Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 18

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files + The Restricted Files+ The Daily Dredds

by Garth Ennis, John Wagner, Alan Grant

Mega-City One: the future metropolis bustling with life and every crime imaginable. Keeping order are the Judges, a stern police force acting as judge, jury and executioner. Toughest of all is Judge Dredd. He is the law and these are his stories. Volume 18 in this exciting, best-selling series collects together more old-school Dredd from the pages of 2000 AD, including the Wagner-scripted classic, Mechanismo.

Collects:

- Innocents Abroad (Prog #804-#807)
- The Magic Mellow Out (Prog #808-#809)
- Raider (Prog #810-#814)
- Christmas with Attitude (Prog #815)
- The Kinda Dead Man (Prog #816)
- The Craftsman (Prog #817)
- Ex-Men (Prog #818)
- Snowstorm (Prog #819)
- PJ & the Mock-Choc Factory (Prog #820-#822)
- Last Night Out (Prog #823)
- A,B or C Warrior (Prog #824)
- Blind Mate (Prog #825)
- Unwelcome Guests (Prog #826)
- Barfur 1 episode (Prog #827)
- A Man Caled Greener (Prog #828)
- Mechanismo (Meg #2.12-#2.17)
- A Christmas Carol (Meg #2.18)
- Warhog (Meg #2.19)
- Resyk Man (Meg #2.20)
- Deathmask (Meg #2.21)
- Mechanismo Returns (Meg #2.22-#2.26)

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopia, Crime

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1992

About the author

Ennis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.

Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.

Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.

Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.

While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.

Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.

After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.

In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.

Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.

In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.

In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis

Reviews

[Christopher M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some more silly Garth Ennis scripts that "satirise" such current celebs as Cilla Black and Right Said Fred by presenting them almost exactly as they actually were, but the final lengthy story about an attempt to introduce robot judges is a return to form for the strip.

[Chris Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because these Case Files now come in half Prog/ half Megazine format, it’s a handy contrast to see how the two approaches to the character were going. Wagner and Grant writing worthy material nudging the character into new directions, especially with the first Mechanismo story. In contrast Garth Ennis just having absolutely no fucking clue what he’s doing, wildly alternating between ridiculous pastiches of daft Dredd stories and attempts to do more serious stuff that don’t really succeed (although it’s interesting to contrast Raider with the recent sequence of an ex Titan judge trying to go straight). He even absolutely flubs PJ Maybe, even thought the set up is almost literally fool proof. It really doesn’t help that both he and Wagner try a Christmas Carol based strip and only one of them is any good (and it’s not the Ennis one)

It’s really only the abysmal Mark Millar story, suggesting as ever that Millar could never be arsed to read any Dredd stories to prepare for writing them, that makes Ennis look anything other than terrible. The art is all over the place, with great stuff from Colin MacNeil, John Burns and old hands like Ezquerra, Bret Ewins and Ron Smith. But then there’s awful painted mush from Critchlow and Staples and some really banal filler. And then there’s John Hicklenton who creates art that genuinely terrifies, ugly and strange and contorted and maddening. It’s absolutely not Judge Dredd as we recognise it, and absolutely distracts from the story but it’s a thing of wild and disturbing brilliance

[Mat Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Approaching the continuation beyond Judgement Day with some trepidation due to prevalent negative opinions, I found myself pleasantly surprised. This new era introduces fresh perspectives with renowned writers like Garth Ennis and Mark Millar joining veterans John Wagner and Alan Grant.

The storytelling in this installment is compelling. "Mechanismo" delves into AI and robotics, a theme revisited but not extensively explored in recent tales. "Raider" stands out as it unravels the fate of a Judge from Rico and Dredd's academy class, delivering a gripping narrative alongside striking artwork.

These primary narratives harken back to the essence of Case File 1. The artwork, featuring talents like Carlos and McCrea, maintains its solidity while offering diverse and engaging styles throughout.

[Rockito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Case Files covers the slow return to the series of John Wagner, which is great because Ennis was having more and more trouble filling his shoes as Dredd's main writer. Nothing bad but just decent, which says a lot about the quality of his stories if the worst is just decent (Although I haven't read "Heavy Metal Dredd", which I've heard is quite bad); The main feature here is Mechanismo, which is a standard "Long-form Dredd story" with a few Robocop jokes like the "Peter Weller Block".
In the end, good stuff.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Wagner inches back to world of Dredd more and more. And that is only a good thing, because he writes all the best Dredds.
Great art all the way through, some mediocre stories that try to be funny and some really good bits. Not the best of Dredd but decent.

[Rachel Redhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

another good volume in the series :)

[James Traxler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost always enjoy Dredd strips.
Some are better than others, including herein - some stories are better than others.
Artwork here is a mix but good.

[Mhorg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Up and down

A so so issue. Some stories are good others are eh. Best: the cities decision to use robot judges. I'm sure i don't have to tell anyone how that worked out!

[Dan Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 90s was a great time for the bizarre, a bad time for anatomy. Although, seeing Greg Staples early work compared to what he does today is encouraging for up-and-coming artists.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag with some pretty basic stuff. Robo judges a notable highlight

[Charlie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s not to love , it’s Dredd

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of world building from the start, epic unrelenting pace right from the beginning, great eye popping drawn and paint eat, adventure and action! :D

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual the artwork is a great mix of styles. As usual there is a great mix of solid and strange stories. The one I was most looking forward to was the Mechanismo episodes, in which Dredd finds himself fighting large, mechanical Judges. Although enjoyable, the robot-battling saga failed to take advantage of it's full potential for an epic rumble. Elsewhere in the comic you will find a welcome return from Irish lawman Judge Joyce, a bizarre Magic Roundabout parody, a Scrooge Christmas instalment, a comeuppance for PJ Maybe, a cameo from Cilla Black (sort of) and the usual mix of Megacity One nutters who, for one reason or another, turn to murder. Oh, and we also get to see how Dredd spends his birthday. Overall, another great entry into the Law In Order collection.

[Daniel Etherington · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Mechanismo storyline isn't bad, but a lot of this volumne is pretty mediocre, with a lot of Ennis' one-issue stories feeling meagre, trite. Some seriously rushed-looked, substandard artwork too.

[Steven Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally good to average but with some absolutely stunning moments.