| Title | : | Judge Dredd: Origins |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1905437234 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781905437238 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published April 1, 2005 |
Judge Dredd: Origins Reviews
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Having read quite some Judge Dredd and 2000 AD in my time, I'm slightly baffled why this book is supposedly a good starting point for new readers. To me, the origin of Dredd (and the whole Judges system) would be more interesting to someone who already has read some Dredd - a lore deep cut for the fans, if you will.
Personally, I've always felt that the origin story of Dredd, the Judges and the Mega-Cities almost feels like it should never be told, only hinted at. Chances are any story explaining those origins will disappoint, how could they ever do justice (ha) to the madness of the world of Dredd?
And so it goes with this book - it's a nice enough story, but it can't help coming off as a bit.. pedestrian. The art is pretty good, though.
I wouldn't start with this book, if I was a new reader, but I'm also at a loss to propose another title. Dredd feels so large and chaotic, maybe it's best to just jump in somewhere..?
I've been a great help.
(Thanks to Rebellion for providing me with a review copy through NetGalley) -
Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra (12 November 1947 – 1 October 2018) R.I.P.
A great comic book, far better than I used to remember when I've read it for the first time a few years ago.
Not much a Dredd origins tale, but for the whole Judges system in the not so far future, with the street judges bringing instant Law in the streets riding giant armed bykes instead of the old ones presiding over court proceedings, and an origin tale about the nuclear armageddon that forged Mega-City 1, the Cursed Earth and the whole dystopic setting of 40+ years of stories.
A great storyline that plant good seeds for Dredd's character development, and Robert L. Booth, the last american president, has lots of disturbing things in common with the current and real one.
This is Judge Dredd at his best, with its usual overload of action, dark humour, social criticism and polytical satire, an amazing tale by Joe's two co-creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, who took the Long Walk just yesterday after fighting an hard fight against lung cancer, with a rainy quick prologue drawn by Kev Walker: The Connection.
Goodbye, Judge Ezquerra.
May you bring the Law to the lawless wherever you are now.
4, 5 stars rounded up to 5 by amazing classic cover by Brian Bolland. -
I have never read Judge Dredd before, and overall this is a good jumping in point. Not only do we get to see Dredd on a case, but he's also explaining how the Unitdc States turned in to a post apocalyptic land, and how the Justice Department came to be. There are references to things that came before these comics, but there are notes informing you where you can find more on those things, people, and events.
I enjoyed the story line and it's mix of history and action was very well done. The artwork was far better than expected as well. At just under 200 pages it's a quick and enjoyable read!
Thank you to Rebellion, 2000AD, John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Kev Walker, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. -
I, generally, do not consider myself a fan of Judge Dredd. Though, mainly, I refer to the original series. This Essential judge Dredd series is newer and the writing is far more palatable and even the art has improved.
Origins was a very interesting tale. It starts with a package being delivered to the Hall of Justice. This sets off a chain of events that involves Judge Dredd and the story then tells us quite a bit of the history of the Judges, how they were formed, and even insight into Dredd and Rico's origins.
The stories were rather interesting and while the art is never top notch, it was quite tolerable for the majority of the story. This was a well written and interesting story with a great deal of foundational information about this world-building.
This Essential Judge Dredd seems like a series worth getting into. While Origins was the third book, I shall eventually go out and get the rest of this series. If you are new to Dredd then this series seems like a great place to start. -
I wish we'd get to see more of Kid Dredd, and more of Rico (the first one) before he went bad. This story has plenty of both, and also great action. One of my favourites.
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At this point, where superheroes are as popular as the celebrities you hear about and comic books have successfully been adapted to the big and small screens, it is a shame that 2000 AD’s iconic creation Judge Dredd can’t catch a break in that his 1995 film debut starring Sylvester Stallone was a disaster and then a more positively received reboot starring Karl Urban didn’t gain such commercial recognition. Whilst we await for another adaptation to hopefully come in the near future, we at least have 32 years of comics of the law enforcement and judicial officer who patrols the dystopian streets of Mega-City One.
