| Title | : | Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 02 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1904265839 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781904265832 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published April 22, 1978 |
This second volume features the very first Dredd epic The Cursed Earth, written by comic legends Pat Mills (Sláine) and John Wagner (A History of Violence) and featuring the art of Mike McMahon (ABC Warriors) and Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke).
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 02 Reviews
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This is where the "Judge Dredd" series really starts hitting its stride and becomes what it's revered for today. The bulk of it being long and ambitious story arcs that perfectly balance between suspenseful action-adventure, political drama and goofy British humour. You know, what I loved so much about the 2012 "Dredd" film except perhaps a level sillier.
"The Cursed Earth" has to be my favourite, it's clearly inspired by Roger Zelazny's classic novel "Damnation Alley" right down to having a pardoned outlaw biker follow the Judges on their trek across the radioactive wasteland to deliver vital medical equipment to the other end of the country. And just as Zelazny's "Damnation Alley" inspired everything from "Judge Dredd" to "Escape From New York" and "Mad Max", there are subplots in "The Cursed Earth" that must have inspired other works of science-fiction: "Jurassic Park" with cloned dinosaurs taking over a tourist attraction though here it's a rodeo rather than a zoo, robotic supersoldiers like James Cameron's Terminator, even a cute intelligent alien whose story plays like a cross between "E. T." and "Alf". I'm surprised that 2000 A. D. didn't sue Michael Crichton or James Cameron, but I wager that if they did so then Roger Zelazny would sue them.
The other long epic storyline here, "The Day the Law Died" is also quite good: A futuristic retelling of the corrupt Roman emperor Caligula's reign, right down to the tyrannical judge Cal appointing his goldfish deputy judge in reference to Caligula making his horse senator - one of my all time favourite laugh-out-loud funny moments in "Judge Dredd". We also get some more insight into how the futuristic totalitarian state of Mega-City One actually functions in organisational structure, and another humourous but just as hard-as-nails sidekick for Dredd in a homeless lowlife miscreant named Fergee. Him and the biker Spikes Harvey Rotten both work perfectly as comic foils to the totally serious Dredd.
One thing I like about the long story arcs here is that they give the writers an opportunity to constantly throw in new and wacky ideas but still make them fit perfectly into the overall look and feel of the universe which remains consistent. Even today, the Judge Dredd universe doesn't feel boxed-in or hard to make sense of like with Marvel or DC's superhero comics. Come to think of it, the atmosphere of Judge Dredd is basically what Games Workshop based the less glamourous parts of the Warhammer 40,000 universe on! (the more glamourous ones being more like "Dune" except the Empire being cod-Roman instead of cod-Ottoman) -
So now I've finally, at age 45, been able to read the entire Cursed Earth story arc - that was going to earn this collection a 5 star rating all on its own but throw in the "Day the Law Died" epic as well and you have me reduced to an excited eight year old again. Honestly seeing the cover art in the back of this book brought home vivid memories of my dad bringing progs home from the newsagents for me each Monday - these collections are worth the read for that feeling alone. On to volume three, and the first appearance of Judge Death!
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4,5
Read this again for the second time. This is the one which got me hooked. It is broken into three parts. Cursed Earth. Judge Cal. 6 or so extra stories. The Cursed Earth is excellent world building exercise and deservedly recognised as so. It is damn Mad Max. So good that I have ordered the uncensored version :) The Judge Cal is strong and so satirical and another of my favourite stories.
Also, the final few stories are entertaining enough but do feel a little unnecessary after two almost epic stories. My review stands!
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I was on the fence about reading these. I read a couple of issues of 2000AD as a kid and watched the Judge Dredd Movies but that is it. As an avid comic read beginning with the writing of Gaiman, Moore and later Kirkman and the weird and wonderful world of Image and other independent companies - I thought that I had not only missed the boat, but missed the chance to enjoy this series.
I was wrong!
