Comic Review - Judge Dredd Lawman of the Future 05

If you haven't been keeping up, I have rediscovered the joys of reading the Slystone Dreddverse comics of 1995, and we are now heading into issue 5.

Judge Dredd is a bit awkward-looking, as his Lawmaster seems to be in mid-jump. According to the cover, two new stories and Lawmaster Mayhem are inside. So, let's go deep diving. The first few pages are standard: a quick rundown of the stories and some filler news pieces. Nothing is that special, so I will swiftly move on to the first story.

Lawbreaker Blues: We join Dredd as he faces Weapons Freak, a perp passionate about guns. This is a fun tale as we view the story through the eyes of Billy Ray, a small-time pickpocket currently chained to Judge Dredd while he faces off against the Weapons Freak. I like the change of pace to this tale and how Billy Ray manages to get a full pardon after Judge Dredd uses his skull to knock out the villain. It's a fun tale and a great opener.

We are then treated to some reader’s letters and a t-shirt advert. Next would have been a pullout Judge Dredd poster with him in his classic pose. I can easily image the younger me carefully detaching the poster and covering my textbook in it (man, I was cool).

Homunculus: The tale I have been waiting for. When we left off, Judge Dredd was exploring the old MC-1 sewer system in search of a monster that was killing troggies. Unfortunately for Judge Dredd, the Monster found him first. Following a brief struggle, Judge Dredd manages to chase the monster off. Then, with the assistance of a sewer droid, Dredd confronts it in its lair, breaking the beast into multiple parts. Believing the beast dead, Dredd returns to the surface. But what if Judge Dredd only succeeded in producing more monsters?

We then have a delightful page of readers’ attempts at drawing Dredd. The theme for the pictures was Judge Dredd Two the Movie. My favourite had to be the idea of having Arnold Schwarzenegger as Judge Death (yes, you read that correctly). Whoever this kid is, he is now a legend in my mind. Just imagine a world where that happened. Wouldn't it be amazing to have Arnold be Mr. Freeze and Judge Death!?

Graveyard Shift: The start of the most dangerous shift has begun, and to make matters worse, it's a full moon! As Judge Dredd races across the city tackling crazy perps, one Milo Lune has released all the local loonies from jail and is leading a mass breakout. I am interested to see where the tale goes and what the Bat Glider role will play out to.

And with that, the issue is finished. It has inspired me to create a few characters for my games from this - Weapons Freak, for sure, will be heading into my games soon, along with the ability to hunt monsters in the sewer systems. The downside of this issue is the two-parter; the story feels weak, and the art is also a little off-putting.

Let me know your thoughts below, or say hi!