With a handful of 2000 AD books that I own, a good place to start would be Origins by the two creators of Dredd himself, John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, telling the story of how the Judges of Mega-City One rose to power. When an unusual package is delivered to the Grand Hall of Justice, it contains a ransom note and a sample of living tissue which matches the DNA of Judge Fargo, the first chief judge and the revered founder of the Judge System. Dredd leads a small, lightly armed party on a mission across the hostile Cursed Earth to retrieve their esteemed "Father of Justice", who was believed to be dead for decades, revealing a secret history, which was concealed from the public for decades.
This is a pretty lengthy comic, featuring an extended prologue about the delivery itself as what it initially a MacGuffin that passes from one person to another, whilst Dredd is in pursuit during a rainy night in the streets. Despite Kev Walker’s Mignola-esque artwork and a couple of witty if unpleasant characters such as Tooey and his talkative mutation named Chuck, the prologue is more of a teaser for what is to come in the main storyline.
When Dredd and his fellow judges travel to the Cursed Earth, this is where things get really good. As they explore the deserted wastelands that was America, the Cursed Earth puts a twisted spin of American iconography. Plays out like a horrific sci-fi spin on the Old West, the story evokes the horror surroundings of The Hills Have Eyes, with the increasing presence of mutants, to the post-apocalyptic aesthetic of Mad Max.
As much as the search for Chief Judge Fargo is the driving motivation of the judges, although some of which do question the mission, it does lead to Dredd telling his companions about the secret origins of their occupation, beginning with Fargo’s rise to power in politics, leading to corruption, deception and nuclear war. This whole segment is John Wagner at his satirical best as it explores multiple characters trying to gain power and use it for their supposed best intentions for the country and just makes it even worse, which is so relevant by today’s standards, considering that this storyline was published in 2006/7.
It's fair to say that Dredd is not the most heroic character as he is often invoked in discussions of police states, authoritarianism, and the rule of law. As he tells this history with all its human wrongdoings, Dredd tries to justify these flaws as being a clone of Fargo himself, he and his brother Rico were witnesses to these events as products of instant products. Known for his bulky exterior and his iconic helmet (something he will never take off), there is enjoyment seeing a young Dredd in action.
Having co-created the titular character in 1977, the late Carlos Ezquerra defined the look of British comics as coming from a Spanish background, his art style fitted into the satirical sci-fi nature of 2000 AD, which were outlandish but had something to say. With the story mostly comprised of the mutated surroundings of the Cursed Earth and the historical decline of America, Ezquerra’s colorised art presents something appropriately ugly and gory.
As lengthy as Origins is, but it’s a fantastic read that represents what is great about Dredd and his world, which is greatly explored through its ugly but compelling history. -
So yeah, gather around friends and family, find a spot beside the bonfire to keep warm. Get a marshmallow to roast as ol’ Uncle Casey tells you a scary story of the goat man while the fire keeps away all the creepy creatures of the night. That’s the vibe I got from this book dudes. Except sub out friends and family with a posse of Judges, the bonfire with flaming rain, the creatures of night with roving mutant gangs, and the goat man story with a tale of how the Judges and the Justice System came to be.
Yeah so, we start off with these grodie mutants bringing a package to Mega City One. It contains a genetic sample of the founder of the Judges, the Father of Justice, Eustace Fargo, who is supposed to beburied in a grand tomb at the Hall of Justice. Turns out, he ain’t, and he ain’t dead either. They lost his suspended in cryostasis body ages ago and have been putting up this sham ever since. Some bros out in the Cursed Land now have him and are demanding an insane ransom for his return. This Fargo dude is pretty much Jesus mixed with RBG, so the Judges will do anything to get him back. Dredd gets the task and rounds up a crew to get Fargo back.
Anyways, the Judges have built this cult of personality around this Fargo guy and a lot of it horseshit. Dredd was cloned from the DNA of Fargo, knew him before he died, and knows the truth of it all. So, we jump between Dredd and the Judges fighting one gang of mutants after another, as he tells the origin story. We learn how the Justice System is created, how the Atomic War starts, how the Mega Cities survived, and how Dredd is created. Which also gives us wicked action of pre-teen Dredd taking to the streets and fucking up US military crooks.
