Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files + The Restricted Files+ The Daily Dredds

by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Ron Smith (Illustrator)

Volume nine of Judge Dredd's complete cases, continuing the ever popular series.

The global best-selling graphic novel series - over half a million copies sold! Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files collects the adventures of the iconic British character, presented in chronological order, complete and uncut! He's judge, jury and executioner - the lawman delivering justice to the mean streets of far-future Mega-City One. This ninth blockbuster volume includes classic storylines `Midnight Surfer' and `The Warlord'. Written by comic legends John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Alan Grant (Batman), with art by Steve Dillon (Preacher), Cam Kennedy (Batman/Dredd), Bryan Talbot (Alice in Sunderland) and many more! "If you want to sink your teeth into classic Judge Dredd, the best place to start" - Mental Floss "Amazing and addictive" - io9 "What a collection it will be when it's complete." - Den of Geek

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Fiction, Crime, Dystopia

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 1985

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

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is amazing how after nine years the quality of Dredd's stories is always so high.
Rebel sky surfers, the return of the Dark Judges, space vampires, crime and mistery, uber-psychic warlords, a story from a cockroach point of view, mutants, demons, sects, rogue judges in love, destruction of a cargo of forbidden addictive coffee, kids guilty of loving flowers, time travelling nazi WW2 flying aces, a chief judge on exile, lab made clones created to test viruses and diseases, all of this and more.




The (not so) far future never was so dystopic and funny to read.
2000 AD is a comic book for comics lovers made by comics lovers, and the cynical british humour social critic is just amazing.
Last but not least, the "House of Death" game-book was an hell of fun!!!
If you ever played Steve Jackson's "House of Hell" Fighting Fantasy one, you are going to enjoy a lot this one too.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've often wondered about the supposed popularity of Judge Dredd.

I am not arguing that the strip which appeared in the British anthology series 2000 AD does not have a following, but I wonder if the series has reached the legendary status it has due to some of the talents who have been associated with the strip, namely Brian Bolland in the early days and later, Steve Dillon, who would become more famous for drawing Hellblazer and Preacher. However, in this age of comics being made into movies and enjoying success, both of the Judge Dredd adaptations have barely broken even, making small profits. Now I know this isn't the only indicator of success, but when we distill Dredd down to his purpose in the book, I find myself asking "Is Dredd really the 'hero' here, or is he the 'villain' here?"

In the past few volumes of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files (especially the ones that contained stories published after "The Apocalypse War") I felt like perhaps John Wagner and Alan Grant, under their nom de plume of T.B. Grover, had said all they could with Dredd as their protagonist and the stories were being mailed in on a weekly basis. That's not to say there aren't good stories here--the best is told from the perspective of a cockroach in a restaurant--but without some over-arching story arc like the "Judge Child" or "The Apocalypse War", there doesn't seem to be much new ground to cover here. However, another story that stands out features a woman who in an act of protest is killed by the Judges. She has written a letter to her family explaining why she has left them--to her living a life in the effective fascist dictatorship presented by the Judges is not worth living.

As I have recently noted in my recent review for The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War, investigations into history should be a reflection of the ills of contemporary society. Speculative fiction, in either prosaic or comic form should fulfill the same mission. Judge Dredd is very likely the result of rising crime rates in the 70s in both the UK and the US, where conservative politicians (Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, especially) ran on platforms where they promised to be tough on crime. Judge Dredd, in my mind is taking this philosophy to the extreme--the Judges make, enforce and adjudicate the law. And while this sort of thing may look like a good idea, it isn't and "The Apocalypse War" seems to indicate that regardless of how far right or left you go in your political philosophy, you end up with the same fascist tendencies because those in authority think they know better than you do how you should live your life. However, between "The Apocalypse War" and this volume, I had not really noticed Wagner and Grant commenting on what is effectively a fascist dictatorship set up by the Judges. Finally in this collection, they seem to be warning you to be careful what you wish for--even if you are in power. One of the better arcs involves a Judge who falls in love with a citizen, something that is verboten for the Judges. Of course, evidence is produced to Dredd and his cadre of Judges and the offending Judge is removed, but not before the question is posited if there can actually be justice without compassion, which Dredd has lacked from the beginning.

