It's all Wagner all the time for this next set - and as you'd expect from him there's gold in there, but even the master of the form has his off moments. Must've been something up in the mid-90s, I guess.
We start with perhaps the most ambitious Dredd epic to that point, a storyline that tied off threads stretching back all the way to the beginning...
No. 42: Doomsday Progs 1141-1164; Megs
3.52-3.59
Written by John Wagner; Art by Cam Kennedy, Neil Googe, Simon Davis, Mike McMahon, Colin Wilson, Charlie Adlard
(32 episodes, 279 pages of pure epic, but it's not counting a fair number of prologues. It's epic 25 in sequence)
The Basics: Crime boss Nero Narcos – who is more robot
than man – manages to take over Mega City 1 through a combination of clever
tricks: reprogramming all robots to be loyal to him; kitting out the Judges
with new but faulty lawgivers; getting Judge Dredd out of the city.
Dredd endures some shenanigans with Orlok the Assassin and
the survivors of East Meg 1, then helps lead the fight back to resume control
of the city.
As a bonus, the second half of the story is told twice, once from
Dredd's perspective, once from ex-Judge turned PI DeMarco's perspective.
Nero Narcos and his 1980s-Manga inspired robots take over the city with relative ease.
Words by John Wagner; Art by Neil Googe.
Words by John Wagner; Art by Neil Googe.
Analysis: There's a lot going on in this epic,
story-wise. Two pre-prologues deserve special mention: Bad Frendz (Progs
955-959) and The Scorpion Dance (Progs 1125-1132). Bad Frendz is one of the
earliest hints of the 'Frendz' organization, the central villain in Doomsday.
But really, the story is about insanely powerful baddie Vitus Dance, a Cursed
Earth mutant with a giant face and scaly skin as only Carlos Ezquerra can
deliver. The Frendz are mentioned here and there over the next couple of years
– not least in the Pit – but only in short, one-off bursts. We learn that their
leader is Nero Narcos, a man who is functionally dead but exists first as a
mobster's head in a jar, then as a mobster's head on a robot body, and, ultimately,
a robot head on a robot's body, albeit still controlled by the living brain of
human mobster Nero Narcos.
Vitus Dance returns in micro-epic The Scorpion Dance,
essentially a sequel to 'Bad Frendz' but also a sequel to actual epic-length story Beyond the call of
Duty, and, as if that weren't enough, a pre-prologue to Doomsday.
Wagner was clearly having a ton of fun pulling together several plots at once during
this period! Dance escapes, somewhat deliberately as part of a Narcos scheme to
help further his position. By the time he's caught, Narcos is poised to unleash
Doomsday, and Justice Dept can't do much about it.
And that's before we bring in the direct Prologue to
the Doomsday epic - Return of the Assassin. This tale sees Orlok come back to
MC1 from outer space, in order to arrest Judge Dredd and bring him for trial.
Thus, somewhat crudely, Wagner stitches in yet another long running plotline,
the fallout of the Apocalypse War.
Artwork here by Cam Kennedy, whose very presence suggests that this tale has tendrils stretching back into Dredd's past.
Oh, and while we're talking of stitching things together, the
actual Doomsday epic makes explicit reference to the very first Dredd epic, the
Robot War! Nero Narcos makes the observation that that war should have
been won by the robots – if only they hadn't had an incompetent leader in
Call-me-Kenneth. Narcos reckons he can prepare and execute a robot revolution
far more successfully – and damnit if he isn't right. You could also argue that
John Wagner was making a meta-textual point that he wished he'd written the
Robot War saga later on in his tenure as Dredd maestro, when he had a better handle on the strip.
The point is, there's a LOT going in the build-up to
Doomsday, and it ought to be the be-all and end-all of Dredd epics...
...so why isn't it?
Well, it doesn't help that there were a plethora of artists
involved, a mixture of past masters including Cam Kennedy (who never felt quite
as good in colour as he did in his glory days in black and white), Mick McMahon
(who delivers good work but doesn’t get the chance to show off his crazy
character and setting design skills as in earlier epics) and Colin Wilson
(another one not quite in his best light in colour), but also some brand new
art droids who perhaps weren't quite epic ready. Simon Davis and Neil Googe
both got a LOT better in future years, but their efforts here feel rather
rushed.
