Best one-prog Dredds

[O Lucky Stevie!]

I have a sneaking fondness for 'Little Spuggy's Christmas'.

Snap! Now that's what Stevie calls a happy ending.  'The Finger of Suspicion'* only just pips it the post as Stevie's favourite Wagner Dredd.

Full marks for 'Varks' also.

Now the one Dredd that Stevie has poissibly read & re-read more than any other is the tour de farce force that is 'Tour of Duty: Bethlehem.' Pure Marx Brothers-level genius.

Paul Marshall's art on this just just perfect. From the old skool Douglas Church / Ron Turner stylee page layouts & letratone in the flashback sequences to the sheer quality of the acting on show** in this strip.

Must have dug Prog 2010 out close to 50 times to revisit this gem. & Dredd's not even this squaxx's
favourite character in the Megazine***, let alone the prog.


*only a smile, Ming? You clearly have no sense of humour.

**is there any higher compliment that can be paid to a funny book artist?

***that would be Devlin Waugh.

[TordelBack]

Now the one Dredd that Stevie has poissibly read & re-read more than any other is the tour de farce force that is 'Tour of Duty: Bethlehem.' Pure Marx Brothers-level genius.

Durn it, I was just trying to remember the name of that one.  Pure Al Ewing genius.  Shout out for companion piece 'What's another year?' over in the Meg.

[Hawkmumbler]

Bah, I forget the name but their was that funny one where Dredd had to get to a crime commited on the top floor of a block but the elevators where out of qction, so he took the stairs. By the time he got to the top he was knackered.

[malkymac]

I loved the one about the buddhist monk who turns up and then gets interrogated by Dredd.

I liked the way it it was set as a story being told by an older monk to his novices and it had great artwork by Glenn Fabry.

A good twist on the old Dredd being a total bastard routine.

[Frank]

Bah, I forget the name but their was that funny one where Dredd had to get to a crime commited on the top floor of a block but the elevators where out of qction, so he took the stairs. By the time he got to the top he was knackered.

When The El Breaks (1099). The fantastic use of double page spreads reminded me of McMahon's colour Annual stories, and it was a great illustration of the texture and atmosphere painted art could bring to a strip. Siku's Dredd at his lantern jawed, pin-headed best too:

[Spikes]

Having a trawl through my back progs (with a little helping hand from Barney to refresh the ol' memory), im gonna throw 'Who killed Pug Ugly' from prog 203, into the ring.


Art from smack bang in the middle of the Ronster's classic period, and an episode I'd remembered as maybe being a two-parter, but was pleased to see this was a one-off.
(I shouldn't have been that surprised really - look what Ron did for the Apocalypse War...)

A fun, and wacky one-off, that captures the absurdity of MC1, and general bonkers-ness of Dredd. Which Ron excelled it, like no other.


And that's the appeal of such little gems. Highly memorable tales that leave an impression, and only needing six pages to do so.

[8-Ball]

When The El Breaks (1099). The fantastic use of double page spreads reminded me of McMahon's colour Annual stories, and it was a great illustration of the texture and atmosphere painted art could bring to a strip. Siku's Dredd at his lantern jawed, pin-headed best too

I'm glad you mentioned McMahon's colour annual stories. The 1982 Judge Dredd annual was my first ever exposure to Dredd and the tooth in general so the stories Anatomy Of A Crime, Vampire Effect and Mega-City Rumble have all had a major impact on how I view Judge Dredd as a character (hard bastard) and Mega-City One (teeming with life, awash in jade, amber and turquoise). Good times.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Christmas Spirit, in Prog 2008.  Everything you could ask for in a Dredd strip:  Beating seven shades out of perps, Mega City 1 history lesson, bit of humanity showing through with family members, political discussions with the Chief Judge, hints of massive events in the future.  Lovely.

[shaolin_monkey]

There was another Xmas one that I really like, drawn by Steve Dillon. I wish I could remember the name of it. It featured a couple of nice touches, such as a seasonal ten second flurry of snow from Weather Control (I think), and giving food to mutants on the other side if the wall, only to pick out and mow down known outlaws.

Plus there was The Lurker. Loved that - a nice one-off Ron Smith number about a rad suitcase.

[JOE SOAP]

There was another Xmas one that I really like, drawn by Steve Dillon. I wish I could remember the name of it. It featured a couple of nice touches, such as a seasonal ten second flurry of snow from Weather Control (I think), and giving food to mutants on the other side if the wall, only to pick out and mow down known outlaws.

A Merry tale of the Christmas Angel.

[TordelBack]

Plus there was The Lurker. Loved that - a nice one-off Ron Smith number about a rad suitcase.

Lurk lurk.

[Alski]

I really liked "Finger Of Suspicion", where an unlucky cit got his middle finger stuck in an insulting way and people took offense!

Funny stuff as usual by Wagner, and well drawn by Kennedy.

Prog 1387

[shaolin_monkey]

There was another Xmas one that I really like, drawn by Steve Dillon. I wish I could remember the name of it. It featured a couple of nice touches, such as a seasonal ten second flurry of snow from Weather Control (I think), and giving food to mutants on the other side if the wall, only to pick out and mow down known outlaws.

A Merry tale of the Christmas Angel.

Was it with a lobotomised mean with a foster family?  If so, bizarrely, that's the least memorable part of it!

[Hawkmumbler]

Minty. Yeah, predictable, but looking back it was a pretty important story for Justice Department world building.

[Dark Jimbo]

Trying to contribute a few personal favourites that haven't already been mentioned here...

Prog 1284's Block Court* - great Wagner/Kennedy comedy as Dredd grinds his teeth through five pages of bickering citizens.
'How's things, control? You need me out on patrol?'
'Negative, all quiet at this time.'
'You sure? No sign of Judge Death or anything...?'

S.A.M in prog 1374 was a great slice of typically Mega-City madness. It's a bank heist/hostage seige story, but the joke is that the robot bomb is the one really holding up the bank, and having to bully and threaten his reluctant human at every turn to go through with it, as he'd much rather just give himself up to the judges.

The Runner, prog 1240 - a guy is sprinting through the Mega-City, trying to beat his own personal best time by shaving off precious seconds wherever he can, dodging punks and juve gangs and rogue robots as he does. Dredd sees him pass and hollers for him to stop, but the runner's almost beaten his time and can't afford to. Dredd assumes guilt and guns him down dead, seconds away from the end of his route and a beaten record.

A Real Christmas Story, prog 502 - a weird narrator-driven tale by Wagner and Cliff Robinson where reality is constantly being altered to make the 'story' more exciting. 'We've got to pep you up a bit, Bill! How about a gruesome steel claw and a window in your head so we can see your brain sloshing about?'

Al Ewing's Cockroaches* in prog 1627. Just a great love-letter to some of the strip's iconic moments, with an unexpected sting in the tale. Great art, too.

The Fear That Made Milwaukee Famous*. 'Nobody calls me chickenhead!'

*I can't believe nobody's mentioned this one already!