Judge Dredd: Trifecta by Al Ewing

Judge Dredd

by Al Ewing

Mega-City One, 2134 AD. Fresh from the devastating events caused by the Chaos virus, Dredd becomes aware of a potential power grab from within the Justice Department. Wally Squad gumshoe Jack Point is given a mysterious doll to safeguard. Dirty Frank wakes up on Luna-1 as a board member of Overdrive, Inc. All three Judges soon find themselves embroiled in the same case in which allegiances and grudges form in equal measure!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Satire, Dystopia

Hardcover

First published August 15, 2013

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several Judge Dredd comics. I do not consider myself to be a fan. Thus I was very pleasantly surprised by this odd graphic novel-Trifecta. It's three stories in one. Well-same story told from three different viewpoints until they all merge into one. Rather interesting.

In Mega City, apparently there is a power struggle going on within the highest reaches of the Judges. We see the story unfold from Judge Dredd's eyes, representing Street Division, some very strange guy named Dirty Frank, representing Black Ops, and finally a strange clown named Jack Point, repsenting Wally Squad.

The stories vary in style, since each is told from one of those characters and they are all very different. That's what made this an interesting read. A Dredd comic with a decent plot. I still wasn't a huge fan of all the "drokkin" and other made up terms. It's truly does get in the way of the reading, but I enjoyed the overall story. The concept of a Black Ops division trying to take over the High Judges was cool. The varied characters from an over the top capitalist who has the head of a shark to the random cults scattered throughout this odd tale-they were all rather interesting and there is a great deal of dry wit. Well done! So take it from a non-Judge Dredd fan- if you think you're up to the odd artwork (it's really much better than the usual crap I've seen from Dredd) and the strange storyline then this is one I'd think you'd enjoy. I did.

[Otherwyrld · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Trifecta as it came out in 2000AD and thought it was probably the finest thing that they had ever produced, so I was curious to see if it still worked as a collected edition.

The short answer is yes and no - it is an amazingly ambitious piece of work that spans 35 years of Mega City One's history. Indeed, it was almost too ambitious, to the point where it almost falls flat on it's face, but somehow it keeps its feet and just keeps going. I almost took a star off because you have to be heavily invested in 2000AD's history in order to truly appreciate it, but in the end it is just too good to give it less than a perfect 5 stars.

Trifecta follows a story from three points of view - Judge Dredd, mega hard man of Mega City One (he is the law, and you'd better believe it!), Jack Point the Simping Detective, Wally Squad judge, major screw up and pretend Simp (a kind of moronic clown is the simplest explanation I could come up with), and Dirty Frank, also a Wally Squad judge, a legendary one that I am not even going to attempt to describe. The three have their own fights against the three villains Bachman, Turner and Overdrive (yes, really!), before the whole thing comes together at the end and the insanity is notched up to 13. Where else could you get alien predators, clowns with guns, brainwashed ninja assassins, a man with a great white sharks head, a floating mega city, a kick ass accountant with an attitude and a man who has been hiding in the walls of the Hall of Justice for 35 years just for this moment. And that just scratches the surface, you could spend years looking at this story and still not catch every reference.

The art work may be a little bit of a stumbling block for some people, as there were three different artists for the three story-lines, and a fourth finishes it off. It was done like this to keep up the deception that these were different stories, but it doesn't quite work as well in a single tale, especially as two of the stories are in black and white and one in colour, but it is a relatively minor thing and doesn't retract from the story in the end. The book itself is an attractive hard cover with a nice hologram on the front that perfectly illustrates the theme of the work inside.

So, highly recommended so any fan of 2000AD, but even if you aren't you should give this a try. Be warned, you may end up with severe thrill power overload and a distinct reduction in the size of your bank account as you try and catch up with this power house of a comic. And, if you don't love Dirty Frank by the end of this story, you need to get yourself booked in to a hospital for an exploratory operation to see where your sense of humour has gone.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This past decade or so, Judge Dredd's gotten rather oversaturated with different authors trying to put their mark into the setting. You've got a bunch of epic storylines and big revelations that I'm pretty certain John Wagner never thought up, that retcon big swathes of the comic's history, that don't always mesh well with the original tone and mood, and that all too often get in each other's way something fierce. Here it turns out that an old black-ops chief went undercover decades ago and has been watching over the Judges since then... and later it turns out he was evil all along (!!!) and pulled the strings behind the Apocalypse War. And he was somehow completely unaware of the other secret conspiracy thing going on at this time, Michael Carrol's utterly asinine Sector Zero.

