Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 04
The complete
case files 04 is home to nobodies favorite Dredd arc the judge child. The judge
child is a simple story which would have worked fine if it was 4-6 progs long
but instead it stretches to over 20 progs and a story like this doesn’t need
that much room to breathe. It is all about Dredd hunting down a kid which the
psi-judges tell him is incredibly important, unfortunately he has been kidnapped
to the cursed earth, ok solid premise, but then the remaining progs feel like
anime filler episodes, things technically happen but it never matters overall.
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| He is the chosen one, because we said so |
Some of the events which happen feel like the cursed earth did to be honest, very episodic in nature but on average they are a lot less fun. The judge child fails in the way the cursed earth saga succeeded. They both have a lot of episodic encounters for Dredd to fight his way through, but the cursed earth saga had a goal of crossing the states to get to the other mega-city clearly outlined from the start and as he progressed through the north America we saw landmarks showing progress toward the end goal. In the judge child the goal is always in reach but then it is delayed for ridiculous reason after ridiculous reason until Dredd jumps the shark so drastically he finds himself in space, and it doesn’t even end there, it keeps dragging out. The most important thing these progs do is introducing longtime guest Judge Hershey, shame such a great character didn’t have a great introduction. The fan favorite angel gang is also introduced in this arc and mean machine has been one of Dredd’s best villains ever since, unfortunately these great characters can’t save the arc.
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| Judge McGruder makes her first appearance here also |
After the judge child arc finally reaches a disappointing conclusion
Dredd returns to the mega-city with glory in a series of almost exclusively standalone
progs. Block war is a great change of pace as we get some thoughtful discussion. I
never have much to say about these short progs because to do so would spoil
almost all they have to offer for new readers but suffice to say there are some
greats with some classic ironic Dredd humor sprinkled throughout.
Near the end of the volume we get some buildup towards the
apocalypse war which takes up the bulk of case files 05, and the aftershock is
handled primarily until 07, with the repercussion still being felt for the
entire series in one way or another, so enjoy these standalone progs while you
have them because for the most part they will be gone for a while.
As if introducing Judge Hershey, McGruder and the angel gang wasn’t enough this volume also introduces Chopper, easily among Dredd’s oddest recurring guest cast, He is one of the most interesting characters Dredd has to offer. Chopper doesn’t feel very special yet, he is supposed to feel like a typical Mega-citizen Juve, but the difference is in this story it isn’t about Judge Dredd, it focuses on the Juve and keeps the Judges as background characters so that we feel for the criminals. later issues Chopper keeps returning, and every time he returns he becomes a little bit more interesting a character.
Also a fun fact, this is the story our cover image is lifted from, it is one of my favorite progs. The story is fun and simple a graffiti war breaks out between Chopper and the Phantom, solid premise for a prog but Chopper's anarchistic belief set takes the show here as it a good counter to the authoritarian approach of the judges.
Also a fun fact, this is the story our cover image is lifted from, it is one of my favorite progs. The story is fun and simple a graffiti war breaks out between Chopper and the Phantom, solid premise for a prog but Chopper's anarchistic belief set takes the show here as it a good counter to the authoritarian approach of the judges.
Judge
Dredd: the complete case files 04 is essential reading despite its flaws. This volume does introduce some great characters though
which lead to some of the best Dredd has to offer later on and that helps
redeem it a bit in my eyes. What did you all think? is my despise for the Judge Child arc shared across the globe? Let me know!
I've begun to include links to the US and the UK amazon editions down here, the UK editions as you can see have far more beautiful covers than the US editions but the content is the same. Enjoy reading you guys, I hope you enjoy this volume better then I did.
I've begun to include links to the US and the UK amazon editions down here, the UK editions as you can see have far more beautiful covers than the US editions but the content is the same. Enjoy reading you guys, I hope you enjoy this volume better then I did.
US Readers
UK Readers
A bit harsh on the Judge Child, I think. Those 'filler' episodes contain some great stuff such as Bolland's Jigsaw disease stuff, Sagbelly, the death of Judge Lopez, the bio-chip (which later inspired Rogue Trooper) , the living planet excellently depicted by McMahon, and the war game world with the huge cylindrical war machine. I could live without the cosmic salesman and the primative ape ballad but they are fine and add to the diversity of the saga.
ReplyDeleteIndividually these progs may be good but as an arc I just found it frustrating. There is some great art in there I admit and a few of the encounters have merit, I just wish they were against a better b a backdrop. I don't particularly like most of the Dredd in space stuff, it never feels right to me. Im glad you enjoyed it though, to each his own.
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