Meg 367 - Dredd

[JOE SOAP]

It feels like something that's plopped in from a rubbish videogame, into Willsher's otherwise excellent art. It's at odds with the movie's impressive sense of treating everyone the same.

It works better in the film because it's easier - there's the benefit of sound  - in terms of voices - and how a character moves.

[PsychoGoatee]

 Something went awry in that quoting for the record, since it was IndigoPrime who posted that, not me.

[IndigoPrime]

Plus, ya know. Boob armour can technically kill it's wearer due to applied pressure on the sternum. Theirs a reason I find the modern incarnation of Thor to be a flawed design.

Ha! Good point.

"Sorry, women. It looks ridiculous and sexist, and it might actually kill you, but we feel these changes to the uniform are necessary."
"Er, why?"
"Well, we've discovered that people cannot easily recognise if you're women at 50 paces."
"And that matters because...?"
"SHHHH."

I get where the criticism is coming from. But if you really want realistic attire,

I'm talking about in-universe realism, not literal realism. With standard Dredd, it always hacked me off when artists drew female judges with their cleavage showing and in high heels, because SEXY. They're cops. (Dredd has a few chesty moments too, which are out of character, although there are clearly differences in intent, due to the typical male gaze of artists and writers alike.)

Also, it's not really drawn in a "sexy" way or anything, so seems a bit much to call it skeevy.

It feels distasteful, in the same way as this kind of crap in videogames feels distasteful, hence the usage of 'skeevy'. (And, again, for the record, I really like Willsher's art on the whole. This just stuck out when I saw it, and I thought: urgh.)

all female Judges would be required to be of shorter, slender build, or with smaller chins and larger lips

I'm not sure why. It's not like there aren't dozens of Dredd tales with broadly similar male judges knocking about the place.

Again, these are cops, whether it's standard Dredd or 'movie' Dredd. Hence why my initial comment (which I recognise has rather derailed the review thread, and so I'll shut up, or figure out if it's possible to hack all these comments into a separate thread).

[PsychoGoatee]

Again, these are cops, whether it's standard Dredd or 'movie' Dredd. Hence why my initial comment (which I recognise has rather derailed the review thread, and so I'll shut up, or figure out if it's possible to hack all these comments into a separate thread).

Cops who wear skintight leather jumpsuits with various ridiculously excellent stylistic accents, yes. I just prefer that direction personally. Though the movie is great too.

[JOE SOAP]

all female Judges would be required to be of shorter, slender build, or with smaller chins and larger lips

I'm not sure why. It's not like there aren't dozens of Dredd tales with broadly similar male judges knocking about the place.

Again, these are cops, whether it's standard Dredd or 'movie' Dredd.

The gender of a Judge may not always be overtly important to the stories but it can be nice to know when it is or isn't and If you want to show that it's not just a gang of amorphous Judges of no apparent sex it's harder to separate gender with the film-style uniform. The comic uniforms don't present the physical form of Judges the same way. More of the body is covered by the film uniform so there's less room for recognisable features.

[ZenArcade]

But the ethos/ideology behind Justice Department is to present a faceless, dispassionate dispensation of Justice. Woman or man the Judge is basically going to be a hard faced bastards implementing a fairly harsh set of rules. I like it when this front (no pun) is presented as the default. Z

[JOE SOAP]

But the ethos/ideology behind Justice Department is to present a faceless, dispassionate dispensation of Justice. Woman or man the Judge is basically going to be a hard faced bastards implementing a fairly harsh set of rules. I like it when this front (no pun) is presented as the default. Z

That's great as an idea; it may not always server your storytelling in the best way possible. The crux of this issue is the diffrence between the film and comic uniforms and why they both work best in the mediums ther were specifically designed for.

[ZenArcade]

Fairly put, I had no issue with the art in the first two movie Dread stories in the Meg. The depiction of female Judges worked well. Z

[JOE SOAP]

Fairly put, I had no issue with the art in the first two movie Dread stories in the Meg. The depiction of female Judges worked well. Z

Yeah, in general I don't have any issue and the ideal should always be striven for whether by more functional layouts or narrative tricks, but the female Judges in the previous 2 stories were clearly shown as smaller than Dredd with more 'feminine' facial features and Anderson always had her helmet off.

[sheridan]

Trying to avoid the body armour debate (and failing - the armour should be functional, not sexy, cheesecake or whatever you wish to call it), standout parts of this prog were the cover and the splash page of the dust cloud rolling through the citiblocks.

Like the advert for The Gyre - I'm guessing this is following up the Brit-Cit / Emerald Isle ship which sank...

[Apestrife]

Did a bit of a Dredd centric read. Good MEG. Especially the main Judge Dredd story!

I really wish I hadn't checked the Dredd spoiler last weekend, but [spoiler]Ami joining the council of five[/spoiler] still felt very special. Can't wait to read where this'll go, a new epic perhaps  ?

While DREDD: DUST wasn't as special as the main one, I quite liked it. The dust storm coming in over the city felt heavy and judges in radcloaks are always cool to look at. While Conti's chest armour did look out of place, both in practicality as well a bit visually, but I can live with it. My eyes didn't flee their sockets.

Also quite liked DiMarco. Wasn't wondering when those cyborgs would make for a return.

Next month's The Gyre looks quite cool! Dredd on a boat!

[Link Prime]

pointy kevlar boobs look a little clumsy.

I dunno, I'm sure we all know a real life Jimp or two that could do with a little D cup 'moob' comfort...

Of course, body shaming men is much better than drawing boob armor.

Ah here, t'was only a bit of levity.
For the record- my views are pretty much in line with yours on the topic.

*Hangs head in shame*
** Finds a comfortable resting place for head**

[Proudhuff]

I wrote to Tharg back in the day, Prog 309, commenting on Anderson's huge hi-heels and if Dredd had them as standard issue...

[Judge Brian]

Wilshire loves the female form. I haven't seen a lot from him, but in the first trades of Call of Duty & Day of Chaos there are nude/semi nude women in each. Each time drawn by Wilshire.

[PsychoGoatee]

Ah here, t'was only a bit of levity.
For the record- my views are pretty much in line with yours on the topic.

*Hangs head in shame*
** Finds a comfortable resting place for head**

no worries.

Anyways, I have not read this Megazine. But I will! I have a fairly big backlog at the moment.