Comic Review: Judge Dredd Lawman of the Future - Issue 15
Welcome back, Dreddheads. We are swiftly moving on from last week's shapeshifting dinosaurs into explosive robots. I feel like the previous few issues have given up on showcasing great artwork (horrible thing to say, I know), but the cover is so lacklustre and dull. Judge Dredd doesn't even look like Judge Dredd. Instead, it could just be some Butterbean-headed Judge. I hope the story it represents is drawn better than the cover! Let us dive and see what is happening in issue 15 of Judge Dredd Lawman of the Future.
As always, three tales grace this issue with two new stories: Bomb Man and Cybernetic Jungle. I hope Cybernetic Jungle is the recent two-parter, as it sounds exciting. And then, we also get the second part of the Dragon's Lair, which was a real highlight in the last issue.
Bomb Man - The story starts at AD Tech, the Justice Department's secret weapons lab. During the nightly clean, the janitor discovers something he shouldn’t have an anti-personal mine with A.I. built in. Soon, the bomb has placed itself on the janitor and forces him to commit a crime to escape Mega-City 1. Unfortunately, they pick to rob the exact diner that Judge Dredd eats at.
It's a bit of a weak tale, though very similar in the theme of a Judge Dredd story; it just came across as a bit soft. The fact the A.I. states “Goodnight Sweet Heart,” seems forced; why on earth would it chat like a movie gangster? Hmm. This was a miss for me. Let's move swiftly on and hope for the best.
As a follow-up to this tale, we get the criminal record file on Mad Bomb, which seems pointless as his crime spree lasted a single day and resulted in its destruction. I would have preferred to have seen a different character here.
Cybernetic Jungle (Part One) - The first page is a prequel showing a hover pod crashing into the ground, leaving only a young boy alive. Jumping forward to the current timeline, we discover a new terrorist is threatening Mega-City 1 by attempting to take control of the cybernetic network located underneath Mega-City 1. Of course, Judge Dredd is sent to investigate and discover the truth and is soon in trouble and under attack! Better than the first story but seems lacking in detail. I get the stories are short, but this felt really rushed.
Also, quite weirdly, for the magazine, we are treated to a second Criminal File:
Dragon's Lair (Part Two) - Following Judge Dredd's and Judge Hershey's blunder in part one, Judge Dredd gets requested to assist at the local iso-cube. Upon arriving, Judge Dredd discovers it is a trap set by Dragon and awakes in a fighting pit. It is time for Dragon to have his revenge! While this happens, Judge Hershey finally finishes her arrests and arrives at the ISO cubes to find the guards acting suspiciously; what are they hiding?
It's an excellent Part Two to this tale, and even more exciting is that there is a Part Three!! We must wait until issue 16 to discover who will win between Judge Dredd and Dragon! Once again, the artwork truly makes this tale, and the villain, Dragon, is so badass with his morphing tattoos; I know he will lose, but I don't want him to 👀
And with that, we have reached the end. A quick, painless issue. It was okay, two pretty weak tales, but Dragon's Lair saves the issue. Considering the potential of the other tales, I feel that having one strong story is so disappointing. But I guess the budgets weren't huge for these comics, so you get what you get.
I need to work out how to design a Dragon-style character to use in the Judge Dredd miniature game. He would make for a great scenario, or use him as the main villain in a campaign. Hmm, it's time to start designing.
Drop me your thoughts below. Thanks for stopping by.
