Epics 52-50: worst first

There aren't many Dredd epics that are actively bad. Often as not, the art or indeed the very concept of Judge Dredd is enough to make for worthwhile comics. For my money, there's just one story that I'd actively recommend that nobody reads...

No. 52 Crusade Progs 928-937
Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar; Art by Mick Austin
(10 episodes, 60 pages - so it only just qualifies, more's the pity; if you're counting chronologically, this is Dredd's 18th 'epic' storyline)

The basics: A justice dept ship crashes into the Arctic, carrying a being that claims to be God. Rival judges from around the world race, and soon battle each other, to collect this unlikely specimen for themselves.

Outrageously anachronistic though they are, those Egpytian Judge uniforms look awesome.
Words by Morrison & Millar; Art by Mick Austin

 

Analysis: I didn't hate Crusade when I first read it, week by week. In fact, I was pretty stoked for it after reading episode 1. The basic set-up is one that worked for 13-year-old me: get a bunch of international Judges, and pit them against each other in an Antarctic base. The prize? A judge who has encountered a being that might just be God. What's not to like?

Well, it's the fact that the 'is this really God?' angle is completely dropped until the very end, and even then is revealed to be some sort of powerful psychic alien being who mostly just wants to murder people, with no teases about its origins. And while that's a perfectly legitimate angle on 'God', it's not an especially interesting one.

Even worse, the 'judges vs judges' contest ends up taking up 80% of the story. And it's not well done. You have a bunch of characters, given very little time to actually have any character, and they variously kill each other or die. I guess there are some well-drawn gory deaths, but there are also some badly constructed sequences so you can't tell who is where and why one judge has the upper hand over another except that the authors demaned it.

Worst of all, the story mostly revolves around Vatican Judge Cesare as the big bad. He's not interesting enough, especially given that the whole point of him ought to be about faith and his attitude towards encountering God.

This intro to Cesare is great. Sadly it goes nowhere from here.
Words by Morri-lar; Art by Mick Austin

 

But all he really wants to do is kill people and sneer. And he's good at this because the plot demands it. If they'd even run a single story with Cesare before, a la 'Jonni Kiss', this epic would've worked betterer. But they didn't, so it doesn't. It's just rubbish.

Being nice, there is some fun to be had in one or two fight scenes, and Austin's art has its moments, but overall the story remains an odd mix of light comedy surrounded by some serious sadism, and failed horror.

Story: 3/10

Art: 6/10 (I admit I might be more forgiving if the story was better)

Legacy: Honestly, there's almost no fall-out from this one at all. A couple of pre-existing characters do reappear – Oz Judge Wurra, who had apparently been with Dredd during Judgement Day, according to a footnote, and Egyptian Judge Rameses, a character invented by Crusade writers Morrison and Millar for the thankfully not-quite-epic-in-length Book of the Dead – and boy do they like giving him a kicking.

If someone really wanted to, they could resurrect the head of possessed Judge Eckart, the God-being, for a sequel...

Or, you might prefer to have your arm sliced off.
Words by Millar & Morrison; Art by Mick Austin

 

Overall Score: 9 out of 20 (you know, a little good art goes a long way)
Want to read it? Check out Case Files 22

On now to perhaps the most hated Dredd epic, although I think it has a lot of merit...

 

No. 51: Blood of Satanus III, Megs 257-265
Written by Pat Mills; Art by John Hicklenton
9 episodes, 73 pages; this one's Epic 35, chronologically

The Basics: worshippers of Satanus, the black tyrannosaur, accidentally (on purpose) use the blood of Satanus to open up a portal into Hell, exposing Mega City 1 to the direct influence of a horde of demons. Dredd teams up with a band of judges and perps to ride into hell, battle the demons, and close the portal.

