Judge Dredd Year One, Omnibus
Matt Smith, Michael Carroll, Al Ewing
Richard Saar
I don’t normally read anthologies, or review them in fact; more than one story in a book seems like too much work for me. However, I will stretch that rule if the subject is one that I’m really interested in and it makes sense to create an anthology, or omnibus as is the case here.
Out of all of my favourite dystopian science fiction story lines, Judge Dredd has always been the one that has grabbed my interest the most. The raw reality of what could well become our future always seems so compelling, if I have a choice when picking up a graphic novel, I normally start with Judge Dredd…
So to Judge Dredd Year One,
the omnibus; we have three stories that explore Judge Dredd in his first year
on the job as a fully-fledged street Judge, for those counting that’s the year
2080 in Dredd’s world. This is a setting that really sparked my interest as we
normally see Dredd in his prime as the hero, one of the greatest judges to walk
the streets, not the fresh out of the academy rookie.
CITY FATHERS by Matt
Smith
Dredd comes across a murder, not just any typical Mega-City One murder,
but a particularly gruesome murder of a serial voyeur, who is working for the
city after one too many peeping tom arrests. With local gang markings at the
scene it would be easy enough to chalk this one up to a turf war, but for Dredd
taking the easy way out is not an option, even now in his first year on the
job.
Dredd methodically, and quite often violently, works his way through the
underworld of Mega-City One to discover that a new and devastating drug is
about to hit the city, one that will topple the city from its knife edge hold
on control into chaos.
Matt Smith portrays the seedy
underbelly of Mega City One with a gritty realism which is just exactly how
Dredd’s world should be portrayed. Dredd himself shows some unfamiliar vulnerability,
lack of confidence and even doubt about his next action. This really showed
Dredd in a new light, not the completely sure of himself legend that Dredd fans
will already know. Adding just a little bit of doubt gives Dredd some real extra
depth.
COLD LIGHT OF DAY by
Michael Carroll
It’s the day of the annual Mega-City 5000 race, a race that winds from
one side of the huge metropolis to the other. It’s one of the only events that makes
the normally apathetic citizens stop to watch, if only on the off chance of seeing
a spectacular and quite often fatal crash. It’s also the busiest day of the
year for the Judges.
Dredd, still new on the streets, is called away from patrolling the huge
crowds to a violent massacre that has killed two of his fellow judges. He’s
been called to the crime because the perpetrator is someone Dredd sentenced 5
years earlier as a trainee, and he’s being blamed by his fellow judges for the
death of the two judges.
In Cold Light of Day we split
into two story lines; one taking place on the day of the race, and the other delving
into a Hotdog run Dredd and his clone brother Rico took, five years earlier, as
Cadets into the Cursed Earth beyond the city.
Once this story is off and racing (pun intended) it defies you to put it
down before you’ve finished it. The pace is exhilarating as Dredd gets involved
in the Mega City 5000 race in more ways than one. The story of Dredd and Rico dealing
with gun runners in the Cursed Earth and the ramifications of that expedition on
the race makes this the pick of three stories in the book.
WEAR IRON by Al Ewing
Paul Strader considered himself to be a professional, not just a common thief
like most of the others on the city streets; a professional who doesn’t get
caught and works by a set of unbreakable rules.
Except that his last job in Texas City was a bust and he owes a lot of
money to the wrong people. So he ends up in Mega-City One working with a crew
who breaks every rule he has, putting him squarely in the sights of Judge
Dredd.
It’s a race against time to pull off one of the largest heists in MC1
history, all the while keeping one step ahead of Dredd who wants to uphold the
law, and Dredd’s brother Rico who just wants the money. Paul has to play both
sides, one mistake and he’s looking at a standard execution bullet from either
of the Dredd brothers.
Wear Iron explores the two
different paths Joe and Rico Dredd have taken since leaving the academy twelve
months prior at the top of the class. We see the self-doubt over the genetic
make-up of both men, how it’s possible that literally the same person can be so
different; we also have the thrill of a good heist story too.
Judge Dredd Year One, the omnibus, is a
great idea, really well done. I’m a long-time Judge Dredd fan and placing these
three stories in his first year on the streets as a rookie really takes Dredd
into a different place. Not only is he shown being doubted by his fellow
judges, but he also shows his own self-doubts, even a lack of confidence.
The three stories work very well together and paint a really vivid depiction
of life in Mega City One, we don’t just focus on Dredd but also those whom he deals
with. In the end we really get to know Dredd better and the world he inhabits
much better.
So, if your first exposure to Dredd was the excellent 2012 film Dredd with Keith Urban, and you want to read
more, you can’t go wrong starting there… just don’t mention the 1995 Stallone
version… don’t ever mention that film.
Source: Supplied in e-book format via Netgalley
IBR
Rating: ★★★★
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