Judge Dredd: Legends of the Law 1

Story by JohnWagner& Alan Grant
Art by BrentAnderson& Jimmy Palmiotti

Once Upon A Time, in a place that may (or may not) be quite a distance away from you, there was a weekly comics magazine called 2000AD, loved by a few million British teenagers. Its flagship title was Judge Dredd, set in a terrifyingly recognisable post-holocaust MegaCity One. It's writers, (including John Smith, Alan Grant, Mark Millar, John Wagner, ) and artists (including Brian Bolland, John Higgins, Mike McMahon, Steve Dillon, Brendan McCarthy, Carlos Ezquerra, ) have created, and are still creating, an entire mythology, including some of the most moving and some of the bleakly funniest stories to be found in this medium.

And then 2000AD sold some of the rights to DC. The results certainly aren't as bad as might have been imagined, and probably not as bad as That Stallone Movie , but they're still not the real thing. This is partially due to the "history reboot", which DC felt necessary to acclimatise the new readers first. Fortunately, DC have decide to provide for those people willing to jump in at the deep end of Dredd's time span. Hence, Legends of the law. This, like its stable-mate Legends Of The Dark Knight, is a rotating creative thang, and the first of these, fittingly, features the writing team that, individually or together, created most of the greatest stories in 2000AD. Alan Grant and John Wagner, through writing hundreds of Dredd's finest hours, have carved a sufficient niche for themselves in JD history that they are official consultants to the Judge Dredd Megazine, and the authorities that Andrew Helfer had to submit his scripts to before DC's Judge Dredd Comic could progress (according to legend, over 25 were rejected before the first was accepted.)

But enough of Praise and Adulation. How is the work? Thoroughly unpleasant, as we should expect. The story involves Organ Smugglers, A prestigious Organ transplant clinic, a tobacco smuggling operation, and a bus of British tourists, including Brad & amp; Janet Clones. The real highlights are the constant little jibes at both English and American culture. From the little English singalongs in times of trouble to someone being arrested for "Wilful Passive Smoking", this is relentlessly cynical (not to mention nihilistic and violent, but that goes without saying in a Judge Dredd comic ). And with forthcoming arcs by John Byrne, D.G. Chicester, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, things are likely to stay entertaining. Forget the main title. This is the pure stuff.

Andrew
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