Dredd vs. Death

Judge Dredd novels from Black Flame #1

by Gordon Rennie

Based on the Playstation 2/PC game from Vivendi! In the vast, sprawling MegaCity One, a plague is spreading amongst the billions of inhabitants, turning innocent citizens into blood-crazed vampires. With the Justice Department struggling against spiraling crime rates, Judge Dredd teams up with Judge Anderson and ex-Judge De Marco to investigate the trail of carnage and death left by the enigmatic Death Cult. But, when their leader Necrus unleashes the Dark Judges--Death, Fear, Fire, and Mortis--Dredd is forced into the undead world and a battle for his soul!

Genres: Science Fiction, Comics, Horror, Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 28, 2003

About the author

Freelance writer for over 20 years – When he’s not being ungainfully employed as a BAFTA-nominated video games scriptwriter, he keeps himself busy writing comics, novels, screenplays and Doctor Who audio plays. Comics work includes Predator, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Missionary Man, Necronauts, Caballistics Inc and Absalom, and Dept. of Monsterology for Renegade.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in the Dredd omnibus from Abaddon Books.

Vote: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2

'Good morning, citizens,' hissed the eerie, sibilant voice on the tri-d. 'Once again, a sinister black pall has settled over the entire city, blocking out all light and hope, while the temperature will be somewhere round about zero, meaning that you can leave the corpses of your friends and loved ones to fester for a while longer yet. If you are foolish or brave enough to venture outside, remember that the curfew is still in force and that you will be shot on sight... which would be a real pity, since we have provided so many other more interesting and painful ways for you to die.'



Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs Death is a first-person shooter videogame released in 2003 in Europe, and two years later worldwide, based on the Judge Dredd character and tales from the 2000 AD British comic-book magazine.



'All this pleases us very much,' the monstrosity continued. 'Your help in achieving our great work is very much appreciated. Even now, our brothers work tirelessly to bring justice to you all, but they are few, and you are so many. Be patient, remain in your homes and they will get to you in time.'
The creature's voice was rising, moving swiftly towards a shrieking crescendo: 'It is a momentous task we have set ourselves. To purge this city, to cleanse all of you, its teeming millions. To grant you eternal absolution from the greatest crime of all... life itself!'



I purchased it when it was sold for cheap attached to a magazine a few years later, but it is still packed somewhere likewise so many other games I buyed in the past and never played... You know: so many videogames, so little time.



He found his destiny in Whitman Plaza. The surface of the square had been violently ripped up, transformed into a series of giant craters which were now being used as mass graves. There were Judges everywhere, herding in groups of citizens in their hundreds, barking harsh orders at them, lining them up in neat rows at the lips of the craters and then sending their lifeless corpses tumbling down into the burial pits amidst crashing volleys of Lawgiver fire. Some of the people in the mass graves were still alive, and an occasional laughing Judge would fire into the pits with rippling bursts, making the corpses piled down there dance and jerk as the high-velocity Lawgiver bullets tore through them. Those they missed were left to die, suffocating beneath the weight of the new layers of corpses that soon fell down to join them.



This novelization from Scottish writer Gordon Rennie, not new at all to me having read lots of his works in the past, is an excellent non-stop action packed tie-in to the game storyline, with the ultimate future law enforcer battling the Dark Judges, human cultists worshipping them, bio-enginereed vampires and a growing horde of walking deads.



Anderson closed her eyes, bringing her psi-powers to focus on the images still burning in her brain. A moment's concentration, a careful sectioning off of the various areas of her mind to prevent random and subconscious psi-spill from polluting the memory of the images she had picked up, and then she was ready to replay the nightmare she had just experienced.
"I see blood, Control. Lots of blood."



Main storyline was changed with events starring Dredd in the game happening to ever-loving Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson, Judge Giant (jr.), and former Judge Galen DeMarco P. I., a character previously under the spotlight in the past because of infamous 'DeMarco Unzipped' cover, reprinted due to popular demand, and later reprinted again as a double page pin-up in the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1996.





It was the Big Meg, the craziest and most violent city on Earth, home to four hundred million citizens, every one of them a potentially violent criminal, and Grud help her, she loved every over-populated, crime-ridden, polluted and blood-stained square metre of it.



Mr. Rennie wrote hundreds of Judge Dredd comics before this novelization, so he knows well his job, and filled this book with lots of  references to past storylines like The Dark Judges, The Armageddon War and Necropolis, adding lots of flesh and fun to a plot originally developed for an unremarkable FPS "shoot'em up" videogame with weak A.I., lackluster graphics, and simplistic gameplay, but still enjoyable a lot by fans of Judge Dredd because of iconic features like the Lawgiver choice-weaponry, the 'law meter' gauging the player's adherence to the laws of Mega-City One, Dredd speaking priceless movies jokes during a game like "I love the smell of justice in the morning" and "dead or alive you are coming with me", names of Dredd's classic artists like Brian Bolland popping up sometimes on neon insignias, and last but not least the craziness of the futuristic dystopic megalopolis and its citizens, so well depicted in this book by the author with lots of humour and funny easter-eggs ranging from zombies sieging a mall, like in George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and its most recent remake, a bizzarre commercial starring a lovecraftian corpse reanimating green reagent like the one used by Herbert West in Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator  gore-fest and its sequels, and some hilarious city-block names  based on popular american actors and politicians, italian erotic movie director Tinto Brass, and author Jack Yeovil aka Kim Newman, a colleague of Rennie in his former Black Library writer days.



"Stay here and supervise, Giant. I want full forensics back-up on this one. Let me know what they find. Anyone wants me, I'll be finishing the rest of my patrol shift."
Giant watched him go. No, Old Stony Face never changed. Vamps, freaks, muties and weirdoes Dredd took in his stride, but every chance he got, he always pulled rank and left someone else to deal with the paperwork



Being a long time fan of Judge Dredd I enjoyed a lot this novel, a quick, funny, and sometimes brutal, entertaining read with tons of action and cinematic scenes: the one about Anderson attacked by vampires in the first chapters has nothing to envy the highway chase fight from The Matrix Reloaded in my opinion, and that bleak prologue set in the Dark Judges reign of terror from the Necropolis comic-books storyline was so dark and good that made me wanna re-read that saga again as soon as possible.



"Who did the pre-cog warning come from?" asked Hershey, suspecting she already knew the answer.
"Well... Anderson," said Shenker reluctantly.
There was a series of muted sighs from several Judges in the room. Although no one questioned Anderson's psi-abilities - she was without doubt Psi-Division's top operative - her reputation could only be described as... troublesome, at best.



My only complaint about this book is that after a thrilling set-up and a nice look inside the head of a 60 years old, pushed to his physical and mental limits, tired Joe Dredd, the final confrontations between the Judges and their Dark counterparts where so much rushed and similar to many previous ones (but the "Gaze into the fist of Dredd!" comeback of one of the best panels of comicdom ever was just awesome!), with the main cast of good guys never in real danger of death being this videogame based tale a long time running comic-book series tie-in too.



Suddenly, without warning, something detached itself from the flame-filled furnace that was now the van's rear compartment. It was a human figure, covered in fire. It leapt - flew, almost - from the rear of the van, covering the nearly ten-metre gap between the burning van and Anderson's position in an astounding feat of strength, landing on the bullet-scarred front of the Lawmaster with a bone-jarring impact.



Besides that, this was nearly a five stars read for me and I've finally unpacked my old copy of the Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs Death videogame and playing it now at last after so many years: thanks to my daughter for shooting a nice pic of her crazy old dad.





"You're DeMarco?" asked Anderson, surprise evident in her voice. "The one that used to be Sector Chief in 303? The one that..."
Anderson's voice drifted off, but DeMarco knew what she had been about to say.
The one that's supposed to have tried to get Dredd into the sack with her? Yeah, that's me, ma'am. Guilty as charged.



Drokk!!!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is supposedly based on a video game, but I've never heard of the game and it read like a great stand alone novel to me. The four "Death Judges" escape and attempt to turn Mega City One into a wasteland with no one left alive. The judges use vampires and zombies to carry out their plans, and only Dredd and the other judges stand in their way.

There's nothing ground breaking here, it's the standard good guy vs. bad guy action movie type storyline, but as that type of story goes I really enjoyed it. If you're a Judge Dredd fan you'll probably appreciated the many references to past storylines and characters, but even if you're knew to the character you'll pick things up pretty quickly.

[Scott Hibberson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable romp through the crazy world of Mega City One.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge Judge Dredd fan. Have been since I bought my first copy of 2000 A.D. when I was in high school. Creator John Wagner is brilliant. So it was kind of disappointing to read "Dredd Vs, Death" by Rennie Gordon, a novel that acts as a semi-sequel to Wagner's 1998 graphic novel "Necropolis", in which Mega-City One is overrun by zombies and vampires and the Four Dark Judges, led by Judge Death. The four evil judges come from an alternate universe where they have essentially killed every living thing, because, according to them, life itself is the greatest sin. Of course, Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson team up to save MC1 and the world. Apparently there was an XBOX game based on this graphic novel, too. In any case, Gordon's novel is, well, meh... Some stories just don't translate from comic book into video game into novel form, and this is an example. There is no character development whatsoever, which may seem like a petty complaint about a novel based on a comic book series, but the novel is the BEST way to develop characters, getting into their heads, seeing what they are thinking and feeling, delving into their past. I would love to hear the interior monologue of Judge Dredd. Alas, Gordon pretty much just tells a straight shoot-'em-up action/adventure story, which is okay. I was just expecting more, I suppose. At least there are zombies in it...