Still, though, Trifecta has its high points. Never was one for the citywide epics, again, but I do like how the three stories cross over - the moment Dredd literally kicked his way into Simping Detective is a particularly good bit - and there are a few good character moments. It's not great, but it's better than what is to come along.

[Alex Sarll · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collected edition will never quite be able to recapture the amazement weekly readers felt when we twigged that we'd been reading a crossover for a month without realising it, but even without that element of surprise this is an excellent story, roving from the seedy underbelly of Mega-City One to the literal lunacy of deranged undercover Judge Dirty Frank's adventures on the moon.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judge Dredd: Trifecta is an epic tale that takes place virtually over the entire run of 2000 AD! It is drawn with four different artists that keep every aspect of the storyline hidden from the other and as the storyline progresses you realise the tie-ins to each of the storylines! :D The fact that this a collected works is a clue but the original run was of course separate and gives shows how it was designed but as as a collective works it works brilliantly with you the read shifting from one kind of script and art style and then back again! :D

Each part of the scrip builds it's part up brilliantly adding it's part of the storyline in together until Dredd blows though into the D'Israeli script! :D The teaming up of Dirty Frank, Wally Squad and Dredd is a classic with the combination of actions and humour that we would expect! :D The antagonists in the form of Caroline and Sharkface are full of Skulduggery that fairs brilliantly against Dredd and co! :D Hershey and Smiley interactions are hilarious and very clearly setting things up for future books! :D

The art style really helps to sell the multiple script but also clearly also lets the reader also know what part of (A kinda Total Recall crossed with Dredd vibe! :D Lol ) the story you are in! :D This works brillaintly as well as making all the character unique! :D

Judge Dredd: Trifecta blasts off the page and will keep you up late to see what happens in truly original take delivered with wit and action throughout! :D It is complex but always on track though you made need a map and pad to keep track of things! :D

Judge Dredd: Trifecta is fasted paced, clever, funny and action packed! :D

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Juiz Dredd: Trifecta foi publicado no Brasil pela Mythos e o adquiri durante a louvável campanha da Loja Mythos em que uma doação de alimentos não-perecíveis garantia um desconto maior nos produtos do local. A HQ me pareceu interessante porque une três grandes novos nomes do quadrinho do Reino Unido em uma mesma edição; Al Ewing, Rob Williams e Simon Spurrier. A proposta é que cada um deles usasse dos personagens do universo de Juiz Dredd que são responsáveis em uma trama que aos poucos vai se interconectando, sobre a criação de uma cidade corporativa na Lua e uma trama de uma juíza em ascensão de tomar o poder para si. Contudo, o desenvolvimento de tudo é extremamente consfuso e de dificil entendimento, tanto no roteiro como no desenho a ponto de o leitor não entender a história e não conseguir se conectar com os personagens. Estes últimos, fora o Juiz Dredd, bastante desconhecidos pelo público brasileiro. Um trabalho que poderia ser o máximo, recebe, no final, nota mínima.

[Matthew Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mentioned a few months ago that I had recently (at that time) gotten back into comics and graphic novels. I’m certainly still into them, although I have to confess that I’m still new to a few titles that I love. The Judge Dredd universe is one of those titles; from what I’ve seen, I’m a big fan...but I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s there. So when the fine folks over at 2000 AD graced me with a copy of JUDGE DREDD: TRIFECTA, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

As a self-proclaimed geek, I am chagrined to admit that I had never really read Dredd prior to my adulthood life. Because of this, as I mentioned above, I’m obviously out of the loop on certain things. For example, Jack Point is a new(er) character to me. But I really enjoy his storyline, and I find it interesting how he can be a key character in Dredd’s universe AND be intertwined with the story at large.

JUDGE DREDD: TRIFECTA is written very well and the storyline flows at a nice clip. The illustrations are nicely done and look great. The plot is in-depth but engaging, and it never gets stale. In short, you can’t ask for much more in a comic.

I highly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys comics or simply a good, futuristic yet brutal story. TRIFECTA delivers the goods when it comes to Judge Dredd, and I will definitely be visiting this universe again. This graphic novel is available now, so check it out.

[Matthew Marcus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting to get more out of this volume than I did; I enjoyed it at the time, in the weekly progs. Unfortunately, deprived of the full impact of the "WHOA!" moment when Dredd literally kicks his way into the Simping Detective strip, I found all of this rather silly and convoluted. The three strips are like chalk, cheese, and... something else that doesn't go with either chalk and cheese, and there's a sense of massive overambition in the attempt to pull the seemingly incompatible plotlines and actually incompatible styles together for the final act.

