Judge Dredd #25

Published by IDW Publishing

Written by Duane Swierczynski

Art by Steve Scott

 

Judge Dredd is a character who holds a special place in my heart. Being Australian meant we got the best of both the US comic market as well as the UK. Which meant two things. Batman and Judge Dredd. Although there are some obvious differences, both characters have that "I'm helping the city but I'm also a complete badass." vibe going. Now I'm not sure if Dredd has captured the attention of the US market, but I really hope we have all moved past the movie starring a certain large chinned action star and embraced an under rated New Zealand actor in the more recent movie. IDW hopes you have too. As a childhood 2000AD reader, I was super excited to pick up IDW's latest series when it debuted. Even more excited when they put a respectable writer like Swiercznski on the book. As long as he embraces stories from the past and didn't try anything too extreme, it should be a winner. And it was. My own theory stopped me from buying any issues after the first story arc. It wasn't experimental enough. Sure it was great to have a trip down memory lane but there was something missing to keep me going.

 

25 issues down and with the same writer, I thought maybe it was time to see how its all progressing. And progressing it is! It's clear by now that Swierczynski has taken ownership of the character. Maybe not to the likes of John Wagner or Alan Grant, but still good enough to be considered original and entertaining. But be warned. 25 issues in and there seems to be already some heavy elements of continuity and picking up an issue like this mid arc may not be the best way to go.  If you can get past that or maybe already have enough knowledge of the character then you will enjoy this story. Judge Dredd has been exiled to Titan by the Chief Justice where it seems he had a run in with the Dark Judges (last issue I presume). Having returned to Mega-City One, he is now hunting the Chief Justice for some, well, Justice! A background story centers on a look alike of the Chief Justice so its clear this story will come to a conclusion soon. Dredd himself doesn't appear until about half way through the book but once he does the book steps up another level. Some great moments showing the lawlessness of the City,  the steps taken by those wishing to remain in power and Dredd doing what Dredd does best. He is, after all, The Law.

 

The Art complements the story well and shows off some great action scenes as well as Mega City One. Not as dark and gritty as the British series, Scott has done well to not over stylize or journey to far from the original concept. Some characters faces seem a little rough but other than that, its quite good.

 

So if you haven't already given this book a chance with the previous issues, put down one of the 25 Death of Wolverine books and give it a go. British greatness updated for a modern audience with a legendary character. You wont regret it!

Judge Dredd #25 gets 3.5 Kiwi Actors out of 5

 

 

 

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D 1952

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Written by Mike Mignola & John Arcudi

Art by Alex Maleev

 

I have quite a large pile of shame when it comes to Comics. Books that are considered classics. Books that changed the medium forever. Books that others tell me are "must reads". Some of these books I own and are sitting in the waiting to be read pile, some are just on my mental list of "I'll get to them eventually.".   I've also read a lot of other great books and there is no real shame in having a pile like this. I'm sure every comic reader has it.

 

Unfortunately, on this list is the entire Hellboy series. I've never read any of them. I'm always told how great they are. Mignola is a genius etc., but I'm pretty sure someone once told me they are the Tim Burton of the comic world and that was it, I was never going to read them.  With a new series now released by Dark Horse, its probably about time I made my own mind up. And I'm so glad I did.

 

So like most people I've seen the two Hellboy movies. Although like most comic book movies, it's probably a bastardized version of the books, there was still enough to give me the basic understanding of Hellboy. With that knowledge I jumped straight into this series, and now I have to go find every Hellboy or B/P.R.D book printed. Because damn its good! So I guess a prequel of sorts, as the title suggests, the book is set in 1953. Hellboy's about to embark on his first mission for the B.P.R.D under the watchful eye of the human members. They are tasked with investigating a village in Brazil which has been attacked by some superhuman being. At this stage that is neither here nor there as the story is more focused on the team and Hellboys inclusion. Grounds for sabotage gets laid, mysterious characters introduced and lot of narrative. I don't mind a lot of narrative when the writing is this good. 

 

The art is fantastic. It would be easy to say, "well its Alex Maleev, 'nuff said, but it's so much more. It's exactly what I would expect from a story like this. Dark, moody and consistent. The contrast of Hellboy being this big red creature is fantastic. You get the sense that it really is 1952 and the world is recovering from WW2. I can see where the comparisons to Tim Burton come from though. But with no silly emo/goth characters. It would also be easy to say that Maleev has just done it like Daredevil again, and that's probably true, but when that series was fantastic too, why not do it all over again!

 

If you are like me and unfamiliar with Hellboy, this is a great jumping on point. If you already know the characters, then I'm just preaching to the converted.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D gets 4 dark and mysterious Wombats from Hell out of 5