Review: Judge Dredd: Dark Justice

My knowledge of Judge Dredd is limited to a couple of movies, the occasional comic strip, and more recently several collected works. I’ve always known who Judge Dredd is and what he’s about, but that might be a product of growing up in England – Dredd is part of our comic heritage after all.

Similarly, Judge Death is a character I’ve always been aware of – the imagery of him clashing head to head with Dredd is something I remember seeing as a child, and it must have made an impression because it has stayed with me ever since, so when I was given the opportunity to read Judge Dredd: Dark Justice, the brand new standalone story featuring the return of the Dark Judges, I jumped on it. I was finally going to see Dredd go head to head with Death for myself, and I was not disappointed.

The story takes place aboard The Mayflower – a colonial ship populated by the societal elite on a mission to find a new planet to call home, leaving the poor and down trodden of Mega-City One far behind. The Mayflower is quickly overrun by the evil Dark Judges, and it’s up to Judges Dredd and Anderson, and a handful of extras to execute a rescue mission to the doomed vessel.

It’s a simple story that wears its cinematic influences proudly on its sleeve. The build-up is quick, and when the action kicks off it is relentless, dark, and violent. My only complaint is how abruptly it ends. Just as it feels like it’s building to something huge it pulls a Halo 2 and that’s your lot, thanks for reading.

This is most likely due to the fact that Dark Justice originally ran over several issues of 2000 AD Prog, and I’m hoping this is setting up events for a follow up story, because it’s left so wide open it’d be a waste not to. There are some genuinely exciting and tense moments in Dark Justice, even in the brief moments of respite allowed to the characters. This heavy atmosphere is helped in no small part by Greg Staples’s incredible artwork.

It was seeing a commission painted by Staples that convinced writer John Wagner to once again return to pen a story for his darkest creations, and it’s easy to see why. Each detail filled panel was painted by hand to amazing effect. Staples even went so far as to use members of the Judge Minty fan movie as life models for added realism, and it’s safe to say if paid off.

I’m not usually a fan of hyper realistic art in comic books, but the art on display over the 100 page book is a perfect fit for the grittiness of Dredd’s world. Everything from the character expressions, to the way light and shadow is portrayed helps to create an atmosphere akin to that of an 80’s sci-fi horror flick.

Judge Dredd: Dark Justice is a fantastic book with a little something for readers old and new. Even with my limited knowledge of the characters and world I never felt left out – the story and setting was familiar, and there was just enough background offered up through character conversations for me to never feel lost. And if you’re already a fan of Judge Dredd then there’s no doubt you have been waiting a long time for this book, and believe me when I say you will not be disappointed.