The individual strands are a mixed bag: Jack Point as usual has a few good one-liners, which don't compensate for the miasma of smirking sleaze and kick-the-enemy-in-the-nuts-type violence which typify the worst that 2000AD and The Megazine have to offer. Al Ewing's take on Dredd has impressive moments but Bachmann, her God City concept, and the endless crosses and double crosses of the plot are wearyingly try-hard. Top marks from me therefore go to the Dirty Frank strand: there's something about a businessman called Mr Overdrive who's replaced his head with that of a great white shark and keeps ranting on about smelling "blood in the business waters (TM)!" that is in the purest tradition of thrill-power. Rob Williams for Chief Judge!

[___Loki___ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judge Dredd is an amazing series, one of the most epic histories in the medium, almost unrivalled in certain ways. But the problem of John Wagner's mortality bothers me. John Wagner is the father of the series. At times I have thought that it is best that Wagner kills off Dredd while he is still healthy and alive enough to do it with dignity, but after reading Al Ewing's masterpiece, Trifecta, I am now convinced that with Wagner's framework in place for the future of the series, if this is the standard of work being produced by the new blood, then the series is in good hands.

Hohoho,
What do I say about this one? Well, as others on this page will tell you, the important thing to remember in this book is that it's a crossover, which is presented as an amazing reveal. I suspect they did not predict someone would get through the entire comic and not understand what they're talking about. Clearly I am missing something, but who cares? I could spoil the plot, but I don't think I understood it completely enough to even know what to tell you. Some parts of it almost seemed like a fever dream, it took me a while to start to understand what was going on, but in the end it all comes together.

After Day of Chaos Endgame, I was desperate to read something about the aftermath, which is why I picked this up. This book is really close to being as good as Day of Chaos Endgame, the artwork is unthinkably beautiful, artisticly it is on the same level as Endgame. It is not as grotesquely, amazingly violent, not that it's passive or anything, but Endgame was basically the most violent thing I've ever read. The writing as well, is honestly, just as good, although I think I am missing out on a lot of important politics in spite of being a fairly well read Judge Dredd Fan. It's different, it's full of intrigue, and hilarious jokes, a lot of it is just over the top, gigglingly silly, other parts are deeply thought provoking. There is a Hell of a lot of political maneuvering and mystery unfolding. It follows 3 different characters, each has a unique and interesting take on the situation, and everyone plays their own part. Hershey is particularly good in this book, there is a lot of fascinating character development around her, as the situation spirals out of control, and she finds herself struggling to manage it. I liked all the characters in this book. The villain was excellently written, and the depth of the conspiracy was pretty interesting. Without telling you too much, some of the characters were simply hilarious, the way he spoke is particularly amusing. There's even some religious elements. Now I need to read something new just to get the Fallout from this story.

I don't know what to say, partly because I'm still having some difficulty grasping it, and the parts I did understand you probably shouldn't read about here. This is an epicly well written, expansive, and amazing story, stop reading reviews full of spoilers, and just buy it. If you're a Judge Dredd fan, you want this in your collection. The beautiful hardcover even contains a really neat hologram. I cannot wait to see what happens next in the series, the quality has never been as high as it is right now, this is the best Dredd we've ever read.

Complaints? No, not really, not here. Might have been nice to give Dredd a bit more screentime, the bizarreness of the unfolding events kind of takes precedence. Maybe just that, I hope that giant thing isn't wasted, I hope future stories build on the events of this book.

Read it, you'll thank me later.
Shadilay.

[Paul Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trifecta is unique among Judge Dredd graphic novels in switching between three separate features, all set in Mega City One, by three different creative teams. There’s a reason three seemingly disparate stories are not just gathered between two covers, but intermingled as the graphic novel proceeds. Spolier alert. Don’t want to know, don’t read beyond the fourth paragraph.

The Simping Detective and Low Life both feature judges undercover. Low Life’s Dirty Frank has been undercover so long his sanity had been discarded, and the Simping Detective’s Jake Point is equally damaged, still on the job, but alcohol soused and cynical, with Simon Spurrier’s first person narrative an effective 1950's tough guy fiction pastiche. Jake’s official back-up support mechanism appears to have cut him loose. Dirty Frank’s also in above his head among a group of predatory financiers as Rob Williams satirizes the single-mindedness of the few whose greed sent the world economy down the toilet in 2008. Meanwhile Judge Dredd is concerned about a power play taking place in the Council of Judges, those who set the tone and law for Mega City One.

