Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 by John WagnerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 collects the Judge Dredd stores from 2000 AD #2-60.
Like a lot of people, I only know Judge Dredd from the pair of movies and the times he teamed up with Batman. In my quest to fill in some gaps in my comics knowledge, I picked this up.
This is a collection of 4-8 page shorts, some linked, featuring Judge Dredd, lawman of the post-apocalyptic future. He patrols Mega City-1, a sprawling metropolis that encompasses half of North America from what I gather.
This volume collects Judge Dredd's earliest appearances. Dredd fights street crime, quells a robot uprising, and goes to the moon and back again. The writing is nothing spectacular in and of itself. World building takes a back seat to dark humor and violence. The stories remind me of EC crime or war comics more than anything else, what with the short length and punchiness.
The art ranges from crude to spectacular. Brian Bolland is on the spectacular end of things. It's no wonder he was tapped to do The Killing Joke a few years after this.
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 is fun and darkly humorous. I might take a crack at some newer Dredd once I knock out a few other things. It was never a "drop everything to read" kind of book, though. 3 out of 5 stars.
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