To coincide with the imminent release of Dredd 3D, I’m writing a series of blog posts about what I love about the Judge Dredd comic series. The A-Z of Judge Dredd is not intended to be an exhaustive encyclopaedia, but rather a personal reflection on the main themes of the strip.
It is an ongoing work, but so far I’ve published:
My general introduction to Judge Dredd
A is for Anderson
…and the Angel Gang, and America.
B is for “Bad” Bob Booth and Beeny
…and Banzai Battalion, Batman and Oola Blint.
C is for Chopper
…and Cal and Call-Me-Kenneth
D is for Death, Dark Judges and Democracy
…and Dave and DeMarco
E is for Edgar
…and Ezquerra
F is for Fargo (and Fargo clones)
…and Fergee and Francisco
G is for Giant
…and Alan Grant
H is for Hershey
…and Helter Skelter
I is for Incubus
…and Insurrection
J is for Judda
…and Janus and Joyce
K is for ???
L is for Lawgiver, Lawmaster
…and Logan and Lopez
M is for Maybe, PJ
…and Maria, Mean Machine, Mechanismo, Pat Mills and Mick McMahon
N is for ???
O is for ???
Q is for A Question of Judgement
S is for ???
T is for ???
V is for ???
Note: I’m skipping the letters I have less interesting things to say about until the end to ensure I don’t get demotivated. I’ll get back to the rest later.
I intend to finish the series by the time the film is released in the US (7 21 September). Wish me luck!
I blatantly failed to complete my A-Z in time for the release of Dredd 3D but I’ll hopefully complete it soon.
Useful resources:
- Judge Dredd: The Mega-History (Colin M. Jarman and Peter Acton, Lennard Publishing, 1995, ISBN 1-85291-128-X). An excellent account of the early and often painful development of the Judge Dredd strip.
- Thrill Power Overload: Thirty Years of 2000AD (David Bishop, Rebellion Development, 2007, ISBN 1-905437-22-6). The ultimate account of 2000AD’s history.
- The Judge Dredd entries on Wikipedia, unsurprisingly.
- BARNEY, originally the central part of the official 2000AD website, BARNEY is an indispensable resource of every 2000AD prog, Judge Dredd Megazine, reprint and spin-off.
K is for Kenny Who?, Cam Kennedy and Call me Kenneth
O is for Orlok
It’s okay. I know what to put there, Tony – have it all on a spreadsheet somewhere – I just never got round to it! At some point I will. 🙂
M is also for Mega-city? One of the most inspiring aspects for me from the little I knew of the series was the massive scale of the city. (Disclaimer, I never read the comics, so am happy to be ignored as an ignoramus)
You are correct. In the current continuity, most of it is abandoned ruins though. 🙂
Hi Big Jim. Mike Dwyer here. Like your blog matey. Always remember you being involved in Lib Dem world. Added you on LinkedIn. I’m an ex Telegraph working neo anarchist. And I love Dredd. Please get in touch. Big love. Mike x
Ps. We went to school in the 80’s/90’s together
Pps. My favourite is the League of Fatties