Judge Dredd #6 (Apr 2013)

JUDGE DREDD #6
Apr 2013
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist ("The Long Fail"): Nelson Daniel
Artist ("No Problem, Man!"): Andrew Currie
Colorist ("No Problem, Man!"): Ronda Pattison
Cover (A): Zach Howard
Cover (B): Langdon Foss

IDW Publishing, colour, $3.99 print, $1.99 digital

Blah blah cover blah blah looks nice blah blah doesn't have anything to do with story blah blah grr rant blah more than a year old hardly likely to change now you know the drill by now blah.

Duane Swierczynski's narration is beginning to grow on me. Now, normally, I'm a 'less is more' kind of guy. Thought balloons tend to leave me cold. Internal monologue irritates me; but then I've externalised mine pretty well, and can hold a conversation with myself or any handy inanimate object. Generally it's better to show rather than tell. Then again, sometimes a running commentary can be useful. There's an art to it. A good writer can, with two or three short captions, tell the reader all she needs to know about the story so far, trust the artist to do what he does, and get on with the story in progress. The opening to this episode is textbook., so naturally I have to share the opening panel. Look at how Crumley swings straight into that punch, clouds of dust billowing up as droid and judge slug it out. Beautiful.

If I must pick a couple of nits, though: one about art and one about writing. Judge's uniforms don't seem to be able to withstand much punishment. One tiny split and the entire garment gives way, revealing oval cross-sections of skin in a manner that borders on fanservice. What are they making those things out of? Latex? I suppose we should just thank our lucky stars that Dredd's not in a series of sexualised poses, or his appearances in the Hawkeye Initiative have been kept to a minimum. Anderson, luckily, has been spared that sort of indignity thus far, so the sight of a bit more skin doesn't do too much harm.

As for the story, I have to question something about Dredd's Lawgiver pistol. We know it rebelled last issue, denying Dredd service, and then firing when he didn't want it to. This issue he takes a perp out by handing said malfunctioning gun to him, and letting its anti-misuse feature – a DNA scanner hooked up to an explosive charge – do the rest. Given that the gun had gone rogue, I have to wonder why it would obey its programming in this instance, especially given that it led to its destruction! Is it that the Long Fail is inconsistent, merely making the droids erratic; or that the malfunctioning AIs are dependant upon outside influence, reverting back to their programming in all other circumstances? It's a headscratcher; possibly not a plot hole, certainly enough to make me nitpick.

Was it something he said?

Seriously, though, by and large I'm enjoying Nelson Daniel's artwork so far. His crowd scenes are a treat, a big improvement on a few issues ago. There's a real manic energy when hordes of criminals, cyborgs, martial artists and crazies from the Urban-Garland Block rush Dredd and Preteen en masse. The Preteen's-eye-view panels are nicely done, with a sort of green wash and scanline effect that recalls 'The Brains of the Outfit'. More of Daniel's robots abound; rogue nanny droids in pink pinnies, metal-fanged robodogs, vicious gangs of keep-left signs (well, just the one, actually but I couldn't resist the Python reference), a punk robot with piercings made of human bone.

Error 404: Teeth not found.

The bit where Dredd uses his head to find a way of deactivating Lee Preteen's Kundle implant is fun, entirely typical of Dredd's behaviour and tickled me in particular, although the size difference between Dredd and Preteen does make the way our favourite lawman delivers a headbutt somewhat impractical. Regardless, it's a funny moment, and Nelson Daniel's execution of the piece doesn't detract from the humour in any way. If anything, it heightens it. The way he poses the characters throughout creates maximum comedic effect throughout that page. If ever a 'Dredd's 100 Greatest Hits (pun intended)' list is compiled, I'm sure that would merit inclusion; and if anyone reading this review is assembling such a list, I am shameless enough to offer my services for the bevy of rentaquote critics you'll probably need. I'm crap but I'm cheap.

Mean Machine Angel is gonna sue!

On the subject of Nelson Daniel's knack for funny violence, I have to digress for a bit. As soon as Dredd's engaged that army armed only with a daystick, with one thump a criminal is smashed aside with one hit, brain tissue flying and an eyeball popping out. Sure, could happen, but given how it happens after a snappy one-liner from Dredd, to a character who's said no more than a couple of lines, its dramatic effect is minimal; it's a visual gag. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself; but I will make more of it in a later post. Just hold that thought for the moment.

Still, it's a frenetic episode that takes Dredd and Preteen across the sector, through blocks swarming with robots, until at last they end up back at the Zuckerberg Pleasure Mall, where it all started. Along the way Dredd gets an update from Anderson. A nice way to bring characters up to speed; a perfectly logical use for Psi-Division too. I imagine that this is not a normal occurrence, though: telepathy is wonderfully abuser-friendly, both in character and as a plot device. Giving the judges selective omniscience by way of instant telepathic update could remove a lot of suspense from the setting; for the moment I'm content to assume this is just Anderson doing Dredd a favour, given how closely they work together. Plus of course Dredd is a senior judge, a legend among lawmen, and while he might not get special treatment, priority access to resources could be one of the perks afforded him.

