demon dawn of time
With the latest Judge Dredd film enjoyed by everyone I know, a lot of people have been saying to me that they would like to read some Judge Dredd but have no idea where to begin. This is a problem with all comics but especially with Judge Dredd which has been running for 35 years in real time - yes 1 year in real life is 1 year in the comic - which is quite interesting I think. So anyway I'm going to give you some heads up on where to start with this absolutely fantastic series. Here are some great story arcs worth a read even if you delve no further...
1) Cursed Earth - 1978 - Pat Mills and John Wagner
Judge Dredd is set in a post apocolyptic America where only major cities have survived a nuclear war - the rest is a barren nuclear death desert. A virus has broken out in one of the cities and Judge Dredd and a small team must carry the antidote across the cursed earth by bike. Quite silly and '70s' in places but this is the first great dredd tale.
2) Blockmania & The Apocalypse War - 1981 - John Wagner and Alan Grant
If you've seen the film you've seen a block. Thousands of people living in one mega sized building, a city in a tower block. Blockmania is a personal favourite of mine as it involves a huge war between blocks and is very darkly funny and satirical. With Americas Mega City in a weakened state of civil war, Russia attack and kill 150 million civilians. This is an intense story and political story with Wagner and Grant delivering some hilarious satire.
3) Anything with Chopper
OZ - John Wagner and Alan Grant - 1987
Chopper is a sky surfer who likes illegal racing and graffitting. Dredd sticks him behind bars for it but Chopper is a local hero loved by all. Chopper escapes and heads across the cursed earth towards the latest sky surfing contest. Dredd is the villain of this as we cheer for Chopper to make Supersurf 10. Gotta love Chopper smile
4) (Democracy arc) America - 1991 - John Wagner
This is one of the greatest comic stories ever written and if you only read one dredd story read this. Oddly the story doesn't really feature dredd but is a love story between an average citizen and a terrorist. Political, touching and stays with you. The art is done in pastels by fantastic scottish artist Colin Macneil and all in all is absolutely perfect. All of the stories in Democracy are fantastic and darkly political but America is the best one.
5) Anything with the Dark Judges
Tale of a Dead Man and Necropolis (follows on from Democracy arc) - 1990 - John Wagner
Batman has the Joker and in Dredd world Judge Death is the equivalent. Judge Dredd resigns as a man of the law on political grounds and is exiled to the cursed earth. In his absence The Dark Judges (based on the four horsemen of the apocalypse) manipulate judges and kill kill kill. Judges Death, Fire, Fear and Mortis are terrifying, lots of dark comedic horror and violence.
The most recent epic Day of Chaos will be out on feb 14th 2013. I hope this helps those looking to get started with Judge Dredd to find a story that suits their interests ^__^ take care,
Dawn x x
We love you judge dredd!!
***Note: John Wagner uses a lot of pseudonyms including jon haward and tb grover and is also known for writing History of Violence***
