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Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files + The Restricted Files+ The Daily Dredds
[Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files: v. 19] (By: Morrison Grant) [published: May, 2012]
Mega-City 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 19 in this best-selling series collects together more old school Dredd from the pages of 2000 AD and The Judge Dredd Megazine, including legendary comic writer, Grant Morrison’s first Judge Dredd story, Inferno.
Paperback
First published April 10, 1993
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About the author
Garth Ennis
2,607 books3,150 followersEnnis 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 15, 2020
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #19 has, in bright colours, various stories culled from the pages of 2000AD and The Judge Dredd Megazine in 1993. The work of many writers and artists is featured, notably John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, who co-created the Judge way back when. Grant Morrison wrote the story for Eszquerra this time.
‘Inferno’ is a twelve-part tale and it’s the best thing in the book. A ‘part’ in British comics is only six pages so don’t panic. Reading it won’t take long. Ex-Judge Grice and a bunch of other renegade Judges have escaped from the prison moon Titan and are on a mission of revenge. They bring with them a terrible plague weapon called the Meat Virus which takes a couple of days to kill the victim. During this time he becomes quite ill. It is absorbed through the skin so there is no defence. This is an excellent story and Carlos Ezquerra’s art looks good in colour.
‘Inferno’ is preceded by a couple of shorter works. The first story, ‘Enter: Joni Kiss’ introduces a deadly assassin who shoots the Supreme Judge of East Meg Two, which is a Sov city. Then he gets a bit of paper telling him Dredd is his next target. The reader is left in cliff-hanger suspense which is not, in fact, relieved by this book. The next stories feature other villains. The Chieftan is a Scottish warrior with a big chain-saw sword. Then there are memory thieves and a man that kills pop stars whose music he dislikes. One can sympathise with him. A couple of corpse peddlers fall foul of the law. All this is standard stuff in Mega-City One but still pretty good. Then the big story, ‘Inferno’.
After ‘Inferno’ there was more average Dredd fare, though average Dredd fare will do for most of us. The Jigsaw killer story stood out because of the beautiful art but invisible credits mean I can’t tell you who did it. I also enjoyed a few blackly humorous tales of the kind this strip does so well. In ‘Judge Tyrannosaur’ a dinosaur of that ilk breaks into the city and happens to eat a criminal who is holding the city’s favourite granny hostage. The demented populace demands that he be made a Judge. The media consult Dr. Mike Crichton, a Jurassic expert. In ‘Ladonna’ a sexy pop singer causes obstructions and riots because she is so popular, everyone going mad over her outrageous lyrics and conical metal bras. Dredd’s solution is deft. Then a sect of morons takes over a sausage shop. Believing that ignorance is bliss they practice progressive lobotomy to make themselves stupid. The siege is hilarious. One intriguing villain is Slick Dickens, the one man Dredd fears, perhaps.
Finally, there is another long story about Mechanismo Droids, robot Judges with reactions fifty percent better than human. A Mark 1 model was lost months ago and has reappeared to cause mayhem. Chief Judge McGruder wants to release the Mark 2 Droids to chase down the rogue Mark 1, which convinces Dredd she’s gone crazy. A nice conclusion to the book that leaves you wanting more.
Getting anthropological for a moment, it seems unlikely to me that any culture except Britain could have come up with Dredd and his milieu. Even for us it had to be conceived in the age of Thatcherism and punk rock. Black and slightly daft humour is one of the strip’s best features. One of its worst features is excessive violence. We all like action and people getting shot or blown to smithereens is part and parcel of upholding the law. However, at times the gore is excessive and the violence lurches over into sadism just to make the bad guys look really bad. I reckon it could be toned down a bit with no harm to the stories.
British comics by their very anthological nature always give you a curate’s egg, some great, some good, some not so good stories. The overall quality here is less than excellent but better than fair. I was going to say that Dredd is a good egg but that would not be true.
‘Inferno’ is a twelve-part tale and it’s the best thing in the book. A ‘part’ in British comics is only six pages so don’t panic. Reading it won’t take long. Ex-Judge Grice and a bunch of other renegade Judges have escaped from the prison moon Titan and are on a mission of revenge. They bring with them a terrible plague weapon called the Meat Virus which takes a couple of days to kill the victim. During this time he becomes quite ill. It is absorbed through the skin so there is no defence. This is an excellent story and Carlos Ezquerra’s art looks good in colour.