Myers returns, still in the robot body he acquired back in 'Cover Me'. He only manages to squeeze in to the last couple of pages, but it's still a nice character piece; he practically radiates gloom (I measure it at 0.05 Marvin) and he delivers two bombshells. The first is figurative, the second literal. A good cliffhanger, and definitely an incentive to pick up issue #7.

'No Problem, Man!' is one of Swierczynski's sideshows, rather like 'Protection Racket' way back in issue 1. This time he tells the brief and rather sad story of Jeffro, a robot who could well be the illegitimate offspring of Shaggy and Hammer-Stein. When the Long Fail hits, he just deactivates and his owners, fearful of bloody robotic retribution, leave him tied up in the repair shop, where he comes round nine service days later. For such a short-lived character, a lot's crammed into him. He's laid-back, friendly, capable of feelings and yet still subservient: much like a lot of the robots in 1980s Dredd strips.

Unlike the B-strip last issue, this piece takes more of a philosophical direction, questioning whether Jeffro's personality is genuine or merely the result of his programming. After all, he is an artificial intelligence, designed to serve humans. Mannerisms could easily be programmed in: a verbal tic like 'man' here, a bit of bad posture there. When the other robots rebel and Jeffro rebels against that rebellion, are his motives really his own, or like the other robots say, was it just that he didn't receive the latest update? It's a valid question; and conversely it's just as valid to ask whether the robots' revolt is genuine, or merely the consequence of an alteration to their programming; an 'update', as it were. How would we know? How would they know, for that matter?

Andrew Currie takes up the art duties, with colour work by Ronda Pattison, who previously worked on 'Naked City' and 'The Brains of the Outfit'. Currie's an old hand at this, having worked on 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, as well as various pencilwork and inkwork for Marvel and DC. Another bit of British talent; not as famous as Brendan McCarthy, perhaps, but he does a fine job here, especially considering one of the inherent limitations of the story: most of the characters here are robots. They don't have muscles, and thus they risk losing a lot of the subtleties of body language; and their faces are mechanical, limiting their range of facial expression. All the robots here can do is tilt their heads, adjust the brightness of their optics, open and close their jaws. Currie makes it work, though. He exaggerates their postures just a little, makes them gesticulate to near-Kirby levels of dynamism, and makes them believable. No residents of Uncanny Valley here! Pattison's colouring helps overcome one of the other problems with robotic characters, namely that sometimes they can be different to tell apart. She gives them all a simple but distinct paint job, effectively colour-coding them. A cheap trick? Maybe, but don't knock it: it works. Especially in the brief action sequence, when Jeffro fights his way through a mob of renegade robots. What could have been oppressively monochrome leaps out at the reader and guides the eye nicely, with lemon yellow and green droids in the background, blue droids to the fore and orange Jeffro slamming through them. Lovely.

You say you wanna revol-u-tio-on...

Again, although 'No Problem, Man!' is related to the main story, it reads much like a 2000AD Future Shock and this is no bad thing. The slight sting at the end, playing on Jeffro's vocal tic (see the title) is nicely played, and really I don't think it'd be out of place in the Galaxy's Greatest Comic. It works as a Dreddverse story, but more importantly than that, it works as a story in its own right. Strip out the references to Mega-City One, disregard the reader's foreknowledge of The Long Fail, and enjoyment of the story is in no way impaired.

Is there one bit in this strip I could do without, though? Yes. Once again, it's just a piece of superfluous description, a tell that could have been left out because because the story had already shown. When Jeffro's owner panics and shoots him, Jeffro falls back with a cry of My energy source! No Stomm, Sherlock! We see a huge wound right where Jeffro's Big Glowy Thing™ used to be. Earlier we see Jeff give himself a recharge by sticking a cable into said glowy thing. It's where a human's heart would be, and the robots here are roughly human-shaped. It's obviously important. The speech balloon there was unnecessary. But then there's always something, isn't there? It's not a big thing. It only jars because the rest of it was so good. I suppose one could object to the robots' word balloons, white text on a grey gradient background, being a bit difficult to read, but we're six issues in. We're stuck with it for the moment.

A nice fast-moving issue, with some funny moments. 8/10.

Judge Dredd #5 (Mar 2013)

JUDGE DREDD #5
Mar 2013
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist ("The Big Fail"): Nelson Daniel
Penciller ("The Brains of the Outfit"): David Williams
Inker ("The Brains of the Outfit"): Gary Martin
Colorist ("The Brains of the Outfit"): Ronda Pattison
Cover (A): Zach Howard
Cover (B): Langdon Foss

IDW Publishing, colour, $3.99 print, $1.99 digital

It's big story time. Which means, I suppose, that I should ramp up my pretentiousness in an attempt to match the weight of the story. I don't have to, but this is my prose and I've got to find a voice. Bear with me, please.

Alea jacta est. Oh yes. We've had four issues in which to get used to the basics of this version of the Judge Dredd universe, so here's where that first wave of world-building starts to pay off.