Simon Davis cut his Dredd teeth on an extra-long, triple-page-length chapter of this story in which Dredd is on trial for war crimes. LOTS of sketchy bits in it.
Another problem is that there are two rival storylines going
on at the same time, and they don't quite mesh. The main story is about Narcos
taking over the city; the side story is about Orlok snatching Dredd and taking
him to be tried by the surviving Sovs of East Meg 1. Wagner does stitch these
strands together logically – and indeed more smoothly then the Judda subplot in
Oz – but tonally the two stories don't really fit. The main purpose it serves
is to explain how Mega City One can only ever be taken over if Judge Dredd is
out of the way (a trope already seen in Judge Cal and Necropolis).
Personally speaking, I think reprints of this epic haven't
helped either, as they've chosen to work through the Prog stories first, then
the Megazine. (The original Hamlyn collection had these in two separate
volumes, and the Case Files 30 presents the material the same way, just bound
in one volume)
Narratively, this is fine, as the Prog and Meg kind of follow
separate arcs – especially the Orlok stuff. But as I recall from reading this
when it first aired, getting the episodes all mixed up actually helped a great
deal to show the chaos in MC1, how much having Dredd off-stage affected things,
and just how much trouble justice dept were in without ever implying that
Narcos had completely obliterated them.
Even the second half of the story suffers from being read in
two blocks. Wagner uses the device of showing how the Judges win back control
first from Dredd's point of view, then from DeMarco's. But again, unless you
read the two side by side, it kind of feels too easy. You need both halves
spliced together to show that it was a team effort. Go on Rebellion, dare you
to repackage and reprint this not-much-loved epic one more time.
It’s a shame, as the plotting in the Dredd half is as solid
as any Wagner action procedural, and the character work with DeMarco in her
half is both fun and rather untypical for Wagner, well worth a look just for
that.
Story: 6-8/10 It's all so disjointed that I want to
give high marks for the good bits and lower marks for the mediocre bits. (none
of it is bad per se, although Narcos is a poor villain)
Art: 6-9/10 Colin Wilson is best in show here,
especially when he's dealing with Justice Dept and the trio of grizzled Dredd,
anguished Volt and narrow-eyed Jura Edgar. He also delivers the best action
beats in the Megazine’s telling of the final showdown versus the robots, I
think. Otherwise, Charlie Adlard is dependable and gives great atmosphere, Cam
Kennedy provides a stupendous Orlok but horrendous Anderson, and McMahon simply
sticks out too much with his idiosyncratic style.
Legacy: As you'd expect from an epic that brings
together many plot threads, this one's brimming with legacy. For starters,
there's the end of yet another Chief Judge, with a neat little epilogue about
the final fate of Hadrian Volt. But also DeMarco effectively gets a send off,
she'll be seen again but not written by John Wagner and rarely in a Judge Dredd
story. Jura Edgar has been taken down more than a peg or two. Justice Dept is
once again understaffed, this time with the added problem of an excess of
one-handed judges and a lack of reliable weapons. And then there's East Meg 1,
which isn't quite as dead as previously thought, and may just have one or two
last gasps of revenge yet to come...
Judges DeMarco and Roffman, keeping things fun in times of trial.
Words by John Wagner; Art by Colin Wilson
Words by John Wagner; Art by Colin Wilson
Overall Score: 12.7 / 20
Want to read it? Case Files 30 is the easiest way.
But if you want to get some build-up in, and I recommend that you do, you'll need to read select epsiodes from Case Files 23 (chiefly Bad Frendz) and 29 (Worst of Frendz + The Scorpion Dance) first.
Right in the middle of the slow build-up to Doomsday, Wagner dashed off another epic storyline that was also much better in the abstract than in the version that ended up on the page...
