was my first real look at anything from the pages of 2000 A.D. and the world of Judge Dredd when Titan Books had gone back and reprinted some of the best Dredd story arcs from 2000 A.D. This one goes back to 1981 and introduced Judge Death, a Judge from an alternate world where life itself is a crime! John Wagner knows how to tell an action-packed story while infusing social and political satire that holds up well years later. In a small matter of time, the reader is hooked into Dredd's world and one wonders how the evil of Death and the other Dark Judges will be stopped.

The art of Brian Bolland is fantastic! Bolland would make his name known in the U.S. with the classics Camelot 3000 and Batman: The Killing Joke and he does great in these early Dredd strips. He has an excellent sense of character design. Even minor characters are portrayed as unique.

While U.S. audiences would later praise titles such as Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns for infusing political and sociological ideas into a superhero title, Wagner and team were doing it weekly in the pages of 2000 A.D. several years before. This volume is an excellent introduction into that world, with great writing and beautiful art. Highly recommended!

I do know that there is a newer volume of these stories put out by DC Comics in their DC/2000 A.D. imprint, so that may be easier to find than the Titan edition I own. Better yet, if you decide to take the plunge and really get into the character, look no further than Rebellion Books Judge Dredd - The Complete Case Files series. It's a chronological look at every Judge Dredd story from the pages of 2000AD. The Judge Death stories from this volume appear mostly in volumes 3 and 5 of the Complete Case Files. Speaking of.....

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 2 - Why volume 2? Because this is the volume in which the main writers really start to find their groove with the character and the landscape they've created. It is an excellent look into the world of Judge Dredd. It's filled with the dark wit and sarcastic take on the world at large of the time it was written. It features two of the biggest Dredd epics plus other stories covering 2000AD Progs. 61-115 including:

The Cursed Earth - Writer Pat Mills takes Dredd from the confines of the apocalyptic future mayhem of Mega-City One and smacks him into the apocalyptic future mayhem of the radioactive wasteland between the two American coasts known as The Cursed Earth as dredd goes on a mercy mission to Mega-City Two. Mills has a lot of fun expounding on what happens in middle America in a fallout future.

I ended up really enjoying this major story arc, but I have to admit I liked it better having other Dredd tales under my belt. As fun as it was to see the satirical possibilities of a future America, a couple of the issues could not be reprinted due to trademark infringement (the first and only time in the Judge Dredd series that did this as I'm aware of) and I'm used to seeing Dredd being in mostly total control in his anarchistic surroundings and in these situations he's mostly not. It's a very "Road Warrior" inspired anarchy. Plus, Pat Mills has a serious dinosaur fetish I'm still trying to figure out.

The Day The Law Died - Wow, John Wagner didn't give Dredd a break. As soon as he's back and hailed as a hero from the Cursed Earth, he's framed for murder by an insane Judge that cons his way into the Chief Judge position and everything goes to hell! Hence, Judge Cal (a play off the nutbar Roman Emperor Caligula) starts enforcing impossible rules with the help of his pet goldfish and attempting to kill most of the general populace. I wasn't getting how the other Judges besides Dredd were falling for these ridiculous situations, but the resolution to that is very satisfying. The madness of Cal keeps building to a crescendo until everything comes together in the finale. It took me two readings to really get into this arc but I now understand why it's a classic!

Punks Rule - After the clean-up of the Cal fiasco, Dredd has to show he is STILL the Law, and he does it against an entire gang, single-handedly, in one night. Great little story that is the epitome of what make Judge Dredd great, and features beautiful artwork by Brian Bolland.

Exo-Men - Decent little perfunctory story as Dredd goes against thieves using construction exoskeletons. Best aspect of the story is the bleeding heart committee chastising Dredd for his methods, until they get caught in the crossfire. Fun ending to this one!

The DNA Man - Argueably the weakest story in the volume, it's a basic futuristic take on the Frankenstein story. A couple plot points don't make sense, such as the baddie running toward an area outside Judge jurisdiction to escape (how, when in the entire Cursed Earth saga, Dredd acts as if he's the Law everywhere?) but it's still a decent little romp in the madness of Judge Dredd's futuristic society.

Judge Dredd: Necropolis - This was a massive storyline between issues 661-699 of 2000AD, reprinted in to huge volumes from Titan Books and soon in the Complete Case Files volume 14.

Necropolis deals with the repurcussions of Judge Dredd's disillusionment with The Law, so after self exilement, he's replaced by a clone named Kraken. Unfortunately, Kraken is influenced by Phobia and Nausea, the Sisters of Judge Death and he ends up helping their plans to free the Dark Judges and turn Mega-City One into a City of the Dead, a Necropolis. Before the status quo is restored, Dredd must face himself, his clone, the Dark Judges, and his peers twisted by this new society.

It seems to me that I have never read a bad Judge Dredd story, and here is no exception. It's filled with memorable characters, a tight thriller of a plot, lots of dark humor, and fast action that propels the story rather than hinders it. It is another feather in the cap of John Wagner that is only enhanced by the unique sequential art of Carlos Ezquerra. His approach to line art and color palette is not necessarily the norm, but is perfect to the approach of the post-apocalyptic nightmare world of Judge Dredd.

Judge Dredd vs. Aliens: Incubus - I was surprised to see these 'Aliens vs...' and 'Predator vs...' stories still being done. They seem so 80's and 90's. I guess with Alien vs. Predator finally coming out on film though, and Dark Horse retaining the rights to these characters and producing new comic series, we'll be seeing yet more of these types of titles. I will admit that this is one of the better takes on the subject in a while. Replace 'Colonial Marines' with 'Judges' and replace 'LV426' with 'Mega-City One', and you get the idea. It is action packed and is it written by John Wagner, still the premier writer for Judge Dredd, he's able to infuse the Dredd universe and the Alien infestation flawlessly.

The story is rather generic and something we've all seen in Aliens stories before but the artwork of Henry Flint takes this title up a notch. His gritty style is perfect portrayal for both Judge Dredd and the Aliens, and not to sound morbid, but some of the death sequences of the victims are portrayed with a certain wild flair. There are also a few twists that surprise the reader, especially towards the end, but I won't spoil that for you!

Good fun if not mildly generic, full of action and a couple surprises. I give this an average recommendation for most readers, and an above average for fans of either the Judge Dredd or Aliens franchises but it does make a great gateway comic into the world of Judge Dredd, which is why I included it here. Believe it or not, it's in continuity with the rest of the Judge Dredd series and not just a one-off like so many of these crossovers.

The Dark Horse edition of this trade paperback seems out of print, but Rebellion Books has recently re-released it.

That's just a small look at some of the volumes that turned me on to the world of Judge Dredd. As always, your mileage may vary. Enjoy!