Perhaps I am more ponderous about this volume because I am concurrently reading Good Kids, Bad City (review forthcoming), which deals with the story of three men falsely convicted of a murder who served time for over three decades because of it. In that true story, the police seem unconcerned about justice--only that there is a conviction and they effectively break many laws to secure it, with the judicial system complicit in destroying these men's lives. I think this is the cautionary tale that I don't feel I see enough on the pages of Judge Dredd--without compassion, I don't think there can be justice.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 comes out with a bang continuing straight on from the previous book with Dredd taking on all sort of situations! Thadventure and humnour pile with the book fullof sly obeservation at society and completely out there humour delived by Dredd to the point where you not sure if Dredd is actually serious or not! Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 also has major events as Judge McGruder steps aside and Hershey gets on The Council of Five which continues previous plots but at the same time setting up new ones! The art is brilliant and from the beginning of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 you can see the efforts being made but also the advances in printing and look that were taking place as the stories are produced which also gives you a great feel for it development as well as the characters etc! Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 is clever and smart throughout and the humour combines with adventure to create situations that are sharp and brilliantly realised!

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 is full of daring do and world building! We zip all over mega city, outside it, other dimensions etc! The book thrives on providing plots and tiwists that will keep you on your toes guessing what is going to happen! The stories are full of neat east eggs as well as we get to see Mega City One's museums as well getting the involvement of Titan etc that really place all of the stories on an epic canvas! Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 is full of three-dimensional characters! We get to see that not all Judges are the same such as with Anderson, Sladek, Hershey, Brufen, Dredd who are all very different characters and makes for unexpected twists no one is a cardboard cutout character here that makes for completely upredicatable storylines! You won't look at Pineapples in the same way! Dredd and Anderson get to do their thing with the other Judges throughout including Sewerwork travelling to other dimension etc! Throughout Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 you get to see that Mega City one is certainly not the system we would use but it works on every level in roller coaster ride that never let up from the beginning!

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 is epic and brilliant from the start! you willbe up late seeing how this goes! Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 09: Complete Case Files v9 is full of chins, daring do, epic world building, rib breaking humour, observations, pineapple chunks, cunning, epic pace that never lets up from the start - hold on!, adventure and action! :D

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judge Dredd Case Files 09 didn't feature any long stories, but it did feature some interesting stories as well as laying down changes that may have repercussions in the future.

It starts with "Midnight Surfer", featuring the return of Chopper (a graffiti artist that had previously made a mockery of Justice Department) as an aerial surfer who takes part in an illegal street surfing race. Obviously Dredd wants it shut down. Focusing mainly on Chopper, we see him once again getting the better of the Judges despite being caught in the end.

"Death of a Politician" closes the story of the orangutan, Dave, who became the Mayor of Mega-City One in a previous story. "The Warlord" features a psychic, Shojan the Warlord, who enters Mega-City One to raise up fearsome warriors from the past. Dealing with that threat would lead Chief Judge McGruder to resign, as she felt her misjudgements caused the crisis.

"Letter From a Democrat" would show the darker side of rule by the Mega-City Judges (including Dredd). It is told from the viewpoint of a mother who writes a letter to her children explaining why she did what she did in the name of restoring democracy to the city. While the story itself is short, the idea of the Mega-City One Judges stopping democracy from taking root in the city would recur in future stories.

[Dan Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aw man. Just...aw man. This volume really reflects that mid-eighties transition where we still have ridiculous stories mixed in with the newer, more self-criticizing ones. The writers are really getting their feet underneath them here during the Reagan years. Some multi-prog stories, but none that drag on over-long (I’m talkin’ to YOU, Judge Cal!). Uncontrollable out-loud laughter at inappropriate moments. Dark humor abounds.

[Greg Trosclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy me some good old fashioned Judge Dredd. This particular volume does not have any iconic arcs in it but it is definitely a fun read. I really enjoyed the art in particular in the volume. Cam Kennedy who drew a majority of this volume really captures Judge Dredd. Looking forward to reading Case File 10.

[Paul Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been making my way through the Judge Dredd Case Files in a gradual manner. I will read one and not pick up the next one until months later. Dredd is my first immersion into the legendary 2000AD universe. The Dredd strip is a potent blend of style and social satire that is quite engaging. I plan to check out other 2000AD properties like Rogue Trooper.