The way that panels are designed, or not designed, seemed initially jarring but I loved the flow of the progs (not issues) after reading a couple. The book is cheesy at times and full of social commentary which I dig. I heard that starting with Case Files 1 or 5 was the way to go but I decided to ignore the advice and start here with 2.
The two epics in this collection ''the cursed earth' and the ''day the law died'' are equally entertaining for me. The first as a Mad Max adventure across a land ridden with mutants, robots and dinosaurs. the second, a dystopian totalitarian story with a cracking villain. Both storylines have cool secondary characters from space, the underworld and the most terrifying, education!
I was also taken back by the Jurassic Part, Elysium and Purge storylines which are included in some of the props. Talk about ahead of your time. That said, the final story about Frankenstein calls it what it is - and I appreciated that condor. It reminded me of Robert England being cast in Stranger things 4 - 'Yeah, we know, you know, and it rocks'.
Brilliant. This first case file will be my benchmark going forward. My only grip is that the art is at times OK to good, Mick McMahon and other times, amazing - Brian Bolland y'all. And I found the transition jarring initially but it may become part of its charm. Indeed, that transition might not be an issue moving forward but it was a bit when jumping into Dredd for the first time. -
Contains two stories that took a year of the comics time. 'Cursed Earth' sees Dredd drive across America to take a virus antidote to Mega City 2 battling mutants, cannibals and dinosaurs led by the iconic T-Rex Satanus. Superb story.
Dredd returns home to find the evil Judge Cal taking over his city in 'The Day The Law Died'. Huge story arc as he, and the injured Judges who now teach at the Academy, are the only army to stand against the tyrant - one of the greatest Dredd stories. Classic tales and all with amazing artwork. -
Cursed earth and Judge Cal story-arcs are two masterworks.
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I discovered Judge Dredd through watching the 2012 film Dredd (Directed by Pete Travis). The DVD contained a little documentary on the history and significance of the comic that inspired my interest. The Complete Case Files 02 is the first volume I was able to find, and thus my first exposure to the world of the Judge Dredd comic.
This volume surprised me. Somehow--perhaps it was the stylistics of the film version--I'd expected a more serious work filled with incisive political satire. Instead, the stories in this volume feature plots that can be predictable and characters that are broadly drawn and silly (Consider the sentimental Judge Schmaltz and a redneck strongman named Fergie, always depicted as surrounded by a cloud of flies). I would say that Judge Dredd seems out of place in such a silly world, but on second thought, his own one-note seriousness fits right in with other characters that seem defined by singular traits.
I'm not the kind of person to feel cheated when a work takes me in a direction other than the one I expected. I like gags and puns and silliness as much as the next person. Moreover, the volume as a whole was elevated by the superiority of the storyline "The Day the Law Died," which describes Dredd's struggle against the tyrannical usurper Cal. There's something delightful in seeing Cal, every inch an insane Roman emperor, outdo himself in crazy evil. At the same time, it's a bit of a letdown when we are made to understand why it is that the majority of Judges have obeyed, rather than rebelling against, Cal. The potential for raising interesting ethical questions about the morality of the judge system is bypassed in favor of a much more pat explanation. And that is really too bad, because the story doesn't address the question of how the system could have failed so spectacularly as to permit an aberration like Cal to exist.
In the balance, this volume of Judge Dredd stories was enjoyable, and had its own peculiar tonal charm in its admixture of action and silliness. -
It's a commonplace to observe that the iconic characters of American comics are in a bit of a rut lately; there are honourable exceptions, but mostly they're either changing for change's sake, or endlessly retreading old adventures. In particular, all the big 'Event' stories of the last few years have felt like pointless, commercially-driven rehashes. How different, then, British comics' great protagonist, Judge Dredd. This collection contains the first two attempts to get him past a series of unconnected cases week to week, and into 'Mega-Epics' - 'The Cursed Earth' and 'The Day The Law Died'. And, for the most part, they're not very good. Sure, there are moments of pure thrill-power, but Dredd's world still feels a little gimcracked; his character's not yet consistent; the stories hop disjointedly from incident to incident, with plot and tone oscillating wildly. And let's not even mention the misjudged Blaxploitation antics of Judge Giant. Compare and contrast 'Day of Chaos', the epic currently running, which is a perfectly poised, '24'-influenced study of cascading collapse, rooted in a solid and ramified world, and vibrant characterisation. It's even the same writer, John Wagner, who contributes much of this. And if he's never become a household name, still, it's clear that he's been honing his craft all this time. Weirdly heartening.
