Judge Dredd Year One: Wear Iron

Judge Dredd Year One #3

by Al Ewing

“WEAR IRON. THAT WAS THE RULE.”
Paul Strader is a stick-up man – a stone cold professional who never goes unarmed and never gets attached. But when he gets in over his head with some dangerous people, he’s forced to risk everything on the word of a corrupt lawman – a smirking, big-chinned bully named Judge Dredd.
Dredd’s the lynchpin in a daring, explosive heist that breaks every rule Strader has – every rule but one...

Genres: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2014

Reviews

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first non-comics reading of Al Ewing and a great discovery.
This very short novel reads like a pure heist-themed crime novel nicely spiced up because Mega City One and creeps and Dredd.
And Dredd.

Yes, avid reader, Rico is the main character and it's a good idea to use Joe only on the periphery of the plot.

For Dredd fans it's a must-read; for others it's still a good, well-written story, but the lack of understanding of the specifics of the Joe/Rico relationship could be a slight hindrance.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Then he’d see his own face in a mirror—the Father of Justice, young again, strong again—and he’d know that’s exactly what he was, a princeling of Mega-City One, playing games in the city he loved and owned. And he’d laugh."

The last book in the "Year One" trilogy doesn't disappoint, not bad considering the story isn't even told from Dredd's perspective. Not only that, he's barely in it. Instead, Ewing has chosen to instead write a story about Rico, and its enjoyable in its entirety. Easily recommended.

[Richard Hakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as it comes if you like that Dredd universe that is. The shape of things to come!

[C.A. A. Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was presented in an abstract way. I think that is the right term. It is a Judge Dredd story, but we see the plot through the eyes of the meatheads (creeps or villans) One of them is a man who just escapes from a bank heist gone wrong. He gets a glimpse of young Judge Dredd before escaping and Dredd gets a glimpse of him. The villain is in the last chance saloon when he is sought out by another loser for the heist of a lifetime. One that will make them all rich. The whole plot is presented from the villain's point of view and Judge Dredd is more obscure in this until the end. However, his clone twin brother, (Rico Dredd) - a twisted and corrupt Judge. Crooked to the core - Rico Dredd is pulling the strings of the villans for this millions of credits heist. This was a very clever pulp Scifi story and I enjoyed the twisted presentation. Great fun!

[Jesse Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun read. A Heist story that is more in Dredd's world than a Dredd story (although that comes around in a fun way).

[Shaun Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super short and a lot of fun. Like a PARKER novel set in Mega City One.
My 3rd Dredd story and, if they're this good all the time, won't be my last

[Neil Sarver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm probably being generous with my rating, but, as a fan of the Richard Stark books, this was a delight to kind of stumble upon.

[Alex Sarll]

Judge Dredd is a tricky character to render in prose. You can't give him too much interiority, or you spoil that implacable magic; you can probably get away with one brief chapter from his POV, mirroring the occasional curt sentences of internal reflection in the comic, but no more. Describe him solely from the outside, though, and it's likely going to feel hollow and wear thin quickly. Al Ewing, being the second-best Dredd writer going (and that's not the backhanded compliment it might sound, given how thoroughly John Wagner owns the character), knows all this. So he takes a lead from some of the greatest 2000AD stories, like 'America', and makes Dredd the antagonist; our lead is instead a desperate stick-up man drawn into a heist he knows he shouldn't touch. Tense neo-noir thrills ensue, even if we know they can only ever end one way.

[Charles Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot, you can get from the blurb. The skillful mix of character and continuity, you have to read the book for.

What impressed me is Ewing's take on the setting is one where Mega-City One is halfway from the semi-realistic postwar, post-coup dystopia of Origins (and City Fathers, the first Year One) and the glossy colourful craze-and-crime dystopia of the 1970s strips. Strader and other old gangsters remember famine and hardship and blood, but in their recent history is the Harlem Heroes playing Inferno and the first eating games are turning up. They can barely understand the eating game. One take on Dredd is being supplanted by another; continuity is history and we're halfway through it, and it carries weight.

(Also Dredd shoots people!)

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying these "Year One" Judge Dredd stories, they expand the known or hinted at history and are the building blocks to the myth of the man we know today. Rico is an interesting character, well fleshed out and a real person rather than a one dimensional bad guy.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, it's quite a short snappy read and Al Ewing has always done a great job on Dredd. He captures the weirdness of Mega City One and its fads and citizens well, and given how brief Rico's storyline was in the comics it's fun to see him fleshed out.