Welcome to the best of Judge Dredd, Part two.

Hello and welcome to the next part of the best of Judge Dredd! Part two focusses on the storyline entitled ‘The Day The Law Died, which in itself is a tale of epic proportions. While not as lengthy as The Cursed Earth, it is still just as good and more than earns it’s place in my best of list.

Judge Cal and his newly promoted err Deputy Chief Pet goldfish??

TDTLD introduces a new type of enemy to Judge Dredd in the form of Judge Cal, the former head of the SJS (The Special Judicial Squad, a rather corrupt group who monitor internal affairs and pass judgement on the other judges if they are found guilty of committing a crime) who gains a promotion through his use of the SJS (and by framing Dredd) he rises to become Chief Judge, where he soon becomes mad with power (although it is more than hinted at that he was mad before), and rules over Mega-City One with an iron fist and a truly tyrannical mind. While he rules, Cal introduces all manner of ridiculous decrees, including ‘no laughter’,  ‘no conversation’ and even promotes his pet goldfish to the powerful role of Deputy Chief Judge, and in a fit of rage, he sentenced all of Mega-City One to death for not celebrating his reign in a way he sees acceptable.  The storyline follows Dredd and his team of Judges who were unaffected by Cal’s brainwashing as they struggle to save the citizens of Mega-City One and restore order. Along the way, we meet the ‘King of the Big Smelly’, Fergee, who despite being somewhat simple and violent, soon becomes a hero. For those of you who were unfortunate enough to have seen the ’95 Dredd film, Fergee was played by Rob Schneider, who was nothing more than comic relief for Dredd’s surliness.

Fergee or for those of you unfortunate enough to see the '95 Dredd....Rob Schneider

TDTLD is fantastically written, with John Wagner retaking the writing reigns after the mammoth Cursed Earth arc (See last entry for my review) and is fundamentally different to many of the previous stories; as opposed to pitting Dredd against the usual law-breaking perps, he was now confronted with the one thing he holds dear- the law and his seniors! Once again, the artwork is stunning, being done by Brian Bolland, Mike McMahon and Ron Smith (who is also known for a career in comics which lasted almost fifty years, wherein he focussed most of his work on Judge Dredd, often giving him a sleeker, meaner look and uniform to other artists) and as can be expected from such a great creative team, TDTLD is an extremely enjoyable arc.

I’ve included TDTLD in this ‘best of’ selection, as even though it is another very early story, it offers a further understanding of the totalitarian law system that Mega-City One resides in, and furthermore, we are introduced the ‘dark side’ (If you’ll forgive the over-used cliché) of the law and those who uphold it; not all Judges are like Dredd, and not all of them want what’s best for Mega-City One. I also find it to be a very enjoyable story, and is a good place for new readers to join!

Follow me on Twitter as I read through Judge Dredd’s history, and tweet random stuff:  @Ariellalphabet and check out my website

As you may or may not be aware I’ll be writing a very special Judge Dredd segment in honour of the posters and website that have been recently released for the upcoming film,  starring Karl Urban as Dredd and has absolutely nothing to do with the disaster from 1995 starring Stallone. (See my blog for a longer rant about that film!)

All ranting aside, part two of the Dredd segment will be a look at some of Dredd’s best stories from the last thirty years, as detailed through the boxes and boxes of 2000AD comics I currently have stored in my room, courtesy of my father.  Over the last few weeks, I have been reading through every single issue, every single mention of Dredd and every single story set in Mega-City One to bring to you, my readers, what the very best Dredd stories are.

Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth - "This is Mutie Country!"

Part one of the ‘best of’ segment is the truly Herculean ‘Cursed Earth’ storyline that ran for 25 progs (or issues, to us Earthlets!) and chronicled Dredd’s journey through the Cursed Earth; the molten, nuclear wilderness that lay between Mega-City One and Mega-City Two, which also contained Texas City (Mega-City Three) and Las Vegas. Dredd’s reason for trekking through the toxic wasteland was to deliver a cure to a  virus called ‘2 T (Fru) T’ that caused cannibalism, uncontrollable rage and increased hyper violence (somewhat similar to the rage virus of 28 Days Later, but incarnated thirty years earlier) that was afflicting many of the citizens of Mega-City Two. Throughout his journey, we are joined by Spikes Harvey Rotten (a tough, biker punk modelled on Sid Vicious), three fellow judges, a group of battle-ready droids, and along the way, they are joined by the mysterious, rock-eating alien Tweak. As the team traverse the savage land in a ‘Land Raider’ and a ‘Killdozer’, they come across a variety of people, both lawbreakers and law-abiders.

TCE was the first ‘epic’ of 2000AD and filled in a lot of the backstory of Mega-City One and the Judges, as well as introducing us to new characters and new places. Pat Mills (Also known for his work on the British war comic, ‘Charley’s War’, as well as a small stint working for Marvel on Punisher 2099 and Doom 2099) took the writing reigns from John Wagner for this story, and we are rewarded with gripping storytelling accompanied with a variety of new characters, both good and evil, all with their own intricately-written back-stories and histories. The artwork is shared by the incredibly talented Brian Bolland (best known for his outstanding work in Batman: The Killing Joke, and his covers for Vertigo’s The Invisibles) and the equally talented Mike McMahon, who is well known for his continuous work within 2000AD, especially on The ABC Warriors and Slaine.  The fantastic artwork of this duo is merely the cherry on top of a fantastic piece of work, which is truly gripping and tantalising, and leaves you wanting more.

Cover to Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth TPB

However, this series (sadly) suffered through a particular thorny legal battle surrounding the likenesses of the Jolly Green Giant, the Michelin Man and a whole host of well-known (but not necessarily well-loved)  mascots of fast-food franchises.  In the end, the four issues that these characters appeared in were pulled, and unless you own the original progs they appeared in, they are practically inaccessible for readers as they were never reprinted. (sadly, this included me, so I only had the text descriptions of  Judge Dredd shooting the crap out of the imaginatively named burger-tycoon Donald MacRonald, but I digress) However, even without these two (presumably) hilarious minor-arcs, TCE is still fantastic.

The reason I’ve included TCE on this best of list (aside from the amazing creative team behind it) is because it is the first (and one of the longest) major Dredd stories, and is an ideal place for new readers to begin, regardless of their prior knowledge of Dredd, as it gives you a back-story of Mega-City One.

Follow me on Twitter as I read through Judge Dredd’s history, and tweet random stuff:  @Ariellalphabet and check out my website