But yeah, this is a reprint of a story from about 15 years back, but you couldn’t really tell. I honestly didn’t know that until after I finished the story. The amount of things I don’t know could fill a quantum hard drive, but my point is that this easily could have been written today. Power-mad politicians over-reaching to serve themselves only to fuck up the people they’re supposed to serve is pretty much a trope at this time. Even more so today than when Wagner and Ezquerra created this a decade and a half ago. Sad thing is that it’s reality and not the Dredd universe.
Dredd’s exposition was a little forced at times. Fitting in tidbits of the origin story as they were obliterating mutants. I could have used more of a standalone prequel rather than the bouncing around. That said, I still liked it, dudes. You know what you’re signing up for if you read a Dredd story. Intense action, violence, and the dreadful fear of a future police state. Dredd’s a fan, Fargo’s waffling, and I’m sure as fuck against it. I would be so fucked in this universe! “Citizen! You’ve been found guilty of urination in public. Sentence is five years in the iso-cubes. Control, schedule a pickup.” I’d have been thrown in the iso-cubes so many times for all the stupid shit I do daily. Oh man, the horror!
Anyways, that’s about all I got. Adios amigos!
Oh wait, check out my rad site for more content like this:
The SciFi Book Guy -
Bellissima la storia su Eustace Fargo, padre fondatore della giustizia così come la si conosce nel mondo di Dredd, consolidata dal passato scontro dei Giudici col Presidente americano. Purtroppo la trama ha anche tanti difetti, come alcune questioni legate a Fargo gestite in modo più assurdo che particolare, o il fatto che Dredd e Rico da giovani, o anche il manipolo partito per le Terre Maledette, siano così insensatamente op (overpowered) rispetto agli avversari. E’ un peccato, poteva essere una vera chicca, che tra l’altro era partita benissimo, ma ci sono troppi scivoloni per dargli un voto degno di nota. Certo, tutti sbagliano, ma se ho imparato a conoscere Fargo grazie al suo passato… certo non sarebbe stato indulgente nei confronti di questo volume :D
Nulla da ridire sui disegni. -
Long ago, when I was younger than I am today, I read the 2000AD avidly. Amongst all the many wonderful stories Dredd was always the constant. The continuing soap opera of a dedicated lawman in a fascist police state.
I haven't read a Dredd story for more than 20 years, but I found this, published over 23 weeks back in 2006. This is the origins story, this is how it came to be, how the cursed Earth was created, how Mega City One came to be, and how the judges came to rule it at the point of a gun. This is mythology and I loved it.
The odd thing was that even after all that time, it was still how I remembered it. The social commentary, the political satire, the guns and the explosions. Also the feeling that although nothing had changed, everything was in a state of flux, that the empire of the judges was built on sand and that they were clinging on with their fingernails as everything crumbled around them. This is most obvious in the character of Dredd himself, Always ambiguous, hero, victim, and oppressor, here Dredd is older, filled with doubts and regrets as he reveals his own history and that of the system to which he has dedicated his life.
This was everything I remembered, everything I hoped it would be, everything I wanted it to be. My only regret is that I didn't read it over 23 weeks, and didn't get that wonderful anticipation as I reread each weeks issue, waiting for the next one.
I loved it. -
This review is for an ARC received from the publisher through NetGalley.
After reading all the American attempts to keep Judge Dredd comics going over the past few years, it was so refreshing to read modern "classic" Dredd in "Origins." The newer books aren't bad, but they utterly pale in comparison. The engaging story by John Wagner, the classic artwork by Carlos Ezquerra and Kev Walker are miles above the average attempts to make Dredd stories more "edgy" or the art unconventional. "Origins" was a compelling, well-thought out story with art that is timeless. I was also taken aback to discover that this tale was originally published in 2006, as the social and political commentary behind feels like it was written today. It's scry how prescient this story was about events that happened in today's world.
Overall, a drokking great read! -
Judge Dredd will always be a strange character: neither hero nor villain, a battery of endless willpower amidst the decay of a post apocalyptic dystopia. And here tells why: the beginning of the end, the origin of automatic justice, and a tale eerily familiar to modern times. The end was a little bit expected, but still nicely done.
