Publisher: 2000 AD
Writer: John Wagner
Artist: Greg Staples
Colourist: Greg Staples
Release date: 16 July 2015
Price: £14.99

Judge Dredd: Dark Justice artist Greg Staples does justice to his predecessor Brian Boland. Judge Dredd: Dark Justice is as much an art book as a storybook. Each panel is a detailed painting. From the start the first shot of a mansion in the story holds your eye with its smooth beauty. Some background information on how that specific panel was drawn is included after the story, among a further 26 bonus pages of artwork. Please, someone, somewhere, break out the drool bucket; Greg Staples’ artwork will produce that effect, so have your own bucket handy!

In Judge Dredd: Dark Justice just as roving space colony the Mayflower promises peace and prosperity for four thousand of Mega-City’s richest citizens, Psi-Divisions Judge Anderson discovers those inter-dimensional Dark Judges ‘Death’, ‘Fear’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Mortis’ – who find the very creation of life itself to be a crime – are about to descend on colony. Rich pickings indeed. Judge Death is as toothsome as ever and the Dark Judges as melodramatic as expected. “Foolllsss! You cannot kill what does not live!” is their USP and mantra. As if that has ever deterred Judge Dredd.

The dialogue in Judge Dredd: Dark Justice is of the high quality you expect from John Wagner. Dredd gets in his zingers. “The crime is mass murder. The sentence is…corn mash!” Dredd says, throwing a heavy into a grinder.

As you would expect, Judge Dredd don’t need no stinking guns to fight, and will stab with whatever’s handy, quick as the eye, in the eye even. It’s all fair game to Dredd. The quirky Wagner humour is very evident. The diner who replies to Judge Death’s: “My name is Deathhh.” with “Hey, we got a floorshow!” is quickly dispatched. And is it wrong to cheer the bad guy here? Of course not, even the rich have to get what’s coming to them in this age of austerity.

Judge Dredd stories generally aspire to be metaphysical and, or, action-packed. Judge Dredd: Dark Justice is straight-up action, and beautifully depicted action it is too. Buy a copy before you are sentencedddddddd.

Greeetingssss!

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker