Comic Review // Judge Dredd: Cold War
Welcome, Dredd heads, to a long overdue Judge Dredd comic review. I decided to jump ahead in the timeline and read Cold War. Why? I wanted to see what was happening within the stories. When I consider reading 30+-year-old comics, it is good to jump into the current timeline now and again.
The Graphic Novel is broken into five tales. Get Sin, the first was a follow-up to the Titan story arc, War Buds, the second tale is a throwback piece to the Apocalypse War, Black Snow is a showcase of the West Spying on the East, Echoes is Judge Dredd's past coming back to haunt him, and Shroud is kind of his penance piece I believe. Hopefully, it will all make sense at some point during this read. I guess this is the issue with jumping ahead in a story arc: you sometimes miss out on plot hooks.
Get Sin - A follow-up piece for Titan. Judge Dredd leads a crack team into the Ural Mountains of Siberia. Their mission was to avenge the 500 ex-judges (prisoners) deaths on Enceladus and the kidnapping of former Chief Judge Sinfield. We are deep within enemy lines with this tale, and it is interesting to see how the nuke wars affected other territories outside of North America.
Highlight—Poor Sinfield had been tortured and hardwired into the Sov control system. PSI Judge Anderson uses Sinfield’s brain to take control of the Sov computer system. Judge Anderson uses a psychic virus that deletes files and destroys the Sov software. This causes catastrophic damage to the Sov empire, and I am sure it will return to haunt the team.
War Buds - Wow, this is a deep-dive story here. We are rolling back the clocks to remember the Apocalypse Team (See case files 05 Part 3). The story follows the members that joined Judge Dredd, Anderson and Hershey on a suicide mission to destroy East Meg One. Sadly, the other members of this heroic squad aren't doing so well, and when one of their own is in trouble (earmarked for euthanasia), they embark on one last team mission to free him and escape into Texas City. Unfortunately for them, Judge Dredd is on this case.
Highlight—This is quite a depressing tale. Even though Judge Dredd offers a rarely-seen apology, we still see a man who will always put the Law first—a sad ending.
Black Snow—A Soviet ore processing plant in Siberia has gone dark following a hostile takeover by the local tribal folk. While Sov Judges are slow to react, Mega-City 1 (which has been spying on the plant) rapidly sends "assistance" with an armed task force led by Judge Dredd. Soon, we have a three-way battle with no true winners.
Highlight— The crazy paperwork Soviet judges must comply with before an issue can be adequately addressed. It's hugely comical to read. Is it based on fact?
Echoes - This story follows from Black Snow, with Judge Dredd's task force attempting to leave Siberia. Unfortunately for them, a Sov Judge has planted a mine on the Manta Craft, causing it to explode and crash in the old ruins of the nuked city East Meg One. Unfortunately for Judge Dredd, the ghosts of the past aren't staying quiet.
Highlight— Reliving one of the Darkest stories of Judge Dredd's past and discovering how he justified it to himself.
Shroud - The final piece and continuing the tale, started by Black Snow. Judge Dredd has now been captured and is being held by Maul (who believes himself to be a manifestation of Chaos). Seemingly a Mutant/Alien who has discovered a wealthy income but needs slaves to earn it. Stupidly, Maul tries to make an example of Judge Dredd to the other slaves, showing that he will be the one to break the Old Man. Of course, this stupid idea will not work, and though trapped under a cloaked dome and heavily outnumbered, Judge Dredd and the other slaves unite to overthrow this slave driver.
Highlight— Squidipedes - grud. Damn, they are gross! Look like the "Them" from Fiefdom. A black carapaced multi-limbed beast that can swim in frozen waters and eat a person whole!
With that, we reach the end. It's a strange Graphic novel as they attempt to combine some of the more modern West vs East stories. I found the Sins Tale an excellent way to finish Titan, but I wonder why it wasn't included in the Titan novel (maybe a timing issue?). Then the Black Snow saga - Started real strong, Black Snow and Echoes are great pieces. Shroud on the other hand let it down, maybe I am missing something but Shroud seemed disjointed to the other pieces. I am interested to hear if I missed something vital, so let me know in the comments. As always, thanks for reading.
