Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 Review

 Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 Review

Judge Dredd (c) Rebellion 2000AD

Welcome to this the first of hopefully many reviews of Judge Dredd Complete Case Files Collections. As part of my GM for Hire service, I’m currently in the process of writing and running a Judge Dredd roleplaying game campaign and, for research purposes, and to make sure the timeline works for fellow Dreddheads, I’ve been immersing myself in Dredd’s world by going back to the genesis of the strip by rereading the The Complete Case Files collection. I’ve been a lifelong fan of Judge Dredd since 1987 when I picked up Prog 510 and I have read these editions a few times before. Over time, I intend to post reviews of all of the case files. 

You can watch a video version of this review here:

But, if you prefer text, I've got you covered! So without further ado, let’s start at the beginning - with the Complete Case Files 01!

Look how much information is established in this single opening page!

Co-created by John Wagner and late, great Carlos Ezquerra, the first volume contains stories from the first 60 Dredd strips and, for obvious reasons, contains a colossal amount of world building.

Obviously the role of the Judges and the Justice Department are established very early, as is the whole look of Dredd with his distinctive uniform, Lawgiver gun and iconic Lawmaster bike. The helmet in this first volume of stories is far more goldfish-bowl shaped than it was to later become, but you can see the more familiar shape appear in a few of Mick McMahon’s strips at the end of the book. See following pics (both by McMahon) to illustrate to contrasting design.

A large number of other major elements are introduced in this first volume such as Justice HQ, the Judges’ Central Computer MAC, and Weather Control - who almost always ensure the sun shines on Mega-City One! There’s also the Statue of Judgement in whose shade the Statue of Liberty symbolically stands - and which goes on to play an important role in a number of Dredd strips throughout the years. The Undercity also makes a brief appearance which has a greater significance in the second volume - as does the Cursed Earth which is established as a radioactive wasteland where survivors of the Atomic Wars, the mutants, live - and occasionally cause problems for the residents of Mega-City One!

Justice HQ aka Grand Hall of Justice making an early appearance

On the character front, Judge Giant, who becomes an important secondary character in Dredd’s universe, makes his first appearance in a tale which explains how the Judges are trained from the age of five at the Academy of Law and shows his final assessment under Dredd’s stern gaze. Fans of the 2012 Dredd film will be familiar with this storyline as Judge Anderson found herself in the same situation. On top of that we meet Dredd’s informant Max Normal, his cleaning lady Maria, and loyal robot Walter. Walter is one of those characters who is a bit marmite; you’ll either enjoy his presence or wish he wasn’t in the strip at all. It’s worth bearing in mind that 2000AD was not aimed at adults, so I think some allowances have to be made on this front. The strip later evolved to become far more serious and less episodic than these early years and as it matured, Walter’s presence diminished.

Walter: love or loathe?

The huge metropolis of Mega-City One seems to arrive almost completely realised, much of which is in no doubt thanks to co-creator Carlos Ezquerra who drew the first - but unpublished - Dredd strip which appears at the end of this volume. That story is a real treat because not only does it showcase Dredd and the versatility of his Lawgiver gun with different ammo types, but the last page is a single panel which shows the original vision of Mega-City One with it’s huge spires and roadways which are suspended high above city bottom. The quintessential Judge Dredd artist, King Carlos Ezquerra is deeply missed.

The first full image of Mega-City One by Carlos Ezquerra

As well as the architecture of Mega-City One, the absolute craziness of the city and its inhabitants is all in there from the word go. I’d like to make special mention of the Futsie - inhabitants of the city who go mad because they cannot bear the stresses of living in the overpopulated and overcrowded Mega-City. The theme of overpopulation is a theme most of us of a certain age probably became aware of through the film Blade Runner and there’s no doubt in my mind that the city and inhabitants of Blade Runner’s Los Angeles could easily be situated in Mega-City Two which is located on the west coast of America (Mega-City One is on the eastern coast of USA)! Growing up in Scotland, I remember thinking that the idea of people suddenly snapping and going on murderous rampages seemed quite outlandish, but nowadays it is disturbingly familiar.

Whitey: Dredd's first foe

As someone who jumped on board 2000AD in its tenth year, it was great seeing the character of Whitey making a few appearances as he had a brief reappearance in one of the first Dredd strips I’d read. 

Robot Wars: The first Judge Dredd epic!

Most of the stories in this first volume are standalone stories where the plot is established and resolved in a mere five or six pages, but the Robot Wars mark the first lengthy multi-part Judge Dredd adventure which paved the way for some of the mega-epics which feature in later volumes. While it's one of the more lightweight of the mega-epics, it's still a lot of fun - especially when I'd waited decades to finally discover this little gem (to my knowledge, it was never reprinted until TCCF01 was released)!

Rico: More frightening in the comic than on-screen

One storyline which is a fan favourite is The Return of Rico, where Dredd’s twin brother returns from Titan, his face and body horribly adapted to life living in a vacuum. Fans of the Stallone version of Dredd will be familiar with Rico as he was the central villain in that film. Even though it’s only a two parter, the fact that Dredd even turned over his own brother for breaking the law tells you a lot about Dredd’s incorruptible nature and devotion to the law.

The original incarnation of Spikes Harvey Rotten by Brian Bolland

Another story which I enjoyed was the Mega City 5000 race, partly because it seems to be a riff on the then notorious B-movie Death Race 2000, partly because it seems to be a blueprint for some of the wonderful Supersurf stories that were to follow years later, but most notably because it introduces volume 2’s famous Spikes Harvey Rotten who appears in the Mega-epic The Cursed Earth. Most intriguingly of all, the Spikes we know from that storyline looks completely different in this strip - but Spikes’ rival Zoot does look like him! I’ve often wondered if there was some sort of mix up when the character was reintroduced in The Cursed Earth, perhaps some aficionados who are watching can let me know by commenting!

The character of Zoot

Oh, and watch out for the appearance of the Ape Gang, apes who, thanks to scientific experimentation have increased intelligence which ends up with them becoming gangsters! I have a lot of love for that story and I always wished that they’d become recurring villains for Dredd to face!

The Ape Gang

A large swathe of this first edition moves the action from Mega-City One to a moon colony known as Luna-1. I’ve never found out what the reason for this was, but I assume that the mania around Star Wars may have been responsible for wanting to take the action into space. There’s a good number of these stories that could easily have been set in Mega-City One and I personally would have preferred that the action on Luna-1 had come to an end before it did, but that’s not to say there’s nothing good in there, quite the contrary in fact! There’s a story about the Lunar Olympics which introduces the Sov Judges and, having been written at a time when the cold war was still going on, sets up a hostility that exists between the Mega-Cities and Sov Cities which all fans know plays out in a big way in later years! 

Sov Judges: Bitter Enemies of Mega-City One

On the art side of things, it’s nice to see the evolution of styles and, even if it isn’t the strongest volume on this front, there’s still plenty in there to admire, especially from fan favourites Brian Bolland and Mick McMahon. There are a number of stories which aren’t wholly successful, and there’s a sense of the strip finding it’s feet - but when you take the book as a whole, there’s a lot of great moments and nice episodes, but more importantly, all of the key elements of Judge Dredd and his universe are fully realised which is a massive achievement in itself. Highly recommended, especially for existing fans.

Anyway, more of these reviews are on the way! Thanks for reading!