(Also - this isn't really 'complete', since copyright cases mean that a few satirical episodes of 'The Cursed Earth' can never be reprinted. -
Two very great Dredd stories happen back-to-back in this volume, super fucking fun to read with some stellar art. This book has single handed lay converted me into the church of Dredd.
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This book is the beginning of the Judge Dredd I remember from my youth. While the first volume presented him as a distant, cold man of judgement this book adds more depth and understanding to the character and the world he inhabits.
There are two epic tales in this volume originally serialized over a few months in the weekly 2000ad comics. The first one is the 'Cursed Earth' saga that finds Dredd on a mercy mission to the west coast Mega-City 2. The trouble is that in between the two mega cities is a nuclear wasteland inhabited by mutants, dinosaurs, mega-city rejects and killer military robots. This is rich source material for the writers and artists who exploit it perfectly. They are not afraid to use iconic American landmarks in telling the tale as Mount Rushmore, the Mississippi river and Las Vegas all get the cynical, whimsical touch that I remember so well. And despite the lack of color in these comics there are still some great imagery to be found. However, due to some copyright nonsense, there is a segment missing that involves two townships. One is dedicated to a certain hamburger joint that is ruled by a clown and the other town honors another hamburger joint ruled by a king. I'm sure you can figure out who the writers were poking fun at with this stories but I guess the fast food lawyers didn't get it because this story is completely removed. Bummer. I took a star off for this reason and although I realize that it's not the publishers fault, I still felt the saga suffered because of this fact. Otherwise the 'Cursed Earth' saga is memorable action-adventure-sci-fi story that creates it's own world far removed from the anything the reader will know and that was enough for me.
The second epic draws it's inspiration from the book and TV series 'I, Claudius' that was very popular at the time. It transplant the emperor Caligula to Mega-City 1 and makes him the chief judge were he precedes to go totally bat shit crazy and the citizens of the mega city suffer because of this. Judge Cal, as he's known here, makes a goldfish his deputy, outlaws fun and makes some poor judge patrol the city in his underwear. More importantly he forces Dredd to become a fugitive of justice and lead a rebellion to overthrow the mad Judge. This is a drastic change for Dredd but one that he takes on full bore wallowing in the belly of the mega-city and aligning himself with some dubious characters. There are some great action sequences in this epic and the mega-city come alive. This is the better story of the two and, because of the copyright nonsense, the longer of the two. Dredd is still Dredd and the Dirty Harry influence is strong but here we see him using strategy to beat his foe and not just brute force.
The artwork is the same as in the first volume with the panels packed full to bursting with characters and images and there is no color to be found. There are multiple artists used in these tales and that can be disorientating to some especially with the rendering of Judge Cal. I'm assuming that because 2000ad was a weekly comic the publishers didn't want the artists to suffer from burn out with these characters. This fact didn't bother me though as much as the writing. The stories and concepts are good but the writing does let the book down. It seems rushed and is full of stereo-type more at home in satire than sci-fi. And the dialog is not much better. Again, being a weekly comic I assume that the editing in the writing was not a priority when a deadline had to be met. This fact also helped to remove a star.
despite the problems I had with this book I would still recommend it. This is Judge Dredd at his best. Occupying a world and space unique to his character in two large and memorable adventures. This may not be the best example of this format but this is were it all began and is still an enjoyable read. -
I am the LAW!!!! This was my first exposure to Judge Dredd. I started with Case Files 02 because I read that 01 was kind of bad. I never felt like I missed anything.
I enjoyed the stories and LOVED the art. I imagine the two story arcs were nuts to the wall, bad ass, innovative stuff in 1978. I give it bonus nostalgia points for this reason. I'd compare it to watching Cheers today. Great, but a different time/structure.
This is a sci-if, futuristic United States. The world building is amazing. I liked learning about the Judge system. The writers threw in dinosaurs, mutants, aliens and rednecks along with American history Easter eggs. All this with Judge Dredd playing the straight man.
I'm planning on checking out future Case Files. If this were a reread of a familiar character, I would probably be giving it five stars. I recommend.
Great art law breakers!! -
https://booknest.eu/reviews/charles/2...
JUDGE DREDD: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES VOLUME 2 is where I think Judge Dredd officially "starts." The previous volume showed Judge Dredd not having found its identity while the subsequent one has: this is a Dredd that manages to be hilarious by being played perfectly straight against absurd but terrifyingly violent situations. There were some good moments in the first volume but this is just more consistently good throughout.
The first long arc of the volume is "The Cursed Earth" arc where Judge Dredd must travel across the former United States on foot with a former criminal, some fellow Judges, a huge tank, and a bunch of vaccine that needs to be delivered to Mega City 2. Mega City 2, which compromises the West Coast, is suffering a zombie plague. It isn't called a zombie plague, George Romero being a bit from his heyday, but it makes everyone into mindless cannibals so we might as well call a shovel a shovel.
The majority of these stories are essentially horror stories about the Judges encountering something weird in the Cursed Earth like a town that executes prisoners with giant rats, a town that executes prisoners with a Tyrannosaurus Rex cloned from a theme park (decades before Jurassic Park), and a gang of slavers who torture aliens. There's some good stories among these somewhat sideshow like tales like when Judge Dredd deals with America's last President that has been confused with being a vampire and cleaning up Las Vegas of corruption.
There's some missing stories in this volume that were lost via rights issues due to the parodies of things like McDonalds and KFC. From what I understand, these are not particularly interesting stories and much isn't lost. However, we do get a surprisingly interesting set of relationships for Dredd like his association with an ex-biker and convict as well as an alien mouse that is a lot smarter than us humans. It's mostly a bunch of action set-pieces but the art and grotesque vision of 21st century America deserve applause. It dramatically expanded the Judge Dredd world.
The next arc is, "The Day the Law Died" where Judge Cal takes over Mega City One and begins an incredibly tyrannical spree of terror that includes naming his fish Deputy Chief Judge, banning happiness, and other acts of insanity. Based after Caligula, Judge Cal is always entertaining but as deep as a puddle. We never learn why Judge Cal is insane and you'd think they would have picked that up in the Judge's genetic as well as psychological screening. Even so, he proves to be a formidable foe for Judge Dredd and it's interesting to watch our protagonist largely helpless against the system that trained him.
Despite enjoying it more than "The Cursed Earth" I have to say that I it is a story that runs a little too long. It also doesn't get very deep into the contradictions Judge Cal introduces into Dredd's world of being the Chief Judge and making Dredd an outlaw. Hell, even the Sylvester Stallone movie touched on that. The fact Judge Cal is using mind control on his fellow Judges also makes the story less interesting than it might have been. On the plus side, it has giant alien mutant alligators with guns.
There's a couple of interesting stories following this but nothing particularly memorable. One story is outright offensive with a tale of some stupid liberals having sympathy for a criminal who subsequently takes one of them hostage. There's also a better story about Judge Dredd going after some criminals who have lost their fear of the judges. Overall, this book is a marked improvement over the original. -
I started with volume 3, went back to vol. 1 and now I picked up vol. 2. I guess I will keep trying to find more of these if I can find them for a reasonable price. This is where Dredd started getting involved in multi-chapter epic stories which sometimes ran weekly over several months. We start with the Cursed Earth saga and follow it up with the story of Chief Judge Caligula, as much a victim of nominative determinism as anything else.
