Preview: ‘Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files’ Vol. 46 — Still The Best Way To Experience Dredd

The latest volume reprinting all of the Law, in order, comes out 26th February, containing every Judge Dredd strip from 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine — The Complete Case Files — really the best way to get the whole of the Dredd experience.

I do keep making a case for these Complete Case Files being the best way to read Dredd, don’t I? Every single volume. But it’s true — by reprinting every single 2000 AD and Megazine Judge Dredd in the order of publication you get what cherry-picking stories in the collections won’t give you — a true reflection of all things Dredd.

Sure, the stand-alone collections, like the recently published A Better World give you the big, important stuff, the huge events that happen in Dredd. But they don’t tell you the whole story, not at all.

Because the whole point of Dredd is that it’s the story not just of one future cop but his entire world. And it’s that world that’s so intriguing, not the relatively one-dimensional character of Dredd, but the multi-faceted, ever-evolving, packed with intriguing characters and situations that Mega-City One offers up. And it’s in these shorter, non-epic tales that we discover everything that’s so essential in Judge Dredd, all these stories in between those big epic Dredds.

When you read these Complete Case Files, you get everything, every short Dredd that’s never going to find its way into one of those epic collections because they’re not epic plus all the epic storylines. And put them together like this and you get the whole story of Mega-City One, something that’s built a mythology, brick by brick, in this dystopian world.

Seriously, it’s the very best way to get the full Dredd experience, to get everything that’s perfect about it, everything that makes it nearly 50 years of essential reading. It’s also the reason why, unlike practically every other long-running character or strip, you can easily drop into Dredd as a new reader. I did it back in 2012, you can do it too. Trust me, you’ll appreciate it.

So, anyway, Case Files Volume 46. Exactly what I’m talking about. No epic stuff here, no BIG stories, just the continuing saga of Mega-City One.

Here we’re at something of a crossroads, the moment where perennial Dredd writer John Wagner (with or without Alan Grant) is no longer doing everything. It’s something we’ve been seeing over the last several volumes of these Complete Case Files, with more and more other writers taking Wagner (and Grant’s) world and bringing themselves to it. In fact, here in these Complete Case Files we’re at the point between Wagner/Grant controlling everything and the position here in 2025 where a whole handful of incredibly talented writers, including Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, Mike Carroll, Ken Niemand, Ian Edginton and others are guiding the character with a semi-retired Wagner coming in for perhaps a couple of tales a year.

What that means here is that we get a hell of a lot of quite brilliant Wagner-written Dredd’s along with work from Gordon Rennie, Rob Williams, Si Spurrier, Al Ewing, and Robbie Morrison, all contributing great great Dredd things.

But of course, Wagner’s stories still dominate. There’s no one in comics so under-appreciated as Wagner. He’s one of the greatest living comic writers around but he’s all too often overlooked. It is, frankly, criminal.

Case in point, the Wagner-written The Edgar Case, a perfect example of how incredibly good Wagner’s Dredds are. It’s a simple Dredd procedural brought to life by Patrick Goddard‘s always so solid and beautifully done art, where Wagner plays out just a perfect investigation triggered by a death-bed confessional from disgraced Judge Edgar. It plays out slowly, perfectly, with Dredd uncovering a conspiracy going all the way up to the Council of Five, the Judges just shy of the position of Chief Judge. It’s absolutely perfectly done, tight, tense, Wagnerian, just everything that makes Dredd work. It’s all here, playing into the essential character of Dredd via a story that speaks to the essence of the character.

But of course, the other writers contribute a hell of a lot too. Space means I’ll just pick three examples, but the work of all the non-Wagner writers here is strong all the way through.

So, first off, you’ve got Gordon Rennie and Dave Taylor giving us Road Stop, a classic closed-room mystery of a thing, all taking place on The Link, connecting the NW Habzone with the rest of MC-1. With a rad-storm closing down traffic and comms, Dredd has to get the cits on the Link to safety, into shelter. In amongst those hunkering down in the shelter are a couple of radland serial killers operating the shelter Dredd’s just requisitioned, a man hunting down and killing others in his high school yearbook and executing all those , radland muties looking for easy prey, and a contract killer. So, just your average collection of citizens really.

It’s another really well-put-together thing with Rennie keeping all the plates spinning so well all the way through it. Perfectly paced and beautifully drawn.

Rob Williams comes in with the two-part Ownership, drawn by Richard Elson, a strange little thing of aliens coming back to Earth after many centuries, staking claim to land that was sold to them back in 1491. There’s a strange archeologist helping the Judges and it’s a tale where Williams manages to put a very different spin on things in just 12 pages, a tale others would take 50+ pages easily to get all the fun stuff in how MC-1 manages to avert this latest crisis.

And finally, Al Ewing and David Roach (with all that gorgeous Roach artwork you’d expect) give us the single episode, six pages of great farce and ridiculousness of Whole New Judge Dredd. Ewing’s done very little for 2000 AD, and even less for Dredd, but it’s just ridiculously great fun – the whole concept of a marketing idea from Mega-City’s top fashion designer (who tendered the lowest bid) to come up with a brand new Judge’s uniform – ‘It’s not just sleeker and sexier, dear hearts — it thinks! The world’s first nano-sentient couture!’

Needless to say, this Judge Plus uniform gets tested by Dredd and goes brilliantly wrong, as all AI stuff has to. Frustrated by Dredd’s rules, the suit rips itself off Dredd and sets out on its own mini-crisade against crime, hunted down by Dredd in commandeered clothing. Super silly stuff in just six pages – exactly what 2000 AD does so well, and just what these Complete Case Files collect.

Again, as I keep saying, these Complete Case Files are the best way to get the whole story. And don’t be put off that it’s Volume 46 – there’s always time to drop in anywhere in this world. Trust me, you won’t ever be disappointed.

JUDGE DREDD – THE COMPLETE CASE FILES VOLUME 46

Written by John Wagner, Gordon Rennie, Rob Williams, Robbie Morrison, Pat Mills, Al Ewing, and Si Spurrier.

Art by Nick Dyer, Dave Taylor, Richard Elson, Patrick Goddard, Lee Townsend, Kev Walker, Sam Hart, Paul Marshall, Cliff Robinson, Smudge, David Roach, Inaki Miranda, Neil Googe, Peter Doherty.

Colours by Chris Blythe, Len O’Grady, Eva de la Cruz. Letters by Annie Parkhouse. Cover by Carl Critchlow.

Originally serialised in 2008 as 2000 AD Progs 1577-1610 and Judge Dredd Megazine 269-277

Published by 2000 AD on 26 February

Now, how about a little preview of just some of what you’ll be getting inside this slab of great Dredd reading…