Judge Dredd Mega City Two: the los angeles tale!

Griffin Mauser

Citizen Jury

Memorandum: Judge Dredd: Mega City Two #1

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To Citizens Wolk, Farinas, Hill, Long, Tipton, Wood

Gentle Citizens:

Regarding Judge Dredd: Mega City Two #1

I could not be more delighted! I like this Dredd: no sarcasm, all the tough and a Mega City straight out of Luc Besson! I think you have hit the judge in the lawgiver!

 Judge Dredd in a second Mega City, similarly gigantic and overwhelming but with a vastly different philosophy toward the law.  This is gonna be great! What seems crazy is that Dredd will perform exactly as expected within the law and this new city will turn out to be much like home, at least as it applies to Joe and his job.  And, even better, he’s going undercover (I don’t remember him ever doing so before)!  I can hear the gravel in his voice; Joe talks as he should, his tone, his patterns, the essence of Eastwood and Keitel. And he’s serious. He is the straightman.  Back in DC’s Legends of the Law, Joe Dredd actually made the only sarcastic remark I have read.  I had to quit reading it.  Dredd is never sarcastic; this is why when he tells a perp, “report to the iso-cubes”, perps do.  It’s Dredd’s world that obfuscates, exaggerated and threatens.  Dredd is the axis of the law and never moves.  I like what you’re doing!

Farinas is in his element it seems; if he has half as much fun drawing this stuff as I have reading it, I’m sure he feels a little guilty.  From his Darrowesque splash page (Mr. F, I have seen every line and read every sign) to closeups, Farinas controls the detail to match the shot.  Not afraid to draw a characters, hm thirty-two characters in that frame, but not married to crowds or detail. Sequences of plot are simple and straightforwardly presented without seeming empty and just around the corner will be another slice of frenetic Mega-City pie! And it’s just gonna get better! Already Farina’s figures are more individual than his beautiful work on Catalyst. And so much more to see!

Hill’s color work manages to create the garish decadence of Mega City Two without losing the signal in the noise.  Deft manipulation of a screaming loud palette, use of tonal gradations, and special effects like the flashback and television “filters” evoke the garish color of the old Eagle books, shows off Farina’s linework and makes perfect visual sense.

Citizen Tipton, please maintain the Dredd characterization, continue the historical and literary information about the Dredd books.  I now have an idea how much Dredd I want to find. IDW has impressed me with its respect for and dedication to existing properties.  You guys really take the high road with your works and it shows.  Thanks for bringing such a good Dredd back to the table.

So there you are guys, All you have to do now is get even better.  Don’t screw it up!

Citizen Juror Griffin Mauser

Mega City Weird

Austin Texas