Comic review: 2000AD-PROG 1948- Judge Dredd as the villain that he always was

Writers and artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Release Date: 16th September 2015



No messing about this week, let’s get straight into the content of 2000AD PROG 1948.

Writer Ian Edginton gets the character of Judge Dredd spot on, portraying him as a sociopathic murderer, using the magic words of arbitrary ‘law’ to justify his immoral actions. In ‘Ghost Town-Part One, Judge Dredd is shown for what he actually is. He’s not cool, he’s not tough, he’s not a hero, he’s a drone, not a man, but a machine, programmed with ‘law’ that gives him the excuse to murder anybody that fails to comply with his programming.

Joe Dredd is not a good man. He is not even a man. He doesn’t deserve to be called a man. He is a perverted stain on humanity, the kind of machine man who always backs up government, in all of its sick forms, and he deserves nothing but utter contempt. Ian Edginton writes him as a programmed murder machine, and it’s the most brutally realistic portrayal of Dredd that I’ve read in 2000AD since I came back to it over a year ago.

I usually hate Dredd stories, so to see him portrayed as he actually is, that’s a huge thing to me. Here’s a Dredd story that I can get something out of. It’s a Dredd story that refuses to excuse his behaviour, and instead addresses it head on. That is what you should be doing with a programmed, uniformed, sociopath like Dredd, and I’m extremely happy to see it being done here.

The Alienist Part 5 continues to look great, plus it has a very interesting plot reveal, a reveal that resonates with me personally, a reveal that gives a very convincing argument as to the nature of evil and the spiritual realm and creatures that inhabit it. I won’t spoil it, but I will recommend it. Last week I was unnerved by the lack of empathy shown towards it’s deceased characters, but this week I can let that go and enjoy a good idea played out in an interesting story.

Grey Area-Deadline concludes with an apocalyptic battle and final page reveal. I’ve enjoyed the arc, the dialogue has been very funny, and I did appreciate the sly dig it was having at the ‘new-age’ community, the peace loving types who do nothing whilst the world around them burns.

‘Dreams of Deadworld-Fear’ has a strong theme from beginning to end. The theme is that those that use fear will inevitably become victims to it themselves. It explores attitudes towards fear, and reveals how it can be defeated. Fear is a weapon that can be used against those that use it. Fear only works when people are consumed with it, and they let it rule their lives. Fear is the one thing that controls OUR lives RIGHT NOW. The state needs fear to control the slaves stuck within its tax net. Without fear we are free, but how many people do you know who live a life without fear? Do you know any? I don’t. Let’s change that, right now.

The key to defeating fear is to catch it, and throw it straight back into the faces of those that use it as a means to manipulate and control. Hey television, I’m looking at you, turning you off, and poof, your power is gone. Hey government, I don’t need you, I will not give my consent to be governed, poof, their power is gone. That’s how fear works. Reject it, live free, throw it back in their faces, and let it consume those that would use it against you.

PROG 1948 of 2000AD has achieved the impossible. It has published a Judge Dredd story that I actually like. I like the story because Dredd is portrayed as the villain that he actually is. There is nothing cool about him here. He is shown as the sociopath murderer that he actually is. Dredd is the law, a law based on the threat of violence, not choice, not morality, not humanity, but violence.

Dredd never was a hero. Dredd is the law, not natural law, but the law of the state. If the law states that you must be executed for wearing a hat, he will execute you on the spot. Judge Dredd is not a good person. Judge Dredd is an immoral drone, a weaponised murder machine. He is the uniformed face of tyranny, and that is how he is finally being portrayed in 2000AD.


Rating: 8/10 (Finally, a Judge Dredd story that I actually like)