So why does the cover have nothing to do with the story? It's still a nice cover: Zach Howard does a good Dredd picture, but Grud-drokking-dammit! With a storyline this important, I'd want robots flipping out, ATMs spewing cash, vending machines scalding customers half to death with hot synthi-caf, anything like that. The variant cover by Langdon Foss is nicely quirky. Again, it has nothing to do with 'The Long Fail', but the giant figure made up of lots of people looks good. I don't want to spoil, but — well, let's just say this cover would work much better for issues 17 or 18. Anyone up to date with this comic knows why.

From the first page in we see Swierczynski and Daniel's growing comfort with the Big Meg. Souvenir shops and tattoo parlours rub shoulders with stores offering 'NUCLEAR WEAPONS 20% OFF', all bathed in sickly artificial light. Child prodigy Lee Preteen takes us to the Urban-Garland Block. This is from Mega-City One World-Building 101: give each block a topical and pop-culture-related name. In this case, Karl Urban and Alex Garland. Easy when you know how. Preteen narrates, his robot bodyguard Crumley criticises, and the narrator exposits. The captions are short and don't break the flow up too badly.

Lee Preteen writes 'thrillies' for the 'Kundles': that is, he records adventures for people to enjoy vicariously though a brain implant. It's a bit silly, but attempts to predict how we'll stave off the crushing ennui of life are doomed to appear so. Most future-slang automatically dates itself (no drokking stomm, spugwit!); and the more we use it, the cheesier it can get. Still, we have to indulge it. So long as the idea looks different enough to appear futuristic, but similar enough to current entertainment and attitude to appear halfway plausible, we can suspend disbelief and stifle our giggles.

Never trust a robot who doesn't drink.
Or not, as the case is today.

One thing on which I have to congratulate the author is his broadening my horizons. If there's something I don't know about, I have to look it up. I didn't know about James Crumley, on whom the robot is based. I had to see if he was a spoof of anyone in particular. since hard-drinking detective writers (Hammett, Chandler, etc) are a trope in themselves. Swierczynski writes crime novels, so we shouldn't be too surprised that he'd name-check the guy. Crumley also did some drafts of the (spit!) 1995 Judge Dredd film, so I suppose he was an obvious choice, given the coincidence.

But I digress. Remember the 'robot rebellion' plot? Unlike 2000AD's 'The Robot Wars', there's no Call-Me-Kenneth going nuts and leading an army against the Fleshy Ones: instead we have a mystery to solve. Machines malfunction, then it's shown to be deliberate, and then we get to see the effect on society before we even get a sniff of the culprit. This is ultimately for the best. If IDW's Dredd is to be any good, it has to innovate rather than slavishly follow the original timeline. That said, Messrs. Swierczynski and Daniel are perhaps playing it safe by taking old plot ideas and then coming up with their own take on it. Hopefully they'll get bolder as time progresses.

Wocka wocka wocka!

For now Crumley embodies the revolt: he slugs it out with Dredd while quoting sage advice from The Wrong Case. This gives the metal bastard a likable streak, even if he's beating our hero up and has just bribed a load of mercenaries and other violent criminals into torturing the boy he's supposed to protect!
Other machines go rogue too: a hoverbus autopilot, an automated door, even Dredd's gun, and Nelson Daniel shows us a city in chaos once the robotic labour finds on which it relies is turned to malice. The idea of Dredd's gun messing with its wielder stands out as my favourite moment of the issue. It's just as taciturn as Dredd can be, and shares his comic timing. With just three words that Lawgiver (Lawbreaker, in this case?) makes a game attempt at stealing the show.

And it took a team of lumberjacks
six hours to do it, too.

'The Brains of the Outfit', takes place away from the main action, but shows us the Kundle at work. It's the old VR gimmick. Have you ever noticed how we hardly ever see games like this work as intended? Whether it's the Holodeck, Better than Life or any other I'm-not-really-there-but-bugger-me-sideways-if-it-doesn't-feel-like-I'm-there-o-tron™, the shit hits the fan, the device backfires and the user's life hangs in the balance. It's not the most original scenario and it doesn't pretend to be; but, again, what's important isn't necessarily what happens but how it happens.

Scoats Lodger's fantasy is a crime spree with John Dillinger, Patty Hearst and the Sundance Kid. Said entities are coloured in old greenscreen shades; a nice way of illustrating how they're just caricatures of their former selves. Only when the Long Fail hits does Dillinger develop self-awareness. Refreshingly, this is just played for laughs: he learns what happened to him, how his most famous part made it (allegedly) into the Smithsonian Institute. Frankly it's a relief. It's hardly the time for clever-clever epiphanies that could have overtaken the story. Is 'John Dillinger' a person? Has he become self-aware? Who cares? To quote the man: They cut off my winkie.

I'm quite fond of this story's artwork. The heavy shading, Scoats Lodger's darkened room, the silhouetted judges chasing Scoats down an alley, they all help add to the noirish feel of the piece. I'm not familiar with Williams, Martin and Pattison's work, but I certainly wouldn't object to seeing more of it, finding it similar to Adrian Salmon's art. They manage to evoke the feel of the Big Meg, and, baggage from the IDW Dreddverse aside, this piece wouldn't be out of place in an issue of the Megazine. Even without the setting of Mega-City One, it's easily the equal of any Future Shock in 2000AD.

