Advanced Review - Judge Dredd: Legends Of The Law - Book One

Remember when DC Comics published Judge Dredd?...

1995 was a particularly poignant year when it comes to 2000 AD's Lawman of the future, Judge Dredd. Danny Cannon's Hollywood feature film had attempted to turn baby-faced Sylvester Stallone into the rough-and-ready Joe Dredd, to then team him up with the God-awful Rob Schnider. While Cannon's film is mainly remembered for its portrayal of Mega-City One, and many terrible Stallone quotes ("I knew you would say that!"), it wasn't the only attempt that year to open Judge Dredd up to a wider audience.

To capitalise on the hype to the feature films' potential success - and to establish a foothold overseas - 2000 AD licenced Judge Dredd to American comic book publisher DC. Of course, this wouldn't be the last time Judge Dredd went stateside as IDW would also attempt their own 'Dreddverse' in 2012. 

What then followed is 'Judge Dredd: Legends of the Law', a 13-issue series that spanned between 1994-1995. To kick this new series off with a bang, DC enlisted Judge Dredd heavyweights John Wagner and Alan Grant to co-write the first adventure. Wagner and Grant would then produce the pretty decent 'Organ Donors' that introduced the Lawman to the music-loving organ stealing, Doctor Bliss. The second story arc would then see DG Chichester, Anthony Williams, and Andy Lanning take over for 'Trial By Gunfire' - which also happens to complete this first collection.

So, with that done. Shall we take a trip into the world that could have been? 

Judge Dredd: The Organ Donors (John Wagner, Alan Grant, Brent Anderson, Jimmy Palmiotti)

Straight off the bat, this collection gives us a classic Wagner/Grant tale. Dredd finds himself investigating a body harvesting operation that's headlined by the music-loving Dr Bliss. For British readers, it's exactly what Dredd can be - silly. It's full of Wagner and Grant creating the incredibly daft character of Dr Bliss - complete with musical interludes - with Dredd showing what he does best. Across the 80-or-so pages, Wagner/Grant cram in a lot of storytelling as we follow some Brit-Cit tourists as they stumble through Mega-City One. 

Much like the tourists, this introduces the reader to the lawlessness of Mega-City One whilst painting Judge Dredd as a somewhat "superhero". Is 80-pages a bit too much? Most certainly. However, while long-time 2000 AD readers wouldn't need so much of a set-up, here it sort of works - albeit with a very bloated feeling.

While the script does have its weaker moments, it's nothing compared to the artwork. Anderson and Palmiotti's take on Judge Dredd and Mega-City One is very different to anything that I've seen before. While British readers were getting some classic Carlos Ezquerra linework in 'Necropolis', those who delved into 'The Organ Donors' got the incredibly dense linework of Anderson and Palmiotti. My main issue is that it doesn't capture the spirit of Judge Dredd and that there's so much crammed into each scene. It's a strip that requires your full attention in determining who's who in each scene - something that's never a problem in the pages of 2000 AD! 

Judge Dredd: Trial By Gunfire (DG Chichester, Anthony Williams, Andy Lanning) 

The second feature within this volume is 'Trial By Gunfire' - a simple three-parter that sees Dredd and a Cadet Judge track down a mutant. As stories go, this one is not too bad - although it does start flagging towards its final act. 

The main narrative of this story is that of Cadet Judge Quisling who finds himself tangled with Judge Dredd as a mutant escapes into The Cursed Earth. To make matters slightly worse, Quisling is also being evaluated by Dredd who doesn't take too kindly to Quisling's eagerness.

What then follows is a typical Cursed Earth outing as Chichester throws plenty of familiar elements Dredds way. We get the too eager and perfect Cadet, The Cursed Earth, the escaped Mutant, "The Long Walk",  and Dredd being his classic self. The only real downside is that the story could have been condensed to probably one issue - or even appearing in the 'Summer Special'. Instead, it's spread across 70-plus pages that do see the story start to outstay its welcome. 

Williams and Lanning's artwork is a vast improvement from that seen in 'The Organ Donors'. They've managed to capture the Western-style lawlessness of the Cursed Earth but somehow confused it with Luna-1. There were a few times when I'd forgotten that we were on Earth as the Cursed Earth got dark (and very crater filled) pretty quick.

All in all, Judge Dredd: Legends of the Law is a great look into the character's past, even if it isn't an essential read. What you get here are two no-nonsense tales that attempt to open Judge Dredd's world up to a whole new audience, but soon becomes a bloated mess in the process. 

If anything Judge Dredd: Legends of the Law is a book for those veteran readers who want to see a more darker-side to the treasured character. It's full of dark and broody artwork, and reads like a US superhero comic -  so pretty much what Cannon did with the movie! 

Rating: 7/10 

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