"We're leaning more into the death of journalism and oligarch control on where our societies are heading... And fascism rising, of course" -- Judge Dredd Writer Rob Williams on the next era of 2000 AD

[u/tched]

https://www.weirdcitymedia.com/judge-dredd-the-new-world-2000-ad-2500/

Anyone else been Judge Dredd-curious? I've read the character over the years, and enjoyed tf out of the Karl Urban film adaptation. With 2000 AD now shipping new issues weekly in America, the creative teams are kicking off a new jumping on point for new readers. It feels like it dovetails with what's been impossible to ignore here in the states -- or at the very least, I dug what Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt are doing with the "A Better World" followup.

[u/bloodyzombies1]

It's interesting to see the social commentary and dystopian themes of Dredd get more widely adopted by the rest of the industry in recent years.

Definitely a reaction to the times.

[u/enjoiYosi → u/bloodyzombies1]

For certain. The entire Absolute universe is basically a 2000 A.D. comic at this point

[u/bloodyzombies1 → u/enjoiYosi]

Yeah especially with Abs Batman being so over the top it's a borderline parody.

[u/trawlse → u/bloodyzombies1]

Yeah, to me it seems like it's adopting a lot of the Dark Knight Returns future, which itself has so much in common with Robocop. It's all a potent mix.

[u/SamusMerluAran → u/bloodyzombies1]

Yeah, "blue collar Batman" feels more relevant to current times. Same with Absolute Supes, only read the first few issues, but it also seemed quite similar on its ideas.

[u/bloodyzombies1 → u/SamusMerluAran]

Without spoiling anything I think the bigger twist in Absolute Supes is that he’s more of an international hero than the main universe version.

[u/tched → u/enjoiYosi]

Literally the thought that's been running around in my head since Absolute Batman started taking hold -- tons of Dredd energy.

[u/cuttups → u/enjoiYosi]

I was saying this recently. It has the same vibe.

[u/Blacknite45]

Judge dredd is extremely hit or miss due to a variety of reasons, some times it's gets boring because the writer is too on the nose and it loses the satirical edge (some writers make that work tho with something like the fall of deadworld series for example)  or they are too safe with what they want to explore. Just Google recommended dredd runs and look for the older stuff or stuff like the arc centered on the character "America" 

[u/steepleton]

The dichotomy of Dredd is 60% of the readers think he’s the hero.

The original artist based him on his memories of growing up in fascist spain but those fans still argue “characters evolve from their original intent”

[u/tched → u/steepleton]

Ha, true. Rob Williams actually made a good point about it: “Fascism is sort of inherent in Judge Dredd because the judges are an authoritarian force.”

[u/upgrayedd69]

I’d love to start picking up 2000 AD again but it’s just too expensive, especially when a lot of the time I don’t give a shit about a quarter to half the book

[u/dick-cricket → u/upgrayedd69]

My thoughts exactly. I picked up a couple of issues back in maybe 2022, and they were fine but not worth the money. I'll just keep grabbing the Judge Dredd Case Files when I come across them.

[u/mighty3mperor → u/upgrayedd69]

You can always tradewait any stories that interest you.

[u/Hairy_Wedding_4535]

I always knew about judge dredd but I’d love to hear their take on things considering everything he’s about. So I read this and will be reading this and I love it’s a starting off point which is great

[u/Eiledon_]

So we’re just reinventing Transmetropolitan, basically

[u/rrrrthrgh → u/Eiledon_]

Judge Dredd is amongst that comics many influences.

[u/JirenTheGreyAlien → u/rrrrthrgh]

I would love to visit MegaCity One

I wont stay there

[u/OisforOwesome → u/Eiledon_]

Bruh.