Bitter Earth

Judge Dredd The Early Years #9

by Laurel Sills

Driving out to the Cursed Earth to babysit Tek-Div labcoats working on soil reclamation is hardly Dredd’s idea of useful work, but everyone has to do their bit. But an explosion goes off when he arrives, and then people start disappearing, and it turns out he’s got work to do after all...

99 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2020

Reviews

[Jamie Brackell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ninth novella of the Judge Dredd: Early Years series, “Bitter Earth” returns the focus back to the Cursed Earth as Dredd finds himself stationed in a research laboratory whilst tensions ease back in Mega-City One. A direct contrast to the dense metropolis that he calls home, the wide apocalyptic deserts of the Cursed Earth creates a sense of unease within Dredd, which is further compounded when he is posted as security detail for a top-secret research project. Author Lauren Sills manages to evoke an effective sense of isolation reminiscent of horror classic The Thing, especially when things start to go wrong at the facility and mutants are unleashed upon Dredd and his colleagues.

At just under a hundred pages long, Bitter Earth clips along at a fair pace yet never feels rushed as Sills introduces a number of supporting characters to assist Dredd. While the murder mystery element of the storyline is relatively predictable, Sills manages to throw a few curveballs at the end that take the story in unexpected directions. Transitioning nicely from a “whodunit” to a “base under siege” format, Bitter Earth feels like an authentic early 70s Judge Dredd adventure that would sit nicely alongside the likes of “The Cursed Earth”.

One of the supporting characters in this adventure is Psi-Judge Smee, who provides Dredd with one of his first interactions with Psi-Judges and allows him to confront his own prejudices about mutants and Psi-powers. Sills does a great job at depicting the Psi Judge’s powers and the fear/paranoia that non-Psi Judges must feel when they are working alongside them. The beauty of the Judge Dredd: Early Years novellas is that they explore the period of the Judge Dredd universe before the audience were introduced to the character in Prog 2. It is tricky to write the character, who is typically infallible and steadfast in his beliefs, as a novice, but Sills manages to balance Dredd’s adherence to the Law and his inexperience with social interactions; focusing on that discrepancy and grey area between the theoretical and practical application of the rules.

There are some great action sequences in Bitter Earth, with snarly multi-toothed abominations attempting to kill Dredd and his fellow Judges, again evoking comparisons with The Thing, and at one point, Tremors. Sills manages to keep the action flowing nicely with clear directions and a smooth narrative that keeps the reader enthralled. The story is just the right length for the novella format, although it would have been interesting to have seen the plot expanded into a full-length novel with a greater emphasis on the “whodunit” murder mystery angle – with the limited page count, there was little room for the mystery to grow.

Bitter Earth is a fantastic addition to the Judge Dredd: Early Years series, combining a sense of isolation with extreme body horror with bone-chilling results. Lauren Sills does a great job at exploring the conflict within Dredd as he is forced to deal with new situations, be it Psi-Judges or being forced to sleep with a sleep machine. Given that readers were first introduced to Dredd as a fully-formed authoritative figure, it is refreshing to read these Early Years novellas and experience a Judge Dredd still wearing his “P Plates”. Currently, the 2000AD Regened stories feature Cadet Dredd, but I would love to see Rebellion continue to release novels in this Judge Dredd: Early Years range to cover more of that unseen period set before his first appearance in Prog 2.