What do you think?
Rate this book
Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War
In Mega-City One, a violent city of the future, one man is The Law - judge, jury and executioner. That man is hard-bitten future cop, Judge Dredd, cornerstone to the UK's legendary sci-fi comic, 2000 AD. In a devious plan, East-Meg One use a virus to bring anarchy to Dredd's city, then they strike, a nuclear strike which devastates Mega-City One and leaves it ripe for invasion Now, a beleaguered Dredd and his surviving comrades must hit back by any means they can find... because if he fails, Mega-City One is doomed forever With art by fan favorites Brian Bolland (Batman), Steve Dillon (Preacher), Carlos Ezquerra (Just a Pilgrim), Mike McMahon (Slaine) and Ron Smith (Transformers).
224 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
John Wagner
1,288 books191 followersJohn 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)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 27, 2021
Una saga classica, epica e brutale, figlia della Guerra Fredda e della presidenza Reagan, con Dredd, già giudice, giuria ed esecutore, che si trasforma da uomo di legge in guerriero spietato, dando l'eutanasia a cittadini contaminati da radiazioni, giustiziando collaborazionisti all'interno di fosse comuni, e scatenando infine l'olocausto nucleare su 500 milioni di persone per ottenere la vittoria finale sull'avversario sovietico.
Un pezzo di storia del fumetto britannico e mondiale, ed una pietra miliare nella saga del Giudice a cui faranno riferimento tutte le storie successive per circa 20 anni.
Non sarò mai grato abbastanza all'Editoriale Cosmo per aver riportato Dredd e gli altri fumetti pubblicati sul magazine inglese 2000 AD in Italia, ma per i lettori nostrani che non hanno letto la saga precedente del Giudice Cal, ancora inedita qui da noi, le morti di Giant e del Giudice Capo Griffin hanno un impatto emotivo quasi pari a zero.
Una lettura fondamentale per tutti i fan del Giudice Dredd e del fumetto britannico anni 80.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2016
What can one say about this story? The triumphant return of Ezquerra to his creation and my first ever Dredd story is a sprawling and brutal epic. I believe it may have coloured my opinion on Judge Dredd ever since, as I saw him in this "at war", not a lawman, but a warrior. He euthanises the radiation-ill, executes collaborators in pits and mercilessly divides the world into those with him and those against him.
I was also new to comics at the time, so the epoch-making moment, which for many defines the difference between Judge Dredd and more conventional superheroes - where Dredd unflinchingly condemns 500,000,000 people to nuclear death in order to achieve victory - seemed to me a logical next step in Dredd's war against his own city's annihilation.
As Garth Ennis wrote in his 2009 tribute to "The Galaxy's Greatest Comic": "In the end, it was a dilemma not unlike those faced by a number of good and bad men in our own history, and if I had to sum it up in one line, I’d say this: what are you prepared to do when there isn’t any easy way out?
And that, I think, is why I’ve never been able to care about Batman, or Wolverine, or Iron Man… or any of them, really. Not because of what characters like that would or wouldn’t do, but because their publishers would never have the courage to have them written into such a situation."
My favourite moment will forever be the excellent, unexpected sacrifice of barely-secondary character Judge Souster, whose final words: "For Freedom! For Justice! For Mega-City One!" ring in my mind to this day. Judge Souster had what it takes, just like Dredd.
I was also new to comics at the time, so the epoch-making moment, which for many defines the difference between Judge Dredd and more conventional superheroes - where Dredd unflinchingly condemns 500,000,000 people to nuclear death in order to achieve victory - seemed to me a logical next step in Dredd's war against his own city's annihilation.
As Garth Ennis wrote in his 2009 tribute to "The Galaxy's Greatest Comic": "In the end, it was a dilemma not unlike those faced by a number of good and bad men in our own history, and if I had to sum it up in one line, I’d say this: what are you prepared to do when there isn’t any easy way out?
And that, I think, is why I’ve never been able to care about Batman, or Wolverine, or Iron Man… or any of them, really. Not because of what characters like that would or wouldn’t do, but because their publishers would never have the courage to have them written into such a situation."
My favourite moment will forever be the excellent, unexpected sacrifice of barely-secondary character Judge Souster, whose final words: "For Freedom! For Justice! For Mega-City One!" ring in my mind to this day. Judge Souster had what it takes, just like Dredd.
May 6, 2018
An event comic before the idea demanded ten one-shot prequels, twenty different titles running different timelines to piece together and a fall-out trilogy. It runs with an exuberance that shows the creators very much knew what they were doing, and were having fun as well as working hard. Carlos Ezquerra's stretch, doing six pages a week for half a year with only one page here showing less that superlative inking and detail, was remarkable. More importantly, though, this is pure pleasure. Shame the introduction has such a spoiler in, then!
March 7, 2015
The third book in the Mega Collection. This time its a classic story from the early years. It starts off with Block Mania, a story of how citizens within building blocks start to attack other blocks. It happens occasionally, but is happening more frequent. This leads on to the Apocalypse war story itself. An attack by the Sov (East Meg City) on Mega City One.
The story is great, and reflected the mood at the time (80's Regan presidency, and the cold war).
The flow of the story is a little rough. There is little subtly in the actions of Dredd and some of other Judges. Death is dealt freely and the end is pretty harsh.
I started collecting 2000AD a couple of years after this story, so this is the first time i have read it. Of course, i knew about it as it was mentioned a number of times in future stories.
The artwork is classic. Even more so as the same artist was used for all episodes of the war, maintaining consistency.
The quality of this part works series has been amazing and i am looking forward to the next issues.
The story is great, and reflected the mood at the time (80's Regan presidency, and the cold war).
The flow of the story is a little rough. There is little subtly in the actions of Dredd and some of other Judges. Death is dealt freely and the end is pretty harsh.
I started collecting 2000AD a couple of years after this story, so this is the first time i have read it. Of course, i knew about it as it was mentioned a number of times in future stories.
The artwork is classic. Even more so as the same artist was used for all episodes of the war, maintaining consistency.
The quality of this part works series has been amazing and i am looking forward to the next issues.
May 8, 2016
Nostalgia trip. A good story within the confines of a weekly sci-Fi comic strip. Interesting in the context of the time it was written (and when I originally read the story) - a Cold War and nuclear apocalypse yarn. I wonder how Judge Dredd would deal with ISIS?!? I hope that my original colourised Judge Dredd Monthlies with the story in survive somewhere in my Dad's house - the Bolland covers on that we're immense!
September 27, 2015
Boy, this one is a piece of history, and very much of its times, the 80's Cold War Reaganistic paranoia seeps deep here. But it's one hell of a story, as epic as it gets. I remember reading at least one issue of this as a kid - the "Apocalypso" song was seared in my memories - but this is the first time I've read the story from go to whoa. And I do mean "whoa". Excellent stuff.
May 2, 2011
Pretty good classic Dredd story. The Carlos Ezquerra art all the way through the larger Apocalypse War story was much appreciated. I don't read a lot of Dredd but Ezquerra is definitely my favorite artist for the character.
February 27, 2012
This is one of the de facto Judge Dredd stories. The events of the Apocalypse war would constantly be referred to even into the late 90's.
Outside the America, Judge Child, and Death Judges story arcs. This is the must read story arc of Dredd
Outside the America, Judge Child, and Death Judges story arcs. This is the must read story arc of Dredd
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews