What do you think?
Rate this book
Dreadnoughts: Breaking Ground
The year is 2035 and American society is crumbling, the police force become judge and jury, dispensing justice on the streets. Police brutality in response to public protests sparks even greater restrictions on what American citizens are free to do. This is the horror story of a descent into fascism and the beginnings of the world of Judge Dredd.
112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 9, 2021
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 18, 2021
It's becoming hard to remember that Judge Dredd started out as satire of law enforcement overreach and police brutality and restriction of our essential freedoms. Less than a decade and a half before the setting's backstory is due to really kick in, and America at least has all the ingredients ready for a recipe of disaster. People are discontent and no one believes to a bright future anymore, yet there's no help for them in sight, just law enforcement getting more money.
I can but hope we can all make the right choices and turn this around before it gets really bad.
As for this story, it's all right. The narrative's tense enough, there's some characters and relationships to get invested in, grey moralities where no one's entirely in the right but nearly all of them have something to believe for, and it sufficiently paves the ground for things to come in the setting's future. I could have used some more references to the present-day Dredd, though - a few familiar names or faces, other than just a quick cameo by Fargo himself. And the evil gloating at the end was just embarrassing.
I can but hope we can all make the right choices and turn this around before it gets really bad.
As for this story, it's all right. The narrative's tense enough, there's some characters and relationships to get invested in, grey moralities where no one's entirely in the right but nearly all of them have something to believe for, and it sufficiently paves the ground for things to come in the setting's future. I could have used some more references to the present-day Dredd, though - a few familiar names or faces, other than just a quick cameo by Fargo himself. And the evil gloating at the end was just embarrassing.
September 27, 2021
A short while back I reviewed Judge Dredd: Origins, which spent much of its time laying out how the absolute power of Dredd and his fellow judges came to be. I commented at the time that this was really effectively done, was very intriguing and that I was left wanting to know more about this particular thread of the story. Dreadnoughts: Breaking Ground offers the opportunity to do just that.
The volume offers two stories previously published in Judge Dredd Megazine and which feature these precursors to the Judges proper. Of the two, the title story is the most effective. It dwells on the rookie days of Veranda Glover, one of the first of the new breed of Judges. It’s a tale of social unrest and political chicanery in a world that’s only tangentially different to our own. John Higgins’ inky arty style is particularly good for evoking this stark, often murky world.
Glover too is an interesting and well-written character. While she has some of the same uncompromising solidity as Dredd himself, she is not nearly so cartoonish and she is nicely and humanly flawed. I finished Breaking Ground very much wanting to spend more time in her company and to learn both more about her past and her future.
The second story, Paradigm Shift, was not quite so compelling to me. The action is split between two time periods/cases with Dredd in Mega City One investigating the misappropriation of canisters of a chemical weapon, a crime that has its roots in the earlier days of the Judges, and one being investigated by Judge Deacon. There’s lots of interesting stuff in this story too but I found it less successful because the brighter, more cartoonish, world of Dredd is directly juxtaposed with the grittier world of the near-future and I can’t help but feel that both suffer by the comparison. The satirical absurdity of Mega City One ends up feeling exaggerated and the social commentary of the Dreadnought world ends up feeling rather blunted. Both worlds require a reading adjustment on the part of the reader and asking them to constantly jump between the two ends up feeling rather jarring.
Deacon too is a less interesting, less conflicted, character than Glover and falls a bit too much into the superhuman man-as-inhuman-law-machine mould of Dredd himself. There doesn’t seem character delineation between them and Deacon, in particularly, sometimes feels like a Dredd prototype rather than a being in his own right. And Jake Lynch’s wonderful but much more stylised art (that’s often reminiscent of previous Dredd greats like Ian Gibson, Mick McMahon or Cam Kennedy) serves the more colourful, OTT Dredd sequences well but robs the Deacon ones of their contemporaneity.
Also included are the opening chapters of a novella, written, as both the strip stories were, by Mike Carroll. While the prose is somewhat workmanlike, it’s an interesting premise, dealing with the first murder of a Judge, and serving up more of the political and organisational tensions more present in Breaking Ground.
Overall, Dreadnoughts lacks the satirical savagery and political acuity that was present in Origins and almost offers case studies to that mythology rather than adding to it. But these two and a bit stories are a lot of fun and I’d happily see more from the Dreadnoughts in the future.
The volume offers two stories previously published in Judge Dredd Megazine and which feature these precursors to the Judges proper. Of the two, the title story is the most effective. It dwells on the rookie days of Veranda Glover, one of the first of the new breed of Judges. It’s a tale of social unrest and political chicanery in a world that’s only tangentially different to our own. John Higgins’ inky arty style is particularly good for evoking this stark, often murky world.
Glover too is an interesting and well-written character. While she has some of the same uncompromising solidity as Dredd himself, she is not nearly so cartoonish and she is nicely and humanly flawed. I finished Breaking Ground very much wanting to spend more time in her company and to learn both more about her past and her future.
The second story, Paradigm Shift, was not quite so compelling to me. The action is split between two time periods/cases with Dredd in Mega City One investigating the misappropriation of canisters of a chemical weapon, a crime that has its roots in the earlier days of the Judges, and one being investigated by Judge Deacon. There’s lots of interesting stuff in this story too but I found it less successful because the brighter, more cartoonish, world of Dredd is directly juxtaposed with the grittier world of the near-future and I can’t help but feel that both suffer by the comparison. The satirical absurdity of Mega City One ends up feeling exaggerated and the social commentary of the Dreadnought world ends up feeling rather blunted. Both worlds require a reading adjustment on the part of the reader and asking them to constantly jump between the two ends up feeling rather jarring.
Deacon too is a less interesting, less conflicted, character than Glover and falls a bit too much into the superhuman man-as-inhuman-law-machine mould of Dredd himself. There doesn’t seem character delineation between them and Deacon, in particularly, sometimes feels like a Dredd prototype rather than a being in his own right. And Jake Lynch’s wonderful but much more stylised art (that’s often reminiscent of previous Dredd greats like Ian Gibson, Mick McMahon or Cam Kennedy) serves the more colourful, OTT Dredd sequences well but robs the Deacon ones of their contemporaneity.
Also included are the opening chapters of a novella, written, as both the strip stories were, by Mike Carroll. While the prose is somewhat workmanlike, it’s an interesting premise, dealing with the first murder of a Judge, and serving up more of the political and organisational tensions more present in Breaking Ground.
Overall, Dreadnoughts lacks the satirical savagery and political acuity that was present in Origins and almost offers case studies to that mythology rather than adding to it. But these two and a bit stories are a lot of fun and I’d happily see more from the Dreadnoughts in the future.
January 16, 2022
JUDGE DREDD is a dystopian science fiction series that has always been somewhat schizophrenic in its presentation. This is deliberate and, for many, it is a feature rather than a bug. It started as a satire on American police brutality, action movie cliches, as well as British conservatism (through an American lens) with a hefty dose of black humor.
Dredd is a fascist enforcer of an authoritarian dictatorship but the society is so overthetop that he is seemingly a necessary evil and mostly unaware that the system he serves is worse than the alternative. He is the Law but the Law is run by a bunch of corrupt scumbags running a city of apathetic fools. This has been clear since the "The Day the Law Diedl" arc that was in 1978.
However, Dredd has a certain Misaimed Fandom (see TV tropes) of people who think the Judge system is just dandy and espouse many of their ideas unironically. That if you just got rid of due process, armed the police with unlimited powers, gave them the weapons of an army, and then set them loose then everything wrong with America would go away. DREADNOUGHTS: BREAKING GROUND is aimed directly at that fandom with somewhat mixed results.
The premise is that before the nuclear war that created Mega City One when the Judge System was newly implemented, there was a transition period between "our world' and the dystopian future. In Boulder, Colorado, Judge Veranda Glover is assigned to handle protests against corporate corruption and gets eight people killed before being introduced to the local police as their newest assistance. From there, she investigates a child's kidnapping and proceeds to ruin life after life in the name of the Law.
It's effectively telling a Judge Dredd story by having the Dredd figure set against a more "normal" and less cyberpunk world. Judge Glover is lacking even Dredd's sympathetic qualities, however, and rightfully repulses everyone around her. The story is not subtle about police brutality, corruption, the prison-industrial complex, and other issues that underscore the satire of Judge Dredd is not meant to be aspirational.
This is described in the foreword as a horror story rather than a science fiction story and it's certainly both. There's just enough "cool" factor in Judge Glover that you sometimes think that she might be justified or that she'll show some sign of being redeemable. But it's not that kind of story and we know that things will get worse before never getting better. Mega City One is as bad as it was when it was first unveiled and has had a nuclear war, plague, plus regular attacks by zombies from another dimension. This book argues that's the fault of us, the people, more than anything else.
For some fans, this is exactly the kind of Judge Dredd story they want to read. Others will find it repulsive for getting politics in their satirical British comic book. I think it's less entertaining than the classic "Ameirca" arc of Judge Dredd but still worth reading. I just wish it had ended with its protagonist getting a bullet through their exposed chin.
4.5/5
Dredd is a fascist enforcer of an authoritarian dictatorship but the society is so overthetop that he is seemingly a necessary evil and mostly unaware that the system he serves is worse than the alternative. He is the Law but the Law is run by a bunch of corrupt scumbags running a city of apathetic fools. This has been clear since the "The Day the Law Diedl" arc that was in 1978.