Epic 41: The Hunting Party Progs 1033-1049
Written by John Wagner; Art by Sean Phillips, Henry Flint, Trevor Hairsine, Calum Alexander Watt, Jason Brashill and David Bircham
(19 episodes, 105 pages; epic 22 chronologically speaking)
The basics: Judges Dredd and DeMarco lead a team of
rookie Judges into the Cursed Earth, ultimately hoping to root out the origins
of a pack of dune sharks that dared to attack Mega City 1.
 |
| Sometimes, Judge Dredd is a western. Art by Sean Phillips |
Analysis: to put it crudely, it's an extended version
of the 3-part Hotdog Run thrill from long ago, mashed up with a redo of The
Cursed Earth. And, sad to say, it suffers in comparison with both. But
perhaps that's only true if you've read those thrills first! It's also a follow-on from a prologue of sorts, Dune Sharks (Progs 1014-1017). The
characters, plotting and indeed crazy situations the team encounters on
this journey are arguably more sophisticated and 'better' than those two early thrills – but this epic somehow lacks a bit of
spark overall.
It doesn't help that Sean Phillips sets an amazing tone with
his quiet, spacious opening episode. We meet the cast and get a sense of the
desolation of the Cursed Earth, in a wild contrast to both Ron Smith's manic
energy from the Hotdog Run, and the gonzo bursts of story and art from
the likes of Mills and McMahon.
But Phillips doesn't return, instead handing off art duties
to four different folks who each tackle their own more-or-less discreet
storyline. (Henry Flint gets to wrap it all up with the denouement, as well as
his own tale). As with the Cursed Earth epic, this one largely stands or
falls on the quality of its episodes. I can't really pinpoint why, but none of
them quite lingers in the memory in the same way as what came before, even
though they're all perfectly decent, and often very well drawn.
 |
| Can't visit the Cursed Earth without meeting some Proud Boy types... Art by Trevor Hairsin |
Pick of the bunch is Fog on the Eerie, which sends Dredd and
co back in time to the days of Bad Bob Booth. It doesn't exactly fill in any
details of that future history, but it gives a taste, and a solid reminder of
what a nasty piece of work Booth was. Possibly worst of the bunch,
unfortunately, is the final piece with mad robot Dr Bolt. Flint's designs are
superb, but it's hard to care about the plot,
with Bolt becoming a 'villain of the week', rather than someone whose menace
had been seeded earlier.
 |
| A peek into the world of Dredd, circa 2060. Citizens are already pretty Mega-City like. Art by Calum Alexander Watt |
The best thing about the epic, without question, is the
character interplay between Dredd and the various rookies. There weren't many
clichés left unturned by the original Hotdog Run, but having an epic to
stretch out in makes those clichés satisfying. So you get your hotheads who
screw up but get to redeem themselves, the hyper-competent one who makes that
fatal error, the bolhy one who rubs Dredd up the wrong way, and so on. John
Wagner sure does know how to communicate exposition and emotion through simple,
unforced dialogue, and you feel you know these characters super well by the
end.
Story: 7-9/10 (Wagner)
Art: 6-10/10 (Phillips, Watt, Flint, Brashill)
Phillips shines, Brashill does what he does very well but it
sticks out a mile against the others, this is Flint in his early days
delivering a lot of punch but lacking the finesse and weirdness he would come
to embrace – leaving Watt as rather the star player with his sort-of
‘realisitc’ style, the perfect choice to show Judges out of place back in the
mid-21st century.
Legacy: At least two recurring characters are first
introduced here, Brit-Cit transfer rookie Judge Stark (the one with the little
blue star on his chin), and ex-undercover Judge Renga (the hothead with tattoos
on his face). Bringing DeMarco back into Dredd so soon after the Pit also
helped cement her as someone who would come back more frequently. Finally Dune
Sharks, first encountered in the Wilderlands epic, are now established as
another Cursed Earth hazard, who re-appear whenever a writer/artist wants to
have a sea monster in their city-based story.
 |
| Dune sharks, we remember. Dr Bolt, not so much. Art by Henry Flint |
Overall Score: 12.75 out of 20
Want to read it? The prologue is in Case Files 25; the main epic is all in Case Files 26.
Next up, a trio of tales that arguably work best a prologue to another epic...
Epic 40: Mechanismo Megs 2.12-2.17; 2.22-2.26; 2.37-2.43
Written by John Wagner; Art by Colin McNeil (Mechanismo), Peter Doherty (Returns), Manuel Benet (Body Count)
(Body Count is 7 episodes, 65 pages, so that qualifies as an 'epic' in
my arbitrary rules. Mechanismo books 1 and 2 are not quite long enough each to
qualify for this rundown. But they do function as a necessary prologue
to Body Count, so they're in on a technicality! And they make a pretty major
difference, especially when it comes to the art. So here we are with what I’ll
call a ‘split epic’. In total, it's 18 episodes, 164 pages, and is epic 16 in sequence)
The basics: desperately short-staffed, the Chief Judge
agrees to try using robot judges. It doesn't go well.
 |
| Colin McNeil's design of the robot is so effective it's still the basis for today's judge-bots. |
Analysis: Colin MacNeil delivered the original
Mechanismo design and puts us in action comedy territory; Peter Doherty pushes
us into horror, then Manuel Benet rather drops the baton giving us a straight
action epic, but for some reason his art just doesn't have that edge. Nothing
wrong with it, and his storytelling is perfectly clear, but it's kinda bland.
The story revolves around one of John Wagner's pet concerns:
robots, AI, and the question of responsibility. Judge Dredd, on a personal
level, does not believe a machine can ever safely be programmed to pass
judgement on human beings. The irony is, of course, that Dredd himself is often
presented as being machine-like in his own behaviour and practices, following
the rule of law and not allowing anything such as emotion to cloud his judgement.
Or at least, that's the standard Dredd joke. In fact, all along he's pretty
clearly led by emotions, not least passionate love for his city, a strong will
to carry out his duty, and a pretty wide mean streak. Not to mention the quips.
As Al Ewing has often stated, Dredd is very quippy.
The Mechanismo trilogy largely proves Dredd right. If even
one machine malfunctions, the logic goes, the whole program had better be shut
down. By the end of book 3, no one is in any doubt about this, but it requires
Dredd to tell a lie, something that, in theory, a robot couldn't do, thus
leading us to wonder if human Judges really are any better than robot versions.
It's all glorious fun, let down ever so slightly by the
fact that Wagner is in total control of what happens, so the moral dimension of
the story is rather scrubbed over as the plot moves into 'how do we defeat
these infernal machines' territory. The question of whether a machine ever
could be trusted is one Wagner likes to ask but hardly even begins to answer in this story. He will keep coming back to it again and again, though, each time
with an added layer of sophistication. I think it's because he himself doesn't
know the answer, although he can dream up all manner of exciting scenarios in
which different types of malfunctions come about.
Plus, I suppose, if you want to read about robots who are
guided by human-style judgement, with more compassion (but all the
corruptibility and foibles of us humans) you can read Pat Mills' ABC Warriors.
 |
| Book II is oretty much entirely about judges hunting a rogue killer robot. Those looking for movie influences will see shades of The Terminator, alongside Short Circuit and RoboCop. Art by Peter Doherty |
Story: 7-9/10 (Wagner)
Art: 5-9/10 (Doherty for me is best in show; MacNeil's
episodes were great but perhaps not him firing on all cylinders; Benet not so much)
Legacy: Most immediately, the whole thing leads us
right into the Wilderlands epic, which begins with a face-off between McGruder
and Dredd, specifically on the issue of using robots as Judges. And indeed, the
idea of robot judges has never completely gone away. Then there's the bigger
event, in which Dredd himself ends the story by breaking the law – setting up a
lie and convincing a fellow judge to lie for him. The immediate repercussions
are dealt with in Wilderlands, but I can't help feeling his actions here
continue that delightful slow burn of Dredd's disaffection with the justice
system in MC1.
In the much longer term, Wagner will try going the
other way with robot judges, in the form of ultra-liberal Mechanismo robot
Harvey.
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| Dredd does some investigatin' Art by Manuel Benet |
Overall Score: 12.8 out of 20
Want to read it? There's a collection with all three stories in one, Mechanismo, or else
Parts 1 and 2 are in Case Files 18; Part 3 is in Case Files 19.
Next time, two sequels and a trifle.
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