Judge Dredd When Judges Go Bad

Judge Dredd

by John Wagner, Mark Millar, William Simpson (Illustrator)

IT TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF COP TO POLICE THE NIGHTMARISH STREETS OF MEGA-CITY ONE – a violent post-apocalyptic city built on top of North America’s old East Coast. An army of future lawmen, wielding the powers of judge, jury and executioner now keep order in this crime-ridden place. Known as the ‘Judges’, most of these men and women serve as the ultimate law enforces – beyond reproach and resistant to corruption, they are the best the world has ever seen. But there’s always one or two who succumb to lawless behaviour and with years of intense training and experience to draw upon, these Judges are the most dangerous individuals on the planet!

This collection includes stories about those Judges too corrupt to uphold the law! From Judge Dredd co-creator John Wagner (A History of Violence) and comics superstar Mark Millar (Kick-Ass), featuring the amazing art of Chris Weston (The Filth), Will Simpson (Hellblazer), Steve Yeowell (The Invisibles) and Greg Staples (Bad Planet), amongst others.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 19, 2012

About the author

John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, for which he created Judge Dredd. He is noted for his taut, violent thrillers and his black humour. Among his pseudonyms are The best known are John Howard, T.B. Grover, Mike Stott, Keef Ripley, Rick Clark and Brian Skuter. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: Latest Judge Dredd release.

These collections of Judge Dredd graphic novels usual revolve around a writer, but this time the stories all share a common theme, Judges who have crossed over to the other side of the law. This collection contains quite a number of short stories and a couple of longer series that went on for several issues. I actually enjoyed all of them, though a couple were a bit cheesy, and only one I didn't enjoy and that was because of the very strange art style. The book also contains stories from the '80s up to today, presenting an interesting look at the history of the comic itself. The classic '80s style art is my favourite and the stories are certainly more aimed at juveniles, though they are rather violent. As we move into the '90s the art becomes smoother, cartoonier, more obviously computer aided and the blood flows very freely. The 2000s bring dark, adult stories with semi nudity and much violence and an accompanying dark, atmospheric art style. Judge Dredd also gets a personality in the newer stories, we find out his first name and his character is explored. An all around great collection that would make a good introduction to the Dredd character. I enjoyed all the stories, some more than others but my favourite were two that featured Judge Manners, a rogue Judge who was one nasty piece of work!

[Who · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, sometimes repetitive stories. Nothing falls flat, and the Judge Manners story is absolutely heartbreaking

[Alicja · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have gotten this book as a part of a promotion to encourage people to read more books and honestly it has been years that I had it on my TBR list but I never found myself being able to or wanting to read it. However, once I opened it and sat down with it I discovered that it was actually a book I didn't want to put down and read in one sitting.

It wasn't like any other book I have in my collection, which mostly features written word but I do have a managa collection of 'Vampire Knight' as well as a comic book from the batman collection and honestly this book was nowhere near what I was use to.

The reason I gave it 2 out of 5 is because this graphic novel does not contain a complete story but rather leaves a lot of questions for the reader and it is a story that is difficult to read when you are unsure of how to process what is on the page and aren't use to this particular format. That being said it is a classic and due to how it's created I can see why it would be more suitable for younger readers due to the platform, whilst still ensuring it has adult content that parents may find appealing.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My main interest in reading this was to see Judge Dredd's trip to Ciudad Barranquilla. Dredd heads to what would be Argentina (and probably a larger geographic region than that the way cities are set up in Dredd's time) in pursuit of a judge gone bad, hence the title of the tome.

In truth it turns out that the South America trip really is part two of the Judge Barry Kurten story. Barry was a judge who was slowly losing his mind, and was becoming even more violent than Dredd. Barry believed that he had a little person named Mo living in his brain telling him what to do, yet even he new that was crazy. Barry's violent actions eventually led Dredd to place Barry under monitoring and Barry was caught going too far even for a judge. Barry escapes to South America and becomes a judge in its corrupt system (the city's name is play off the term banana republic).

The remaining stories are also well done examples of what happens to the judges because of the pressure they are under. They are portrayed as more human and fallible than the near robotic Dredd.