Comic Review // The Complete Case Files 04 (Part 02)

Following on from yesterday’s review, we finish off the Complete Case Files 04. If you haven't read yesterday’s review, go check that out first. If you are too lazy, then here is a quick catch-up:

Judge Dredd, Judge Hershey and a small team of Judges attempt to hunt down the Judge Child. Their adventures take them across the known universe, and they ultimately fail their mission. They are now back in Mega-City One and reacquainting themselves with the big Meg.

Story: Block Wars- Dredd is back on the streets of MC-1, awaiting the Council of Five judgement on the Judge Child debacle. But as he waits Dredd must first deal with a block war!

Highlight: Block War! When at least two blocks get so bored that they declare war on each other, the great thing about this tale is that I know where it is leading, and I'm excited to get there.

Story: Aggro Dome- A new way to let off steam in MC-1 has opened, but Dredd's not so keen. After one customer loses control of his anger, Dredd is soon up to his eyeballs and violent Citizens out of control.

Highlight: Aggro Dome- Latest in a long line of commercial attempts to cash in on and control the populous of MC-1.

Story: Monkey Business at the Charles Darwin Block (Parts 1 & 2)—After a chemical accident in apartment 66c, the residents have all devolved into monkeys! After the first Judges who went in also became infected, it is up to Dredd to discover the root of the problem. The only problem is that the further up the block Dredd goes, the more devolved the citizens get.

Highlight: The three original Judges that entered the block become See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil.

Story: Otto Sump's Ugly Clinic (Part 1,2,3)- Finally, Otto has made a life for himself. Making the people of MC-1 as ugly as him. Unfortunately for Otto he has caught the attention of the Mantis Brothers a mafia style family. Soon, Dredd is fighting his way through crazy robo docs and enforcing an Ugly tax (a really classic and crazy MC-1 story).

Highlight: Otto Sump- A horrid man who rose to fame on Sob Story. Using his newfound fame and money, Otto invested in Beauty Clinics, which, for him, did not go according to plan.

Story: Mega-Way Madness- Set on the highways of MC-1, a personality-altered Roadster collides with a Mo-Pad (all-in-one-stop facilities vehicle), overriding the onboard system and taking the massive giant on a rampage!

Highlight: The ending is a bit of a weak tale, where the perp at the end gets his comeuppance.

Story: Nightmare Gun- Two off-world alien hitmen have killed an MC-1 perp using a Nightmare Gun. It is up to Dredd to track them down in the Maze and bring them to justice.

Highlight: The Maze- What was meant to be a complex development designed to house two million people instead became the world's most enormous maze, with reports of over 150 deaths due to starvation. It is now where criminals go to escape the law.

Story: Walter's Weturn!- Walter's Robot friends from the Laundrette are disappearing. So it's up to Dredd and Walter to discover what is happening. They soon uncover a robot repurposing yard where they wipe the robot's personality and resell it.

Highlight: Walter- Having a Walter Strip is always a joy, especially if he is a hero.

Story: Loonies' Moon- In the big Meg, even the moon can be a billboard. With the ability to advertise or rent message space on the Moon via Moon Ray towers. Unsurprisingly, this has not gone down well with one of the local loonies cults, who attempted to shut down Moon Ray Towers permanently.

Highlight Loonies- Worshippers of the moon, led by the Great Loon. These guys are full-wack jobs, wearing moon capes and armed with sickles to represent a crescent moon.

Story: Fink (Part 1,2.3,4)- The last member of the Angel Gang has finally arrived on the pages of JD (see comic review 18 for Angel Gang). Fink is on a one-man killing spree, hunting down members of the team who killed his family. Poor Larter is first to go- paralyzed and fed to the sewer rats! With Hershey ambushed next. It's down to Dredd to face off against Fink in the Resyk factory.

Highlight: Fink and Ratty. Looking like a zombie/ghoul, Fink stands out. He and Ratty are both wearing stylish bowler hats. His weapon of choice is a sling from which he can launch his deadly prizes.

Story: Knock of the Door- A fantastic little short story following what happens during a code 59C crime sweep. But the tale takes a darker twist as it is revealed a fellow Judge is using torture to get confessions!

