Judge Dredd: Necropolis (1998)

Judge Dredd: Necropolis (1998)

Author: John Wagner  |  Illustrator: Carlos Ezquerra  |  Page Count: 192

"If you bring them back, th-thousands will die!"

"I disagree. You’re setting your sights too low. All will die. Total annihilation – it’s the best way!"

In light of some poor decisions by the Justice Department, Chief Judge Silver makes another one that leaves the Big Meg vulnerable. Elsewhere, a door is being opened to a place where judgement of the guilty and the innocent returns the same sentence…the Sisters of Death are ready to move.

Ah, Necropolis. There have been bigger and some would say better Dredd epics since then but it remains my favourite for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it's not Dredd specific. The story, by original creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, is much too big for one man to carry on his own, even one with shoulders as broad and solid as Joe Dredd's.

Furthermore, the nature of the invasion means PSI Division plays an important role, which means Judge Anderson's talents are needed.

It splits the reactions and resolutions in a number of different ways, too. That could've made it feel fragmented, but John Wagner was too focussed to allow that to happen. The build up toward it was extensive and the aftermath shaped many aspects of the world and the works that followed. In short, it was a huge game changer for both the Judges and Mega-City One.*

It’s from an era when 2000 AD was commissioning fully painted artwork for many of its ongoing stories. There are time-saving colour blocks but it doesn't feel like a cop out; the colours used are often representative of deeper allusions (e.g. the colours of malady). Ezquerra’s art style will forever be associated with Dredd; those weird black dashes that he uses to outline certain characters became a part of that. I even began to miss them when they weren't there.

The story ran in Progs 674–699. Coincidentally, the very first issue of 2000 AD I ever bought was Prog 700. The aftermath was such that I knew I'd missed out on something amazing, but at the same time it made me glad that I'd not stumbled upon it part-way though. It was difficult back then to find older Progs in a town that had no dedicated comic shop, but I managed to get the full story eventually; the wait was worth it.

*Some backstory is needed if you're to fully understand the scope of what happens during the 26 chapter storyline, why it happens and how the Justice Department themselves were partly responsible. The minimum of which would be knowledge of the Morton Judd / Judda storyline and The Dead Man arc. The latter acts as an essential prelude to Necropolis and helps explain why Joe looks like someone has taken a huge acidic shit on his face.

It might sound like a daunting task tracking it all down, but Rebellion made it easy by reprinting all past adventures in chronological order as The Complete Case Files. According to Wiki, Vol 14 is the one you'll need, it collects Tale of the Dead Man, By Lethal Injection, Rights of Succession, Dear Annie, and all of Necropolis! Wow! That's a lot of great stuff in one book.