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

"One of the Death cultists clambered up onto the platform, throwing himself down to kneel, hands clasped in supplication, at the feet of Death. "Master!" He begged. "Grant me eternal existence. Let me join you there in the glorious realm beyond life and death!"
"With pleasure, sinner," cackled Death, sinking his hands seamlessly through the shell of the mans skull and squeezing its contents with his clawed fingers. The cultist fell fell dead at the monsters feet, frozen in an expression of pain and horror on his face suggesting that the experience had been somewhat different from what he had hoped."

Blimey! this is one hell of a high octane thrill ride of a book and more fun than any pulp novel has any right to be.

I never played the game from which this is adapted but I have read the comics, and this is a superb rendering of the insanity, brutality and dark comedy of the comic strip. Going back to Dredd and the world of Mega City One after not seeing/reading anything for a while (Apart from Urban’s movie of Dredd) I was a bit concerned that there would be backstory I missed out on, I shouldn’t have worried the author weaves enough intro the narrative for those left out of the loop. 

This is perhaps as close to a cinematic experience of Dredd that the page can offer, set pieces abound interspersed with breathing space for the reader just before going headlong into an even more exhausting and exhilarating action scene.

This really exceeded my expectations.

Drokk it!

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the original run of Judge Dredd comics were more of a tongue in cheek, satire, of the times, the more modern reiterations of old Stoney face have been far more serious and action packed. Especially when it comes to the prose and violence of the novels.

That is made abundantly clear in Dredd vs Death, an apparent pseudo sequel to the mid 2000’s video game of the same name.

Simply put, I really enjoyed Dredd vs Death for its non stop action and far more realistic description of what life must be like In fictional mega city one. Unlike the comics, this one fits more along the lines of the Dredd film, which is good because the gore factor and violence is ratcheted up and the dark Judges are actually formidable opponents.

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four dark Judges from another dimension with the philosophy of living being the biggest crime will judge citizens. Judge Death will reach into bodies and rip out hearts with his claw like hand. These four judges once captured will escape with the help of one evil son of a bitch who will also creates a virus that's turns people into a superhuman vampires that will rip throats and bite through kelvar suits. Judge Dredd who hates paperwork will have to battle the vampiric gene reprogramming creatures as well as the evil four dark judges.

[Dave Tindall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Always enjoyed reading Judge Dredd and loved Judge Death.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really surprised with how much fun this book was! Super fast paced with fun action and some great bits of satire. A book that understands the inherent satire that drives the world of Dredd.

[Jack Oughton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda predictable and cheesy, but also fun and funny.

Unerringly, there's a part near the end which made me understand how it feels to want to die.

[Mark Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

One mass killer on the side of law and order, against four supernatural entities from another dimension, hell bent on destroying all crime in Mega-City 1 & eventually the world, i.e: LIFE, what's not to like?
That said though, it's an easy read and could easily have been any issue of the great mag itself, never mind a platform computer game.
I used to read these mags in my mid teens and loved them then, good to see the characters in book form, even the odd celluloid attempts were pleasant enough, though not sure if they captured all the elements that made the world of Dredd & Anderson, all too real.

[S.S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

although I like the Dredd series of graphic novels, this book reads like a drunken freshman trying to explain the plot and significance of the matrix. The action is watered down, the character development is non-existent.

I quit the book halfway.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the first book in the Judge Dredd series, it clearly takes place well after the recent movie and I'm guessing a lot of the comic history. Those that are avid readers of the comics may be more familiar with the background that may enrich the reading experience.

[Chris Neumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judge Dredd fights a ton of vampires, zombies, and evil undead Dark Judges. A novel that didn't make me think a lot, and sometimes that is a nice thing.

[Sean C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good - pretty much what you would expect. Decent story. Consistent characters.

[Patrik Olterman Rodhe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vampires, zombies and super villains in Mega City one. Dredd, Andersson, Hershey and Giant, lawgivers, lawmasters and mega mayhem, what more can one ask for?

[Joey Simeroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than expected. This book has some pretty poor reviews and seems to be considered the worst of the series. I still enjoyed it which makes me even more interested in reading the others.

[J.L. Perish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, slimy, intense trip to Mega City One. Nothing groundbreaking here, but not all books need to be. I had fun with it and that's all that matters to me.

[Phil Deane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit cheesy, but as a kid I loved reading the 200AD and Judge Dredd comics, so it was like reliving my childhood.

An easy read, which kept me entertained.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is

Very good, based on a game by rebellion, although not one I've played. As good as any story in 2000ad