On the whole, a worthy effort. 8/10.

While you're waiting...

While you're waiting for the next review, why not read Chris Sims's analysis of Dredd's uniform? He looks at the design elements and suggests exactly what makes it work. It's not a bad little disquisition, but I'd add one note to his summary: the boots. The huge boots that Mike McMahon added and Brian Bolland (and later pretty much everyone else) adopted help make Dredd look particularly imposing.

And since 1985 (or 2107 if you prefer) he's deliberately worn a size too small. That's Dredd for you: too big for his boots.

What the Drokk am I gonna do?

Thinking ahead, one thought I've been having over and over again is what else I can put on this blog besides just reviews of the IDW Judge Dredd series. Is there a need for me to cover the Dredd stories in 2000AD, the Megazine, and anything else Rebellion might put out, for example? They're already pretty well established and there are people reviewing them. I don't want to repeat what they do unless I can provide a new take on it, something that'd be worth reading. Moreover, since I'm British, the point of this blog was to evaluate my knee-jerk scepticism at the idea of another company taking the character on.

The thing is, there aren't that many issues of Judge Dredd yet. Issue 19 comes out this month. By the time I catch up, there'll probably be 20something. What then? One post a month? The 'Who's Who in Judge Dredd?' (Best. Acronym. Ever.) helps flesh things out a bit, keep readers abreast of what's going on and also should help me spot any continuity errors that might occur. A timeline of Dredd, perhaps? Since Dredd is an enigma, he appeared fully formed in every comic that's featured him, it might be useful to keep count of what's known about him, and see how Duane Swierczynski's Dredd differs from John Wagner. While I want to amuse the reader, I also want to inform.

There are other Dredd series in the IDW line: City of Courts, and a Judge Anderson series by 2000AD editor Matt Smith. They look like obvious subjects for reviewing. So, obviously, I'll include them.

Please share any thoughts you might have in the comments thread. I'm not running dry just yet, won't for a few months to come, but it is important to think ahead. What would you like to see? While this blog is going to be primarily concerned with IDW's Dredd, any other ideas that interest me sufficiently may find space on another blog.

Who's Who in Judge Dredd, #1.

Four issues in, there are some recurring characters. Having trouble keeping track of who's who? About to write a 50,000-word screed on why the writers and artists should be hung up by their thumbs because you're having trouble telling one character from another because they all wear uniforms as if they're some kind of police-cum-military force and details like physical traits and character quirks are too subtle and name-badges are an insult to your intelligence? Annoyed by a paragraph that just consists of a series of increasingly hyperbolic questions? Irritated that the gag has now developed a kind of phony self-awareness and has now progressed beyond the point where it might be considered even remotely funny?

This list will be updated and reissued every few issues; basically whenever a major story has finished or is about to start. Because I care.

Judge Joseph Dredd

A senior judge in Mega-City One and legend among lawmen. The man after whom this comic is named.

First appearance:

'Ripe', Issue 1.

Distinguishing features:

The chin. You could use it as a set square, and if you tried to give him an uppercut, chances are you'd not only break all the bones in your hand but you'd probably end up trapping every single nerve below your elbow. And dislocating your shoulder. Also, he never takes his helmet off. This is one reason of many why Karl Urban's Dredd is so much better than Stallone's.

What's he like?

His expression encompasses an array of subtle variations based on grimacing, frowning and scowling: and that's on a good day. He's not a genius, but he has a blend of street smarts, cunning, experience and possibly even wisdom that could give geniuses a headache; and if that doesn't bring the migraines, a swift blow on the bonce with his daystick will. On the outside he's an unbending enforcer of the law. On the inside, he's much the same, but with a grasp of that most elusive of concepts: justice. On occasion this can put him at odds with the system, making him more likely to trust his own judgement and instincts rather than simply operate as another part of the machine.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

Classic Dredd is always 122 years in the future: it started in 2099, and it's now 2136. Dredd was cloned in 2066 and artificially aged by five years. He was effectively 41 at the start, and is now 78 and still kicking arse. By contrast, IDW's Dredd starts in the year 2100 because we like Big Round Numbers. Nothing's revealed about his origins yet: for all we know he might even have a mother. Assuming for the moment that his backstory is much the same, he's 42. Alternatively, we could say he's 41, same age as Karl Urban. Anyone got a problem with that? Yeah, me neither.

---

Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson

A rising star in Justice Department's Psi-Division.

First appearance:

'Cover Me', Issue 2.

Distinguishing features:

Rarely seen wearing her helmet. Presumably a chunk of armour with Head-Up Display, communicator and padding isn't all that helpful if you want to concentrate on using your telepathic powers. Wears her hair long despite impracticality in combat. Psi-judges tend to enjoy a bit more licence when it comes to uniform regs – or to put it another way, psi-judges are often used by artists when for some reason they feel the female lead has to show a bit of cleavage. Presumably that enhances their telepathy or something. Fortunately, that's not happened in this run yet, but Anderson has two other distinguishing features, generally described in fanfic of dubious quality. The judge's uniform in the comics doesn't exactly disguise such features, know what I mean?

What's she done so far?

Anderson is a telepath of no mean ability. Slightly quirky (as is often the norm for Psis, and allowances are made for their peccadilloes), Anderson is still a tough and competent judge. Trusted enough by Dredd for him to include her in his investigation of Myers's apparent corruption, and the extraction of his personality and its removal into a robotic body. In 'The Good Parts' she learned how perps use memory pills to evade detection by Psi-Division. Later, in 'We've Got You Now', she provided remote assistance for Dredd, using her psionic powers to scope out hazards while he delivered ransom money, and tipped Dredd off to the fact that Tarjay was under the surgeons' control.

How is she different from her 2000AD incarnation?

Anderson first appeared in 'Judge Death' and was of indeterminate age but markedly younger than Dredd. Her age has never been explicitly stated: she was once described as 'almost thirty years old' years ago, and more recently she's said to be 'pushing fifty'. The numbers almost certainly don't add up, but then it's not polite to ask a lady her age. In IDW, we seem to have the same scenario. She's obviously young and in her twenties, but not so fresh out of the Academy that she'd rather follow strict judicial procedure than Dredd's hunches. Actually, you know what? I'm going to resort to headcanon and say she's 27, the same age as Olivia Thirlby, as she played Anderson in the film.

---

Judge James Myers

A middle-aged judge, partnered on occasion with Dredd. An honest and straightforward judge, more concerned with day-to-day judging, with little time or patience for complications. Now in a robot body, working undercover.

First appearance:

'Ripe', Issue 1.

Distinguishing features:

Formerly, his moustache. Truly a thing of beauty and an international day of mourning should be held for its loss. While possessed by Judge Lou Thompson, he was heterochromatic (left eye blue, right eye green). Now he's a robot. He's been robbed of his tash. The best he can hope for is to get some kind of novelty fridge magnet and attach that to the space above his mouth slot.

There should be more robots with moustaches.

What's he done so far?

Myers responded to the incident at the Zuckerberg Block Pleasure Mall, along with Dredd and Tarjay. Following Myers's near death at a block war, Dredd followed him home to ensure he was still fit for duty, but found a severed nose that went missing from the Zuckerberg Block Pleasure Mall riot. Dredd felt the evidence against Myers was sufficiently doubtful to merit personal investigation. He found missing hours from Muyers's reports and records of misplaced evidence, and frankly things did not look good. Myers insisted he had no memory of performing such activities (in other words, the Reagan defence), but, confronted with the evidence, was about to turn himself over to the SJS anyway (okay, not the Reagan defence then). Still sceptical, Dredd had Psi-Judge Anderson scan his mind, and no evidence of unjudicial activity could be found. As far as Myers knew, he was clean!

Dredd and Anderson discovered that he was unwittingly playing host to the personality of Psi-Judge Lou Thompson, who, following the death of his own body, was using Myers instead; with Thompson officially dead and his file sealed, the bent judge could go on committing violent crimes, leaving Myers to take the rap. This presented Anderson and Dredd with a dilemma: they could turn Myers in to ensure Thompson's death, but that would result in Myers's death too! Worse, all physical evidence pointed at Myers being responsible. In the end, Myers was sentenced to death by the SJS, but Anderson moved his personality into a robotic body, forcing the true culprit to face justice while in Myers's body. Myers is now undercover, investigating who's been tampering with the droids, as seen in 'Ripe'.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

He exists in this timeline but has not appeared in 2000AD. Myers is one of Swierczynski's original characters. Something of a relief, actually: if all we saw was characters from the Dredd cast that's built up in 2000AD, what would be the point? Playing with other people's toys is all well and good, but there's something immeasurably satisfying about bringing your own along.

---

Nick Tarjay

A former judge whose career went so far south it's just hit Antarctica. Also the first streaker in this comic.

First appearance:

'Ripe', Issue 1.

Distinguishing features:

A tattoo on his left hand saying "WANTED FOR ATTEMPD MURDER OF A JUDGE". Burns on right hand obscuring other tattoo saying "YOU ARE A JUDGE WHO WAS FRAMED. PROVE YOUR INNOCENCE! TAKE MEMORY PILLS TO AVD PSI-D". Yet another tattoo on his forearm saying "IF CORNERED PRESS BUTTON ON WATCH". A tattoo of a swallow on his ankle. A tramp stamp of a butterfly. Chinese pictograms on his arm that were meant to be Mandarin for "Son of the Phoenix" to, like, symbolise how he'll, like, rise again, yeah? but they said "Special Fried Rice with Prawns". A tattoo on his stomach reading "JUDGE 4 LYFE". One on his other thigh reading "OKAY I TOOK THE MEMORY PILLS NOW WHA OW HEY THIS TATTOO NEEDLE RLY HURTS WHY AM I DOING THIS" n.b. He might not actually have some of these tattoos. See if you can work out which ones he doesn't have.