Mirroring the noir narrative, Jake’s strip is well illustrated in shadowy style by Simon Coleby, primarily in black and white, but notable colour montages also feature. There’s a great contrast in the artistic styles, with the equally good D’Israeli almost channelling Kevin O’Neill with his spiky character designs for Low Life. Henry Flint is also on form for the Dredd pages.

Al Ewing’s good handle on Dredd is exemplified on the opening page. Back in the 1980's heyday of Judge Dredd writers John Wagner and Alan Grant regularly reminded readers of Dredd’s humourless intolerance and Ewing’s homage has a judge who apologies for excessive security methods curtly ordered to report for reassignment.

It’s a big surprise when Dredd storms into an apartment and straight into Jake’s strip. It takes a little longer for Low Life to connect, but when it does, it appears someone very highly placed in the Justice Department is manipulating matters to their own ends. Dredd has fingered the head of Black Ops division Judge Bachmann, with whom he’s had a previous run-in, and Ewing’s early episodes certainly indicate this is the case, with Bachmann a suitably sinister and manipulative presence. Ewing also makes good use of technology Wagner and Grant employed as the basis for single stories then discarded. Central to all three tales is a list revealing the identity of every undercover judge in the city, and someone taking the opportunity to eliminate them. It’s a threat concluding with a neat twist.

There are clever elements to all threads. Spurrier takes the opportunity to move his character forward, Ewing ensures Dredd is on top of his game and Williams’ knowing idiot savant dialogue for Dirty Frank transmits well: “Dirty Frank digresses due to psychic epiphany”. However, the over-arching plot of a grab for power among corrupt judges is something that’s better handled in the later Endgame, although its nefarious means of replacing what’s considered the outmoded society of Mega City One is suitably ambitious.

All three writers contribute to the conclusion, nicely illustrated by Carl Critchlow, and Trifecta is very tidily tied up via a shadowy background presence. Not as effective is the downfall of someone who’s been the very epitome of cool planning, undone by a moment of emotional impulse.

Trifecta is a bold statement that on balance is just about carried off.

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing will quite match the slow dawning realisation of reading this in the prog that Ewing, Spurrier and Williams were pulling one of the all time great twists off without us noticing, but every reread shows how cleverly - like expert magicians - they seed their big moment, so it doesn’t really lose impact on repeated readings at all. In fact, future stories like the Small House give this added nuance and - even better - Sensitive Klegg would become one of the great Dredd supporting characters in very little time

In the early days, when Wagner initially pulled back from the weekly Dredd stories, there was a definite sense of flailing about trying to find people who could effectively match the creator. Grant Morrison and Mark Millar failed hugely (the former because he couldn’t subvert anything, the latter because he’s an idiot hack). Ennis struggled. But since 2000, there’s been a real sense of creators who not only understand what Dredd is (and he’s a tricky character, because he is essentially monolithic) but can find new ways to tell stories. What Trifecta does so brilliantly is show three of those ways at their best, but with an added oomph that I would like to think even Wagner applauded. A masterpiece

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dredd, Point, and Dirty Frank make an odd combo as 2000AD does their version of an in-house crossover with characters that couldn't be more different (and quite honestly some jarring differences in art). Things keep getting worse for Mega-City 1 and this doesn't help any. It keeps the downward spiral going, with crisp work from Al Ewing, Si Spurrier, and Rob Williams pulling the script droids together nicely.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been so absorbed in a story in a long time. A great book with very unusual characters working together but not knowing it. I thought that the rogue clown judge and Dirty Frank were very in-depth and interesting characters. They really got my mind racing with possibility. The Archmime was good too.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insanely complicated plot to take over the city needs an insanely complicated counterplot. But is there one? Dredd, the Simping Detective and Dirty Frank, the latter two have or have had their own strips which I am not familiar with, are all part of the story in an inter-title crossover. It's a lot of fun.

[Sean Keefe · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s rare to find a terrible Dredd story, but this is genuinely awful. The Jack Point story is just word salad throughout, cringeworthy.
I remember this being in the prog, and the only thing good about it was the realisation that all three stories were part of a whole - reading it altogether just reinforces how weak it is.
There are many better Dredd stories than this dreck.