It's mostly great stuff with the occasional standout issue penciled by Brian Bolland or Dave Gibbons, but the writing is uniformly cheeky. These stories were originally published in 1978. At a time when I was too young to understand the fascist overtones of Dirty Harry, I don't think I could have appreciated that peculiarly British mashup of satire and homage that define Dredd during this period. -
Judge Dredd must deliver a vital vaccine to Mega City Two, crossing the Cursed Earth with all its hazards as quickly as possible. On his return, he finds that Mega City One has been taken over by a lunatic dictator.
For legal reasons at the time of printing, 'Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 02' does not contain the progs referring to McDonald's, Burger King or Green Giant. These progs were later cleared for publication in 'Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth Uncensored', which is an interesting companion. However, due to the episodic nature of the storyline, the missing progs will not detract overmuch from the story arc.
The satirical nature of 'Judge Dredd' makes these stories an interesting historical artefact as well as an enjoyable read. The grim artwork is blunt, brutal and lends itself perfectly to the world of Mega Cities. -
Great stuff. . .on to Case Files 03!
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Brilliant
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Wow
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The first volume of Dredd shows us a comic finding its feet. While this series is still no way near the heights it will eventually reach we really see it beginning to run in this edition. I read 2000ad as a child from about 8 years old and these pre-date my reading so I am enjoying the classic tales that were spoken of even when I first began.
This is good. The book has BOTH the cursed earth series and Judge Cal and these are brilliant series. The stories are immense but due to the limitations of the episodic format at the time they are clearly none as in depth as they could have been.
While impressed with the scope of the books there are limitations. On occasion the story is too juvenile, some of the puns too obvious and so they can take you out of the story. The art is better and more consistent but not as good as it will get. Art of course is all about preference but the first time you really note Brian Bolland in here you really see a great at work. His work is detailed and precise yet stylised at the same time. He was one of my favourite artists when I was reading it.
Judge Dredd is an icon, he inhabits a space few others can. British created, iconic stature and someone who works both as a straight action hero, unbending in his resolve to what what he believes is right, but also one who can be read as an ironic caricature as well. A mirror to the many ailments within society.
I'll keep reading. These books also represent good value for money. There is a lot of material here for the price you pay. These books take time to read and the content is dense, thick with plot and character. Given such limited space the writers and artists clearly wanted to pack it in. There are details within that warrant a second and third look.
Most importantly, these are a lot of fun. Despite the odd moment where they do not hit the mark you never tire or get bored. I know that from here on in they are going to get better and better but I am happy to read it from the start and watch the evolution of a classic. -
I'm going to work my way through the Dredd case file books one by one, until I'm as up to date as possible.
I didn't read these early tales in 2000AD, but caught up on them in the eighties in the Eagle/Quality comics US comic size colour reprints. Those issues, it seems, missed out occasional episodes for various reasons. Being a complete chronological reprint*, the complete case files keep throwing out episodes I've never seen before, which is always a pleasure.
This book features two of the classic Dredd epic tales- Cursed Earth and Judge Caligula.
The premise of Cursed Earth is stolen almost whole from
Damnation Alley, the Judges travelling East to West across America rather than the other way. The over-arching plot of getting a vaccine to Mega City 2 breaks down into a series of shorter tales, as Dredd and his crew encounter the various bizarre denizens of the desert- vampire robots, cloned dinosaurs, alien slaves and more.
Returning from Mega City 2, Dredd is framed by power-crazy (and just plain crazy crazy) Judge Caligula, who is making a power grab for absolute control of Mega City 1. This story is more of a sustained plot than Cursed Earth. Cal's plans are revealed piece by piece, Dredd and his band of rebels gain victories and suffer setbacks, and it all leads to a grand showdown.
The classic stories are complemented by a roster of classic artists, particularly Mike McMahon and Brian Bolland. Many of the episodes open with a double page spread, giving extra thrill-power to them.