Sadly, the Black Tyrannosaur himself isn't in this story much.
Words by Pat Mills; Art by John Hicklenton

 

Analysis: No one but no one describes 'Blood of Satanus III' as a Dredd epic, and yet here it sits, with its hefty page count, weighty themes, and indeed 'Godfather of 2000AD' Pat Mills at the helm. You could even argue, if you wanted to, that it's a sort-of sequel to the Cursed Earth, or at least, the four-part chapter of that epic which introduced Satanus, the tyrannosaur.

More directly, it's a sequel to Blood of Satanus, a three-part tale in which a mad scientist forces an innocent man to drink the blood of Satanus, turning him into a tyrannosaur before Dredd kills him. Most readers agree this is a super-fun story with a rather odd take on Dredd himself, written by Pat Mills rather before Wagner had properly defined exactly what kind of a character Dredd is/was.

Even more directly, it's a sequel to Blood of Satanus II, a short story which introduced the concept of Satanus worshippers, who treat the time-hopping dinosaur as some sort of actual Satan, and want to welcome their dark lord back into the world through his blood. This story for me is the best of the bunch, being the most hilarious and also the most coherent. Artist Duke Mighten may not be as big a name as McMahon, Smith and Hicklenton, but he knows how and when to go over the top. Highly recommended, cracking good tongue-firmly-in-cheek stuff.

So, what of the epic in question, Blood of Satans III: the Tenth Circle? It picks up pretty immediately from BoS II, but goes big, and I do mean BIG on themes. It's not so much about Dredd vs satanists & dinosaurs as it is 'Hero vs villains vs the underlying demon archetypes of villainy itself'. As such, the story doesn't deliver on plot mechanics, instead it's more interested in inventing grotesque demons, and then having Dredd defeat them while spouting one-liners.  And when I say 'plot mechanics', even by the end of epiode one it's not obvious who is doing what to whom, where, and for why. It's proper bonkers.

A brace of Psi/other judges and a pair of Satanus-worshipping perps talk us through the mumbo-jumbo. There's some interesting stuff hiding in the archetype talk, but for me even this exposition doesn't really explain what's going on episode to episode, plus Mills's need to add in comedy at every turn rather takes away from the ideas. So it’s a tough read. A pattern emerges of Dredd meeting demon, then defeating it, although it's not clear how or why he wins. In the background, villains pontificate.

A different artist may have done more to map out just what it is that allows Dredd to succeed, whether its about fight choreography or more likely pure willpower. Hicklenton – wisely, in my view – ignores this and focusses his efforts on delivering some of the most exquisitely designed demons you'll see. And I can imagine Mills was less interested in delivering a plot than in giving Hicklenton free reign to unleash hell on both Mega City One and Dredd himself.

Not much more to say, really. The art, if you choose to embrace it, brings this strip to life and gives it an epic weight. The themes are epic too, but it’s a VERY odd take on who and what Judge Dredd is. Where John Wagner and others explore a flawed but driven human who works within a damaged system, Mills is zeroing in on Dredd as hero – the man who saves the city again and again, no matter the odds, and in large part because he is so pure of heart. Mills usually hates pure-hearted characters, but Dredd seems to get away with it because he’s kind of evil, given that the system he represents is an evil one. Plus, he has no qualms about killing and other practical decisions, which makes him less of a hypocrite than many traditional heroes.

On the other hand, Hicklenton may be on top form with his demon designs, but he's on bottom form with the in-between panels showing people moving from one place to another. Luckily, those only take up space in the first couple of episodes.

If you’re going to call ‘Blood of Satanus III’ a Dredd epic, it’s just about the last one I’d recommend to casual Dredd fans, and can't imagine what someone would make of it who had never read any Dredd before. But it might be one of the first I’d recommend to fans who are curious

about how far the concept of Dredd can stretch, or even more to fans of crazy weird art comix.

Story: 5/10 (Mills) for my money, a noble failure. But still a failure.

Art: 5-10/10 (Hicklenton) When it's good it's AMAZING. When it's rushed, it's pretty bad.