Highlight: Judge McGruder is getting more page time as the SJS chief. She is a badass character who became Chief Judge when I started reading the comics. It's great seeing her rise in power.

Story: Pirates of the Black Atlantic (Part 1,2,3,4- Operating out of an abandoned old Sea Fort located in the Cuban Wastes, Captain Shank has been causing trouble for MC-1. But this time Shank has captured a Nuke specialist with plans on reactivating the old forts nuke supplies. Soon Shank has a working missile and nukes Bob Oppenheimer Block, killing millions. But in doing so Shank has given away his position to Dredd and the strike team move in. After brutal fighting the Judges take the fort only to discover Tuskarosa is actually a sov-block secret agent!

Highlight: Captain Shank and his crew. Captain Shank is a mutant cyborg pirate. Tuskarosa the Vicious is a muscle-bound mutie with tusks for teeth! Reptile looking shipmates, melted/clay like crewmen.. Mother a mutated octopus so much to theme a mutie gang around.

Story: Any Confessions?- A new game show has hit the airwaves- Any Confessions, the show that pays you to admit to your crime. As the show grows in popularity, so do confessions, and soon arrests are up by 4000, and unsolved cases are finally being closed. Most Judges are happy about this, all except Dredd.

Highlight: Deputy Chief Judge Pepper—A hero of the Chief Judge Cal days, Pepper has served as Griffin's second since then. Personally, I've always found Pepper to be a pain, and he is also against Dredd's ideas. So, I was glad to see him assassinated in this episode, but who will take over?

Story: Lawmaster- A funny and dark tale. After a law master takes damage, it goes on a Justice Rampage, that is, until it comes to face to face with Dredd.

Highlight: The bike's idea of what justice should be and how much damage and death it caused!

Story: Who Killed Pug Ugly?- Pug Ugly and Bugglys are rising to MC-1 fame. But their fame skyrockets following the death of their lead singer, Pug. Even though the killer is dealt with, Dredd feels uncomfortable with an open-shut case like this. Who Killed Pug Ugly?

Highlight: C.P.R - A condition when transplanted organs retain the intelligence of the Donor. In this case, how Pug was murdered!

Story: The Alien Way—Dredd teams up with QU, an important alien writer from the World QU, as part of the Uqqan Trade Deal. It would also seem that Qu has a harsher law system.

Highlight: QU- He looks like the shoulder eagle on the Judge's Uniform and has stricter rules for upholding the law. But when he breaks an MC-1 law, he is no match for Dredd.

Story: Alone in a Crowd is a look at the everyday life of a citizen trying to avoid drawing the attention of the Tap Gangs or, worse, the Judges!

Highlight: This is a nice day-to-day life story. I like this style of tale. The artwork for this is impressive and done by the talented Steve Dillon.

Story: Unamerican Graffiti- The Walls built during the reign of Cal have become the target of the Scrawlers and it has fallen on Dredd to clean up the streets. Coming down on the youth of MC-1 has worked for the most part, except on Shakespeare, aka Chopper.

Highlight: The introduction of Chopper, aka Marlon Shakespeare. This is the first time he is shown in the comic, and he will soon become his own star.

Story: Scrawl War- Chopper has had the challenge thrown down by the Phantom. It's all out competition to see who can scrawl the best option. But things go a step too far as they challenge each other to scrawl the Statue of Judgement!

Highlight: The Phantom- It turns out Chopper's biggest competition is a Robot! The Judges nailed Poor Phantom, while Chopper ended up in the ISO cubes.

And with this, the tales of Complete Case Files 04 end. The second half of this book is all leading up to the Apocalypse War, with Block Wars growing in popularity and the perp Captain Shank being manipulated by the Sov Block. This leads to the following Complete Case Files, which will be exciting. I also enjoyed the introduction of Fink Angel and Chopper, who I know will be back!

Overall, Complete Case Files 04 is a fantastic book.

Highlights over the two reviews include:

• The Angel Gang

• Block Wars

• Captain Shank

• Chopper

• Otto Sump

Lowlights:

Mega-Way Madness and Confessions are just too much filler (but that's nitpicking).

Thanks for staying for the whole article. I would love it if you could leave a comment below. Cheers!