Andrew Newton reviews Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 24…
The 24th volume of the UK bestselling Case Files series sees Dredd face one of his hardest challenges yet – cleaning up Mega-City One’s worst sector known as ‘The Pit’. He also must take on a relic of the Atomic Wars – the ABC Warrior Hammerstein!
Judge Dredd Case Files 24 is the latest compilation to be released that covers some of the best stories featuring Judge Dredd and Mega City One. Mega City One is a violent place, crime of every sort covers the streets and there is one man between law and order and anarchy, that man is Judge Dredd.
Case Files 24 covers several of the finest tales that have featured in 2000AD and Judge Dredd the Megazine. This volume starts us with a story of intrigue as Dredd is led to the discovery of the Cal Files, a set of documents created by a previous insane Chief Judge. These documents get Dredd to question things closer to home. Written by the legendary John Wagner and with artwork by John Burns, this story is my favourite in this volume. The standard of writing and the doff of the cap to another great storyline make this likely to be a favourite with Dredd fans.
Another great story worthy of a mention first appeared in 2000AD Progs 960-963 and brought back a character familiar to many. That character was the wonderful A.B.C. Warrior, Hammerstein. This story brings Hammerstein back to life many years after the end of a robot war and pits him against scavengers in the radioactive wastes. It was great to see this old favourite back even if it was only a 3 prog story.
The longest story within this volume is titled The Pit. Written by John Wagner and with art by Colin MacNeil, Carlos Ezquerra & Lee Sullivan this story sees Dredd placed in charge of Sector House 301 covering the area known as The Pit. Dredd has his work cut out for him though as he tries to get the best out of his Judges deemed no good whilst simultaneously trying to bring in a rogue undercover Judge and uncover corruption amongst some higher level Judges.
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 24 is one of the best volumes yet. The storylines are excellent, the standard of writing by some of the Dredd greats is exemplary and the artwork is superb. There are a good range of storylines, some single prog stories and others spanning several issues but all of them of great quality and thoroughly deserving a read. Whether you remember these stories from 2000AD or are new to Mega City One this is one volume I’d recommend you add to your collection.
Andrew Newton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqtW2LRPtQY&feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E
Originally published February 14, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
