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A review by ravenousbibliophile
The Batman/Judge Dredd Collection by Various, John Wagner
4.0
Blurb: When a Knight meets a Paladin, there's property damage.
One of the most entertaining crossovers that I've read in recent times. The best? no. But certainly one of the most entertaining. Being a product of the 90's (which is certainly a very divisive era for comic book readers), the stories do suffer the flaws of over-drawing and/or ridiculous anatomical proportions, but one cannot deny that the artwork looks great and it really captures the essence of the two protagonists, Gotham with it's smokey, mysterious aura and Mega City with it's futuristic design tempered by old-world decay and violence.
In this collection, the only story worth it's salt is 'Die Laughing' featuring the Clown Prince of Crime, Joker. However, one needs to read the previous stories in order to understand the build-up to this one and the previous stories are enjoyable for their dark humor and in particular the interaction between Batman and Judge Dredd which is a full-on macho fest. Admittedly Dredd comes off as more of the 'macho' thug but then again that is why he's the Paladin of the Law. Bravado and an unwavering belief that Law must prevail above all else gives him that air of an unyielding religious zealot. This is why I loved the collection, because I never thought I'd see a character that can make Batman look mild in terms of temperament.
My only gripe with the collection is the final bonus story featuring Lobo. Now there was a story I was really looking forward to reading, however, sadly Lobo and Dredd have a minimal interaction beyond the usual sharing of expletives in a few panels. And that's a shame because for me the art in Lobo/Dredd was by far the best, but that's the way the Lawgiver shoots I suppose.
P.S.: I liked the attention to detail with regards to the language of the characters. They each used their own world's vernacular and rarely (if ever) were there moments where you would think, "Wait a minute, a guy from the 22nd Century wouldn't say something like that."
One of the most entertaining crossovers that I've read in recent times. The best? no. But certainly one of the most entertaining. Being a product of the 90's (which is certainly a very divisive era for comic book readers), the stories do suffer the flaws of over-drawing and/or ridiculous anatomical proportions, but one cannot deny that the artwork looks great and it really captures the essence of the two protagonists, Gotham with it's smokey, mysterious aura and Mega City with it's futuristic design tempered by old-world decay and violence.
In this collection, the only story worth it's salt is 'Die Laughing' featuring the Clown Prince of Crime, Joker. However, one needs to read the previous stories in order to understand the build-up to this one and the previous stories are enjoyable for their dark humor and in particular the interaction between Batman and Judge Dredd which is a full-on macho fest. Admittedly Dredd comes off as more of the 'macho' thug but then again that is why he's the Paladin of the Law. Bravado and an unwavering belief that Law must prevail above all else gives him that air of an unyielding religious zealot. This is why I loved the collection, because I never thought I'd see a character that can make Batman look mild in terms of temperament.
My only gripe with the collection is the final bonus story featuring Lobo. Now there was a story I was really looking forward to reading, however, sadly Lobo and Dredd have a minimal interaction beyond the usual sharing of expletives in a few panels. And that's a shame because for me the art in Lobo/Dredd was by far the best, but that's the way the Lawgiver shoots I suppose.
P.S.: I liked the attention to detail with regards to the language of the characters. They each used their own world's vernacular and rarely (if ever) were there moments where you would think, "Wait a minute, a guy from the 22nd Century wouldn't say something like that."