Banzai Battalion

Judge Dredd

by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Garth Ennis

In the vast concrete sprawl of Mega-City One, there’s little room for nature to grow. But those blockers that are lucky enough to have a garden need the very latest in pest control – and that comes in the shape of Banzai Battalion, a crack squad of miniature robots dedicated to the eradication of weevils, slugs, spider mites and all manner of destructive creatures. Led by the legendary Captain Bug Stomper, they’re at the forefront of the extermination business!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

206 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 2014

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

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of the more obscure and dare I say surreal instalments in the series - this time about a battalion on diminutive droids programmed to seek and destroys bugs but which go on to be so much "bigger" (not sorry for the pun).

This collection is a lot of fun if rather over the top (even for Dredd) and really embraces its wild side. However once you read the notes about how and why this series comes about you realise that it is more than just a frivolous bit of violent fun but is actually of one of stepping stones in the evolution of British comics and the creative team that delivered them.

Therefore for all the over the top characters and events there is something more subtle going on here - the transition of cliché sanitised "boys own" daring-do comics to something more gritty and visceral and in so doing setting us on the path to what we know and expect today.

This series I find is as much as chartering history of British comics and those involved with them as it is the exploits of the inhabitants of Mega-City 1

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful collection of one of the more obscure and clever 2000 A.D. side stories. The squad of tiny robot soldiers keep the gardens Mega-City One's richest citizens pest-free until the larger world intrudes and humans become the worst pests. John Wagner blends the sci-fi premise with Howling Commandos style war action beautifully and tops it all with a light touch and good humor. However, in the last Banzai story, our Captain goes off the rails and things take an interesting, if still funny turn toward "Apocalypse Now" territory. The only thing keeping this from being a five-star book are some random and less interesting Judge Dredd stories tacked on the end, seemingly just to pad out the length.

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection, not only does it touch on the fact that modern cities are more and more concrete jungles and small places for nature are in a small minority. Just a total shift change from the norm but then also some of these nature parks are used for one place for the weirdos and violent freaks to go.
But the major bulk is of course the awesome Banzai Battalion and they reminded me a lot of the 90s family film Small Soldiers crossed with the army men from the Toy Story franchise.
Basically they are small droids people buy to help cleanse their natural gardens. Bug Stomper is the leader of the outfit and we follow them on their battles even when they get out of hand in the sense of Bug stomper becoming rather...odd and thinking he is becoming human.
Fun stuff.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's a British thing - I don't know. I didn't get it. In fact I intensely disliked Banzai Battalion. They're quite frankly rubbish and I hope they never show up in the series again. I would have given it 1 star but the two stories that bookend this volume - A Magic Place and Down on Sausage Tree Farm - are decent enough. Maybe if you're a fan of Small Soldiers or those silly British war comics you might get something out of it. One of the worst volumes to come along so far.

[Al No · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some heavy-hitters involved in this collection. Includes the 2000 AD take on The Micronauts/Toy Story. Perhaps.

[Martin Nisbet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another classic set of tales from the Mega City, almost completely without the inclusion of Dredd. This anthology volume is also a masterclass in the sparing re-use of characters and locations over a number of years.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun collection that features a rather cheesy premise but goes on to be a darker plotline. Set in the Judge Dredd megaverse of Mega-City One, the opening story features Dredd and is a cheesy little story of tiny garden soldier robots who patrol gardens (only the rich have these) and take out garden pests. The next couple of stories have Dredd to a lesser degree until he is no longer a part of the story. The Banzaii Battalion progresses from a rote obedient robot group to a rogue element and finally the story goes dark with violence and madness. I've read a couple of these stories before; I haven't got this far in the Case Files so it must have been in other collections, thus it was nice to have the complete story of these somewhat lovable characters. All the Banzaii stories are collected here and even though they haven't appeared since 2006, their story is still open and it is feasible for their story to continue someday. To make the book a bit longer this collection then ends with a few Dredd stories, completely unrelated to Bonzaii, but with the same theme of malfunctioning robots or technology. They were okay stories, just not sure whether I appreciated them being tacked on to the end of this collection. The art is by a variety of artists and goes from 1999-2006 so covers a wide sampling of styles and is all over the place, some obviously being better than others. Certainly a fun collection and one you don't have to have any concerns with letting your kids read as it's pretty tame as far as these books usually go.

[Dave Dye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book mainly because of the quality of the art. Great artwork through out from a variety of artists. The stories are typical of the tongue in cheek type 2000AD/Judge Dredd are renown for. Stories are easy to read and not too deep, which is what you would expect. I enjoyed the book.
Previous reviewers have mentioned that there are more than the four Banzai Bn stories in this edition. I think they have read another similar edition called "Just Another Bug Hunt" which is twice the size (in page numbers), has a different cover and different ISBN.

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Dredd anthology follows the Banzai Batallion a squad of mini pest control robots who want nothing more than a garden to maintain and more often than not end up taking care of pests of the human variety. Loved this one - the stories range from satirical to quite sad and the idea of a green space makes a fantastic contrast to Mega City's usual urban sprawl.

[Matthew Gault · Rating 4 out of 5]

All out Garden Warfare. Banzai Battalion tells the story of a garden pest control unit as it struggles to keep its garden safe and well maintained.

Lots of action and nods towards old war stories make this book a fun read.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and fun.