Review – Judge Dredd #24 (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Nelson Daniel
Release Date: 15th October 2014

Issue #24 of IDW’s Judge Dredd series proves to be a much more engaging read than its predecessor, bringing enough great content to the table to cover up some of the more annoying issues with this storyline, even if it cannot entirely rid itself of them.

In this issue we finally see Dredd bring the ‘BLAM BLAM BLAM’ straight to the Dark Judges. The sickly yellow of the quarantined Sector 1 provides an excellent backdrop for this showdown, while the Dark Judges toy with Dredd. Seeing Dredd constantly on the defensive finally pays off on what a mortal threat the Dark Judges are. The reason they are keeping Dredd alive is classic Judge Dredd stuff, with the Dark Judges planning to clone Dredd over and over, until they have enough of him to make ‘flesh suits’ that will allow them to cross into Mega City One. It’s gross, it’s comedic, and I love it (even if it is only my second favourite use of the term ‘flesh suits’).

We also find that Anderson’s disembodied spirit has been exhausted by the months of nothingness as Dredd passed through the ooze quarantining Sector 1, and it seems that Dredd’s constant insistence is all that is propelling her forward. Again, the unique dynamic of a dead Anderson sharing headspace with Dredd has proven that Swierczynski really understands these characters, making each stronger due to facets of the other.

This issue is just full of great stuff. Dredd holds himself hostage, kills himself, subjects Anderson to three months alone in his head, and re-enters Sector 2 to find all those scared motionless by the monitoring system have died where they stood, all within two pages. I have less of a problem with the bouncing between the two stories in this issue when Dredd’s trips through the ooze allow us to see how the city reacts over months, and take a serious toll on Anderson’s psyche. However, this is balanced out by one trip in particular being little more than a way to give Dredd new ammo capable of taking down the Dark Judges. This is a little too convenient to be believed, and drags the reader right out of the more exciting events of the book.

#24 ends with the Dark Judges being dispatched in a beautifully rendered, punchy, but slightly too short fight. The side-plot of the new Chief Justice and her social monitoring system continues, and will hopefully benefit from no longer having to share the limelight. The neglect we see in Sector 2 during this issue hints at a very sad and desperate situation for Dredd and Anderson to return home too.

To conclude and put a rating to this comic, I had a lot of fun reading it, and I put this down to the excellent art and the inventive situations which seem like they could only happen in a Judge Dredd comic. To rate this a 3 again based on the problems with juggling both stories would be ignoring what this story got right, which is why my rating is as follows. Keep up the good work everyone, and I can’t wait to see what you can do with all your focus on one storyline.

Rating: 4/5.

The Writer of this piece was: Andrew Stevens
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