From 1994 to 1995, DC published 18 issues of Judge Dredd, based on the character of the same name from the famous British comics anthology series 2000 AD.
Judge Dredd is one of many titles from DC that was based on a property they do not own and obtained a license to publish content for (see also: Star Trek, M.A.S.K., Babylon 5 and The X-Files, among other brands).
The title ran for 18 issues, with 12 of them written by Andrew “Andy” Helfer. The remainder of the series was handled by writers D.G. Chichester (#s 13-15), Christopher Priest (#s 16 and 17) and Gordon Rennie (#18).
Artistically, the series featured some heavyweights, such as Michael Avon Oeming and J.H. Williams III.
Both went on to bigger and better things within DC, with Oeming illustrating the recent World of Krypton mini-series and the Midnighter back-up from Action Comics, while J.H. Williams III was instrumental in cementing the Kate Kane Batwoman’s visual design and drawing some of her most acclaimed adventures. He’s also known to have played in the Sandman sandbox a time or two.
Are you a fan of Judge Dredd from his 2000 AD roots and have also read DC’s take on him?
Are you someone who was introduced to Judge Dredd through the DC series and then went onto 2000 AD?
Have you never heard of Judge Dredd prior to reading this post and are now interested in the series (if so, hit your comic store’s back issue bins and/or online retailers for the series, as it isn’t, and likely won’t be, available in digital)?
Chime in with what you think of DC’s take on Judge Dredd and remember, he IS the law.
I’m a fan of JD but I didn’t know it was a comic, I mean if someone asked I would assume they had probably made a run or two at some point, honest I would’ve mister.
I’m someone who wasn’t and I’m tiered of pretending like I was!
I have heard of JD, movies though okay, just the movies, go on, laugh it up!
I’ll check to see if they got one when I swing by the old dungeon again.
I have #2, which was a random pick-up at the comic store when I was 12. I knew the movie was coming, so it caught my four eyes one day and I nabbed it.
As I recall, it wasn’t a very good read. 12-year-old me flipped through it and thought “Hmm…that’s enough of a Judge Dredd comic fix for me.” and I haven’t been back to the series since (I still have that issue, though).
I would be curious to check out the whole shebang, some day. eBay lots look pretty reasonably-priced as of now, and I doubt the title will gain any kind of momentum that drives its price up in the near future.
“Moving on.”
While the Judge Dredd ongoing was profiled in the OP, here’s a look at Dredd’s other ongoing series from DC, Judge Dredd: Legends of the Law:
I’d be curious to read that, so as to see if it varies from the movie in any way.
No laughing here, good sir. Movies and other outside media are quite often the gateways into the comics that inspired said media.
I mean, the 1995 movie (and its accompanying toy line by Mattel) is what made me initially aware of Judge Dredd, so I’m with you in the “I didn’t know of Judge Dredd until outside media featured him.” camp.
In addition to the ongoing series seen above and in the OP, DC has published crossovers with Judge Dredd that co-starred Batman and Lobo:
They do and while I’m sure they’re good, my jam right now is Lobo/Judge Dredd.
I didn’t know that was a thing until I did further research into DC’s JD output, but upon learning about it, I had to read it…which is what I’m doing as we “speak”.