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a brilliant surprise when it came out in 2000AD single issue format. So well crafted and produced piece. Glorious art all the way through and even my dislike to Spurrier's way of writing thing did not bother me.
Best thing ever.

[Colin Parfitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliantly inventive cross over. Sadly, the three parts don’t mesh particularly well and the resolution is ridiculous.

[Al No · Rating 2 out of 5]

A less-than-successful cross-over ‘epic’ featuring Dredd, Jack Point, Dirty Frank and some terrific art. Heavy-going.

[David Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This stealth crossover loses its surprise value when it's packaged like this instead of as a series of seemingly disparate 2000AD strips, but even read with the knowledge that it's all going to tie in it's still a solid crime story, a fast-paced conspiracy thriller, and a decent bit of sci-fi slapstick at the same time.

The clash between genres and art styles is the most compelling part of Trifecta as it's currently constructed, with the interplay between the endless gnarled close-ups of Henry Flint's Dredd strips, the immaculate noir landscapes of Simon Coleby's The Simping Detective, and the exploded absurdity of D'Israeli's Low Life providing a trio of perspectives on Mega-City One.

The trio of writers involved ("Affable" Al Ewing, "Seductive" Si Spurrier and "REDACTED" Rob Williams) keep everything moving behind the scenes, and they make sure that these different stories come together to present us with three different reasons why people might give a shit whether Mega-City One survives in the process.

If Trifecta loses something in its final chapter, which brings our three protagonists together in a more traditional action story illustrated by Carl Critchlow, then that's okay because it feels like the story has earned the right for a swaggering pay off.

After all, by that point we've been made to see hard-headed political manoeuvring, bewildered laughter and absurdist melancholia as three entirely valid ways of responding to the same series of events... hard to grudge a story that can do that a more traditional resolution, especially not when it just about manages to honour everything that came before.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is three stories that come together to form one epic. We have Dredd trying to fight Bachmann - the head of Black Ops who has decided to mount a coup. Then we have Jack Point investigating something very fishy to do with a stolen statue. Finally we have Dirty Frank infiltrating a secret lunar base built by a megalomaniac billionaire who has turned himself into a shark... literally.

This one's incredibly ambitious and manages to pull off such an involved tri-arc story with seeming ease. The three stories being completely true to their individual styles and yet tying together perfectly.

The Wally Squad stuff is not personally to my taste. I find it a bit silly. Didn't like the Dirty Frank thread which is a crazy-weird mix of the Hitchhikers guide and Total Recall - and wasn't over-keen on the artwork of this bit either.

The Dredd arc is pretty awesome and definitely what kept my attention. Love the interaction between Dredd and the newly promoted Hershey.

The Jack Point thread is ok. I love the poetic use of language and colourful metaphors - plus the strong artwork helps. What I didn't like was the Church of Simpology section - it's a bit too out there for me. Although the hatbot running the show is really cool.

Over-all this one's pretty strong, but still hasn't quite won me over on the merits of the Wally Squad.

[Peter Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dredd with two wonderful Wally Squad characters. If you are buying this in this format then it won’t be a spoiler to you say that this begins as three separate stories which crash together to create one the best Dredd tales to date. Dredd’s few frailties are exposed, his age is clear in both the artwork and the script, and the only non Wally Squad Judge to come out of the story alive and totally unsullied is an accountant.
The only thing that spoils this production of Trifecta is that the production quality on some of the Jack Point material makes some of the white on black text very difficult to read, and it’s annoying enough to knock a star of my rating for this version.

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read any of this I won't say too much as would give the game away. Even though I read the introduction bit at the beginning of each of these graphic novels in the collection, this one did give the game away.
It is a good mixture of styles and character driven story.

[Flavio · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Wagner, presente em quase todas as histórias de Dredd publicadas no Brasil, faz falta.

Mas a trama, uma história mediana e protagonizada por personagens desconhecidos do público brasileiro, chega numa conclusão épica. O último capítulo faz valer a toda a leitura.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. It was hard to follow some of the back-story since I'm new to the Dreddverse, but the story telling and art was excellent. One of the best comics I've picked up in a long time.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Dredd stories I've ever read.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, weird, huge and badass. A very 2000ad event.

[Jakub Górecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad times for Meg-Cit means good times for readers.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story filled with outstanding art and writing.

Judge Dredd maybe in it but the story is a brilliant team effort.

[Matthew Gault · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book with some of the best Dredd characters. I do not wish to say much in this review because everyone should just read the story, you will not be disappointed.