What's he done so far?

While partnered with Dredd and Myers during 'Ripe', Tarjay was shot in the throat. While in hospital, the Surgeon arranged for him to be abducted and cloned. That clone accompanied Dredd on the mission to deliver ransom money ('We've Got You Now, part 1' and was used to attack Dredd. Tarjay was then charged with attempted murder of a judge. The original Tarjay went on the run, using memory pills to evade detection by Psi-Division while trying to clear his name. When Dredd was sent to recover him, Tarjay engineered an explosion to cover his escape. This caused minor injuries, and the partial destruction of his tattoos.

Between that and his memory drugs, he now believes that he has genuinely attempted to murder a judge, and has resolved to pursue that goal with greater zeal. In short, be more worried about what he's going to do.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

No sign of him in 2000AD. Another of Swierczynski's original characters. A bit of a relief, frankly; the first rogue judge to appear in 2000AD was Mutie the Pig (Judge Gibson), who came and went within five pages and made little impression other than introducing the unsurprising notion of a bent judge.

---

Chief Justice Morgan

The guy in charge of the judges. Apparently on first-name terms with Dredd, and trusts him enough to deliver a hovercraft full of creds through a gauntlet of opportunistic thugs, take out the kidnappers and return the money and abductees intact.

First appearance:

'We've Got You Now, part 1', Issue 3.

Distinguishing features:

60something, African-American, clean-shaven with close-cropped grey hair. In the 22nd century, ethnicity shouldn't really be much of a feature -- racism's never really been a major issue in Judge Dredd. Xenophobia towards residents of other blocks, other mega-cities or other planets, sure; anti-mutant prejudice, robophobia, absolutely; but judges and citizens, come in all colours. Wears a variant uniform indicative of his rank, including two identical shoulderpads and an oversized Chief Judge's badge.

What's he done so far?

Not a lot yet, but he is the head of Justice Department this will surely change. As we'll see later, though, like all leaders he's reliant on his lieutenants to help him manage the task of pass and enforce laws over a city of 800 million people.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

Another original character. First, a quick note on race: in some regards 2000AD has done pretty well in terms of giving minorities major parts in Judge Dredd. There have been five major black characters: Judge Giant and his son, Thomas Silver, Guthrie, and Dan Francisco; Silver and Francisco both being chief judges. Judge Beeny is half-Latina. On other occasions (Our Man in Hondo in particular) the narration has been a significant step backward. Lately, though, especially since 'America', the strip's handling of this issue has improved vastly.

In this run, we get to see a minority in the big chair right from an early point in the story. Fortunate, really, as all the other named judges have been white, and three quarters of them male. One would hope that by 2100 society might have progressed a little further; but it's only four issues in and world-building is still very much an ongoing process.

Considering Morgan's name, I can't help thinking of Morgan Freeman, so I hope this character doesn't turn out to be another version of the Magical Negro trope. Given this character's relative age and position of seniority he could very easily fall into that rôle. Fortunately at present he comes across more as a man in charge content to simply count on Dredd to do the job. And as we find out later on (hooray for being a year behind!) we find he's far from infallible. So far Morgan balances quite nimbly on the brink of that trope but has yet to fall in — although at present that is mainly due to the relative scarcity of his appearances.

---

Judge Dredd #4 (Feb 2013)

JUDGE DREDD #4
Feb 2013
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist ("We've Got You Now"): Nelson Daniel
Artist ("Fugitive Daze"): Inaki Miranda
Colourist ("Fugitive Daze"): Eva de la Cruz
Cover (A): Zach Howard
Cover (B): Garry Brown
IDW Publishing, colour, $3.99 print, $1.99 digital

Two covers again, not counting special incentives, subscriber-only versions, and covers only visible on gibbous-mooned nights when Mars and Jupiter are aligned. And bugger me sideways! A cover that has something to do with the story? Could the staff have been reading my blog and taken my earlier screed to heart?

Of course not, don't be silly. This is from February last year, and it's May now. Besides, how many readers does this thing attract? Beyond the embarrassed loyalty of a couple of friends, I'm guessing zero at the time of writing. Woe is me.

Anyway, Zach Howard gives us Dredd, arms folded, looking pissed off as another judge's hand (presumably Tarjay's) aims a Lawgiver pistol right between his eyes. I'm not so sure about the side view and the fact that a gun and a gauntlet is all we see of our attacker. Sure, anyone in the know would know that's a judge, but maybe a different POV might give a relative newcomer a better idea of what's going on. I dunno. Still, I like the piece: we had a cliffhanger last issue and not to call back to it would be a mortal sin. Garry Brown's offering is a close-up of Dredd firing his Lawgiver. Sure, it's not necessarily about the story inside, but it's a good, dynamic piece. Well composed, and a big bright muzzle flash with sparks flying. It's eye-catching and that is an important part of a good cover. I can't fault it at all.

The first couple of pages bring us up to speed, explaining how Tarjay happened to be in both 'We've Got You Now, part 1' and 'Naked City', if you hadn't already guessed. While recovering from the events of 'Ripe', the Surgeon cloned him. The clone's on board the hovercraft; the real McCoy – er, Tarjay – was last seen running around without a stitch on him in 'Naked City'. There follows a flashback, narrated over by Dredd as he deduces what happened. Info-dump? Maybe, but it's not forced and it works. Tarjay's clone isn't an evil doppleganger revealing his evil scheme: he's a confused but devoted judge and it's his would-be victim who spells it out for us. Plus of course Swierczynski keeps it mercifully short, and Nelson Daniel does an admirable job of getting that story across. I'm not sure how much of the flashback is Swierczynski and how much is Daniel as I've not seen the script. Whether Mr S uses terse descriptions and leaves the rest up to Mr D, or instead goes to Alan Moore-length descriptions I really couldn't say. Still, it works. One page and that's your lot.

A quick note about dialogue. For the most part, again, very good. Swierczynski's characters speak naturally, and it doesn't come across as stilted or wooden. That's not to say that sometimes it can't get a little ropy: last issue had a bit of a clunker in the middle of 'Naked City'. This issue, though, amongst the usually excellent verbals, Swierczynski gives us an example of ropy dialogue that still works, because it's fun. It's because what Tarjay says is so unlikely and yet so accurate that it got a laugh out of me. It's a tough call, deciding when one's speech should get a bit florid, but evidently Swierczynski knows when to do so and when not. Of course, it could just be the case that people in Mega-City One talk funny. It is (in this strip) 86 years in the future, after all!

I should say something about the villains of this story. The people responsible for the DNA-jacking are a group of renegade doctors, whose leader goes by the nom de crime of 'The Surgeon'. Daniel's design for this short-lived gang is terrific. Since they all wear identical surgical gowns, caps and gloves, he has to concentrate on differentiating their builds and faces and equipment; while the Surgeon himself keeps everything below the eyes covered with a mask. It works pretty well: beetle-browed and bug-eyed, one can't help thinking they practiced brain surgery on each other in their spare time! Their equipment's hilariously nasty too: ostensibly surgical instruments, they look more like a cross between power tools and military hardware. Twin-bladed buzzsaws, rapid-firing hypodermic needle guns, Edward Scissorhands-style scalpels and various other rip-a-ma-jigs. I'm put in mind of Sean Phillips's work during the 90s, circa Swimming in Blood, and this is no bad thing in my book.

The second story of this issue, 'Fugitive Daze', deals with the fallout of the Surgeon's plot. With Tarjay's clone dealt with, it's time to bring the real Tarjay back into the fold, his name cleared. What could possibly go wrong? Another short, tightly plotted piece from Swierczynski, I don't mind saying. We see Tarjay's use of memory pills (as seen in 'The Good Parts') and notes written on his skin result in another tragic misunderstanding being heaped upon the tragic misunderstanding that put him on the run in the first place; and then another catastrophic mishap that's sure to have dire ramifications. Moreover, it's a story where Dredd doesn't win, partly due to Tarjay's knee-jerk response, partly due to his escape strategy, but mainly because Dredd's approach (warning shots, barging in as if he were trying to bring in a perp) is entirely wrong. Given that we expect Dredd to be competent, is this in character for him? It's a tricky question, but I'm going to say yes. The cases presented to Dredd thus far have been the sort he could meet by simply ramping up his customary heavy-handed aggression. It usually works, but not always. Errors of judgement can occur and Dredd is fallible. It doesn't often happen, but it can, and no-one is less forgiving of his errors than Dredd himself.

Inaki Miranda's art is nicely suited to this sort of smaller-scale, darker-toned outing. His depiction of Dredd has a few more wrinkles, suggesting he's closer to 50 or 60, making me wonder if Dredd is old at this juncture (the story's set in 2100, making me think he was in his forties) or Miranda was basing his version on what we see in 2000AD, in which Dredd is old and beginning to feel it. Either way, he's in stark contrast to the younger and faster Tarjay. Miranda's exploration of the comic page is noteworthy too; characters aren't confined to the panel borders, allowing for a greater sense of depth. Nowhere is this more striking than when Tarjay sets off his device, blowing Dredd out of the panel. Lovely.

One minor goof has come up though: last issue Tarjay's wanted poster listed his first name as Martin. This issue he's Nick. Oops!

Bloody good issue, building well on the previous three. 9/10.

Judge Dredd #3 (Jan 2013)

JUDGE DREDD #3
Jan 2013
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist ("We've Got You Now"): Nelson Daniel
Artist ("Naked City"): Langdon Foss
Colourist ("Naked City"): Ronda Pattison
Cover (A): Zach Howard
Cover (B): Nelson Daniel
Variant cover: Nick Percival
IDW Publishing, colour, $3.99 print, $1.99 digital

Okay, I get it. Multiple covers are a thing. IDW's Dredds are going to have 'em more often than I like, and I shouldn't whinge as they're pretty. Fair enough. Still, let's have a look. Cover A (top right) has Dredd dispatching a tracked war robot with a boot to the face and by ripping cables out of its neck. The robot's a typical mix of the plausible and the silly that we'd expect in this kind of strip: a humanoid torso on tracks with a minigun attached. It has nothing to do with the story inside; it just shows Dredd being hard and robots being fun to draw. Cover B is a head-and-shoulders side view of Dredd standing in a city street in front of a Lawmaster bike, with dust and pollution. Dredd looks his usual mean and moody self. This also has nothing to do with the plot in progress. Yes, this is notion bugs me. No, I don't care how old this rant is getting.