One of the best traits of 2000AD (at least the Dredd parts of it) is that it isn't afraid to change and evolve. Characters die (die die, not DC/Marvel "see you next week" die), the status quo changes. Huge parts of the city were destroyed back in Case Files 05 (and the way the Apocalypse War ended is seeing repercussions even today), and we're crawling steadily towards Necropolis in Case Files 14. The stories in this book aren't city-shattering in that sense, but they're as important in their own way.

Dredd is, essentially, a fascist enforcer of a fascist power system. We've always known that. We laugh (maybe a little uneasily) as the Justice Department stomps on every basic civil and human right Wagner could think of, and sentences people to draconian prison sentences for inane "crimes" like drinking coffee. But Wagner and Grant never really addressed this "in-universe"; the only opponents of the current system are comic caricatures who want to deal with mass-murdering psychopaths by sitting down with them and having a nice chat about what causes them to act that way. Until now.

The most important story in this volume is "Letter From a Democrat." It's short, just eight pages, but this story--in which Dredd guns down a pro-democracy group which has occupied a broadcasting station, inter-spaced with excerpts from a letter one of the protestors wrote to her family prior to the event--is a brutal kick in the face that demands we reconsider how we view Dredd, and the Justice Department in general. "You think a dictatorship stomping on its citizens is funny? Laugh at this, then." It launched the democracy story-line (including the wildly popular "America," which is Dredd creator Wagner's favorite story), and marked a turning point where the evils of the justice system could no longer be ignored or played purely for laughs. That's not to say the series instantly lost its sense of humor; but it introduced a darker edge that has remained to this day. (It's also Dredd co-writer Alan Grant's favorite Dredd story, for whatever that's worth).

Other stories in this volume touch on the same theme, to a greater or lesser degree. "The Man Who Knew too Much" is a brutal story about an investigative reporter looking into the Justice Department's wrong-doing. Chopper (from the "Unamerican Graffiti" story) makes a return in the mid-length "Midnight Surfer," and although he is not clearly heroic like the protestors in "Letter" (the illegal sports competition they're engaging in does endanger other citizens), his attempt to break free from the awful grind of MegaCity One's juve rehab program ("We teach them an interest. Something that will help them come to terms ... with the utter pointlessness of their existence." "And yet 91% of them still end up as old perps." "We can't win them all.") is clearly sympathetic. "The Falucci Tape," about a judge who's having an illicit romantic affair, is a pretty good story which considers the human cost of operating within the justice system on the judges themselves, and ... well, there are a few others, but this review is already turning into a bit of an essay, so I'll spare you a complete list.

Otherwise, I'd describe most of the stories in this volume as "competent." Some are better then average ("Magnificent Obsession," about a fattie's quest to provide for his family by winning the Fatty of the Year competition, is both funny and uncharacteristically heartwarming ... and comes directly after the horrifying "Man Who Knew Too Much"; 2000AD in a nutshell), and some are worse ("A Merry Tale of the Christmas Angel"; the readers wanted more Mean Machine so they got more Mean Machine, but Wagner clearly didn't have a story he actually wanted to tell, so the end result is pretty limp), and the mid-length Warlord story, which is inexplicably being used to advertise this book, is a mediocre slog, hampered by an uninteresting villain and a basic premise (evil psychic summons giant magic samurai that rampage through the city) that just doesn't work terribly well. It does introduce Judge Silver, who will have a roll to play in some upcoming events.

All-in-all, a few gems, a lot of OK stories, and a few clunkers. I give it four stars.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curse the 2012 film Dredd!!! It was that movie that compelled me to gobble up the entire run of these books in a matter of months, leaving me still trying to catch up on reading them four years later.

Judge Dredd is the greatest black humour comic of all time. Much like Stephen Colbert, those who want to believe it as straight up commentary will do so, while the rest of us see it as the satire that it truly is. Dredd's the straight man, the absolute rule of law, might makes right testosterone-laden caricature with minimal characterization. In short, the order of the day for the 1980s. There's no need for depth or humanity here, as Dredd mirrored the material girl decade to a T.

