Judge Dredd: Doomsday for Dredd

Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection #42

by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra (Artist), Cam Kennedy (Artist)

Hachette Partworks Judge Dredd Mega Collection #16 contains:
- Beyond the Call of Duty (Progs 1101-1110)
- Return of the Assassin (Progs #1141-#1147)
- The Trial (Progs #1148-#150)
- Trial of Strength (Progs #1151-#1152)
- War Games (Progs #1153-#1159)
- Endgame (Progs #1160-#1164)

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction

Hardcover

First published August 19, 2015

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

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely adored the 1st half of this. Beyond the call of Duty has DeMarco get a new promotion and request Dredd (on whom she has a major crush) to work the streets under her to help her settle in. This one's particularly strong and looks at the price of being a good judge.

The next three stories have Soviet agent Orlok return to take Dredd into custody to account for the genocide of East Meg 1 - Another great epic that really blurs the line of hero and villain with two very similar characters on opposite sides and Judge Anderson caught in the middle!

Wasn't so keen on the last story in this which has Nero Narcos take over Mega City with his army of mechs. The story is OK, but a very mixed bag of art, and some of it frankly hideous.

I'd probably only give the Necros stories 3/5, but the epic stories at the beginning of this deserve higher - Dredd at its most exciting and epic.

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more like it - cleverly structured, with lots of simmering smaller plots coming together at the end (which is kind of Wagner’s preferred method these days), this is a lovely combination of old school Dredd epics with something a bit more modern. The tension of DeMarco and Dredd’s relationship is a fascinating one, even if her obsession sometimes seems more plot than emotionally driven, and it’s nice to see the Hershey/ Volt/ Edgar plots being nudged along. Kudos for the Orlock return to almost be a maguffin, with a nice contrast between Anderson/ Orlock and DeMarco/ Dredd. It’s a shame Narcos himself isn’t that vivid a villain, but other than that it’s all great. You can also see it as a sort of dry run for Day of Chaos, especially with the Oola Blint subplot standing in for PJ Maybe’s cameo in that epic

[Al No · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another title-crossing mega-epic. This volume contains the 2000 AD episodes. Slow-burning stuff from Wagner (that ends with a bit of a whimper). Nice to see Kennedy, McMahon, Wilson and some pre-Walking Dead Adlard too.

[Bob Solanovicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight to the point, no nonsense but with great characters and plenty of subtle drama - this is Wagner at his best. Right on top with other Dredd epics like The Pit, America and Democracy Now.

[Dave Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story was quite entertaining but the change of illustrators I found to be a distraction and quite annoying, without that it would've scored another star.

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of Dredd stories. All entwined from working a new area and under Judge Demarco who has feelings for Joe to Psi-Judge Anderson who tries to stop Russian Assassin Orlok from grabbing Dredd and taking him back for a trial for when he destroyed east meg and then wanting to kill him.
We then have a bit of a jump to a criminal who has taken over near all robots and declared war. Apart from a few bits it flows nicely with lots and lots of Action and humour.
Fast paced fun.