JUDGE DREDD #2

Review by: Neb

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148
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Avg Rating: 3.4
 
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Story by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Nelson Daniel & Brendan McCarthy
Cover by Zach Howard & Greg Staples

Size: 0 pages
Price: 3.99

After the awesomeness that was Dredd 3D, I was really looking forward to checking out a Dredd comic. Dredd, to me, is a really intimidating character because there’s simply so much material that we’ve never seen over here in the states. As a character that ages in real time, I’ve never found him to be overly accessible. With this title, IDW promised to change all of that, and after two issues, I can’t help but express disappointment.

It’s not that the comic is bad. Far from it. It’s written well and the storytelling is just fine. It’s just that, tonally, this book is not what I want. The movie was dark and gritty and grounded, and I just feel like the tone of this book is a bit lighter. It lacks that sort of raw violence with uncompromising justice that you would expect. The story in these first two issues revolve around cases that relate to a strange droid problem, so instead of dealing out punishments to humans, Dredd is busy kicking and shooting silly looking robots. In the first issue, he blew up a robotic tree and in this issue, he shoots what look to be really cartoony dog robots.

It doesn’t help that the art style is overly cartoony. It simply solidifies the tone of the book, and doesn’t help it feel any more dark and violent. The colors pop off the page, and all of it combined just take the edge away from what should be a darker comic. This series would benefit from an artist with thick, dark lines, heavier shadowing, and a more muted color palette. After seeing the judge in action in other forms of media, I’m non-plussed by this issue, and I won’t be continuing the series.

Story: 2 - Average
Art: 3 - Good

Comments

  1. I totally agree with you. After seeing the movie I was also looking forward to the series, and am rather disappointed by it now. I’m not so bothered by the cartoony style, but I feel like rushed through the story. I was hoping that they would tell multiply 4 part issue stories which would all combined give a more complex bigger picture story.

    I’m dropping it to, but might pick it up digital after the price drops to $2. This book is not $4 worth at all for me.

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