Tuesday, September 18, 2012

REVIEW: Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 01


Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01
By John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra
Published 1977
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01

·         The series notably has a positive, if not conservative, view of judges (police) always being in the right throughout the series
·         Judge Dredd never took his helmet off once, unlike the Judge Dredd film adaptation done by Stallone
·         Judge Dredd had a sidekick in the series in the Robot Walter and a side character in the stereotypical Italian Maria
·         There is notably a whole story arc dedicated to a robot war and the Wild West being on the moon
·         The panels are notably clump together in some situations, though this is common in late 70’s comics that were limited to less than ten pages per issue. (Issue 3, Page 2)
·         There are a noted lack of females being killed or kidnapped in the series, as the ladies that are not Maria are notably idealized and objectified
·         The Soviet Union apparently existed up to the year 2099 in the Judge Dredd series. This reflects the seeming adamant nature of the USSR to the USA in the late 70’s.
·         There are noted side stories in the back dedicated specifically to Walter
·         Robots are seen as slaves in the series despite the sentience of some of them. In fact, Kenneth the robot initiated the Robot War story arc that immediately takes place several issues in.
·         Rico, the clone brother of Dredd in the film by Stallone, is notably just a corrupted Judge in his origins. He notably lets himself be killed in the comic series and doesn’t appear again.
·         Comic books in the Judge Dredd series are ironically contraband in the year 2099 that hooks kids to addiction. Fittingly, 2000 AD comics made themselves the comics that are the contraband in the series
·         The bullets the Judges use serve as dues ex Machina as they seem to hit the targets literally with heat seeking
·         Bigotry in the Judge Dredd series exists with the Neon Knights, which serve as clan members to persecute robots and the people they serve under
·         Judge Dredd notably has but one personality type: lawman. While there could be development with him later in the series, for Case Files 01 and the noted first issues provided Dredd has little personality.
·         It seems that no one administratively seeks to question the Judges in the series, as the “judge, jury and executioner” nature of the Judges that subjectively could be corrupted easily is never questioned in the series and its beginnings.
·         The style is notably edged and more realistic in its art design
·         The backgrounds notably establishes only in several panels per page, a quite advanced technique.

Bibliography
Wagner, John, and Carlos Ezquerra. Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01. Oxford: Rebellion, 2010. Print.

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