Comic Book Review - Hershey: Disease

Rob Reviews Hershey: Disease...

To say Barbara Hershey had an easy time being Chief Judge of MegaCity-1 is a bit of an understatement. She's seen countless trials and tribulations that would have sent an ordinary Cit to the Kook Cubes, yet Barbara Hershey managed to see it all through with a level head and calm demeanour. She knew what it was to be Chief Judge, even if it occasionally put her at odds with her closest confidant - Judge Dredd. 

Hershey has been a recurring character within the Judge Dredd strips for quite a few years now. Throughout this history, we've essentially seen the rise and subsequent fall of the character. The culmination of these ended with Hershey's death as part of the Judge Dredd: Guatemala story. This saw John Wagner bring a definite end to the character. Yet even after her "death" Hershey's tale wasn't over. 

After this supposed death the character than found her way into the capable hands of seasoned 2000 AD scribe, Rob Williams. Williams is no stranger to writing strips with Hershey within them, with Trifecta and The Small House being the prominent two - that also tie into this standalone story. However the Barbara Hershey we see within Hershey: Disease isn't the same Hershey that Williams has written about in the past. After the clandestine activities of the late Judge Smiley, the ex-Chief Judge is paranoid and out for revenge. Oh and she's also meant to be dead!

Hershey: Disease is the tale of Hershey tackling the remaining assets set up by Smiley. It was under her spell as Chief Judge that Smiley was able to set up everything seen within Trifecta and The Small House, and now she's righting the wrongs of her past failings. She's still dying from the Alien pathogen, but with the time she's got left she's more brutal and isn't taking any prisoners. Since her apparent death she's also cut off from any possible help from the Justice Department, so now on her own Hershey heads down south to Comuna. Her first target? Enceladus-powered Cartel boss, Falcao.

For Brutal we see yet another change to the character. This time the story switches to Ciudad, Barranquilla and not only up's its brutality, but we also get a very different side to the character. Due to her "death" Hershey doesn't have much in the way of backup. During Disease we're introduced to Rijkaard who's just happens to be the "back-up". Brutal is just as much like "Rijkaard's" story as it is Hershey's. Without going into spoilers, the characters past soon catches up to him with a pretty explosive ending. 

There isn't a lot you can say about both stories featured within this TPB without describing it as "Brutal". And it's exactly that. Hershey strolls into town and immediately sets her sights on the Cartel. Throughout both the Disease and Brutal stories, we see Hershey increasingly resort to more desperate measures to get what she wants. It's a stark contrast to her former duties as a Judge and if anything her thirst for revenge has seen her cross the line she was once sworn to uphold. Brutal takes this a step further as she willingly uses the somewhat unstable "Rijkaard" as a pawn in her revenge. The guys got a troubled past, yet Hershey keeps dragging him back to it. 

Both Disease and Brutal have an odd sense of being a slow-burning tale, yet both are full of action - brutal, fast-paced action at that.

Williams is no stranger to killing his characters and here every page fills you with the feeling that it could indeed be Hershey's last. Williams also has a knack for striking the right balance between exposition and action within his stories and it's no different here. There's plenty of "quieter" moments as Hershey and Rijkaard plot their moves, then like a freight train, the action hits you on the next page. Both chapters keep you hooked right until the very end, and are both a great testament to Rob Williams' skills as a writer.

The artwork for both chapters comes from Simon Fraser. It's a gorgeous display that's quite removed from Fraser's previous work. A lot of the art bleeds from their respective cells and it all adds a raw uncompromising feel to each story. Each scene is also filled with some incredible detail, and especially in Brutal, each thrown punch has a real sense of force behind it. During flashback scenes, Fraser taps into his inner Brian Bolland/Carlos Ezquerra not only does this highlight just the much had changed in the years, but it also sets the tone of how Hershey: Disease is similar yet oh-so different.

When it comes to colours, Fraser utilises an unusual tonal palette that washes over each page. There's also a great deal of shadow that works incredibly well with these tonal effects. The Enceladus-powered Falcao for instance oozes a turquoise blue hue that when coupled with Fraser's shadow work makes for quite an imposing scene - and that's even before the action "kicks-off"!

Judge Smiley did a number on both Hershey and the wider "Dredd-verse". With the killing off and then subsequently resurrecting Hershey both Wagner and Williams have set a variable loose within this world. This isn't the last time we'll see Hershey, and I can see she's going to get a lot more "brutal" as her thirst for revenge takes over.

Rating 9/10 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev