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courtvaderbooks's review
5.0
Judge Dredd is one of my absolute favorite characters. Its a shame he was cut from being put in Mortal Kombat 11. He would have been an unstoppable force to be reconned with.
"And I am the Law!"
"And I am the Law!"
thecommonswings's review
4.0
And with volume 2 of the Case Files we absolutely get to the point where Judge Dredd as we came to know and fear him takes real form. It seems like all it took was a couple of epics to really focus the strip, but the big surprise is just how much of the Cursed Earth is by Pat Mills. You can occasionally tell the declamatory bore he could become isn’t far away: he has a really weird way of describing plot events - Satanus is the best example here - in a passive voice which kind of kills the drama.
But he does manage to dig up the blackly comic side of the stories, which once Wagner takes over the strips fully - especially with The Day The Law Died - really helps focus Dredd as a character. When a bunch of mutants or simps or futsies or grotesques are battling away, Dredd is the sober straight man to the antics with a common punchline of just basically knocking the shit out of their ridiculousness. That’s the format that really made the character and it’s the one that really kicks in here. Judge Cal is the epitome of this and frankly it’s that saga that really gets Mega City One in focus. A mad city prone to ridiculousness and awful disasters, with Dredd trying to keep it all together. Hell, we even get the under city for the first time as well
But even though dozens of future plot ideas are seeded here, what’s most indicative of the show heading into the early glory years are the artists. McMahon is still great, Bolland is managing to draw astonishingly beautiful work but Brendan McCarthy and Brett Ewins show up here and particularly we get Ron Smith, whose work I think is the archetypal Dredd of this period. He’s struggling with helmets, but he gets the deadpan nature of Dredd himself and is happy to throw incredible amounts of silliness at him in contrast. It’s a strip growing in confidence and assurance, finally realising the potential it can achieve
But he does manage to dig up the blackly comic side of the stories, which once Wagner takes over the strips fully - especially with The Day The Law Died - really helps focus Dredd as a character. When a bunch of mutants or simps or futsies or grotesques are battling away, Dredd is the sober straight man to the antics with a common punchline of just basically knocking the shit out of their ridiculousness. That’s the format that really made the character and it’s the one that really kicks in here. Judge Cal is the epitome of this and frankly it’s that saga that really gets Mega City One in focus. A mad city prone to ridiculousness and awful disasters, with Dredd trying to keep it all together. Hell, we even get the under city for the first time as well
But even though dozens of future plot ideas are seeded here, what’s most indicative of the show heading into the early glory years are the artists. McMahon is still great, Bolland is managing to draw astonishingly beautiful work but Brendan McCarthy and Brett Ewins show up here and particularly we get Ron Smith, whose work I think is the archetypal Dredd of this period. He’s struggling with helmets, but he gets the deadpan nature of Dredd himself and is happy to throw incredible amounts of silliness at him in contrast. It’s a strip growing in confidence and assurance, finally realising the potential it can achieve
thewargrave's review
4.0
Would have given up with Case File 01 if I hadn't been told to stick it out to the first 'Epic' story that Dredd is famous for; The Cursed Earth. Glad a lot of people don't count The Robot Wars and Luna-One from Case File 01 as I found them a bit light and Walter the Wobot is about as insufferable as a comic character can be.
The Cursed Earth saga left me a bit cold. More a collection of issues outside of Mega City 1 than a continual tale. The story within a story about Satanus, the reincarnated T-rex, gets props for being Jurrassic Park almost 15 years before Michael Chrichton penned it.
The Day the Law Died was much more enjoyable. A tug of war battle for Mega-City 1 between Dredd and Judge Cal, a Caligula style tyrant who gets progressively more insane. A bit more drama, actual continuity and stakes from the previous issues. Good stuff. Good enough to make me want to continue.
I've begun to see the charm of Judge Dredd. He's a murderous, fascist, ass-wipe of a character, but he's an entertaining one.
The Cursed Earth saga left me a bit cold. More a collection of issues outside of Mega City 1 than a continual tale. The story within a story about Satanus, the reincarnated T-rex, gets props for being Jurrassic Park almost 15 years before Michael Chrichton penned it.
The Day the Law Died was much more enjoyable. A tug of war battle for Mega-City 1 between Dredd and Judge Cal, a Caligula style tyrant who gets progressively more insane. A bit more drama, actual continuity and stakes from the previous issues. Good stuff. Good enough to make me want to continue.
I've begun to see the charm of Judge Dredd. He's a murderous, fascist, ass-wipe of a character, but he's an entertaining one.
mardukzero's review
4.0
I put my thoughts on The Cursed Earth in its own review under The Cursed Earth Uncensored.
This volume had far more long-form arc strips, with the majority consisting of The Cursed Earth and The Day The Law Died. The latter was a good story that I think went a bit longer than it needed to. But we enjoyed a good bit of Brian Bolland's art in this volume, as well as some other artists that delivered well (Ron Smith in particular).
This volume had far more long-form arc strips, with the majority consisting of The Cursed Earth and The Day The Law Died. The latter was a good story that I think went a bit longer than it needed to. But we enjoyed a good bit of Brian Bolland's art in this volume, as well as some other artists that delivered well (Ron Smith in particular).
noysh's review
4.0
This was actually my first real forray into the Judge Dredd material and the two storylines contained in this volume were recommended as essential Dredd storylines by several friends versed in Judge Dredd. I have to admit, I was expecting it to be dated and hard to get through, but it was a complete blast and I enjoyed it so much I read right through the whole volume quickly. Often absurd and as well as eerily poiniant event today, both the Cursed Earth and Day the Law Died storylines are well worth your time to read.
guiltyfeat's review
4.0
I started with volume 3, went back to vol. 1 and now I picked up vol. 2. I guess I will keep trying to find more of these if I can find them for a reasonable price. This is where Dredd started getting involved in multi-chapter epic stories which sometimes ran weekly over several months. We start with the Cursed Earth saga and follow it up with the story of Chief Judge Caligula, as much a victim of nominative determinism as anything else.
It's mostly great stuff with the occasional standout issue penciled by Brian Bolland or Dave Gibbons, but the writing is uniformly cheeky. These stories were originally published in 1978. At a time when I was too young to understand the fascist overtones of Dirty Harry, I don't think I could have appreciated that peculiarly British mashup of satire and homage that define Dredd during this period.
It's mostly great stuff with the occasional standout issue penciled by Brian Bolland or Dave Gibbons, but the writing is uniformly cheeky. These stories were originally published in 1978. At a time when I was too young to understand the fascist overtones of Dirty Harry, I don't think I could have appreciated that peculiarly British mashup of satire and homage that define Dredd during this period.
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