Customer Reviews

Judge Dredd: Judgment Day (Judge Dredd (Graphic Novels))

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Though I agree with the other reviewer here that Judgement Day isn't the best introduction to the world of Judge Dredd, I have to say that this book is one of the most entertaining story arcs of Dredd (from 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, the story ran in both issues simultaneously) ever.
In a nutshell, it's the judges of Mega-City One and the other Mega-Cities worldwide trying to get through a zombie apocalypse. Pretty basic premise, really. Oh, it has all the trappings of what we've come to expect from the dark, gritty yet satirical future of Judge Dredd, make no mistake. Garth Ennis crafts a fun and exciting story that you won't soon forget, citizen!
(and the art is excellent, too, let's not forget that)
If that's not enough, we are treated with a guest appearance from everyone's favourite Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha.
So, what are you waiting for? Give this trade paper back a read. If you've never read Dredd or 2000AD before, there's no need (What am I saying? Go read 2000AD!). Anyone can jump in to this book and have a blast from beginning to end.

When zombies attack the Mega Cities of the world only Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog Johnny Alpha can stop them, but at the cost of billions of lives.

This should be a good book. With a concept like Dredd vs Zombies, Garth Ennis writing, and Carlos Ezquerra doing half the art this should be a very good book.

It isn't.

One issue is the art, Carlos Ezquerra has a very realistic style but he only does half the art. The other half is by Dean Ormston and others who are more stylized similar to Simon Bisley or Kevin O'Neill (though not nearly as good as either) and just does not fit with Ezquerra's style.

The story is also quite lazy. A necromancer pops up out of nowhere, raises billions of zombies and then Dredd and Alpha kill him. In the middle several parts of Dredd's world are destroyed but Ennis makes no effort to make us care. Mega City Two for example is only shown in a few panels and always from a distance with a couple of buildings showing. We never see it's inhabitants so it's hard to care when it is nuked.

Other apocalyptic Dredd stories like Apocalypse War and Necropolis worked to carefully set up the conflict and characters so we cared about what was going on. This book is just empty with characters speaking in cliches and never showing anything like an emotion. It has its moments but they are few and far between. I recommend Apocalypse War or Necropolis over Judgment Day.

All the guts,gore and violence you need to sustain you through those long winter nights.