However, Dredd has a certain Misaimed Fandom (see TV tropes) of people who think the Judge system is just dandy and espouse many of their ideas unironically. That if you just got rid of due process, armed the police with unlimited powers, gave them the weapons of an army, and then set them loose then everything wrong with America would go away. DREADNOUGHTS: BREAKING GROUND is aimed directly at that fandom with somewhat mixed results.
The premise is that before the nuclear war that created Mega City One when the Judge System was newly implemented, there was a transition period between "our world' and the dystopian future. In Boulder, Colorado, Judge Veranda Glover is assigned to handle protests against corporate corruption and gets eight people killed before being introduced to the local police as their newest assistance. From there, she investigates a child's kidnapping and proceeds to ruin life after life in the name of the Law.
It's effectively telling a Judge Dredd story by having the Dredd figure set against a more "normal" and less cyberpunk world. Judge Glover is lacking even Dredd's sympathetic qualities, however, and rightfully repulses everyone around her. The story is not subtle about police brutality, corruption, the prison-industrial complex, and other issues that underscore the satire of Judge Dredd is not meant to be aspirational.
This is described in the foreword as a horror story rather than a science fiction story and it's certainly both. There's just enough "cool" factor in Judge Glover that you sometimes think that she might be justified or that she'll show some sign of being redeemable. But it's not that kind of story and we know that things will get worse before never getting better. Mega City One is as bad as it was when it was first unveiled and has had a nuclear war, plague, plus regular attacks by zombies from another dimension. This book argues that's the fault of us, the people, more than anything else.
For some fans, this is exactly the kind of Judge Dredd story they want to read. Others will find it repulsive for getting politics in their satirical British comic book. I think it's less entertaining than the classic "Ameirca" arc of Judge Dredd but still worth reading. I just wish it had ended with its protagonist getting a bullet through their exposed chin.
4.5/5
March 25, 2023
Two different stories in this volume, both taking place a few years from now and introducing the first judges.
The first one starts a bit political in its introduction but quickly turns into a basic kidnapping investigation with the original no-nonsense approach of a judge. Rather grim and much less satirical than our favorite Dredd stories it sorts of hits close to home as to the evolution of law enforcement in our societies. Dialogues/monologues are good and it’s actually a very enjoyable read with good art.
The second one mixes 2034 and 2140 with Dredd following through a very old case. Anecdotic story with unimpressive art.
All in all I like the idea of stories of the first judges. Well done it can lead to good pre-Dredd stuff, grimmier in tone with pertinent social content around a world close to ours indeed. Mixing both eras doesn’t seem to be such a good idea though.
The first one starts a bit political in its introduction but quickly turns into a basic kidnapping investigation with the original no-nonsense approach of a judge. Rather grim and much less satirical than our favorite Dredd stories it sorts of hits close to home as to the evolution of law enforcement in our societies. Dialogues/monologues are good and it’s actually a very enjoyable read with good art.
The second one mixes 2034 and 2140 with Dredd following through a very old case. Anecdotic story with unimpressive art.
All in all I like the idea of stories of the first judges. Well done it can lead to good pre-Dredd stuff, grimmier in tone with pertinent social content around a world close to ours indeed. Mixing both eras doesn’t seem to be such a good idea though.
July 31, 2021
Two stories from the world of the Judge Dredd prequels they're churning out these days. On the evidence of this and the "Origins" wannabe-event-book, I'll stick with the real thing. From the Megazine we have an early Judge on the hunt for a kidnapped child, while 2000AD is represented by a disjointed, dual-narrative concerning an old tablet identifying caches of nerve gas. Both books want to show the populace angry about Judges and their slightly draconian ways, and venting that anger with crimes and violence, but they do so with none of the humour needed, and it's just a cyclical argument borne from "Origins" that doesn't really go anywhere. It certainly doesn't entertain much, that's for sure. So you're left with the bare bones of the future action, upon which you don't really need a whole misguided layer of "ooh isn't American society bad, but look, wouldn't the Judges make it worse?!". Two and a half stars.
September 7, 2022
(NOTE: this review was rejected by amazon.com for violating its Community Guidelines)
“America [is an] apartheid system at the moment, almost…….umm, it’s insane…...this is where I think you’re going to look back and go, ‘how did we not see this coming ?’”
“Dredd is not the good guy, judges are not the heroes……..ultimately they are Stormtroopers”.
These quotes of Michael Carroll, the writer of ‘Dreadnoughts’, are taken from an interview done as part of a September 16, 2020 ‘Thrill-Cast’ (a sort of Ultra- Fanboy podcast devoted to the ‘2000 AD’ franchise).
They give the reader a good idea of the ideology that suffuses ‘Dreadnoughts’.
‘Dreadnoughts: Breaking Ground’ compiles the comics first serialized in six parts in ‘The Judge Dredd Megazine’, issues 424 (September 2020) to 429 (February 2021).
