Judge Dredd: The Dark Judges review

Review by Steve Hargett

Writers:John Wagner & Alan Grant

Artists:Brian Bolland, Brett Ewins, Cliff Robinson, Ron Smith

Letterers:
Tom Frame

Previously published in Progs 149-151, 224-228 & 416-427

The most widely known villains outside 2000AD fandom, Judge Death has been an inspiration for many things. Most notably Dredd and his deathly nemesis have appeared on many Anthrax albums and t-shirts.

This collection brings us the stories Judge Death, Judge Death Lives and Four Dark Judges. These stories are reprints so I am assuming most readers will be aware of the general thrust of the stories. There are spoilers below but due to the fact they are reprints I’m tagging them as light. If you have never read these stories maybe they are medium. There is only one heavy spoiler if you haven’t read Judge Death.

I’m reviewing the Kindle version of this book and all pages are black and white. It does suffer slightly from the fact that famous double spreads are cut in half. However the story is still easily read and brought back good memories.

Judge Death

As well as Judge Death this sory introduces us to Judge Anderson and the Psi Division.

Judge Death is an inter-planar travelling mass murderer  A Judge on his home world, where Judges were more brutal than they have been in Mega City One at all times other than perhaps Chief Judge Cal’s tenure of office. They were brutal in life but when Judge Death took charge of their world they descended into madness sentencing the whole planet to death.

Death is a psionically powered spirit creature  able to take possession of a living person or enter a specially prepared corpse to take physical form. His hand pass through flesh without damaging it, only to squeeze the heart within the chest cavity until it bursts. He is stronger than a living human and able to sustain a large amount of injury without affect.

His Judge uniform is a macabre version of Dredd’s own. We later see that is less different to the Judges of his own world in ‘Boyhood of a Superfiend’ (published in Judge Dredd Megazine first volume issues 1-19).

Death embarks on a rampage through the city and is ‘killed’ by Dredd. Anderson interrogates the corpse and is later possessed by possessed by his spirit but due to her own strong will is able to resist him enough to keep other Psi Judges aware of Death’s plans.

Anderson gives the Judges her own plan to defeat Death. Dredd and a team of Judges follow the information Anderson has managed to get to them without the knowledge of Judge Death. Death’s body destroyed, he re-enters Anderson and she sacrifices herself for the good of the city and was sealed in Boing! (see prog 136) and was put on display in the Justice Department Hall of Heroes for all to show their respects.

This story is well crafted and the creation of Judge Death is a masterstroke. Though he is later misused in some people’s opinion as a more comedic character this strip set him up as a very chilling creature.

The art of Brian Bolland is amazing and gives real menace to the villain and true charm to the heroine.

Judge Death Lives

The first episode shows a tourist in the Hall of Heroes leaving a tour and later cutting open the Boing! sarcophagus that housed Anderson and Death. Death possesses the man and he returns to his apartment where we find he had agreed to free Judge Death to safe his wife, though he had been double crossed and she was dead. Who had made this deal with him? Three allies of Judge Death.

Judges Fear, Fire and Mortis all drawn for the first time by Brian Bolland so there is a clear connection between the uniforms of these three and Death. Only Fear’s uniform is devoid of the pterodactyl, though Fire’s isn’t obvious in the picture opposite. I’ve always assumed this mean Fear was not a Street Judge on his home-world but that is mere speculation.

The three Dark Judges prepare their erstwhile Human accomplice and Judge Death again has physical form.

The four Dark Judge soon embark on a Judgement-spree. Killing all those that break their law; Life is a crime and the sentence is death. They seal themselves within a block with a psionic shield that fries anyone trying to cross it.

Anderson, freshly out of the Boing! sarcophagus warns Dredd that there are three others with Death. Anderson can get herself and Dredd through the shield but they have to destroy the shield generator to get more Judges inside.

Dredd famously resists the powers of Judge Fear and they destroy the generator. The Dark Judges retreat to their home-wold but with Fear’s body vacant his corpse is left behind and Anderson and Dredd can follow.

Reading this story in 1981 I was transfixed from Prog to Prog. The artwork again is very powerful. The script is excellent, it was a joy to read.

Four Dark Judges

This was the first strip to be given the title of Anderson Psi Division and was published in 1985. This was the last appearance of Judges Fear, Fire and Mortis until their return in Chaos Day.