*Apart from, in this edition, four episodes which have never been reprinted anywhere because they depicted certain fast food chains and a well known food advertising green giant and drew threats of copyright based lawsuits. -
The first collection of Judge Dredd progs was decent. I wouldn't say it was amazing or eye opening, but it did introduce the most famous of all 2000 A.D. creations and it showed the potential of where things could go.
That's probably why this second collection was that much better. Included are the amazing arcs of "The Cursed Earth" and "The Day the Law Died", both of which further Judge Dredd's character and the background of the United States in 2100. It's also a lot better because, while it still is satirical, and still contains the annoying Walter the Robot (who is like the Jar Jar Binks of this franchise), there is a darker, somewhat more realistic tone that starts to drive this out of the silliness and into something more readable and believable than the first few progs. (Although, yes I know, the Satunus thing was a little weird).
Both of the collected arcs in here are quite enjoyable as well. Any fan of Dredd (of which I am quickly becoming) will appreciate "The Cursed Earth" epic as it finally moves things beyond Mega City 1. I, though, preferred "The Day the Law Died" as it gave us a more fitting (modern) satire on Caligula (its hard to miss the crazy Judge's name is "Cal") and the corruption of power.
Overall, this is a great addition to the Dredd files and a step in the right direction. Can't wait to start "Case Files 03". -
This is where Judge Dredd really starts to take shape. Starting with the Cursed Earth saga that builds much of the world and mythology around Mega City 01 and then continuing with the Mad Chief Judge Cal arc, Case Files is 02 where Dredd fans can really see begin to see the character as we know him. Gone are the simple single issue stories. Everything ties together and everything further reveals the world of Judge Dredd. The art is FANTASTIC, especially the pages by Brian Bolland. While Mike McMahon's art is great, the Bolland pages are extra crisp and memorable by comparison. For budding and veteran Dredd fans alike, this is a great place to learn about the character and the world he inhabits.
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Huge improvement in writing from volume one to volume two. The Cursed Earth and The Day the Law Died are the first two massive story arcs in Dredd canon, and while they maintain the film serial feel of the short progs, you actually get a sense of multifaceted character development and humanity here.
I especially enjoyed Chief Judge Cal(igula)'s crazed dictator in the latter story -- very Roman Empire, and purposefully so. A post-apocalyptic Mega City One would almost certainly attract crazed leaders and inbred megalomaniacs like Cal to the top of the food chain. -
This was fun to read, but quite different to the usual graphic novels that I normally read... for one.. it's a British comic and written a lot different than our comics here in the USA... two... it was written in the 70's... comics were a lot different back then with story lines and such... a very simple way of telling the stories compared to the layered story telling in this day and age. It just shows the evolution of the comic telling art. This volume has a ton of stories...
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This book earned it's 4 stars (unlike CC1). Still has some of the early comic issues, but it's a lot more fully fleshed out and contains some actually solid story arcs (starting with Cursed Earth). Less of the "bad guy of the week" type stories, they are used more like bookends to the big arcs. Solid entry.
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Dredd world finally begins to take shape. Cursed Earth is conceptually great but a bit weak in execution. The highlight is “The Day The Law Died”. A gripping dredd epic.
The harshness of the character that we know today finally materialises by the end of the second epic and “Punks Rule” is stony face present and correct. -
I’ve been a huge fan of Judge Dredd since the 80’s and it ranks among my top favorite series of all times. The reason why is quite simple; Judge Dredd is the very rare example of a series that does everything right. I’ve reviewed a lot of books and a whole lot of comic compilation and there are almost always strength and weaknesses to a writer’s skill set. Some writers are great at coming up with ideas but not so great at story plotting. Or a writer might excel at plotting and pacing but lack in writing characterization. Judge Dredd nails EVERYTHING; pacing, plotting, characterization, dialogue, creativity, you name it. There is a brilliant mixture of action, humor, satire and some emotion.
