By Morrison, Wagner, MacNeil, Quitely, Clarke, Googe
Publisher: Rebellion
ISBN: 978-1-907519-91-8
This is a collection of tales from the world of Judge Dredd, or, to be more precise, the Japanese equivalent of Mega City One where they do things a little differently to their counterparts across the Pacific. Dredd appears, but the focus is instead on his Hondo counterparts.
If you've read any Dredd stories before then you'll be familiar with the short, punchy, often tongue-in-cheek tales. This format sometimes works against them, stopping the flow or jarring when the humour detracts from the drama, but when it works well you can see what's allowed Dredd to survive when so many British comics have fallen by the wayside.
There are some top British creators at work here, many of whom have gone on to find wider success in the US, notably writer Robbie Morrison and the utterly fantastic artist Frank Quitely, and the ideas are ambitious and interesting. The Hondo judges offer us a new perspective on this post apocalyptic world and they're well executed, but as a whole I felt a little disappointed with the complete package. This is because as individual episodes they have interest but collected it offers little more. It would certainly be more satisfying to delve deeper into Hondo with a longer, more challenging story arc that allowed the reader to immerse themselves further.
I don't want to suggest this will be a disappointment, because it won't; I'm just saying I'd like to read the next step forward. What's more, Rebellion need a firm pat on the back for flying the flag for British comics and here's hoping they benefit from the up-and-coming Dredd movie. They deserve it.
And if you liked that: There's plenty more Dredd out there
No comments yet.