As far as first pages go, this is a corker. Nice shot of judges on Lawmaster bikes hogging the road, kicking up dust and in one case doing a gratuitous wheelie. Cityscape with dozens of glaring illuminated signs warning viewers of the abduction of one of Mega-City One's hyper-rich citizens. Mobilising what seems like all Justice Department on the behalf of one rich boy is a bit excessive, but if Dredd's to be an effective satire it has to show the gap between the haves and the have-nots. There's even a name for this kind of all-points bulletin: TRUMP ALERT. Since one can read this term as either a reference to egomaniacal plutocrat Donald Trump or to a 'trump', a particular kind of wet, noisy fart, I'm particularly impressed by this addition to the Big Meg's lexicon. I'm all for its use in any Dredd comic, British or Stateside.

This being Mega-City One, there's more to this affair than mere kidnap. The victim soon turns up safe at home – or does he? Because MC-1's criminals are twisted and inventive, the affair is kidnap, cloning, threat of torture, made even more cruel since there's no way the victim's wife can know for sure if the victim is her husband or a mere clone!

It's at this juncture that I have to highlight a similarity between this story and an early Dredd adventure from 2000AD Prog 38 (left), in which people were kidnapped and replaced with lifelike androids and used for espionage. Obviously these cases differ in terms of motive, but it's nice to see the 'kidnap plus doppelganger' idea brought out and given another airing.

A bit more world-building goes on while the plot unfolds. Chief Justice Morgan is in charge. We learn that clones can retain the memories of their 'parent', right up to the moment the sample was taken. Judge Tarjay returns to partner Dredd, having recovered from his injuries in issue #1. Anderson reappears to give psionic backup. All good stuff and it doesn't seem forced or gratuitous: no infodump, no 'As You Know, Bob'. Characters recur and, bit by bit, we get a feel for their personalities. It's so easy to do this sort of thing badly, to force characters to serve the plot, but thankfully that's not what happens here.

No sign of Myers this issue; ditto any sign of the rogue robots: that plot hook's been left to dangle while another plot's been advanced. That's probably for the best; sometimes events simply aren't straightforward, and given that Myers is going undercover, he needs time to establish himself in his new identity. The city will just have to keep Dredd and the other judges busy for the time being.

Nelson Daniel again does a pretty good job with his art duties. He's got Dredd down pat; the perma-scowl, only the slightest change in facial expression betraying an alteration in mood. Dredd is not the most expressive or demonstrative of characters – they don't call him 'Old Stony Face' for nothing – and Daniel gets that. Fortunately he doesn't make the mistake of making every other judge the same: Tarjay, Chief Justice Morgan, Anderson (naturally) all have a far wider variety of expression: Morgan's troubled brow and careworn face show his age without crowding his face out with a load of unnecessary lines. The use of Letratone-style shading is tasteful too, and adds a nice retro flavour to his work. Not sure if that's actual Letratone or just something Nelson Daniel does with his computer, but either way it works. I should have remarked on this before, but it's the first time it's actually jumped out at me.

His action scenes continue to impress, laying to rest many of the apprehensions I had during my review of issue 1. There are some terrific camera angles when Dredd's hover vehicle runs a gauntlet of opportunistic perps; he conveys a good sense of tension and breakneck speed throughout, making the sudden cliffhanger work all the better. After all that movement, the brakes are slammed on abruptly and we're left wanting to find out what happens next issue, or rather how it happens. Obviously Dredd survives. You could disintegrate the intransigent old bastard and the dust would still be capable of kicking arses and dispensing justice.

Without giving too much of the game away, Tarjay is also the subject of 'Naked City', a six-pager that expands on the cliff-hanger of 'We've Got You Now'. Foss and Pattison's visuals are clean and elegant, and don't overcrowd a simple story and bit of plot-building by Swierczynski. They capture Tarjay's desperation and quick thinking nicely, especially the look of repressed panic when he sees one of the perp sheets. Swierczynski's writing as before is excellent, the plotting tight, the character development plausible; all in all a believable portrait of a man up against terrible odds. It's hard not to root for him which makes what fate has in store for him all the more tragic. But, I have to pick one nit. The bit with the organ-leggers. Two hilariously clunky word balloons. Given that the story has no dialogue except for three panels, any bit of ropy dialogue is going to stand out like a sore thumb. Alas, these made it through: Those two balloons could have been removed, at no cost to the page's impact. Less would have been more.

A pretty good issue, easily the equal of its predecessors. 8/10.