The Dark Judges lure Anderson back to Deadworld and force her to help resurrect them using mummified Judges. Though she had been able to partly resist Judge Death’s control she was unable to fight the combined Psionic power of the four Dark Judges.

We learn that their Grand Hall of Justice had been re-named the Necropolis, Brett Ewins’ version of the building created a much more perverse structure than we had seen Bolland draw. Within that building they had access to all of their equipment and returned to Mega City One leaving Anderson presumed dead.

Anderson however had shielded herself from them enough to feign death and returns to the city. Chief Judge McGruder suspends her for unleashing the Dark Judges on Mega City One. Anderson considers her fate.

The Dark Judges again went on a killing spree. This time they had teleport devices so that they could leave any place where Judges were attacking them and continue their mission.

Again Anderson puts together a plan that sees the Dark Judges vanquished.

More to come…

Not part of this book but it has been revealed that Death is coming back…

Judge Dredd: The Day The Law Died review

Review by Steve Hargett.

Judge Dredd: The Day The Law Died graphic novel published by 2000AD

Writer:John Wagner

Artists:Mick McMahon, Ron Smith, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Brendan McCarthy, Brett Ewins, Garry Leach

Letterers:
Tom Frame, John Aldrich, Jack Potter, Peter Knight, Tom Knight, Dave Gibbons

Previously published in Progs 86 to 108 of 2000AD in October 1978 to April 1979

This story follows on straight after The Cursed Earth Saga and the first episode was in the first issue of 2000AD and Starlord following the merger of the two titles. There were four strips, Dredd leading supported by Ro-Busters, Flesh Book II  and Strontium Dog.

Dredd is given given a parade through the city to mark rescuing Mega City Two. Sat in the car with him is his mentor, Chief Judge Goodman, and the Deputy Chief Judge, Judge Cal. This is the first appearance of Cal and this story introduces the Special Judicial Squad, SJS. These Judges judge the Judges, they investigate and punish crimes committed by Judges. Judge Cal is clearly modeled upon Caligula, the third Emperor of Rome who history depicts as increasingly insane throughout his reign. There are subtle hints in the first part – during the parade Cal questions the cost of the mission Dredd had just been on; during a Triumph, a parade for a victorious General in Rome, someone stood behind the General would whisper that they are only human, to curb the General’s ego.

The SJS uniforms vary throughout the story, mostly due to the amount of artists involved. However it is also reasonable to accept that the uniforms do actually alter. The SJS are Cal’s men, as Deputy Chief Jusfe it seems he was also the Head of SJS. As such it is only reasonable o accept that as his ideas about himself become grander so his closest supporters would be affected.

There are some spoilers following, as this is a reprint I don’t think I am revealing much more than an active reader of 2000AD who hasn’t read this story before might realistically have come to know. I will try to keep the spoilers light.

Judge Cal frames Dredd and sent to the prison on Titan and has Chief Judge Goodman killed, seizing power for himself. Overwhelmingly the Judges of Mega City One support Cal, to the surprise of Dredd. Before his death Goodman gives Dredd a clue that the SJS are behind his murder, Dredd survives an assassination attempt only to be sentenced to death by Cal.

Dredd isn’t alone, however, and his one-time Rookie, Judge Giant, comes to his rescue. Together with Giant Dredd goes on to fight a guerilla war against Cal with a group of Judges mostly comprising Tutors from the Academy of Law.

Giant is the son of John ‘Giant’ Clay, captain of the Harlem Heroes jet-ball team from the strip of the same name. Not essential knowledge for this story but I’ll briefly give some more details, given that 2000AD doesn’t have one shared universe how this fact fits in with continuity. Harlem Heroes was set in a futuristic USA, sometime after 2050. In Prog 8 the home city of Harlem Heroes is referred to as Mega City One, where Artie Grubber is in intensive care (oh I loved Artie!). A sequel to Harlem Heroes, Inferno, was set in 2078, the year before Dredd graduated from the Academy of Law. One of the team members, Rip Venner, was an ex-Judge. So the links are clear and credible, indeed the current Judge Giant met his Great Grandpappy in ‘Whatever Happened to John ‘Giant’ Clay in the the Megazine, that story was set in 2126.

Back to the story in hand. This story introduces some other giants of Dredd continuity, pun intended, such as: Judge-Tutor Griffin; Fergee; the alien mercenaries race of Kleggs and also involves Walter the Wobot, Maria and Max Normal. Again, as in the Cursed Earth Saga an interesting cast of supporting characters.