The story is set in Colorado in 2035, and its opening pages depict a confrontation between the police and riot- (errr, ‘Peaceful Protestors’). The confrontation soon turns quite violent, with the police cracking heads and then opening fire; the mayhem is ably depicted (wads of tissue flying out of Exit Wounds) by artist Higgins.
We then are introduced to 40-year-old Judge Veranda Glover, a sort of female proto-Dredd. Unemotional, laconic, utterly single-minded, Glover is among the first of the Judges, with a background unlike most of those who are involved in law enforcement.
After its initial over-the-top political messaging, the narrative then turns into something of a standard police procedural, as Glove leads an investigation into the kidnapping of a nine-year-old boy by an Alt-right organization, who maintain a Branch Davidian-style compound called ‘The Cloister’. Theodore Lesk, the leader of The Cloister, is uncooperative; what, exactly, is he hiding…….. ?
I can tolerate agitprop if it’s nicely packaged, so I picked ‘Dreadnoughts’ mainly because it’s illustrated by John Higgins, one of the most accomplished UK comics artists, whose work first came into American consciousness with his impressive his artwork for the Dark Horse comic series ‘The Thing from Another World’ in 1991.
And Higgins’s artwork for ‘Dreadnoughts’ does the job. It’s suitably grim and depressing, infused with the ‘desaturated’ coloring scheme that a story of this nature calls for.
The second comic in ‘Dreadnoughts’ is ‘The Paradigm Shift’, which first was serialized in 2000 AD issues 2082 – 2086 (May – June 2018). Written by Carroll, the story alternates in time between Kentucky in 2034 and the ‘present-day' of Mega-City One, 2140. I won’t disclose spoilers, save to say the plot involves a conspiracy centered on recovering a long-buried weapon from the days when the Judges first began to operate in the US. In my opinion, Carroll’s story is serviceable enough, but the artwork, by Jake Lynch, has a cartoony quality that doesn’t mesh well with the presumed gravitas of the subject matter.
I can’t say that ‘Dreadnoughts’ is a must-have for Dredd fans. It does succeed as agitprop (all the more so considering that Carroll conceived of it well before 2020, and the advent of the antifa and BLM riots in the US). But it also comes across as a marketing vehicle for a 2019 collection of prose novels (‘Judges: Volume One’) that Carroll published with Abaddon. Indeed, ‘Dreadnoughts’ features a text excerpt of several pages from the ‘Avalanche’ novel in ‘Judges: Volume One’.
So, whether the ‘Dreadnoughts’ franchise will endure remains to be seen. Agitprop and polemics can be difficult to sustain, for inevitably the Comrades become inured to the outrage and indignation, and the People's Commissariat must redouble its efforts to reach them………
“America [is an] apartheid system at the moment, almost…….umm, it’s insane…...this is where I think you’re going to look back and go, ‘how did we not see this coming ?’”
“Dredd is not the good guy, judges are not the heroes……..ultimately they are Stormtroopers”.
These quotes of Michael Carroll, the writer of ‘Dreadnoughts’, are taken from an interview done as part of a September 16, 2020 ‘Thrill-Cast’ (a sort of Ultra- Fanboy podcast devoted to the ‘2000 AD’ franchise).
They give the reader a good idea of the ideology that suffuses ‘Dreadnoughts’.
‘Dreadnoughts: Breaking Ground’ compiles the comics first serialized in six parts in ‘The Judge Dredd Megazine’, issues 424 (September 2020) to 429 (February 2021).
The story is set in Colorado in 2035, and its opening pages depict a confrontation between the police and riot- (errr, ‘Peaceful Protestors’). The confrontation soon turns quite violent, with the police cracking heads and then opening fire; the mayhem is ably depicted (wads of tissue flying out of Exit Wounds) by artist Higgins.
We then are introduced to 40-year-old Judge Veranda Glover, a sort of female proto-Dredd. Unemotional, laconic, utterly single-minded, Glover is among the first of the Judges, with a background unlike most of those who are involved in law enforcement.
After its initial over-the-top political messaging, the narrative then turns into something of a standard police procedural, as Glove leads an investigation into the kidnapping of a nine-year-old boy by an Alt-right organization, who maintain a Branch Davidian-style compound called ‘The Cloister’. Theodore Lesk, the leader of The Cloister, is uncooperative; what, exactly, is he hiding…….. ?
I can tolerate agitprop if it’s nicely packaged, so I picked ‘Dreadnoughts’ mainly because it’s illustrated by John Higgins, one of the most accomplished UK comics artists, whose work first came into American consciousness with his impressive his artwork for the Dark Horse comic series ‘The Thing from Another World’ in 1991.