‘Inferno’ is preceded by a couple of shorter works. The first story, ‘Enter: Joni Kiss’ introduces a deadly assassin who shoots the Supreme Judge of East Meg Two, which is a Sov city. Then he gets a bit of paper telling him Dredd is his next target. The reader is left in cliff-hanger suspense which is not, in fact, relieved by this book. The next stories feature other villains. The Chieftan is a Scottish warrior with a big chain-saw sword. Then there are memory thieves and a man that kills pop stars whose music he dislikes. One can sympathise with him. A couple of corpse peddlers fall foul of the law. All this is standard stuff in Mega-City One but still pretty good. Then the big story, ‘Inferno’.
After ‘Inferno’ there was more average Dredd fare, though average Dredd fare will do for most of us. The Jigsaw killer story stood out because of the beautiful art but invisible credits mean I can’t tell you who did it. I also enjoyed a few blackly humorous tales of the kind this strip does so well. In ‘Judge Tyrannosaur’ a dinosaur of that ilk breaks into the city and happens to eat a criminal who is holding the city’s favourite granny hostage. The demented populace demands that he be made a Judge. The media consult Dr. Mike Crichton, a Jurassic expert. In ‘Ladonna’ a sexy pop singer causes obstructions and riots because she is so popular, everyone going mad over her outrageous lyrics and conical metal bras. Dredd’s solution is deft. Then a sect of morons takes over a sausage shop. Believing that ignorance is bliss they practice progressive lobotomy to make themselves stupid. The siege is hilarious. One intriguing villain is Slick Dickens, the one man Dredd fears, perhaps.
Finally, there is another long story about Mechanismo Droids, robot Judges with reactions fifty percent better than human. A Mark 1 model was lost months ago and has reappeared to cause mayhem. Chief Judge McGruder wants to release the Mark 2 Droids to chase down the rogue Mark 1, which convinces Dredd she’s gone crazy. A nice conclusion to the book that leaves you wanting more.
Getting anthropological for a moment, it seems unlikely to me that any culture except Britain could have come up with Dredd and his milieu. Even for us it had to be conceived in the age of Thatcherism and punk rock. Black and slightly daft humour is one of the strip’s best features. One of its worst features is excessive violence. We all like action and people getting shot or blown to smithereens is part and parcel of upholding the law. However, at times the gore is excessive and the violence lurches over into sadism just to make the bad guys look really bad. I reckon it could be toned down a bit with no harm to the stories.
British comics by their very anthological nature always give you a curate’s egg, some great, some good, some not so good stories. The overall quality here is less than excellent but better than fair. I was going to say that Dredd is a good egg but that would not be true.
September 16, 2023
If it wasn’t for Mechanismo, and another of Wagner’s long game bits of plotting, this would easily be two stars. The art is only just beginning to slide into muddy ugliness, but the real problem is the writers. John Smith does a muddled, messy serial killer plot (which weirdly prefigures Saw with an antagonist called the Jigsaw Killer working with some kind of puppet) that manages to be the least worst non Wagner effort here by just being a bit by the numbers. Grant Morrison compresses a probably quite good 24 part effort into a drastically silly, sadistic and dumb 12 parter with Inferno, which riffs on so many previous epics without ever bringing anything new to it (although bringing down the statue of Justice is something Wagner clearly thought worth developing in a better context) and has precisely no tension. Mark Millar doesn’t actually appear to have read any Dredd before and just seems to have copied whatever he found lying round near his deadline. And Garth Ennis is well into schlocky black comedy nonsense, with a spectacularly unfunny and bad taste Richey Edwards gag being the most egregious thing
Wagner’s Megazine stories are better but do feel a little like they’re written to fulfil urgent deadlines and have a slightly manic feel, not helped by some ugly art. It’s only Mechanismo, another of his long running subplots, that lingers. It’s a fascinating story thread because essentially it asks what would Dredd be like with precisely no humanity. That his enmity towards the project is eventually broken by Mechanismo being slightly designed to be affable lunks has always struck me as a fascinating detail
Wagner’s Megazine stories are better but do feel a little like they’re written to fulfil urgent deadlines and have a slightly manic feel, not helped by some ugly art. It’s only Mechanismo, another of his long running subplots, that lingers. It’s a fascinating story thread because essentially it asks what would Dredd be like with precisely no humanity. That his enmity towards the project is eventually broken by Mechanismo being slightly designed to be affable lunks has always struck me as a fascinating detail
December 26, 2023
In the opinion of this relatively novice Judge Dredd reader, this is a pretty solid collection of serial-grind Judge Dredd stories. I've only read Essential Judge Dredd: America prior to this and I thought that was phenomenal. The draw to this book, for me at least, was the curiosity of reading stories penned by Grant Morrison (one of my all-time favorites), Garth Ennis (I like him... I'm such an edgelord, right?), and to a lesser extent, Mark Millar (no comment). I came out of reading this thoroughly entertained and categorically less-than-blown-away, but that's all I needed out of this one.
