Comic Review // The Dark Judges: Fall of Deadworld Book 1

You knew I couldn't stay away from Judge Dredd for long. Well, for this review, we deep-dive into Deadworld, the home to Dark Judges—Superfiends from another dimension. The comic is, in fact, split in two. The first part is an origin story showing the fall of Deadworld, and the second part is all about the different Judges and what makes them tick. With this in mind, let us jump into the commercial fluff.

Fluff:

Deadworld was once a planet similar to Earth until Judge Death and his brothers Fear, Fire, and Mortis deemed that as only the living could break the law, life itself should be a crime. As the Dark Judges set out to bring extinction to this parallel world, Judge Fairfax and a family of farmers attempt to escape the chaos. Is it possible for the living to evade the cold, icy grasp of Death?

This chilling collection also features the Dreams of Deadworld strips, giving an extraordinary insight into the undead psyches of the internationally famous super-fiends.

Review

Starting with Fall of Deadworld, we are introduced to the corruption befalling the world. The main story follows a family living on a rural farm far from the cities. They hope to ride out a coup in the capital and try to avoid the strange disease spreading throughout the land. Soon, their little piece of the world collapses around them, and a judge called Fairfax comes crashing into their lives. Soon, the adventure begins as we travel through the corrupted landscape, watching the Judges of this world become living dead willingly while they poison the ecosystem.

This tale was beautifully drawn and thrilling. I can't wait for book two. Highlights for me were all the new lore added. We meet different Dark Judges, discover that judges' heads can be transplanted onto a new body, and learn that Judge Fear seemingly has more to do with the helmet than the body.

The second half of the comic consists of four short tales based on each of the Judges, which provide great insight into their characters.

Dreams of Deadworld - Fire: Judge Fire is tasked with destroying Judge Reaper and Sister Despair, who have attempted to keep some living members of the world alive to torment. During this tale, we discover that Fire had feelings for Sister Despair - feelings not reciprocated. To the point that Despair chooses to destroy herself rather than submit to Fire. The tale ends with Fire burning up Despair’s mask and declaring he feels nothing. Did he become Fire due to his passion?

Dreams of Deadworld - Mortis: Mortis is portrayed as a gardener who is always watching his clock. Then, one day, he is visited by Aliens who crash land in his zone. Using this opportunity, Mortis plays with them and discovers that more will come to rescue them. Upon discovering this news, Mortis rips through the aliens and adds them to his garden. Mortis seems to be the most joyful of the superfiends.

Dreams of Deadworld - Fear: The Fear tale is an instant standout due to the muted colour palette of blues and a little yellow. We start in his castle as Fear deals with his paranoia and relives a competition between himself and Fire. During this competition, Fear discovers a young boy who is not afraid of him and is forced to use physical strength to kill the boy. Fear then lies to Fire before retreating to his castle. Now, fear is full of dread, knowing he may meet someone who will not fear him (i.e., Dredd).

Dreams of Deadworld - Death: One of the Dark Judges (Omen) is dead, and with only the Dark Judges left, the pool of murders is small. So Death begins to question them collectively, and soon, a traitorous Judge is discovered, but they are not the murderer. It was Death who murdered Omen and wanted to take this moment to prove that the other Judges (beyond Fire, Fear and Mortis) are all weak and hang on to life. As we now know, all Life is a crime. Judge Death sentences them to Death, and after the Four become shielded, Mortis poisons the remaining Judges. Now, only four are left, and they rule their silent kingdoms.

What a fantastic set of stories! This is truly an epic story, and I highly recommend you treat yourself to a copy.