Young Death - Boyhood of a Superfiend

by John Wagner, Frazer Irving (Illustrator)

KILLING IS HIS BUSINESS

JUDGE DEATH, A TWISTED ALIEN BEING FROM A DIMENSION WHERE ALL LIFE IS CRIME, has escaped from a Mega-City One containment facility and is headed for the radioactive hell of the Cursed Earth. Here his path of destruction continues as he searches
for the means to destroy all humanity.

This macabre road trip takes Death through the twisted remains of Las Vegas, teams him up with two cold-blooded serial killers, and shows him that the true path to annihilation lies deep below the desert sands.

This blackly comic story is written by John Wagner (Judge Dredd, A History of Violence) and illustrated by Frazer Irving (Klarion the Witchboy, Hellblazer).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2014

About the author

John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, for which he created Judge Dredd. He is noted for his taut, violent thrillers and his black humour. Among his pseudonyms are The best known are John Howard, T.B. Grover, Mike Stott, Keef Ripley, Rick Clark and Brian Skuter. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average story about Judge Death, who escapes from prison, disables Judge Anderson and escapes into the Cursed Earth, where he proceeds to apply his form of Justice for the sin of living (since all crime are committed by the living, life itself is a crime).

The comic initially focuses on Judge Anderson discovering that Judge Death has escaped from prison but suddenly switches to Judge Death's point of view after he disables Judge Anderson (to prevent her from following his every move using her psi powers). As he roams the Cursed Earth, he monologues about the numerous obstacles blocking his application of Justice; mainly that there are too many people living for him to serve Justice individually. The solution would be found in an abandoned library and Judge Death believes he has found a way to serve Justice: at least on Mega City One.

The story also gives a side-focus on one man's vendetta against Death for killing his family. He would play a part in the apocalyptic ending that would appear to end Judge Death once and for all.

However, the story is somewhat unsatisfying. We never learn the fate of Judge Anderson, nor does it completely appear that this really is the end for Judge Death. The artwork, while stark and occasionally glorifying the form of Justice applied by Judge Death, is mainly serviceable but not outstanding.

However, it does have its laugh points, especially when Judge Death enters Las Vegas and meets the corrupted Judges there. Otherwise, it is a okay tale about one of 2000AD's more memorable villains.

[David Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I found it hard to read this story instead of simply just letting my eyes drift over page after page of dark, luscious Frazer Irving artwork. Irving's more recent work has made great use of colour as lighting, but it's sometime's felt as though he's relying on it rather than using it. Did his art for Annihilator (with Grant Morrison) invoke a sense of panic that was both cosmic and claustrophobic with its absence of defined spaces, or did it sometimes just look a bit under-defined?

Regardless, no such questions are raised by the art in this book, which is by turn eerie (Irving draws a mean corridor full of scared children), inventive (see: the panel where Judge Anderson's hair whisps out into the form of Judge Death as they commune telepathically) and ridiculous (Judge Death on a lawmaster, nuff said!). As you might expect from this description, the plot's all over the shop, with Judge Death making time and space to figure out what he's all about. Tonally, it's a mess of the grim and the ridiculous, but that's forgivable.

In the end, it's a great showcase for Irving's art, which was always the real draw here. Let your eyes drift of read intently - this book is just a gorgeous, ridiculous distraction either way.

[Josh Keam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story centered around Judge Dredds most profound enemy Judge Death. This comic is entirely about him and he serves as the main character (notice how this isn't titled Judge Dredd). The art style is amazing but quite hard to read at times and the story gives an interesting look into the way Death operates, why he wants to kill every living thing. He isn't just some diabolical evil. He's an interesting character with his own morals and rules and not simply a "kill everyone for the sake it of it" kind of character. If you're interested in Judge Death from reading any kind of Dredd comic I reccomend this one.

"All sins are committed by the living, so living must be a sin."

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art is purely black and white. Then there's often lines that I think sometimes represent light, but sometimes movement, or maybe just there for a laugh. Not only does it make it cluttered, but it often makes it a bit ambiguous what is happening. I haven't read any Judge Dredd comics before so I'm not sure if people will be familiar with these characters. I did have to skip back and reread the initial pages to understand what was happening. Judge Anderson is psychic and reads a child's mind to understand a murder case. She vaguely sees a vision of Judge Death who should be imprisoned in a crystal. They check the crystals and it seems it has been replaced by a fake. Judge Death is on the loose. He can possess bodies to do his killing and he believes everyone should be killed; his mantra is "All sins are committed by the living, so living must be a sin." Eventually he learns about weapons of mass destruction, so then aims to use nukes. It's pretty straight-forward but then made difficult to understand by the art style.

[Damian Herde · Rating 3 out of 5]

A return of Judge Death. At this point the story of Judge Death is becoming tired. He’s an unstoppable one-note villain.

The four dread Judges begin where we last saw them, sealed up and trapped in a crystal. When a wealthy collector decides he wants one, Death is stolen and accidentally freed.

Judge Death goes on a killing spree to attract Judge Anderson, which is a high point of the story.

Ultimately, Judge Death despairs that he lacks the ability to wipe out humanity, so goes on a journey into the cursed Earth.

The ending was another unusual story point, but overall this collection didn’t add much of interest.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read!

Man this book is so awesome. A lot of love went into the creation and it shows. The humor was hilarious as well. Judge Death is one creepy and hilarious character. Loved every minute of his dialogues.

[Lars · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful but dumb, and difficult to follow visually. But beautiful. But dumb.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very lost, but I liked the art. 2/5.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Judge Death. I found this book to be a lot more funny than I expected going into it. Between Judge Death's penchant for deciding that everyone is guilty of a crime and needs to die and the almost homey scenarios he ends up in really make for an off the wall read. The art is what I've come to expect from these Judge Dredd books and adds to the kookiness of the story.

[ik.ben.henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art was perfect.
Story wasn't.

Still the quality from 2000AD is as always high.