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A review by jbmorgan86
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 by John Wagner
2.0
I read this simply because Forbidden Planet called it the #6 graphic novel of all-time. I'm sure these comics were essential to the development of graphic novels as we know them, but they just don't hold up well over the course of 50 years.
The story is set in the future in Megacity #1 (an American city . . . which is interesting since this is a British graphic novel). Universal wealth, weather control, subservient robots, etc. Crime runs rampant. The Judges aggressively stamp out crime. Judge Dredd is the most famous of all of these.
This collection is the first 60 issues. Each issue is about 5 pages. The jokes are corny. The social commentary is trite. Everything is over-explained by characters ("I'll escape by killing a guard, taking his gun, and shooting my cuffs!"). Dredd takes on a weird group of villains including the KKK, King Kong, and a mafia of apes. Some social issues in the comics are now . . . awkward (such as the stereotyping of Dredd's Italian maid).
The mythology is a great idea. The potential for great characters is here. But it is just not developed at this point in the comic's history.
The story is set in the future in Megacity #1 (an American city . . . which is interesting since this is a British graphic novel). Universal wealth, weather control, subservient robots, etc. Crime runs rampant. The Judges aggressively stamp out crime. Judge Dredd is the most famous of all of these.
This collection is the first 60 issues. Each issue is about 5 pages. The jokes are corny. The social commentary is trite. Everything is over-explained by characters ("I'll escape by killing a guard, taking his gun, and shooting my cuffs!"). Dredd takes on a weird group of villains including the KKK, King Kong, and a mafia of apes. Some social issues in the comics are now . . . awkward (such as the stereotyping of Dredd's Italian maid).
The mythology is a great idea. The potential for great characters is here. But it is just not developed at this point in the comic's history.