Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 02

(Collects Prog’s 61-70, 73-76, 79-115)

          The complete case files 02 consists of two major arcs, it may sound like an unwelcome change of pace to those who enjoyed the progs of vol 01 and had a bad taste left in their mouth from Luna-1 but when given a chance these stories still hold up very well. In-fact the biggest point of criticism I can levy against the cursed earth saga is that it happened to soon after Luna-1 and I would have preferred a little more time in mega city before leaving again.  I’m unsure if the writers felt there was nothing left to be done in Mega-City (an idea which has been proven to be very false) or if these were ideas for other stories which they adapted to Dredd but it is very interesting that Dredd spent very little time in mega-city one with 25 progs of cursed earth and 17 prog’s  of Luna one the original run spent nearly eight months of time showing the world inside of Mega-City One.

           The cursed earth is a very self-contained arc, while few of its characters do return it doesn’t add a ton to the Judge Dredd story overall (with president Robert L. Booth being the exception to this). Still unlike anything in the first case file I consider this saga to be essential reading for any Dredd fan. It gives the reader a crash course of the cursed earth and establishes that despite all the crazy stuff in Mega-City One going on, the state of the world outside the walls is far worse. This is possibly a chief selling point of the Judges, the comic, especially Wagner’s stuff never shies away from painting the judges in a negative light, but the cursed earth portrays just how bad a world without them would be and establishes them as the (albeit flawed) heroes they are. Protecting their citizens not just from the chaos within but the horror outside the walls.

           Interesting note, I won’t accuse the great Michael Crichton of ripping off Jurassic Park from these progs, but it is fun to see that Judge Dredd did it first. The cursed earth had a rotation of writers each one trying to find something more extreme to throw into the cursed earth then the last, If I had to choose a favorite encounter it would have to be Pat Mill’s the legion of the dammed. The idea that a giant robot army has been roaming the cursed earth killing all judges make the long walk a bit more ominous.

Drock just got real

          Many people will be glad that Walter shows up less during this arc. Early Dredd has a tendency to get attached to cute sidekicks though and Walter is replaced with tweak, an alien who can’t help but pull at our heartstrings between every other battle. Also, Dredd get a double dose of sidekicks with Spikes Harvey Rotten, a typical over the top punk rocker. He’s ok, but in my opinion the weaker of the sidekicks in the cursed earth. I personally like these early Dredd sidekicks but I also enjoyed Jar Jar Binks as a kid (Ewoks are dumb though) so there may be something wrong with my judgement.

         Unfortunately, the complete case files is only partially complete this time around during the cursed earth saga, there was a lost story from progs 71,72,77, and 78 about a war between McDonalds burger lords and the Burger King monarch’s between 71 and 72. With 77-78 Dredd encounters living mutant retail mascots for many real world companies as well. Sadly, both these stories were excluded from the (in)complete case files do to legal issues with the actual owners with these mascots. For those interested in these progs they were recently republished for the first time in the cursed earth uncensored edition and those interested in more cursed earth saga should check it out but for the casual reader the complete case files are enough. I’ll have links to both below.

If you only buy the complete case files, you're missing out on all this glory

 

         Now, the cursed earth saga despite all my praise does have on major elephant in the room as well, Judge Dredd states that bringing McGuffin vaccine 2T(Fru)t to megacity 2 by plane is impossible because the airports have been taken over (because in a universe with a moon base it’s impossible to fly to anywhere but airports. Due to a death belt of shrapnel preventing regular air travel) accept that flaw and the cursed earth is a great story overall.

          The second story in this volume is a little more consistent it neither reaches the highs or the lows of the cursed earth saga. It’s primarily focuses on Judge Dredd being accused of murder by Judge Cal head of the Special Judicial Squad, basically internal affairs. As head of the SJS judge Cal is also vice chief judge of the entire Mega-City. Dredd knows he is innocent and goes against the law to prove it. This could have been a great stage for Dredd to struggle with some self-doubts, as a judge how many could he have wrongly convicted? Perhaps the law isn’t all it’s supposed to be? Maybe even he himself has unfairly sentenced a few innocents? But instead it plays the same as an average action oriented prog but much longer.

         The story has some great humor and Judge Fish will probably always be on my top 10 favorite villains lists but for a story of its length. Cal is a very over the top villain which follows one of my biggest pet peeves for villain characters, TV Tropes calls it "For the Evuls". This trope usually can kill an entire story arc when it is used, as I get frustrated at motivation less villains, its one of the main reasons why the joker isn't my favorite batman villain(although some writers nail giving him motivation and keeping him crazy) and it is my biggest gripe with Judge Cal as well. Judge Cal is a fun villain, but not the best Dredd has had, he certainly is written better than many other evil villains who do things simply because they are crazy and evil. I don’t want to give away too much for potential readers besides read it, it really is a fun read. The day the law died is a good read which could have been great had it been developed a bit more.

The volume finishes off with a few progs, my favorite being the exo-man. A short story about an organization called Citizen's Committee for Compassion for Criminals. Featured a to compassionate group being too easy on criminals, I always enjoy these kinds of prog as it attempts to humorously justify the extreme violence that the judge’s brand of justice dishes out. Unfortunately, the other progs, don’t hold up well.

Without the short format of progs we'd never get gems like this

Tune in next week for my review of the complete case files volume 03, unlike the last volume and a half, it returns to the original format of very short stories, it also introduces some of my personal favorite characters.

What did you think of my review on volume 02? Love it? Hate it? Sound off in the comments!