Reviewing ‘Essential Judge Dredd: Judgement Day’ – Dredd And Johnny Alpha Take On The Undead In This EPIC Dredd
by Richard Bruton
Summary
Judgement Day – It’s got Judge Dredd, it’s got Johnny Alpha, it’s got a global army of zombies led by a madman, it’s got thrills, spills, action, adventure, and so much more. Hell, there’s a bit of a musical interlude thrown in at one point (and even that works!)
It’s the latest in the Essential Judge Dredd graphic novel line and it’s one that rightly belongs there. It’s truly EPIC in scale, never lets up in the action, and will leave you breathless by the time it’s over!
Overall
10/10The Essential Judge Dredd graphic novel series continues with ‘Judgement Day‘, as Garth Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra bring together two of 2000 AD‘s greatest characters in a zombie classic!
‘Judgement Day‘, saw Sabbat the Necromagus resurrect every corpse in the whole world to serve as his zombie horde. It was truly epic Dredd as only 2000 AD can deliver, with Dredd teaming up (albeit reluctantly of course) with Johnny Alpha, the greatest of the Strontium Dogs, to prevent the world from succumbing to the zombie hordes.
This one really is all-out action Dredd. Wagner and Ennis came up with a seriously deranged threat worthy of Dredd of old and then ramped up things to give it all a scale the likes of which we’d not really seen since ‘The Apocalypse War‘.
As Sabbat brings back the dead across the world, Dredd gets just a taste of what’s to come as both the Cursed Earth and the Necropolis pits give up their dead, Johnny Alpha gets called onto the case, teleporting in across time to clean up Sabbat’s mess, if he can….
Oh yes, It’s the Day of Judgement for the world and three billion human beings are about to die…
It was a storyline plotted by both Ennis and John Wagner, bringing together two of 2000 AD‘s all-time greatest characters. Rather controversially at the time, it jumped between the Progs and the Megazine, hence the different artists involved. And as good, great even, that Peter Doherty and Dean Ormston are here, things only really settle down properly once King Carlos gets involved in part four.
And of course, you also have the twin delights of seeing Dredd battle what seems like an unstoppable horde whilst watching and waiting as Johnny Alpha does his thing in Hondo City. The two have got history after all, and the reunion, as Dredd heads to Hondo, isn’t exactly cordial…
And it only gets worse from there, with the inevitable stand-up slugfest only stopping when they get the chance to save the world. Although not before an act of genocide carried out by the combined forces of Law that takes out two billion souls.
You see what I mean when I said this one was on a whole new scale?
The end, when it comes, is courtesy of a pan-Justice Department strike team led by Dredd, with Johnny sneaking on board to see out what he started.
It really is something else, is Judgement Day. It just never lets up, the pace is unrelenting, the scale is incredible, the stakes are massive and, when you finish it, with one of the most iconic of Dredd/Stront moments courtesy of King Carlos, you’ll probably find that you need a little lie down to recover.
The Essential Judge Dredd: Judgement Day.
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Carlos Ezquerra, Peter Doherty, Dean Ormston, Chris Halls, and Anthony Williams.
Published by 2000 AD / Rebellion on Tuesday 11th April 2023
Contains the storylines:
‘Judgement Day’,- 2000 AD Progs 786-799 and Megazine issues 2.04-2.09
Plot by John Wagner and Garth Ennis,
Script by Garth Ennis
Art by Carlos Ezquerra, Peter Doherty, Dean Ormston, and Chris Halls
Letters by Tom Frame
‘The Kinda Dead Man’ – 2000 AD Prog 816
By Garth Ennis and Anthony Williams, letters by Tom Frame