March 25, 2024
Rating: 3.5-4 stars
As many readers have pointed out, the standout element of this book is undeniably the Inferno storyline. It's a shame it wasn't given more room to flourish. Given Dredd's brother Rico's history on Titan, there was ample opportunity for deeper character and narrative exploration. Nonetheless, Grant Morrison and Carlos Esquerra deliver commendable work here.
Additionally, the conclusion of the Mechanismo arc is quite satisfying. The anthology also features a diverse lineup of writers, including Mark Miller, Garth Ennis, and the legendary duo of John Wagner and Alan Grant. However, the length of the Megazine stories and the absence of clear art and writing credits can make for a disjointed reading experience.
As many readers have pointed out, the standout element of this book is undeniably the Inferno storyline. It's a shame it wasn't given more room to flourish. Given Dredd's brother Rico's history on Titan, there was ample opportunity for deeper character and narrative exploration. Nonetheless, Grant Morrison and Carlos Esquerra deliver commendable work here.
Additionally, the conclusion of the Mechanismo arc is quite satisfying. The anthology also features a diverse lineup of writers, including Mark Miller, Garth Ennis, and the legendary duo of John Wagner and Alan Grant. However, the length of the Megazine stories and the absence of clear art and writing credits can make for a disjointed reading experience.
May 19, 2019
There's a few good Garth Ennis stories in the beginning of complete case files 19. Case files 19 also closes on a good mechanismo follow-up. The middle though is kind of a mess. It's around the same quality of Red Razors. As far as thrill power goes, the beginning and close of this book keep me from feeling buyers remorse. The middle of the book wasn't up to the same quality of 16, 17, and 18, which to be fair, 16's "First of the many," 17's "judgement day," and 18's "mechanismo" is a very tough act to follow.
June 26, 2022
Some great moments but the 90s was a hit or miss time for comics. A lot more emphasis on the quirky new art styles that ignore anatomy than actual storytelling.
However, this volume goes the farthest yet in portraying Dredd as the „bad guy“, paving the way for „America“. Debut of Garth Ennis, though!
However, this volume goes the farthest yet in portraying Dredd as the „bad guy“, paving the way for „America“. Debut of Garth Ennis, though!
November 9, 2019
This is ok.
It’s Dredd more brutal than I remember, and other than Mechanismo and a silly one parter about Judge Tyrannosaurus none of the stories really stick in the mind.
Even Inferno, an early Grant Morrison story, falls a bit flat mainly being a rehash of the classic The Day The Law Died.
It’s Dredd more brutal than I remember, and other than Mechanismo and a silly one parter about Judge Tyrannosaurus none of the stories really stick in the mind.
Even Inferno, an early Grant Morrison story, falls a bit flat mainly being a rehash of the classic The Day The Law Died.
May 17, 2020
A bit average...
...of a collection with the exceptions being Inferno by Grant Morrison. A bunch of judges exiled to titan return with a vengeance! And the judge robots fiasco which may be signaling the end of Chief judge macgruder!
...of a collection with the exceptions being Inferno by Grant Morrison. A bunch of judges exiled to titan return with a vengeance! And the judge robots fiasco which may be signaling the end of Chief judge macgruder!
March 13, 2022
Some damn good epic-sort-of-things but also some damn bad one-shot-kind-of-things. Ennis really never got Dredd right, Millar and Morrison did fine job and Wagner is the best, like, ever.
Solid art, again, all the way through.
Solid art, again, all the way through.
April 4, 2022
Another book of Judge Dredd stories. This is one of the Complete Case Files series. I enjoyed it.
March 21, 2024
Ennis, Morrison and Millar. What more could a Dredd fan ask for?
June 23, 2024
Full of cunning situations fromt he very beginning, rib breaking humour, great art that leaps off the page from the start, plots you won't see coming and epic world building right from the outset! :D
February 13, 2017
It's business as usual in volume 19 as there is some OTT satire from Judge Tyrannosaur, the Muzak Killer is back, the writers make it known that they clearly don't care much for Madonna and there is a great build-up in a story featuring Slick Dickens that never really pays off. There is however a great return from Mechanismo Number 5, Grant Morrison's Inferno proves a fun ride that takes all the best from Dredd and blends them into a single story, and despite some ridiculous elements The Chieftain has some moments of heartfelt authenticity to it.
August 30, 2012
Great book if you're a Judge Dredd fan. Thankfully I am.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews