Let the first law be that I AM the law. And let the second law be that what I say goes. And let the third law be that anyone who says different’s a dead man.
Those are the laws according to Judge Dredd. Simple. Effective. Add in the Lawgiver and that is one tough combo. What this TPB from IDW brings us is a collection of Judge Dredd stories from the 2000 AD times. This was nice for me as I only knew Judge Dredd from the big screen. These were the first Dredd stories that I have read. They were enjoyable. It was nice to compare the pages of this book to what I remember of the fick with ol’ Sly Stone in it. I know I know. The newer version is better…or so I hear, I never saw it. Now I need to. From what I remember of the first movie, I remember Stallone saying “creep” a lot. Dredd does that in the books so whenever I saw those dialog balloons, I had to read it in the Stallone voice. It didn’t help that I misread the word creep as Creed and I immediately went into Rocky mode. But enough of my off topic rants. The stories were fun and Dredd is and has been an interesting character. I have yet to read his crossover with Batman (it’s on my list). At first, the art in this book was hard for me to make out on some panels due to it only being inked with no color. I am a fan of color. I prefer it but in some cases it isn’t needed. As the stories went on, the art changed. I later realized that there were a few different artists on the books. Some I enjoyed more than others. A strong and tight inking job goes a long way in my eyes. Some definite good work all aroundaround though.
If you are looking for a nice collection of Judge Dredd stories in one place, I suggest you check the Big Drokkin’ Treasury Edition. It got me in touch with a character I knew little about and now I am curious to find out more.
Stories Include:
THE LAW ACCORDING TO JUDGE DREDD
Script Robots: John Wagner & Alan Grant (credited as T.B. Grover)
Art Robot: Kevin O’Neill
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
JUDGE MINTY
Script Robot: John Wagner (credited as John Howard)
Art Robot: Mike McMahon
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
MONKEY BUSINESS AT THE CHARLES DARWIN BLOCK
Script Robots: John Wagner & Alan Grant (credited as T.B. Grover)
Art Robot: Mike McMahon
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
ZOMBIE BARBECUE
Script Robots: John Wagner & Alan Grant (credited as T.B. Grover)
Art Robot: Cliff Robinson
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
BATTLE OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC
Script Robot: John Wagner (credited as John Howard)
Art Robot: Ron Smith
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
VIENNA
Script Robot: John Wagner (credited as John Howard)
Art Robot: Ian Gibson
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
UNCLE UMP’S UMPTY CANDY
Script Robot: John Wagner (credited as John Howard)
Art Robot: Mike McMahon
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
A REAL X-MAS STORY
Script Robots: John Wagner & Alan Grant
Art Robot: Cliff Robinson
Lettering Robot: Tom Frame
Available for purchase March 19th, 2014
