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Judge Dredd: Dark Justice

Started by Dash Decent, 22 August, 2014, 11:24:06 AM

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COMMANDO FORCES

Mine has arrived and it's got some lovely stuff in there. This is well worth the wait!

radiator

I've fallen behind a bit with Dredd stuff recently, and never got round to catching up on Dark Justice.

I got the impression that, art aside, it wasn't too well-received - is that fair?

Worth a buy?

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: radiator on 08 July, 2015, 04:45:14 PM
I've fallen behind a bit with Dredd stuff recently, and never got round to catching up on Dark Justice.

I got the impression that, art aside, it wasn't too well-received - is that fair?

More a case of not living up to the impossible expectations, I think.

It probably reads infinitely better in one go - it's paced very much as one ong, cinematic story rather than five-page bitesize chunks.
@jamesfeistdraws

The Adventurer

I was disappointed that it didn't really feel like an 'epic' return of Death. And it ends in a bit of a damp unsatisfying way.

Especially after all that build up.

They never should have brought Death back, they should have given Mortis, Fire, and Fear more time to be their own characters together.

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Dark Jimbo

Yup - Death's story had already had a proper, definite conclusion. The character was done with. Seemed so silly to bring him back in an incredibly vauge, unexplained way (a wizard the Sisters did it) and then leave him in a weirdly unsatisying limbo - relegating the other Dark Judges back to one-dimensional henchmen stooges in the process.
@jamesfeistdraws

sheridan

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 08 July, 2015, 06:11:06 PM
Yup - Death's story had already had a proper, definite conclusion. The character was done with. Seemed so silly to bring him back in an incredibly vauge, unexplained way (a wizard the Sisters did it) and then leave him in a weirdly unsatisying limbo - relegating the other Dark Judges back to one-dimensional henchmen stooges in the process.
Which of his conclusions was the proper, definite one?

The Adventurer

The one where all the spirits of those he had judged reached up and dragged him straight to hell.

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robert_ellis

Love the quality of this book - the 25 pages of extras are amazing. I'd happily see more behind the scenes photos of the artists models in dredd style uniforms. This really looks like a labour of love from Staples - I hope it sells bucketloads and stays in print. The art is up there with Horned God, Arkham Asylum, Elektra Assassin... It really is the most amazing thing. Well done all involved!

NapalmKev

Arrived! It really is a lovely piece of work, well done to all concerned.

Cheers
"Where once you fought to stop the trap from closing...Now you lay the bait!"

Steve Green

Got mine yesterday (well one of them)

It's a really nicely put together book - I'd seen Greg's layout/thumbnails when helping out with the shoots, so glad to see some of those put in, as well as the colour layouts which were new to me.

We took a lot of photos, but obviously Greg still had to come up with a look and costume for any non-Dredd/Anderson/background judge...

Great to be a part of it.

robert_ellis

Just read it all in one sitting - it's like the best end of year annual ever invented. I loved seeing Anderson back in action. The art carries what is a light weight story. The setup seems overlong seeing as we know as soon as we see the mayflower that death will be there. The art remains an embarrassment of riches. The blow-ups of individual images such as Anderson's face show the sheer quality of the art. I'm dazzled - and the b&w art print is great. I wish the story had more kick - maybe if Anderson had actually died or we'd seen a power struggle between the Dark Judges it wouldn't seem so slight. Maybe after Day of Chaos we needed a light palate cleanser,  guess PJ is the real human face of evil.

Tjm86

I guess I can't fault any of the criticisms of the story.    That said a mediocre tale by Wagner is still light years above some of the better stuff from some other mainstream publishers.  It almost reads like a set up for bringing them back at some later point.  The artwork really is the star of the show.

It definitely reads better as a single volume.  I would heartily agree with Dark Jimbo on that score.  Moreover this is a fine example of how to do a special edition.  The roughs and development sketches are an excellent addition.  Being a bit of a sucker for the bookplate editions as well, this again is a nice job.  Sits nicely alongside the Urban Warfare GN.

Dark Jimbo

In this interview Staples says much the same thing -

'...I think for me and John – we intended it to be a book. When I was working on it, I referred to it as "my book" rather than a comic strip because it's very atmospheric and there's quite a lot of horror in it.

When people read it in the weekly, it's difficult to maintain that kind of level of suspense. When with a book, you're going to be able to just sit down and almost read it just like you would watch it a film, where it kind of holds you. So, in that regard I think it will work much better collected, I am looking forward to it all come out the way its intended.'

http://www.creativebloq.com/comics/judge-dredd-artist-reveals-top-secret-art-technique-41514604
@jamesfeistdraws

glassstanley

Yup, the weekly publication was a bit of a disappointment after the build up. Read the GN in a single sitting and it's a completely different experience. Very dark, gripping stuff, beautifully presented. A much better portrayal of the Dark Judges than their appearance in Day of Chaos.


PsychoGoatee

Hot damn, this is a beautiful book.