The only complaints I can see is that the stories are in black and white (as originally presented) and some of the art is on the rough side. American comics tend to have a slicker, more polished look but the art here has a very organic, energetic charm. The styles of artists like Brian Bolland and Mike McMahon are radically different but none of them are bad. McMahon’s art is particularly rough but includes a tremendous amount of detail and the movements of characters look authentic. It also works well given nature of the story.
The first half of the book is the brilliant 25 chapter ‘The Cursed Earth’ saga. Judge Dredd and a small group need to travel all the way across the Cursed Earth between the massive east coast Mega City One to the west coast Mega City Two to deliver a vaccine and stop a massive plague. He heads out in the awesome Killdozer along with Spikes Harvey Rotten, who was introduced as a villain in the previous book. The story has a very Road Warrior type feel to it, a movie which came several years after this comic was first published.
Judge Dredd gets no rest following the Cursed Earth saga and it immediately moves into The Day the Law Died and the Judge Caligula story arc. This was one of my all-time favorite Judge Dredd stories when I was much younger. The psychopathic Judge Caligula manages to seize the position of Chief Judge and put Mega City One at risk of extinction. I love the concept of the Judge Cal story and I even have figurines of Judge Cal and Fergee which I’ve owned for decades but I confess that the Cursed Earth saga is better written. John Howard reuses a lot of ideas within the story, in particular Judge Cal calls for the execution of all Mega City One citizens three separate times. It’s also a little disorienting when every chapter seems to have a different artist. Cal has a basic look with blond curly hair but the artists all render him differently. On the other hand, this is a story I remember distinctly even from three decades ago and it’s definitely one of the all-time great Judge Dredd story arcs.
There are a few shorter stories at the end, most notably the three-part DNA man. Besides the similarities to the Road Warrior, which Judge Dredd predated I also see some cyber punk type plot points which is amazing since the term cyber punk wasn’t coined until 1980 and these stories were published in the late 70’s. Obviously cyber punk existed prior to the genre was given a name but Judge Dredd was clearly an innovator rather than an emulator. This is another terrific volume that I highly recommend. -
Contiene 2 historias clásicas de Juez Dredd: La Tierra Maldita y El Día en el que la Ley Murió.
La Tierra Maldita: "Una exploración de la vida y la estructura fuera de Mega-City Uno, aterradoramente familiar, la historia sigue a Dredd y un grupo de compañeros, incluidos los jueces y "Spikes" Harvey Rotten, un forajido notorio y motociclista consumado en una expedición para entregar vacunas a Mega-City Dos. Con sus más de veinte números que presentan enjambres de ratas mutadas, mutantes, vampiros y jueces corruptos descarriados en el páramo que luego se convertiría en una amenaza existencial esencial, La Tierra Maldita es el primer intento genuino de expandir la escala y el alcance del mundo por el que Dredd lucha".
El Día en el que la Ley Murió: "El día que murió la ley es una farsa política legendariamente sardónica que refleja el gobierno de Calígula de Roma con el propio Juez Cal, deliberadamente e hilarantemente tiránico de Mega-City Uno. Cal, un villano singularmente enfocado para Dredd, funciona como una conclusión natural de los efectos que el abuso de poder fácilmente disponible puede tener en una sociedad, desde la elaboración de leyes hasta la administración fiscal y la percepción pública y la buena voluntad. Sus intentos de desacreditar y asesinar a Dredd con poca resistencia encapsulan aún más lo maduro para molestar y abusar del poder de los jueces en la práctica. Los creadores John Wagner, Brian Bolland y Mike McMahon entregan una historia divertida y enfermiza que es a la vez muy directa y, sin embargo, de gran alcance con pocos iguales, así como una que habla del britanismo inherente de las representaciones de Dredd y las piedras de toque culturales".
