Instead of attempting to turn the latest news thread on Judge Dredd casting into another comic book Dredd love in I thought I'd make a thread.
2000AD was the comic I used to read as a kid, looking through the back issues my mother had collected over the years. I always loved the Judge Dredd strips and the idea of a monolithic, almost villainous, central character. Dredd is an odd character because he's not an anti-hero, but he's also not courageous.
To me Dredd is both awe inspiring and kind of terrifying. He's a totem of a truly horrifying society and his martial law ethos always made my young liberal heart grow a little cold, but like a character like Hans Landa Dredd is so good at his job, so dedicated, disciplined and skilled that he becomes almost awe inspiring.
I've recently started buying the CASE FILE reprints which compile an entire years worth of strips together. I'm about halfway through the first CASE FILE, representing the first Dredd strips from 1977 and it's fascinating watching the character form himself. Dredd is a very basic character in a lot of ways and what is interesting is watching the writers get used to that.
The first dozen strips seem to struggle to find a focus for Dredd turning him into a pastiche of 'gee whiz' action heroes from the British comic books of the 40s, 50s and 60s. But then the first 'arc' (the multi issue robo-rebellion led by Call-Me-Kenneth) comes around and the comic almost completely hits it's stride. The world feels fuller, the character of Dredd feels a lot closer to his iconic version, and the comic strip gains it's edge and it's sense of humour.
So, any other fans?
2000AD was the comic I used to read as a kid, looking through the back issues my mother had collected over the years. I always loved the Judge Dredd strips and the idea of a monolithic, almost villainous, central character. Dredd is an odd character because he's not an anti-hero, but he's also not courageous.
To me Dredd is both awe inspiring and kind of terrifying. He's a totem of a truly horrifying society and his martial law ethos always made my young liberal heart grow a little cold, but like a character like Hans Landa Dredd is so good at his job, so dedicated, disciplined and skilled that he becomes almost awe inspiring.
I've recently started buying the CASE FILE reprints which compile an entire years worth of strips together. I'm about halfway through the first CASE FILE, representing the first Dredd strips from 1977 and it's fascinating watching the character form himself. Dredd is a very basic character in a lot of ways and what is interesting is watching the writers get used to that.
The first dozen strips seem to struggle to find a focus for Dredd turning him into a pastiche of 'gee whiz' action heroes from the British comic books of the 40s, 50s and 60s. But then the first 'arc' (the multi issue robo-rebellion led by Call-Me-Kenneth) comes around and the comic almost completely hits it's stride. The world feels fuller, the character of Dredd feels a lot closer to his iconic version, and the comic strip gains it's edge and it's sense of humour.
So, any other fans?
