Apocalypse War Dossier

by John Ware

Apocalypse War tells the on the ground stories of the Judges in Mega City One during the events of epic Block Mania and Apocalyse War story arch.

MEGA-CITY ONE IS UNDER SIEGE!

Mega-City One’s a powderkeg waiting to blow on its best day. There isn’t a moment when tensions aren’t running high and the city isn’t ready to crack. But there’s something new going block war. It’s Block Mania, and no one is immune, not even the Judges.

But this is all prelude to invasion. The East-Meg One Sovs have infected Mega-City One with Block Mania to throw the city into massive, bloody turf wars. There are troops on the ground, bombs are dropping and the Big Meg is on fire. And the Judges are drawing the line.

Apocalypse War Dossier tells the on-the-ground stories of the Judges of Mega-City One during the events of the epic Block Mania and Apocalyse War story arcs.

416 pages, Paperback

Published November 29, 2022

Reviews

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The apocalypse war storyline is not only of the best Judge Dredd storylines, but it also remains one of the most popular. Dredd and the citizens fighting back against the evil East Meg 1 and the communist Sovs was a ton of fun and, obviously, resonated with a ton of fans, as, 40 something years later, the entire multi prog arc is still regarded as quintessential Dredd reading, as well as a essential story that all readers should familiarize themselves with.

Fast forward to 2022 and we finally have a prose version of the titular event, though instead of seeing the epic battle from Dredd’s helmet shielded eyes, this time it’s from the POV of lesser judges who get caught up in the preceding Bloc mania and end up defending Megacity from the Russian invaders.

Apocalypse War Dossier collects 3 novellas that basically highlight events before, during, and just after the war, interconnecting all 3 stories into what is essentially one overlapping arc in a day in the life of street judges who are just doing their jobs. Dredd makes his ubiquitous cameo, but all in all, this isn’t his story. And for once, it works pretty well, since even though he is name behind the comic and everything that makes this series so popular, it’s nice to see other characters carry the mantle for once.

Ware does a great job bringing in his own original characters into a pre-established storyline while still sticking true to the source material and still feeling wholly new and original while at the same time, giving readers a different medium to enjoy the events of the Apocalypse War.

Like other prose works in Dredd’s universe, all 3 novellas cut out a lot of the silly stuff the comic was originally known for and make this story feel a lot more realistic, though the last 2 did seem to stretch things out a bit too long. Personally cutting both of those novellas down by 15-20 pages each would have made this an easy 5 star read. Regardless, Apocalypse War Dossier is yet another solid edition to the Dredd collection.

[James McGovern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read and nostalgic.