Como punto negativo, es importante mencionar que esta edición no incluye algunos números, que fueron censurados por infringir el copyright, tras las demandas realizadas por Burger King, McDonalds y General Mills, la propietaria de la marca de verduras enlatadas Gigante Verde. Son las partes 11-12 (La Batalla de los Barones de la Hamburguesa y La Ley de la Hamburguesa) y 17-18 (Los Gigantes no son unos Caballeros y Comida Sureña) de La Tierra Maldita. -
And with volume 2 of the Case Files we absolutely get to the point where Judge Dredd as we came to know and fear him takes real form. It seems like all it took was a couple of epics to really focus the strip, but the big surprise is just how much of the Cursed Earth is by Pat Mills. You can occasionally tell the declamatory bore he could become isn’t far away: he has a really weird way of describing plot events - Satanus is the best example here - in a passive voice which kind of kills the drama.
But he does manage to dig up the blackly comic side of the stories, which once Wagner takes over the strips fully - especially with The Day The Law Died - really helps focus Dredd as a character. When a bunch of mutants or simps or futsies or grotesques are battling away, Dredd is the sober straight man to the antics with a common punchline of just basically knocking the shit out of their ridiculousness. That’s the format that really made the character and it’s the one that really kicks in here. Judge Cal is the epitome of this and frankly it’s that saga that really gets Mega City One in focus. A mad city prone to ridiculousness and awful disasters, with Dredd trying to keep it all together. Hell, we even get the under city for the first time as well
But even though dozens of future plot ideas are seeded here, what’s most indicative of the show heading into the early glory years are the artists. McMahon is still great, Bolland is managing to draw astonishingly beautiful work but Brendan McCarthy and Brett Ewins show up here and particularly we get Ron Smith, whose work I think is the archetypal Dredd of this period. He’s struggling with helmets, but he gets the deadpan nature of Dredd himself and is happy to throw incredible amounts of silliness at him in contrast. It’s a strip growing in confidence and assurance, finally realising the potential it can achieve -
With strips written by John Wagner (as himself, John Howard and T. B. Grover), Pat Mills and Chris Lowder, this volume covers Dredd’s adventures from progs 61 to 115, April 1978 to June 1979. However, according to an editors note, it excludes four chapters of the Cursed Earth series (11 & 12 and 17 & 18) due to “copyright infringement” (the first couple features McDonalds, the second two a Colonel Saunders look-a-like). Moving on from the self-contained format of the first year, Dredd went epic with “The Cursed Earth” taking up perhaps half the book, “The Day The Law Died” (featuring Judge Cal) at least a third, with a few shorter-run stories filling the space. But it all stands up, the writing is excellent as is the artwork (though seeing the differing styles of Mike McMahon and Brian Bolland leap-frogging each other for “The Cursed Earth” is a bit jarring) and the ideas on show are staggering (and I love that Pat Mills was able to get dinosaurs in, with a nice link back to “Flesh” and pre-dating Michael Crichton by some years). “The Cursed Earth” also saw Dredd use a vehicle that was based on the Raider Command (K-2001), part of Matchbox’s Adventure 2000 line which was introduced in 1976. A terrific read, well presented (as ever) and incredibly iconic, this is very highly recommended.
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Judge Dredd volume 1 was a clever and fast paced mix of stories usually involving weird quasi-futuristic crimes for Dredd to bust in 5 pages or less.
Volume 2 went way in the opposite direction, trying for prolonged multipart adventures that were often uneven and sloppy especially in writing but art sometimes too.
The main calling card of this book is "The Cursed Earth", a 20+ part story about Dredd traversing post-nuclear wasteland to deliver a world saving vaccine. Personally, I found the villains and just about everything else off in pacing and delivery, feeling like throwing stuff against the wall instead of a great story.
It was even worse with that story arc about a corrupt Judge assuming martial law of the city. Kind of milking what could've been a half as long story to publish more serialized beats. And the art got close to abysmal from here on out. I guess Brian Bolland was too busy to keep doing every one.
All in all, I imagine some fans of Judge Dredd will enjoy this. But to me volume 1 was a more restrained and imaginative approach, this felt like filler upon filler.
A maybe too cruel 1/5
