Andy Naylor reviews Judge Dredd #19…
“The American Way of Death, part 3”—The Hall of Justice has fallen. Sector 1 has been overrun by Judge Death and his cronies. The Chief Justice and Council of Five contemplate a desperate course of action that would have been unthinkable just a few days ago—yet now seems like the only sane choice in a world gone mad. But who’s this walking through the ruins, clutching his Lawgiver and sentencing Death to you-know-what? Listen up, creeps—it’s never over until Dredd says it’s over!”
Dredd’s battle against the Dark Judges continues in Dredd #19. Having successfully escaped the penal colony on Saturn’s moon Titan, Judge Dredd has returned to Mega-City One to aid in saving the city, not only from Judge Death and the Dark Judges, but from the incompetent and grudge-bearing Judge Cal.
With the help of exiled Judge Harvies, Dredd uses his years of service and quick wits to immediately start turning the tide in the battle for Mega-City One. The plot moves at a swift pace and is kept relatively straight forward which helps with the flow of each panel. It is one of the smoothest toread comics that I’ve ever come across. Not once did anything require a swift re-read in a moment of confusion. The art continues with same theme, very simple and executed perfectly. The use of constant oranges throughout the outside scenes was different, perhaps some other colours should’ve been included, just to help the reader identify that Dredd was no longer on Titan – orange being a colour it is most associated with.
Overall it is very much a plot setting issue of Dredd, no huge plot points are revealed and nothing major really happens until the final panel. For these reasons alone it is slightly lacking in a certain level of heart and substance. That will be addressed in more important issues of this run and issues like this are occasionally needed to help set up future twists and turns. I look forward to seeing what Judge Dredd gets up to next.
Andy Naylor – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published May 25, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