Legacy: none – although I suppose you could argue that the poor and vocal reception the strip received may have prevented any new experimental Dredd stories from appearing. Also, we've not seen Satanus since, which is a shame too.

If there's one thing to recommend this epic, it's Mills and Hicklenton leaning hard into Dredd's role
as the ultimate upholder of justice and order.
Words by Pat Mills; Art by John Hicklenton

Overall score: 10.5 out of 20
Want to read it? Sadly it has never been reprinted and one imagines demand is rather low. You'll have to find the original Megazines. But seriously, do check out Blood of Satanus II first, in Megazines 214-217.

 

And now we jump back in time to the really early days...

 

No. 50: Luna-City Progs 42-59
Written by John Wagner; Illustrated by Brain Bolland, Mick McMahon, Ian Gibson and Ron Turner
(18 episodes, 110 pages, epic 2 by my count, chronologically speaking.)

The Basics: Judge Dredd serves a stint as Judge Marshal of Luna City, a city on the Moon, fighting Moon-based crime.

You all know Dredd - he's a stickler.
Words by John Wagner; Art by Mick McMahon

 

Analysis: Sort-of a police procedural, but mostly just Dredd on the Moon vs a bunch of perps with occasional back-up from Deputy Tex + two Mexican judges (who may also be from Texas City).

As a whole, this story sets up two different epic concepts, that will come back several times in future Dredd stories. Epic Trope 2: Dredd experiences episodic shenanigans that explore SF ideas in a specific setting (as tried tried out very soon in The Cursed Earth and The Judge Child), but also the less-common Epic Trope 3: police procedural, with Dredd and a small team of judges fighting local crime and rooting out corruption (something Wagner didn't try again until years and years later, and with far greater sophistication, in The Pit).

If any of the individual episodes of the Luna-City epic had been better, it might be remembered more fondly. As it is, we get some well-drawn but rather toothless satires of the Olympics and the future of War, and a four-part story about a sentient killer car with the mind of a toddler. Ian Gibson draws a delightful sequence in which said car, named 'Elvis', sneaks up a flight of stairs - so that's a plus.

The epic falls down in two big ways. 1) The longest story within the epic, the four-part 'Elvis', has nothing to do with being on the Moon. A waste, especially compared to stuff about the Oxygen Board, the low-grav Olympics, or the idea of 'full earth' madness. 2) Wagner seeds a big villain early on, Mr Moonie, but then dispatches him after just a few episodes, so there's no big climax – the epic just ends when Dredd's time is up as Luna Marshal. Which I suppose is nicely realistic, but doesn't make for epic thrills. Worse, by the end of Dredd's stint as Marshal, it's implied (but not really shown) that he has stamped out corruption, which is heroic - but in fact, his very last adventure showed him having no way to prevent a major heist/murder/terrorism act that kills hundreds of thousands of people! A sorry end to Dredd's tenure as Marshall - perhaps this is one reason why he shies away from being Chief Judge.

On the plus side, the epilogue to this epic, in which Dredd returns to MC-1, is one of the single best stories of the early years.

Story: 4-8/10 -the range of scores there represents quite how incoherent this is as an epic. Just imagine if the Wagner of the Pit had written this, it could've been an all-timer!

Art: 6-7/10 It's early days for three Dredd legends, all of them producing good work but none yet at their best. Brian Bolland probably best in show, but it says something that I can't call to mind a single panel from this epic.

Legacy: first seeds sown of Sov distrust of MC1, plus a little more about the friendly-but-not-that-friendly relationship of Mega City One to Texas City. Luna City itself would be mentioned very occasionally, but isn’t used as a setting for a Dredd adventure until Darkside.

The Mega-City Sov Wars begin!
Words by John Wagner; Art by Brian Bolland

 

Overall score: 10.8 out of 20
Want to read it? Case Files 1 is your friend.


And come back next time for the next round of less-than-epic Dredd epics.