And Higgins’s artwork for ‘Dreadnoughts’ does the job. It’s suitably grim and depressing, infused with the ‘desaturated’ coloring scheme that a story of this nature calls for.
The second comic in ‘Dreadnoughts’ is ‘The Paradigm Shift’, which first was serialized in 2000 AD issues 2082 – 2086 (May – June 2018). Written by Carroll, the story alternates in time between Kentucky in 2034 and the ‘present-day' of Mega-City One, 2140. I won’t disclose spoilers, save to say the plot involves a conspiracy centered on recovering a long-buried weapon from the days when the Judges first began to operate in the US. In my opinion, Carroll’s story is serviceable enough, but the artwork, by Jake Lynch, has a cartoony quality that doesn’t mesh well with the presumed gravitas of the subject matter.
I can’t say that ‘Dreadnoughts’ is a must-have for Dredd fans. It does succeed as agitprop (all the more so considering that Carroll conceived of it well before 2020, and the advent of the antifa and BLM riots in the US). But it also comes across as a marketing vehicle for a 2019 collection of prose novels (‘Judges: Volume One’) that Carroll published with Abaddon. Indeed, ‘Dreadnoughts’ features a text excerpt of several pages from the ‘Avalanche’ novel in ‘Judges: Volume One’.
So, whether the ‘Dreadnoughts’ franchise will endure remains to be seen. Agitprop and polemics can be difficult to sustain, for inevitably the Comrades become inured to the outrage and indignation, and the People's Commissariat must redouble its efforts to reach them………
November 11, 2021
This book is about the introduction of Judges into the US judicial system in 2030's. Indoctrinated law-enforcers do not care about anything but the letter of the law and whoever stands in their way just gets terminated.
First story is about the early period when single Judge is sent to resolve the case of missing child. To say that new Judge brought peace would be understatement - she brought eternal peace to a whole lot of people and placed rest into prison (not that she solved abysmal prison conditions and imprisonment ran as business, nope, as they say have no pity for a witch, mutant and heretic ...uh wrong universe, I meant have no pity for law breaker!). And all of this would be, you know, Judge Dredd universe at its usual where it not that new Judge is basically sociopath murderer responsible for killing multiple cops that got jailed (here she became philosophical sociopath murderer). And then she gets selected as a good candidate (I mean what?) by judge Fargo and his team (aparently she had that something special).
And what usually happens with re-educated zealot personnel you ask? Oh they become zealots for the other side in the bloodiest possible way.
Second story is about Judge Dredd and his partner at the time coming across the vital piece of evidence that contains information on the deadly weapon lost for last hundred years. This story is more inline with the usual Judge Dredd stories but also shows how first Judges weren't hesitant to eliminate the entire military base if required (because you know, they are the law).
Art is pretty good. First story is more photo realistic while second story is more in line with the Judge Dredd earlier comics. Overall pretty good.
Stories seem to be more than usual gloomy because goal is to show how Judges are not the solution for the societal problems. Due to political imperatives they were introduced and soon their shoot first ask... no, just shoot first (they are always right, right? no reason to ask any questions) policy basically killed off any rights for an individual citizen. Another book comes to mind, "Three felonies a day" - imagine living in a society where you could be put to prison for some idiotic law and then you get law enforcers that put people into jail for 10 years because of chewing gum and talking at the same time!
Worrying part here is that in this book Judges are definitely coming from the far right. And this is to be expected when one looks at historical social movements. Unfortunately events in last year and few months showed that freedom-loving governments are reading Judge Dredd for the hints on policing. Which again proves that progressive political cultures when ran by zealots can get to same results are far-far-right ones (as it showed up in certain countries mid-last century in East Europe and Asia). Indoctrination, activism and brain washing are terrible things and doom every society to horrors of police state.
I do appreciate author's writing information that this is warning , horror story and not something to aim for. It is not like sane people need this type of information but hey, better safe than sorry.
Overall good book, looking forward to the volume 2 that should be coming out soon (hopefully :))
First story is about the early period when single Judge is sent to resolve the case of missing child. To say that new Judge brought peace would be understatement - she brought eternal peace to a whole lot of people and placed rest into prison (not that she solved abysmal prison conditions and imprisonment ran as business, nope, as they say have no pity for a witch, mutant and heretic ...uh wrong universe, I meant have no pity for law breaker!). And all of this would be, you know, Judge Dredd universe at its usual where it not that new Judge is basically sociopath murderer responsible for killing multiple cops that got jailed (here she became philosophical sociopath murderer). And then she gets selected as a good candidate (I mean what?) by judge Fargo and his team (aparently she had that something special).
And what usually happens with re-educated zealot personnel you ask? Oh they become zealots for the other side in the bloodiest possible way.
