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A review by verlkonig
Judge Anderson: Year One by Alec Worley
2.0
Arc provided by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
I'll admit straight off the bat that I've never read the Judge Dredd comics or graphic novels, and I had a very tenuous understanding of who Anderson was prior to beginning this. The vast majority of my knowledge of the characters, setting and landscape of the Dredd Universe came from the 2012 Dredd movie starring Karl Urban, which I hugely enjoyed. I especially liked Olivia Thirlby's role as the rookie Judge Anderson - a young telepathic Judge (AKA futuristic police officer) who was naive and nervous but ultimately powerful and determined.
So I was pretty excited to read this collection of 3 novellas - Heartbreaker, The Abyss, and A Dream of the Nevertime. Alec Worley's introduction had me swooning with anticipation. He writes about his understanding of Anderson with such a sense of reverence bordering on hero(ine) worship that I was immediately excited to get to know her better. She seemed like everything I want in a female character:
And on top of this, Worley seemed to have the very best of intentions when it came to Anderson's representation:
Does this not sound EXCELLENT, so far?
I left the introduction truly excited to learn more about this fantastic character. Unfortunately, I did not get what I wanted.
The stories in this collection are very, very, action/crime/thriller orientated. Imagine a very violent, new-case-every-week detective show, and you're on the right page. There are a lot of fight scenes, and true to his word, Worley makes sure that we're up to our necks in forceful and unpleasant violence and profanities. This in itself is not an issue, as Anderson is shown to navigate this wholly disgusting city and its inhabitants with confidence and proficiency. Of course, she makes mistakes, and tries to fix them, and we hope that she will succeed, and in this way we get some glimpses of her psyche.
However, I was not convinced that Worley showed me everything he aimed for when writing this. I was left impressed with Anderson's intelligence, competency, compassion, and strength, but by the end of it I didn't really feel like I knew her any better. There were a few brief glimpses of personality, but all the introspection in the novellas were based around the present situation - Anderson thinks about what she should do next, how she can stay alive, guilt or sadness over a character that just bit the dust. I didn't really learn anything about her past, her character, her relationships, or who she is outside of her career as a Judge in Megacity One. I didn't come to love the character as I had wanted to, because of the ceaseless focus on action action action.
Unfortunately, after I slogged my way through the first two stories - 'Heartbreaker' and 'The Abyss', I couldn't bring myself to go on with the final instalment, 'A Dream of the Nevertime.' It's entirely possible that ADotN could be very, very good, with lots of character study and growth. After skimming through the first 20 or so pages, though, I was not convinced and regretfully, will be giving up.
I feel like these stories could have made good comics, or even a few episodes of a TV adaptation. The action wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I wanted. If you're into fast paced detective stories you may well love this collection.
I'll admit straight off the bat that I've never read the Judge Dredd comics or graphic novels, and I had a very tenuous understanding of who Anderson was prior to beginning this. The vast majority of my knowledge of the characters, setting and landscape of the Dredd Universe came from the 2012 Dredd movie starring Karl Urban, which I hugely enjoyed. I especially liked Olivia Thirlby's role as the rookie Judge Anderson - a young telepathic Judge (AKA futuristic police officer) who was naive and nervous but ultimately powerful and determined.
So I was pretty excited to read this collection of 3 novellas - Heartbreaker, The Abyss, and A Dream of the Nevertime. Alec Worley's introduction had me swooning with anticipation. He writes about his understanding of Anderson with such a sense of reverence bordering on hero(ine) worship that I was immediately excited to get to know her better. She seemed like everything I want in a female character:
"Anderson is driven to redeem the city by something more than a sense of duty. She wants to prove not only that good exists (despite the odds), but also that the people are worth fighting for - and she does so not because the law says she must but because she wants to."
And on top of this, Worley seemed to have the very best of intentions when it came to Anderson's representation:
"Above all I wanted to treat Anderson like a human being rather than a sexy cartoon. My Anderson farts. She stinks of sweat. She doesn't have time to shave her legs. She cracks jokes about being on her period. And no more of those daft kick-boxing moves she did in some of the comics just to show off those shapely legs. This bitch mixes it up like Gina Carano in the movie Haywire: chokeholds, thumbs in eye sockets, broken teeth, violence at its most ugly and magnetic."
Does this not sound EXCELLENT, so far?
I left the introduction truly excited to learn more about this fantastic character. Unfortunately, I did not get what I wanted.
The stories in this collection are very, very, action/crime/thriller orientated. Imagine a very violent, new-case-every-week detective show, and you're on the right page. There are a lot of fight scenes, and true to his word, Worley makes sure that we're up to our necks in forceful and unpleasant violence and profanities. This in itself is not an issue, as Anderson is shown to navigate this wholly disgusting city and its inhabitants with confidence and proficiency. Of course, she makes mistakes, and tries to fix them, and we hope that she will succeed, and in this way we get some glimpses of her psyche.
However, I was not convinced that Worley showed me everything he aimed for when writing this. I was left impressed with Anderson's intelligence, competency, compassion, and strength, but by the end of it I didn't really feel like I knew her any better. There were a few brief glimpses of personality, but all the introspection in the novellas were based around the present situation - Anderson thinks about what she should do next, how she can stay alive, guilt or sadness over a character that just bit the dust. I didn't really learn anything about her past, her character, her relationships, or who she is outside of her career as a Judge in Megacity One. I didn't come to love the character as I had wanted to, because of the ceaseless focus on action action action.
Unfortunately, after I slogged my way through the first two stories - 'Heartbreaker' and 'The Abyss', I couldn't bring myself to go on with the final instalment, 'A Dream of the Nevertime.' It's entirely possible that ADotN could be very, very good, with lots of character study and growth. After skimming through the first 20 or so pages, though, I was not convinced and regretfully, will be giving up.
I feel like these stories could have made good comics, or even a few episodes of a TV adaptation. The action wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I wanted. If you're into fast paced detective stories you may well love this collection.