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An excellent story, mostly told in flashbacks, that looks at the origins of the Judges, the origins of Judge Dredd himself and what the future may hold for the Justice System.
In the present, the Judges are presented with a ransom note and evidence that their first Chief Judge, Judge Fargo, is alive. Judge Dredd then leads a small convoy of Judges with the ransom demand, to be exchanged for Judge Fargo, in the Cursed Earth.
During the journey, Judge Dredd fills in the history of Judge Fargo and how Fargo sets up the current justice system. The story includes the downfall of Fargo, which was covered-up by the Justice Department and the cloning of Fargo leading to both Joe Dredd and his brother, Rico.
Probably the most gripping part of the tale is the rise of President Robert Booth, whose demands to the rest of the world would lead to the nuclear conflict that would create the Cursed Earth and cause the Judges of Mega City One to rise up and depose of the President.
Back in the present, Dredd manages to rescue Fargo and return him to Mega City One. But he is too old and starts to die. But before his death, he talks privately to Dredd about the Justice system he has set up and what is to become of it. The repercussions of this talk are not told in this tale but hinted at by the last few panels of the story.
With artwork by Carlos Ezquerra, this is one tale that stands out above the usual Judge Dredd story of taking down one perp and moving on to the next. Only future Judge Dredd stories will tell what will take place after the last words of Judge Fargo to Dredd. -
"The poison isn't in your genes, it's here, in the earth — all around you."
I would like to read a post-apocalyptic fiction that doesn't regurgitate Hobbes in either a sincere or ironic light. I think that would be far more subversive than the dystopias we've been fed by popular culture.
Like, I get it. If you push Western ideology to its extreme you get a hyperviolent war of all against all (egoism), which is resolved through the imposition of absolute power (fascism) — but the point of speculative fiction is to engender the unthinkable and to recover lost histories. Speculative fiction is meant to move us beyond the reified totality of today, so that the future may be claimed as difference, rather than an endless repetition of the same.
Judge Dredd isn't without merits. It gets brownie points for at least trying to depict American fascism in a pop text; and it's not often you see right-wing authoritarians (lawful evil) fighting against other right-wing authoritarians (chaotic evil) to claim the state apparatus.
But its world is shallow and incoherent. There's no materialist analysis of the rise of fascism. Hell, there's barely any analysis at all, materialist or idealist. We don't know why crime is rampant, why immigration is on the rise, why the president is an expansionist, why citizens supported the collapse of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the state. Sure, you can compare President Booth to President Trump, but you're not going to come away with any understanding of how such a man comes into being, under what historical circumstances, through the exploitation of what fears and desires, and towards what political ends. -
A leitura de “Origens” é fundamental para entender não só o início da carreira do Juiz Dredd e sua “origem” como um clone do Juiz Fargo, um ícone dentro do universo ficcional na obediência das leis, mas também para refletir sobre tudo que as histórias do personagem propõem.
A democracia é realmente a melhor forma de governo? A democracia dificuldade a aplicação da justiça e a manutenção da segurança? Segurança é mais importante que liberdade? Se colocarmos os padrões de idoneidade muito altos, alguém realmente será capaz de cumprir? A democracia facilita o messianismo de políticos? O presidencialismo é realmente uma boa forma de governo, com um único homem tendo praticamente todo o poder sobre o destino do país?
Inserir tanta filosofia em meio à uma história de ação é um feito e tanto. Quem não lê Dredd deveria começar. -
A definite part of the appeal of reviewing this volume is that it allows me to revisit a significant part of my childhood development. When as adults, we’re asked to name our formative cultural experiences we by-and-large seem to choose the ones that we deem acceptable, the ones that reflect our current maturity rather than the ones that were vital paths on the way to achieving it.
But I can safely say and proudly say that 2000AD was a key part in that development for me. I would also wish to qualify the above inference that it was somehow an immature text. Yes, 2000AD could be silly and adolescent (what comics aren’t?) but it was also joyously anarchic, slyly satirical and often politically cynical. It was the spirit of punk rendered into black-and-white panels. Yes, it was highly entertaining but it also conveyed an unrepentant anti-authoritarianism, something that I think is part of my emotional DNA to this day.
Which is why Judge Dredd always seemed to be my least favourite 2000AD character (I far preferred the more obviously outsider figures of Nemesis the Warlock, Ro-Jaws and Halo Jones). Yes, there’s pointed satire there about the perceived Americanisation of the UK in the late 70s and also later some quite nuanced discussion of the inherent contradictions in Western democracy but at the end of the day he was still a figure of authority, and a worryingly unquestioning one at that. He was still just a cop.
And yet, there was no denying his popularity. British comics never really embraced superhero culture (and were perhaps the better for it) and Dredd is the closest the UK has come to its own cultural icon like Superman or Batman. It’s to the latter that he possibly owes the closest allegiance, with elements of Dirty Harry and perhaps the Max Rockatansky that we see in the earlier scenes of Mad Max.
The problem for me is that Dredd had very little internal life, little in the way of character of motivation besides The Law. This was very much part of the point, of course, but I couldn’t help find him a bit boring because of it. Even Batman is relatively knowable through Bruce Wayne. We never see any other side of Dredd save for the one that he presents to the public (usually before he sentences them to life imprisonment).
Not that he doesn’t have backstory. A clone with an evil twin and a long, interconnected history with the first judge Fargo, he certainly has history (what long-running character hasn’t?) but you seldom get any emotional reaction from Dredd to these events. Again, this is part of the point of his character. But it does make for a rather disengaging experience.
So, the Origins volume seemed an ideal opportunity to revisit Dredd and see if I’d been doing him a disservice all these years. It’s part of set of four new volumes that are almost a primer for the forty-odd years of Dredd history that we have now. And reading this one in isolation would be enough to give you a strong idea of what Dredd is all about.
For the larger part of the book, you’re in the hands of John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, two of Dredd’s original creators and it’s written and drawn with a verve and style that could belong to any era of 2000AD’s long life. The future Earth of Mega City One and the Cursed Earth is drawn (and written) evocatively and there’s many nice and loving details that make this world come alive. The late, great Ezquerra was the first artist to illustrate Dredd and there’s probably no one better at capturing this brutal, yet often surreal, world. The other main artist, Kev Walker, another 2000AD stalwart also does great work here. He’s a good choice too, in my opinion, because I’ve always felt that his style, while being very much his own, still manages to evoke a sense of the other classic Dredd artists like Mick McMahon and Cam Kennedy.
The story itself has a nice epic sweep, combining a ‘present day’ mission to recover Judge Fargo’s cryogenically frozen body from kidnappers in the Cursed Earth with detailed flashbacks of the history of the creation of the Judges and how the social structures that we recognise in our world mutated into the world of Dredd. For the large part, this is done with scary credibility. These stories were originally published in 2000AD in 2006 and 2007 but the scenes of the capricious and insane President Boothe and scenes such as the storming of the US Capitol have an alarming dose of premonition to them. One can only hope that Wagner is wrong about much of what happens next because you can count me out.
Similarly, the early days of the Judges, when they resemble less the slightly cartoonish and satirically ironic figures we’ve come to know and are more like modern riot cops. It’s a fascinating middle-period and one which I’d love to have seen in more detail (which is why I’ve also mentally put Rebellion’s Dreadnoughts volume on my wishlist).
If you’re a Dredd fan, then the chances are you’ll have read these stories already but if you’re a lapsed one, like me, then it offers the perfect chance to catch up on a lot of lore in a concise and exciting way. And if you’re a newbie, there’s no better way to jump in and get up to speed. Highly recommended. -
'Essential Judge Dredd: Origins' by John Wagner with art by Carlos Ezquerra and Kev Walker is a graphic novel exploring the origins of Mega-City One and the Judge system.
When criminal mutants break in to Mega-City One and deliver a box to the Grand Hall of Justice, Dredd and fellow judges are sent on a mission to the outer lands. The mission involves delivering a ransom for the remains of a historical judge, and they will encounter all manner of criminals who would like the large sum of money that these eight Judges are escorting. Along the way, Joe Dredd tells the history of himself and hoe Mega-City One rose up from the ashes of a world in chaos.