Of these Fergee has proven to be hugely popular, a huge fellow with low intelligence many forget he isn’t a mutant or a Trog (a denizen of the Undercity). Fergee was born in Mega City One but by his own admission he did a few (well lots) of bad things. Given what seems to be his inate kindness one would assume that his enjoyment of violence was probably taken advantage of by some perp or other – but there are no explanations in the story. Fergee’s name was misappropriated in the Stallone film and used for the bumbling robotics expert who was a comedy sidekick for Dredd in that film. The 2012 Dredd 3D film makes mention of a riot in Fergee Memorial Park.

The fact that supporting characters like these become so important to the reader is a great reflection on the craftsmanship of the creators. Not only John Wagner but many of the script writers over the years.

Returning to Judge Cal and Caligula. There are so many comparisons it is easy to overlook them. Deputy Chief Judge Fish can be compared to Caligula making his horse a senator. Other comparisons include wild building projects and random death sentences. Bringing in the alien mercenaries, the Kleggs, could be compared to the barbarian mercenaries, Germans, that Caligula used as body guards. Oh and pickle jars, but I stray too near spoiler territory with this one.

This story reinforces the importance of Dredd in Mega City One. Even the experienced Judges that have become Tutors at the Academy of Law look to him for leadership. Of course he is a clone of the first Chief Judge, Fargo, and Judge Goodman had clearly been grooming him as a successor.

As noted earlier the amount of different artists on this story do give a lack of visual continuity. At times we see Dredd wearing  the more modern straight sided helmet and at other times the more rounded Ezquerra original. I don’t find that a distraction and as I said earlier the changes in SJS uniforms can easily be explained. You may note that only the head of the SJS, Judge Slocum, has the Deaths Head helmet insignia.

Interestingly this collection credits only John Wagner as writer but the creator panels show the names John Howard and T B Grover. These are pseudonyms that were used by John Wagner and Alan Grant when working in partnership. I assume as the credit here is for John Wagner alone that Alan Grant was either not involved or was involved only in part, perhaps talking through the plot. Certainly the plot is fluid and yet consistent.

A true classic, if you haven’t ever read this and still fail to… someone might have to get heavy with you.

Easy! The Ferg!

The Cursed Earth Saga review

Review by Steve Hargett.

Writers:
Pat Mills, John Wagner
Artists:
Mick McMahon, Brian Bolland
Letterers:
Tom Frame, Peter Knight, John Aldrich

Previously published in Progs 61 to 85 of 2000AD in April to October 1978

What hasn’t been said about this epic?

I’m reading this in Kindle, the version is manga sized and all black and white and available from Amazon, this edition is also available in paperback.

Before this the largest story had been Robot Wars in Prog 10 to 17, though the story followed directly on from Prog 9. The Cursed Earth is the first real epic for Judge Dredd and is rightly considered a classic. This story shows us the Cursed Earth in the greatest detail so far. We are introduced to a wide range of possibilities of what lies outside the confines of the great Mega City.

Anyone familiar with the printing history of this epic will be aware that there were copyright issues over the use of Ronald McDonald, Burger King, Jolly Green Giant and a number of other characters. Four parts of the epic have therefore never been reprinted. There is a synopsis of these episodes in the foreword of the graphic novel. You need Progs 71, 72, 77 & 78 to enjoy these parts of the story. I have them, but obviously can’t go in to further detail. I am displaying images from the saga, with kind permission from 2000AD PR Droid Molch-R, understandably no images from the embargoed parts.

If you haven’t read this story there are spoilers, I’m tagging this as ‘light’ as it is a reprint, but certainly I won’t be mentioning anything that will ruin your enjoyment if you have not read this wonderful saga before.

We are introduced to the story by Red, who we are told is an old friend of Judge Dredd. Red is a pilot that runs trips between the two big Mega Cities, Mega City One and Mega City Two. He is a Mega City One citizen and though it is never stated I would guess by the uniforms  Red and his men wear he could be an Auxiliary of some form certainly he is never referred to as a Judge. Red’s craft Strat Bat, has the Law Eagle on, this could denote a Mega City One registered ship but I think more likely backs up my theory that he is an Auxiliary.

This is the first mention of Mega City 2, sister city to Mega City One on the Western seaboard of USA. Ruled by its own ruling council of Judges. The uniforms are more or less identical in this story,  I think it is artistic licence that makes them seem a little lighter in colour.