Second story is about Judge Dredd and his partner at the time coming across the vital piece of evidence that contains information on the deadly weapon lost for last hundred years. This story is more inline with the usual Judge Dredd stories but also shows how first Judges weren't hesitant to eliminate the entire military base if required (because you know, they are the law).
Art is pretty good. First story is more photo realistic while second story is more in line with the Judge Dredd earlier comics. Overall pretty good.
Stories seem to be more than usual gloomy because goal is to show how Judges are not the solution for the societal problems. Due to political imperatives they were introduced and soon their shoot first ask... no, just shoot first (they are always right, right? no reason to ask any questions) policy basically killed off any rights for an individual citizen. Another book comes to mind, "Three felonies a day" - imagine living in a society where you could be put to prison for some idiotic law and then you get law enforcers that put people into jail for 10 years because of chewing gum and talking at the same time!
Worrying part here is that in this book Judges are definitely coming from the far right. And this is to be expected when one looks at historical social movements. Unfortunately events in last year and few months showed that freedom-loving governments are reading Judge Dredd for the hints on policing. Which again proves that progressive political cultures when ran by zealots can get to same results are far-far-right ones (as it showed up in certain countries mid-last century in East Europe and Asia). Indoctrination, activism and brain washing are terrible things and doom every society to horrors of police state.
I do appreciate author's writing information that this is warning , horror story and not something to aim for. It is not like sane people need this type of information but hey, better safe than sorry.
Overall good book, looking forward to the volume 2 that should be coming out soon (hopefully :))
Read
July 28, 2023As with Michael Molcher's non-fiction I Am The Law, the thinking behind this Judge Dredd prequel is obvious: in the 46 years since 2000AD introduced us to the Judges, policing - especially though by no means exclusively in the US - has only got closer to the militarised, unsupervised model they represent. So Dreadnoughts rolls the timeline back a century to our near future, showing a 2035 where a collapsing America can see no alternative but to supplement its police with an even more forceful body, and never mind that the stats show Judges coming to an area only leads to an increase in crime... The refusal of politics to countenance any option bar more of the same, harder, is depressingly plausible, ditto the way things like corporate prisons just continue getting less and less humane. But there remains a disconnect which I'm not sure the creators have noticed between this horribly likely dystopia, its more fully science-fictional descendant, and what I have to assume are their own views on policing. Because while no one sane would want to live in Mega-City One, its policing is, for a horribly harsh value of the word, mostly fair, if only in the same way that a hurricane is fair. Dredd will shoot you regardless of the colour of your skin; political-corporate entanglement generally gets brought down sooner or later. Sure, most of the other Mega-Cities we've seen in any detail seem more prone to one or another flavour of corruption, but in M-C1, at least partly through the presence of Dredd (though most other long-running Judges, from Giant to Anderson and Hershey, also seem fundamentally honest), that isn't the case. And the lead in Dreadnoughts, Glover, is presented as a step towards Dredd - more fully part of the new system, regarding even earlier Judges as compromised, bridling at corporate ties and the expectations that come with them. Less human, more rigid - but also, like Dredd, less likely to make mistakes. The implication of which would seem to be that the more ruthless and distanced from the citizenry they become, the better the Judges will be; that with a few good apples like this, paramilitary policing will ultimately shed the perverse incentives attendant on carceral capitalism, and become a purer, more honest, thing, equally terrifying to all. Which works as a Dredd prequel, but somewhat less so as a comment on now.
August 25, 2021
A prequel, of where the Judges started, and how that progressed, how law and order was steadily made more intense, how stronger responses were required for worse situations, and how those things progressed. This excels in several areas, the artwork is superb, the dark tones, the implication that things are dark throughout, and that they'll continue to get darker as time goes on. The writing is sublime, the words chosen to emphasize what is being illustrated, it speaks to the pairing of the minds that went into making this the story that it is, that everything compliments everything else. There's a sense of mounting dread (not Dredd) throughout the book as things keep getting slowly worse despite all best efforts, and I'd be interested to see where it went in future installments.
The second story and then the written story that follow as part of the same book did not hold my attention to the same degree, but being honest, this book is worth the price for the first story alone.
The second story and then the written story that follow as part of the same book did not hold my attention to the same degree, but being honest, this book is worth the price for the first story alone.
September 15, 2021
Quick impressions: Overall, the stories are a fairly quick read. The comics are fast paced with good art. As I mentioned, we get a blend of police procedural and dystopia. "The Avalanche," the prose piece excerpted, is pretty good too but the excerpt ends as the pace starts to pick up. The works are good, but I would like to see more of the series to see if they get any better. For now, I do like them. Fans of the Judge Dredd series may be interested in this series. However, this series is accessible enough you can pick it up and enjoy it with minimal or no knowledge of Judge Dredd.
For libraries with graphic novel collections, I'd consider this as optional. In my situation, I'd acquire it for our library if a patron requested it.