I debated rating this between a 3 and a 4, but I have to bump it up since the original creators were involved. The story feels a bit wordy, but it took me back to the Judge Dredd I remember reading in the early 80s and it was fun. I did like the art by Kev Walker in the first story a bit more, and I really liked the cover gallery at the end of the book.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Rebellion, 2000 AD, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel. -
Essential Judge Dredd: Origins by John Wagner, et al is a free NetGalley e-comicbook that I read in late August.
I had no idea that Judges had been clones of each other, but it makes sense; both because you want clones of the best Judges and because of the outcome of the Judge Dredd sequel. Written as book 3 of 4, the first issue is about Judges pursuing a killer/deliverman of a mysterious package that has a talking mutant embryonic twin doing most of the thinking for him. The second issue is in full color and has to do with the abrupt end of the package’s journey and the bounty value increasing with the amount of dead Judges racking up. During all the later issues, the Judges venture away from the city to go into the wasteland, where nearly everyone is mutated, and the city of Fargoville where Dredd’s genetic parentage came from, where law is carried out by rote and everyone follows very strict rules. Because of the rules being too strict even for Dredd, he and other Judges are put into forced slavery that they shrug off with the help of his genetic father's kin. Amid all this, he recalls his childhood/origins, growing up into becoming a Judge, the changeover of federal government, and the destruction of earth and people by atomic warfare. -
Judge Dredd: Origins or, in another terms, John Wagner Critique of George W. Bush, as the face of President L. Booth will prove you. Very good tale even if a bit more exposition-sided than the usual Dredd fare, it directly reconnects with the loss of faith Ol' Stoney Face experienced during the events of the necropolis saga. Exceptional art by Carlos Ezquerra (R.I.P.) showing why he was THE Judge Dredd penciler (Sorry McMahon and Bolland) with his usual rugged, ballsy style. I have only one main complaint, which is the reason why I didn't give this a perfect score: the supposedly "monastic" style instilled by Fargo in the Judge corps, which clashes with the represantation given of some of the Judges and even Dredd Himself from the first strips to more recent times. Judge Anderson is NOT a nun, in facts she is really sexy in from her first appereance on and even almost completely naked (except for the panties) in bed during the Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham team up, while Dredd shows some tenderness and love for his genetic nephew during the Total War saga. Emotion that Hershey, as Chief Judge, finds normal and human. So, no cold, emotionless monks or nuns like Clone Wars Jedis to be found on the Justice Department at all, which is one the ONE BILLION THINGS that made the Godawful 1995 movie reviled as it is (Hershey and Dredd are not supposed to be friends? really?).
Aside from this minor grip, recommended for older and newer fans alike. -
I guess if anybody was going to learn about Judge Dredd in the modern day, it'd be here. It's a pretty good introduction and allows new readers to look back on some of the older comics without it being a requirement. All the while taking a rather grim-dark look at how the world of Dredd came to be.
It's not really the origin story of Joe Dredd, but he is tied to the overall origin. His genetic source Eustace Fargo is practically godlike in how people look at him, considering he's the one who set up the Justice System judges live by. Which in turn lead to the formation of the Mega-Cities. All of which deal with the complications and levels of worship surrounding Fargo, including how people want to tell narratives and myths that obscure hard truths. He's like the Pope and savior mixed into one in this case. And much like either one, he's really only human who did the best he could in bad situations to try and make some good out of things.
Because when the catalyst for the post-apocalypse is a president who makes Donald Trump look like a happy clown, what's the best scenario? A legacy that leaves a lot of humanitarian efforts feeling like a pipe dream? -
I used to read Judge Dredd quite a bit about twenty or thirty years ago, and only recently got back into the character thanks to the two new IDW series. I picked up this volume to provide myself with a refresher course on the character and his origins.
This is a well done story in which Dredd must track down the kidnappers of his clone father's body. Along the way, Dredd fills his comrades in on his backstory through a series of flashbacks.
There are numerous passages that go all the way back to the origins of the cursed earth, the creation of the Mega-cities and all the political events responsible. Some of these passages were a bit dry and long-winded, but provide a great background to newbies or people like myself revisiting the series after a long absence.
The story is well-paced, veering back and forth from Dredd's current mission to his memories, and the art is superb. There is also the trademark John Wagner wit sprinkled throughout, which helped make this a very enjoyable read and a pleasant refresher course on the series. -
Brilliant. A complete story focusing in on the childhood background of Judge Dredd, Judge Rico and their clone origins. This details the beginnings of the Judge System, how and why it went into place. Also a complete history of the Atomic Wars which created the Cursed Earth from a fresh point of view going into detail with what happened to major players Eustace Fargo and the last President, Robert L. Booth. Even though this is an origin story, I wouldn't recommend it as a first introduction to Dredd as it does assume you know what the heck they are talking about. The whole book is in colour which is a visual delight as Ezquerra's work is especially nice on Dredd. Since this story is particularly violent, the colour does add to the graphic nature of this volume and there is a rape scene, so not one to pass off onto the kiddies. Nevertheless, a fantastic story for readers, like me, getting into the Judge Dredd universe, who sort of know their way around but don't know all the history and background yet. One of my favourite trade collections to date.
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I usually groan when I read the words "origin story." They tend to be unwieldy mosh-mashes of loose ends, needing to be fused at the root or instead, and worse, retreads of repeated ideas, tweaked to fit the diverse needs of a new readership, i.e. This Batman has swearing and real blood.
There is a whiff of the former as well as the gratuitousness of the latter here, but make no mistake, this is a hurtling, momentum-building hum-dinger of an origin tale, made better by having not been told before. Witness Dredd the cadet in full in riot-quelling mode; witness the political machinations leading up to the atomic event that forged the metropoli of the title, and witness the moral qualms links to statehood and power.
This story cuts deep and is a wholly appropriate base on which to build the next 30+ years of Dredd. Let's hope they don't revamp the tale in a few years time, to add in extra violence and swearing in the name of attracting more (ahem) mature readers! -
This story continues 2000AD's tradition of masking political satire behind the facade of black-comedy-laden shoot-'em-up sci-fi adventure. Its portrayal through flashbacks of a future USA rolling back civil liberties, falling under the control of an unscrupulous President and ultimately ending up at war with most of the rest of the world (creating the Dredd universe's post-nuclear-apocalypse world) may feel a little on-the-nose in places, having been written around the time of the Iraq debacle, but remains relevant today. Crucially, it doesn't present a world of strawman heroes and villains, raising questions about the "heroic" Justice Department's fascist tendencies even while portraying the failures of democracy.
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The hardest thing for this epic to achieve is the balance between proto Trump Bad Bob Booth and the rising force of the Judges. Weaving in several elements of Dredd-lore, Wagner manages to both have the judges as ostensible heroes whilst also asking good, hard questions about their role in society. It ends on a beautiful moment of ambiguity, and the collection edition also adds the start of the mutant rights plot to add to this, and the whole volume manages to fulfil several aims: constant plate spinning, reassessing thirty years of stories ANd laying groundwork for more to come. Quite an achievement
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The origins of the Judges. I knew very little about this before i read this book. I only read/collected 2000AD for a few years in my early/mid teens.
I loved how the story was told, around camp fires and long journeys. It was also refreshing to have a fairly limited death toll on the Judges.
The artwork was amazing and the story excellently crafted. This is Judge Dredd at its highest quality. -
Aprovechando una trama actual, Dredd narra cómo se montó todo el sistema judicial, la historia del juez Fargo, la traición del presidente de los EEUU, la clonación de jueces... Diría que es imprescindible para entender al 100% de dónde procede todo, aunque no lo recomendaría como el primero en orden de lectura.
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Origin stories are usually tedious connecting of puzzle pieces but this is Wagner and Ezquerra coming back to their creation (with Kev Walker - that's some good rain!) at the height of their powers.
This is strong stuff, confidently told and strangely resonant in 2019 - that president feels awfully familiar, doesn't he? -
Enjoyed getting back to Judge Dredd after years away. Much fun.
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This is where it all went horribly wrong.
It's a kind of a history lesson about the events leading up to the making of Mega City One and the Judges.