I enjoyed the Nosferatu arc. Dredd often drifts into Horror territory, as the science fiction dystopian future is only a notch away from that anyways. Many of the arcs in this volume are lighter fare, less epic and more tongue in cheek fun than what came before. There are even some done in one stories here, like Love Story. In that one we find Dredd reaffirm his one true love: the law, going as far as to arrest a lovesick woman who wastes a judge's time, itself a criminal offense. There is another done in a few issues story where a Judge goes rogue when he falls in love. I guess that those are the most “human” stories in the book. The Warlord arc finds the '80s' fascination with martial arts on full display.

John Higgins turns in some stellar artwork on Beggar's Banquet. He of course went on to do the coloring for Watchmen and Batman: The Killing Joke. In many ways 2000 AD is like Saturday Night Live. New and unproven talent break out and leave here for the big time but are not afraid to come back once in a while.

This was an uneven yet entertaining read. Like I said, little in the way of character development but lots of action. I am okay with this, as it is better than a dumb comic which pretends to be smart. This is a smart comic that pretends to be dumb.

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like I describe every one of these books as transitional at the moment, but this one particularly feels like a shift in storytelling. There’s a lot of wonderful, daft nonsense from Ron Smith and Ezquerra etc, but Brendan McCarthy and John Higgins are a pointer to a very different art approach to the character. And there’s something about the storytelling too… the series always has dealt in more shades of grey than reputation would tell you it has, but there are details in the Christmas story (the Judges feeding the mutants outside the city wall so they can kill then) and almost all of the zombies plot that feel significantly darker suddenly

But the real shifts come in Letter From A Democrat, truly an epoch making story that quietly starts a long running saga about the Justice System of Mega City One and democracy that Wagner is still dipping into forty years on. And similarly a knockabout - and again pretty racist - psychic plot about ghostly samurai suddenly shifts into a different gear when McGruder resigns. This sense of adding world building to the codas of longer plots is something that Wagner particularly would run with from here, sort of a sense that in the after effects of a big event he could quietly start shifting world building a bit so the world after the big events is slowly, but surely, very different to the one going in. The series is beginning to see potential in longer, more intricate and nuanced storytelling and there’s a certain irony that just as Wagner and Grant feel it’s time to ditch the TB Grover pseudonym, the writing partnership itself is pretty much heading to its conclusion

[Mat Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid 4,5 for me.

Firstly, a couple of so so drawn pieces. That is it!

This volume has a certain confidence and balance about it. Firstly, it has some excellent continuation pieces including the return of Mean Machine at Christmas :) Chopper, our old STOOKIE drugs, an old horror villain, Nosferatu, and the return of Otto the ugly bugger.

There is also a lot of fresh stuff here including the Seven Samurai storyline and the start of the America story where the tyranny of the Judges is really explored. In addition to some excellent stories, there are some real leaps with the art here,

Steve Dillon (Preacher) and Ian Gibson (Halo Jones) do some amazing stuff. Carlos Esquerra is back briefly and Ron Smith continues to consistently deliver. But the work of Cam Kennedy and Cliff Robinson really grew on me here.

[Darren Gore · Rating 3 out of 5]

The former United States, 2114. Life is hard in Mega-City One, the sprawling megalopolis that covers the Eastern Seaboard - but even harder are the Judges, the law enforcement officers who wage a daily battle to keep the Big Meg's streets clean. And one of the hardest of them all is the (in)famous Judge Dredd…

I've also had a recent urge to revisit the world of Dredd. There's still a lot of his stories I haven't read, which makes the 'The Complete Case Files' a tremendous series - but in this particular volume, I'm re-reading some stories that I first read way back in…yikes, 1986. As with all series, and especially the weekly series that Dredd was back then, there's some stories that are okay, some that misfire a little or a lot…and others that still make you sit back and ponder, or shudder, or both.

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent volume of mostly one- and two-part stories with a couple of major exceptions. The book opens with the return of Marlon Shakespeare, aka Chopper, now calling himself the Midnight Surfer. It's a fantastic reminder that Dredd is NOT the good guy here. He is an authoritarian bully and a fascist. I've been aware of Chopper over the years but his story here is instantly iconic and powerful. I can only imagine what I would have felt if I'd read this as a 13 year old. There are other terrifying and prescient stories about drugging the population to maintain the peace which retain a healthy and subversive disdain for the government and the tools of government. This is 200AD at its peak with science fiction addressing the concerns of the present by suggesting its possible future.