(Full review on my blog, which will go live when the book is released)
For libraries with graphic novel collections, I'd consider this as optional. In my situation, I'd acquire it for our library if a patron requested it.
(Full review on my blog, which will go live when the book is released)
July 26, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC !!!
I liked this comic, it has a very interesting premise about judges, but I do not have any knowledge of the main story to give a perfect review on this comic. Specially where the law is not perfect and probably before law enforcement had full transformation. I will pick up previous stories and continue and may re read this sometimes.
I liked this comic, it has a very interesting premise about judges, but I do not have any knowledge of the main story to give a perfect review on this comic. Specially where the law is not perfect and probably before law enforcement had full transformation. I will pick up previous stories and continue and may re read this sometimes.
August 22, 2025
With grounded dystopian art by the ever-excellent John Higgins, this collection is a prescient origin story for the Judges, especially as now we are just halfway into Trump's second term, first year (i.e. 2025). The story is set only ten years from now...
It centres on newly-qualified Judge Glover. A reformed violent prisoner she was recruited by Chief Judge Fargo, directly from prison and deployed to Boulder, Colorado in the midst of a riot over a factory closure and the ensuing unemployment. Michael Carroll carries the weight of John Wagner's legacy well and writes this as both a procedural, hunting for a missing child, and an indictment and commentary on America and where we could find ourselves as draconian rules slide into material law and fascism - and buying events in the U.S. right now, not necessarily in that order... after exposing corruption (in the private prison sector; who knew?!?) Glover is appointed Boulder's Senior Judge.
The second half of this collection is 'The Paradigm Shift' in which Dredd investigates information regarding nerve agent canisters; the story flashbacks to the very early days of the Judges and Judge Deacon's investigation into the self-same canisters. Deacon also features in the lead Dreadnoughts story.
It centres on newly-qualified Judge Glover. A reformed violent prisoner she was recruited by Chief Judge Fargo, directly from prison and deployed to Boulder, Colorado in the midst of a riot over a factory closure and the ensuing unemployment. Michael Carroll carries the weight of John Wagner's legacy well and writes this as both a procedural, hunting for a missing child, and an indictment and commentary on America and where we could find ourselves as draconian rules slide into material law and fascism - and buying events in the U.S. right now, not necessarily in that order... after exposing corruption (in the private prison sector; who knew?!?) Glover is appointed Boulder's Senior Judge.
The second half of this collection is 'The Paradigm Shift' in which Dredd investigates information regarding nerve agent canisters; the story flashbacks to the very early days of the Judges and Judge Deacon's investigation into the self-same canisters. Deacon also features in the lead Dreadnoughts story.
December 2, 2022
Dreadnoughts imaju mrvicu spetljanu priču, ali solidan su sljedbenik Wagnerovih epizoda o nastanku Sudaca. Priznajem, očekivao sam više od Carrolla kao scenarista jer su mi neki drugi epizode njegovog Judge Dredda bile zapanjujuće slične Wagnerovima koje obožavam. Možda je samo potrebno malo više vremena da se Dreadnoughts razvije u čvršći, samostojeći serijal. Ono što apsolutno nikako ne pomaže u ovom albumu je crtež Johna Higginsa koji mi je u svakom pogledu nekonzistentan - i što se izgleda likova tiče, i što se tiče kadriranja. Na momente zaista nisam znao tko je tko, tko što govori, a ponekad i što se dešava na tabli. Higginsa nisam nikad volio, ali bih ga prije istolerirao. Ovaj put me stvarno smetao, koliko god mi je grozno tako okrutno pričati protiv crtača koji je sad sigurno u svojim poznijim godinama i sreća je da ima posla.
September 7, 2022
Dreadnoughts is a mixed bag. The first story really works thanks to great art and colouring, and the story rattles along at pace. I really enjoyed it.
The second story does not work for me - the art is so bad that it looks unfinished, and the story makes no sense in the round. How on earth did the democracy activist know about the tablet? it's unexplained and unbelievable. There are also a couple of word balloons that are missing words - how the hell did that get through an editor??
This slim volume is padded out with an extract from a Judges prose novel - which I found pretty cheesy but strangely good fun..!
The second story does not work for me - the art is so bad that it looks unfinished, and the story makes no sense in the round. How on earth did the democracy activist know about the tablet? it's unexplained and unbelievable. There are also a couple of word balloons that are missing words - how the hell did that get through an editor??
This slim volume is padded out with an extract from a Judges prose novel - which I found pretty cheesy but strangely good fun..!
May 28, 2023
The only real fictional conceit in “Dreadnoughts” is the suspension of due process. The rest of the increasingly horrifying world of 2034 rendered here is alarmingly plausible. Suffice it to say, l really hope Michael Carroll is wrong about where we’re heading.
January 31, 2022
Terrifying, very good!