Mega City Two is in the grip of a deadly plague, left over from the ‘Great Germ War’. The airports are all closed so the only way to get an antidote to Mega City Two is by land. Dredd is assigned t o lead the mission and is given a two-part armoured vehicle, comprising the personnel carrier Land Raider and the tank Killdozer. He is accompanied by three Judges, including Judge Jack who partnered him in the Robot Wars. Rounding off his crew is the convicted bike gang leader Spikes Harvey Rotten. It is not confirmed if this is the same character as the one of the same name from an earlier story Mega City 5000 from Progs 40 & 41. Due to lack of resemblance between the two and the earlier version being presumed dead (though he could just be unconscious) at the end of Prog 41 many assume the characters are not connected.

The journey between the Two Mega Cities shows us that the wasteland outside their walls is not devoid of life. In fact it is populated by a variety of people and creatures that rivals that within Mega City One. We are introduced to townships of un-mutated humans that for one reason or another live outside the supposed safety of the Mega Cities. There are mutant clans, Alien Slavers, deranged Robots, flying rats, dinosaurs… one could almost say ‘what isn’t in the Cursed Earth?’

The saga stretches the suspension of disbelief, but that is often when Dredd is at its best. Of course the other end of the spectrum, when Dredd gets close to reality, can also give us great stories.

The stories are varied and have the right mix of action, drama and of course dark humour. All aspects that have been seen throughout the history of 2000AD as much as the pages of Dredd alone. And as I said at the top of this article, this saga sets the scene for almost everything from Dredd stories in 2000AD or the Megazine when it comes to the Cursed Earth.

Pat Mills ties Judge Dredd to one of his creations, Flesh!, in part of the story, bringing us the genetically recreated Satanus, son of Old One Eye. 2000AD doesn’t have a shared universe, unlike other famous publishing companies. However Pat Mills often links his stories together. While some links have been more or less written off or forgotten Satanus is firmly embedded in Judge Dredd history.

For me it is as much the supporting cast as Dredd himself that makes this story thoroughly enjoyable. Spikes is a changed man at the end, he has grown through this hellish road-trip. Tweak, a rock eating alien, shows us more humanity than many humans have ever shown in the pages of Dredd. Both characters are still among my all time favourites, I’ll talk about another later this month when I review Judge Dredd: The Day The Law Died.

Now as I said I have been reading the latest edition of this story on Kindle. I have also read the same version in paperback. The Kindle version didn’t work so well on my android phone but looks great on my PC. The pages have been reduced well, all the lettering is easy to read. Some lettering has been re-positioned where required. I’m not certain how technical it is to make the colour pages black and white but if I didn’t know what pages were affected I wouldn’t have known about the alteration.

As for the artwork, two of the series giants turned in these pages. They are as fine as anyone can expect to see. You won’t see the now famous chin, it wasn’t quite as defined as it is now. But Dredd is as obviously Dredd as ever in the history of the comic.

If you have never read this – get a copy. If you have read it but no longer have a copy – get a copy.

And just remember, Alex Garland planned to take us in to the Cursed Earth in a sequel to Dredd (2012). We may not get a chance to see that come about but the fan film Judge Minty does deliver on that.

THE DARK JUDGES

THE DARK JUDGES

Script: John Wagner, Alan Grant

Art: Brian Bolland, Brett Ewins, Cliff Robinson, Robin Smith

Price: £6.99

ISBN: 978-1-78108-040-5

Published: 13th September

Market: UK and Ireland

The crime is life. The sentence .... is DEATH!

2000 AD continues its run of Manga-size reprints of Judge Dredd classics with the stories of Dredd’s ultimate foes!

They are the four grotesque lawmen of the Apocalypse: the chilling Judge Fear, the devastating Judge Fire, the terrifying Judge Mortis and their leader - JUDGE DEATH! Twisted alien super-fiends from another dimension where all life has been declared a crime. After wiping out their own world, they plan to bring that murderous mission to Mega-City One!

Judge Dredd and his wise-cracking psychic partner, Judge Anderson, must do everything they can to stop the fearsome foursome bringing their brand of justice to the city!

Featuring some of the most iconic moments in the strip’s history, this volume includes the original Judge Death story, along with the sequels, Death Lives and The Dark Judges, and the Judge Anderson follow-up, Four Dark Judges.

With incredible artwork by Brian Bolland, Brett Ewins, Cliff Robinson, and Robin Smith, the latest in 2000 AD’s line of Dredd stories in B-format is an all-time classic, a must-have that will appeal to old readers and those unfamiliar with the world of Mega-City One.

The Cursed Earth Saga review

This is another reprinting of the classic Judge Dredd series, this time it is in a smaller, pocket book size volume more akin to Manga books than the traditional 2000AD size.
Does it work? I shall get to that presently, but first, for those of you who don’t know, I’ll give a quick review of the story.
Mega City 2 has been hit by a terrible plague, and the inhabitants are turning into crazed cannibal creatures. It is up to Judge Dredd and a crack team of Judges to deliver the vaccine before time runs out!
To do this, they have to negotiate the ravaged radioactive hellhole that is the Cursed Earth – basically everything between the East and West coasts of the United States.
(The reason for not flying is given, but frankly, it is not a good one!)
This tale, mostly written by Pat Mills with a few episodes by John Wagner, contains a lot of iconic ideas and images. Everything from the classic toy tie-in Killdozer (I had one!) to Spikes Harvey Rotten. Mills even introduces us to hints of what the caused the US to become what it is in Dredd’s day – ideas that Wagner would return to years later what he wrote Origins.

But the greatest thing in this epic adventure has to be Satanus the dinosaur.
Now, stop me if you’ve heard this one: scientists figure out how to clone dinosaurs from DNA found in fossils, incubate them in eggs and when they hatch, they open an amusement park in which things go horribly wrong and the dinosaurs escape and start eating folks. Pat Mills wrote this in 1978. That’s all I’m saying…
So yes, the story is a cracking one and is held up as a classic for very good reasons.
But to come back to the question of it working at this size.

For the most part, yes it does. The reproduction of the art is crisp and clean, which is just as well as it contains some of the best art that Brian Bolland and Mike McMahon ever produced for the comic.
I found myself having to strain slightly a couple of times at the small writing, but on the whole it easy to read.
All in all, it’s a nice little volume, and I think I’m going to pass it on to my children, as I suspect this may serve as a great gateway drug into the Dreddiverse.

2000AD: Celebrating 35 Zarjaz Years!

In 1977, something amazing happened. All across the land the first issue of 2000 AD, dated 26th February, arrived in newsagents. And your world has never been the same since.
Thirty-five years on and The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic is still going strong, still packed with top-notch Thrills by some of the world’s greatest comic book artists and writers, and still bringing intense weekly bursts of Thrill-power to the starving masses.

To celebrate this milestone, this Wednesday sees the anniversary edition, Prog 1771, hits newsstands with the choice of two amazing variant covers - one by Chris Weston (The Filth, The Twelve), riffing on a classic image by Brian Bolland and showing some of the classic characters of the past 15 years. The second cover by 2000 AD legend Mick McMahon shows the alien editor, Tharg the Mighty, surrounded by his loyal editorial droids!


This week will also see 2000adonline.com give away some exclusive prizes to Squaxx Dek Thargo everywhere, including:
• copies of Kingdom: The Promised Land signed by New York Times bestselling writer Dan Abnett
• copies of dinosaurs-farmed-by-cowboys-from-the-future classic Flesh: The Dino Files signed by 2000 AD’s creator and first editor, Pat Mills
• copies of the hilarious mobster comedy Al’s Baby signed by Judge Dredd creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra
Thanks to Planet Replicas, we’ll also be giving one lucky Earthlet the chance to get a custom made Judge badge – featuring their own surname! These high-quality fully licensed badges are a must for budding agents of the law, and the winner will get one embossed with their own name.

And as we head toward 2000 AD’s official birthday, we have the pièce de résistance – an exclusive Mongrol figure from Ashley Woods’ threeA Toys. That’s right, we’re GIVING AWAY one of the most hotly desired piece of 2000 AD merchandise in recent years. Standing over 11-inches high and over 13-inches wide, this fully articulated 1:6 scale figure has been drooled over by fans since its release last year and you’ll get the chance to try and win this stunning figure!
Keep your glues glued to 2000adonline.com, as well as our official Twitter and Facebook feeds, as we gear up to mark 35 years of Thrill-powered awesomeness!
Happy birthday, 2000 AD – it’s going to be a zarjaz week!
Links:
2000 AD on Twitter: http://twitter.com/2000AD 2000 AD on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/2000-AD/146588986365