[Charlie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its always great to start back at the beginning of the Judge Dredd stories and this collection is 9 years on from the first Judge Dredd story and although it seems strange to read a Graphic Novel without colour , the drawing style is still as brilliant as it is now.
It's great for explaining the back story and I would recommend starting at 1 and following the case files chronologically as there is a theme that continues.
If you are into Graphic novels , you should love this and if your a fan of Dredd , you should love this.

[Sean Flatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am on a bing reading marathon to reread all the Judge Dredd comics since it debut from 1977 upwards.
I just simply love the story plot, the dialogue and the story plot itself. This is my second time around and as ever I thoroughly enjoyed it once again. I can never be bored of the Judge Dredd series as I complete a volume of a graphic novel per week.
Best wishes. Sean

[Oneirosophos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much stuff, although the 1/3 are "sequels" with older characters.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many stories. Not all good, not everything with good art, but solid, strong Dredd fun. I started to miss longer, epic, stories.

[Druss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. No major story threads but overall great quality.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the weaker collections - despite opening with chopper. Too many of the parody type strips

[Ray Smillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mostly stand alone stories. Mostly top notch.

[Sadie Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra star just for Letter From A Democrat

[Matt Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one so far lots of good epics in this, lots of focus on Anderson too.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Grant and John Wagner seem to have a million ideas, and even the stupid ones are not executed without wit and wisdom.

[Derek Moreland · Rating 3 out of 5]

BARELY three stars, on the backs of the Midnight Surfer story that opens the book and the fact that a Chief Judge resigns. Oh, and Letter From a Democrat, which sets the tone for the book going forward. Indeed, this volume is where the series starts to feel more like its modern counterpart, which is great...but so many of the one-off progs in here are dull, dry, or just plain too mean for my taste (the Warlord story is so racist it makes me gag.) A mixed bag for sure, and too long by about 60 pages.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a Dredd collection, and while it’s always nice to go back to the dystopian nightmare that is Megacity 1, I have to be honest and remind myself that these early iterations of Judge Joe Dredd are mostly forgettable at worst and quite cheesy at best.

Yes, the early idea of Dredd is a tongue in check look at American politics from a British POV so of course the collected progs are going to be hit or miss most of the time, but in in this 9th collection, most of what’s collected is more on the miss side. Most of these are better than the very first forays into 2000 AD’s most famous creation. The longer arcs of “The Midnight Surfer” and “The War Lord” are far from terrible, however most of the other arcs are incredibly silly and never reach the levels of previous depth or scope of arcs/storylines like “The Apokalipse War” or anything involving Judge Death. And while I didn’t hate any of the other one or 2 part stories here, the majority just never resonated or did much for the character.

That’s not to say this was a total waste of time. Obviously I’m more of a fan of the comics and arcs when they get a lot more dark and (sort of) realistic, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have some moderate enjoyment reading these collected volumes and working my way up to the more recent ones.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

From illegal urban sports to superheroes, no one escapes the satirical eye of 2000AD in this volume of Dredd, which is loaded with possibly more political comment than previous releases. Highlights include a Kafka rip-off, a bizarre and unnecessary (but fun) WWII time-travel story, a brilliantly engaging episode featuring a character who describes himself as The Lurker and paranormal fun with Shojan - Warlord of Ji. There is even a story told from the perspective of a cockroach.

This is the first volume in the series which seems truly comfortable with the world it has created, which may sound a bit odd considering it's 9 years on from the first issue. Unlike every other volume this one never experiments with new formats in a way that comes across as gimmicky, making the reader feel at ease with their expectations and understanding of Dredd. This actually projects an air of consistent confidence lacking from the previous 8 years of publication, even during the more outrageous and comical episodes such those featuring the cute Gribligs.

[Doctor Action · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great. I can't give it five, as that has to be rare, but four and a bit? The tone and undercurrent of the stories is getting more pointed and dark at times here, with Dredd and the judges not being painted as heroes at all, fascinating. Elsewhere, more fun and games. Incredible just how high and consistent the standard is at this point - and there really is a lot of it!

[Gaz Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome its Judge Dredd!