July 11, 2023
Excellent, very good background story into the rise of the Judges
December 24, 2021
An interesting story covering the initial deployment of the Judges in the USA (as was).
August 19, 2021
It’s been a while since I’ve read 2000AD or any Judge Dredd story, so I’ll admit to being completely out of touch with events, but this new storyline relating the origins of the Judges feels like a breath of fresh air.
There are interesting themes in this concept - basically, violence breeds violence - and the transition towards a new Justice System with Judges as judge, jury and sometimes executioner is portrayed as painful and protracted. Yet the Judges maintain they are acting for the good of the people.
The first story is very well drawn and quite gloriously violent, featuring a female Judge searching for a missing child and not letting anyone or anything get in her way. The story is brutal and visceral, with art to match.
The second story has two simultaneous story threads in different time periods, but they don’t really gel. The story as a whole is okay, and it does a good job as a prologue story, but it’s not a classic. Also this story isn’t as well drawn as the previous tale, but it isn’t terrible.
The book is rounded off with a text story about Judges taking over policing in a small American town. The story is excellent and gives a insight into the power that Judges hold under the new justice system.
On the downside, the satirical humour of the best Judge Dredd stories is regrettably absent from this book but I like the overall concept of the birth of the Judges and such satire probably wouldn’t suit it. But, having said that, it is rather puzzling that the stories are described as being the origins of America’s “descent into fascism” as if it’s a bad thing, but isn’t that what Judge Dredd has always been about? It seems a bit late to be developing a conscience after glorifying the violent actions of the Judges since the 1970s.
Despite these misgivings, the stories are hard-hitting, thought-provoking and skilfully created, and they may well have rekindled my love of 2000AD.
There are interesting themes in this concept - basically, violence breeds violence - and the transition towards a new Justice System with Judges as judge, jury and sometimes executioner is portrayed as painful and protracted. Yet the Judges maintain they are acting for the good of the people.
The first story is very well drawn and quite gloriously violent, featuring a female Judge searching for a missing child and not letting anyone or anything get in her way. The story is brutal and visceral, with art to match.
The second story has two simultaneous story threads in different time periods, but they don’t really gel. The story as a whole is okay, and it does a good job as a prologue story, but it’s not a classic. Also this story isn’t as well drawn as the previous tale, but it isn’t terrible.
The book is rounded off with a text story about Judges taking over policing in a small American town. The story is excellent and gives a insight into the power that Judges hold under the new justice system.
On the downside, the satirical humour of the best Judge Dredd stories is regrettably absent from this book but I like the overall concept of the birth of the Judges and such satire probably wouldn’t suit it. But, having said that, it is rather puzzling that the stories are described as being the origins of America’s “descent into fascism” as if it’s a bad thing, but isn’t that what Judge Dredd has always been about? It seems a bit late to be developing a conscience after glorifying the violent actions of the Judges since the 1970s.
Despite these misgivings, the stories are hard-hitting, thought-provoking and skilfully created, and they may well have rekindled my love of 2000AD.
September 6, 2021
The year is 2035 and American society is crumbling. The police force becomes judge and jury. This is the story of how the world of Judge Dredd got its start. I loved this so much!! The story drew me n and I was hooked. Art was so pretty. I can't wait to get my hands on more Dreadnoughts stuff.
Creative Team:
Writer: Mike Carroll
Artists: John Higgins and Jake Lynch
Creative Team:
Writer: Mike Carroll
Artists: John Higgins and Jake Lynch
March 17, 2024
In 1977 when Dredd came roaring onto the scene in 2000AD, there wasn’t a lot of backstory or history. Readers were just thrust right into the dystopian hellscape that was America in 2099 and expected to pick up the story of Dredd and Megacity 1 throughout the coming issues. Over time various authors have attempted to fill in the gaps with prose novels and the infamous “Dread: Origins” arc (which is next on my TBR, btw), but it wasn’t really until Michael Carroll and his “Dreadnoughts” comic and his creation of the “Judges” novellas, that we have truly gotten to see and appreciate the genesis of Judge Dredd and the events that unfolded to bring his character to life. In Dreadnoughts, America is at its tipping point and we finally witness the creation of Eustace Fargo’s grand “Judges” plan as well as see it in action. Unlike the satire of the original comic strips, the more contemporary looks at Dredd and his fictional world are a lot more brutal, dark, and serious, which, I find myself enjoying quite a bit more than silly stories about midnight surfers and ugliest citizen contests. Carroll isn’t afraid to push the envelope in showing how flawed the Judges and their system is which leads to the question of the entire program in the first place. When the judges themselves claim they are incapable of doing anything illegal strictly on their title alone, you know there is something incredibly off about their indoctrination and training. This comic isn’t 100% thorough in giving a complete background, but that is what the collected novellas are for.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews