Judge Dredd: A Penitent Man

[Dash Decent]

I've been looking forward to reading "Judge Dredd: A Penitent Man" for a while now, as I've been getting the impression that Ken Niemand is considered a rather good and inventive Dredd writer.  Apart from "Surfer", recent Dredd trades have felt rather flat, so a return to form would definitely be welcome.

Unfortunately that hope has been dashed by yet another lame set of stories.  "A Penitent Man" has some potentially intriguing ideas - SJS doing dodgy things to keep convicted ex-Judges out of MC1 - but it's handled in such a by-the-numbers way. I was yawning over the ho-hum idea of yet again making everything dystopian even more so.  "Of course" they're all bad, "Of course" they do whatever they want.  The story tries to ratchet up tension by ratcheting up the scale, until at the end of the first part of the triptych, there's an army of SJS Judges lining up, but in the end it falls flat.  "Asher stays with me," says Dredd, and that's that.  No "Too bad, Dredd, this is an SJS matter now".  No plans to push Asher under a zoom train the next day.

By the time we get to the second story, the pivotal strong idea of Asher trying to be an honest man depite MC1 is thrown away.  Within a few pages we see him beating someone up, getting illegal access to Justice dept computers, and planning to go less than slightly legal with an operation that may restore some of what was taken from him on Titan.

The story is drawn by Tom Foster, who, as we know from the cover of "Every Empire Falls", can do a very good Bolland, but the work is uneven.  It's very proficient and looks great in places, but not always.  We see the 'side view of grumpy Dredd looking at <person> like he's smelled something bad' shot more than once.  Sometimes it looks good (and Bolland-y), but other times Dredd looks like a gummy old Popeye wondering where his false teeth have got to.  It's all drawn with skill but just look at Dredd riding away on his Lawmaster at the bottom of page two of "An Honest Man".  We know how long those Lawmasters are, but Dredd looks like his seat is only centimetres from the front of the bike.  The very next panel, at the top of page three, has a helmeted Judge talking.  We can't see his badge and he's in no way differentiated from Dredd.  I was completely confused for a moment, thinking it was Dredd, then rationalising that the 'riding away' panel was actually Dredd saddling up and here he was speaking before riding off, until I realised what was going on, and this is part of the problem.  He could have been helmetless, or had a beard, or been a different skin colour, or drawn holding something or with his badge showing, or even been drawn with Dredd visible in the background.  The art is certainly very professional, and well done technically, but it's variable all round.- lookl, story telling, choices in panel composition.  It doesn't help that the SJS play a large part in things, as, in my opinion, they have the stupidest and most awful uniforms of all the MC1 Judges.

Like "Judge Dredd: The Darkest Judge", the paper stock is super-thick again.  I'm not sure if this is to make the book feel more substantial, or just a cost (or supply) issue, but more than once I thought I'd turned over two pages at a time and spent a few annoying seconds trying to separate what none should separate.  This wouldn't be a problem if the book ihad page numbers, but it doesn't.  Having advocated (to derision!) for page numbers since the first JD Case Files appeared, and being very appreciative since they were introduced, I don't understand why Tharg isn't ensuring every trade has page numbers.  I'm sure P14 has extra capacity.

I thought this was the first Kenneth Niemand I'd read, but looking back I realise I'd already read some of his work in the equally underwhelming "Judge Dredd: The Darkest Judge".  Considering that this is all as lame as "Judge Dredd: Regicide", my new suggestion for the identity of Ken Niemand has to be Arthur Wyatt & Rob Williams.  I don't know if anyone else has suggested that he could be more than one person, but remember: Niemand is an island.

[Colin YNWA]

Oh interesting as a massive fan of the Niemand droid I'm a little surprised by this take. I've not got the collection, but its a testament to how good I think Niemand Dredd is that I've considered getting the hardcover collection and I very rarely double dip.

For an alternative view on Niemand Dredd look out for a thread near here in a very few weeks...

[Dash Decent]

I'll look forward to it, as perhaps it will give me a different perspective on things.  I would genuinely like to like it, and had a little bit of a "Is it me?" moment with it.  "I can't tell who's who, I can't tell what's going on, and I can't even turn the pages!"  But each of those were momentary, and I have all my faculties, so in the end it came down to "It's not me, it's you."  Thinking over it even now, it's just so obvious and by-the-numbers.  I don't mind that, have Dredd visit his 'friend'/'mentor'/'plot dumpee' on the shooting range.  Have Dredd apparently do badly but actually do well.  But make it interesting!  John Wagner would have given those people character, but it was blah and I just let it all wash over me.  At the same time, the art was good but didn't do its job.  At the very end we see Dredd hasn't failed because he didn't shoot the holographic target Judge with the 'Judge' badge.  But all the targets are Judges, and we can't see any of their badges, so there's no build up to an "Aha!" but a "What's Dredd talking about?  Oh, that badge says 'Judge'.  Does that mean the other targets have badges saying something else?  (Looks back.)  None of them are presented large enough to read."  The story should flow, through the anrrative and the art. Sure, it should have sudden whammys that pull the rug out from under our expectations, but the reader shouldn't be piecing together what is going on in the way this requires.

[Dash Decent]

^ Sorry, that all needs a serious edit but the edit window remains ridiculous.

[Colin YNWA]

I mean I doubt what I have to say will change anyones mind but I have put some thought into what it is that really works for me about Niemand's work on Dredd as for me it really stands out as excellent.

The fact that there are particular traits that I find really enjoyable do mean of course that if that's not what you go to Dredd for then I can see how it would defo rub you the wrong way.

[Funt Solo]

I don't know if anyone else has suggested that he could be more than one person

5. Collective Irresponsibility: it's more than one writer.

---

Wow, but you really didn't like that story. Which is fair enough. It's all subjective. I tend to favor N-AI-mand Dredd over pretty much anyone else's at the moment.

Reading some of your diatribe, it did come across as a little unbalanced. I'm not going to disagree, for example, that some frames of Dredd-on-a-Lawmaster can be a bit uncanny valley, but that's not limited to Tom Foster. The trick there for an artist is highly complicated - first, you've got a uniform that makes no physical sense, then you have to place it on top of a vehicle that makes no physical sense. It's like trying to draw Alpha's helmet. Any road - my point is that the best artists ever to grace the prog have fucked up the odd panel - we notice it, we move on. We forgive them because generally the quality of art on offer in the prog is fucking amazing.

I love McMahon, but wtf is this*:


I love Cam's work to bits, but there's something wonky-tonk going on here:


Inaki provided an interesting stylistic take, but perspective?



I suppose my point is that we could pick anything apart, but to what end?


*I know, it's an artistic choice, and not a mistake.

[Richard]

I'm not saying any of those criticisms are wrong, but I think those stories are better than that!

Niemand is probably my favourite current writer on Dredd after Wagner.

[Dash Decent]

Frankie says, When Two Diatribes Go to War.

Dash, what have you done this time??

I'm not going to disagree, for example, that some frames of Dredd-on-a-Lawmaster can be a bit uncanny valley, but that's not limited to Tom Foster.

Absolutely, I totally agree.  I do think it happens less these days now we have toy Lawmasters, which are clearly being used as models by some artists to get their angles and views right; not to mention those who model them in apps etc as well, but it clearly is very challenging.

My fault for not being clearer - it was part of my point about the following panel, (which has a headshot of a Judge that turns out not to be Dredd, but says "I'll go now" immediately after we see Dredd on his Lawmaster), though to be fair I did go off point to gripe about the art.

I do think it is worth critiquing the stories in the hopes it is helpful.  It is not intended to have a dig at anyone.  I like that Niemand includes casual in-world references e.g. to Otto Sump, pre-Apoc fashions, etc.  On the flipside, I still think there were a number of confusing parts in the presentation of the story, e.g. when Purcell & Dredd's trip wading through the swill tanks is mentioned again.  Likewise, I do see several Dredd images throughout the story which look very much like Bolland covers, but there's no denying the art is really good overall, and things like the crashed truck at the start of "An Honest Man" and the crashing gunship look fantastic.  Besides, all artists learn from each other and if you're going to choose your influences, then Bolland is a great choice.

Any road - my point is that the best artists ever to grace the prog have fucked up the odd panel - we notice it, we move on. We forgive them because generally the quality of art on offer in the prog is fucking amazing.

This is an excellent point too.  Tom Foster's art is very good overall, and I will keep looking out for Kenneth Niemand stories in the hopes they will click with me.  And of course, they're both in the prog and I'm not, so that speaks volumes too.

I hope I am still allowed in the clubhouse.

PS, Funt, you always do a great job pulling out panels to illustrate your points.  Do you have a digital sub?  I had thought of including shots of some of the things I was talking about, but I don't fancy cracking the spine of the book putting it on the scanner, and taking a photo seems less than ideal.

[Dash Decent]

PPS Do you all really, really like Judge Maitland stories or not?  Asking for a friend with a big mouth (currently stuffed with feet).

[Le Fink]

If you're not reading the prog, you're not getting 'the full Niemand'. As well as the long-form strips s/he/they have done great one offs / short runs that range from funny to hardcore grim in 2023. The range is impressive. For example, all worth checking out:
- Shrine
- Flusher / Clanker
- The Disciples of Death
- Taking Doors
And personally I would like to see some more Noam Chimpsky...

[Dash Decent]

Hmm, interesting.  I just buy the trades these days.  I'll occasionally grab a prog, but not often.

[nxylas]

Considering that this is all as lame as "Judge Dredd: Regicide", my new suggestion for the identity of Ken Niemand has to be Arthur Wyatt & Rob Williams.  I don't know if anyone else has suggested that he could be more than one person, but remember: Niemand is an island.

I think it's pretty well established at this point that Mr Nobody is not an existing 2000AD script droid, and that the only reason he uses a pseudonym is to distinguish his comics work from his work in other media.

[Funt Solo]

PPS Do you all really, really like Judge Maitland stories or not?  Asking for a friend with a big mouth (currently stuffed with feet).

Complicated question. I like Maitland the character, in her original form as an Acc-Div Judge with an agenda. I don't like Maitland as a gun-toting action hero a la Regicide. So, Carry the Nine, I rate highly.

If you're not reading the prog, you're not getting 'the full Niemand'.

That's so true.

Do you have a digital sub?

I have a full prog collection. At some point I switched to digital, and there's some crossover.

(Digital progs from 1666, megs from 201. Lots of GNs digital from the Humble Bundles. I have even occasionally accessed digital prog content from the pre-Rebellion era rather than open up the Thrill Boxes to get to the paper versions. Usually this is for obscure stuff like Soul Gun Warrior. I do also scan for some projects, but, yeah - I'll not be breaking any spines.)

(All the Dredd pics I used up-thread are something I looked out as part of my 2Kstages A-Z project - getting a different Dredd pic for each year of the run.)

[Richard]

Noam Chimpsky was fun, but I don't think I need any more talking ape stories, it's been done to death (by him and others). I'd rather see Niemand doing new stuff.

[Colin YNWA]

Noam Chimpsky was fun, but I don't think I need any more talking ape stories, it's been done to death (by him and others). I'd rather see Niemand doing new stuff.

Too many intelligent ape stories... too many... TOO ... MANY... nope sorry not sure I understand that.

THERE CAN NEVER BE TOO MANY TALKING APE STORIES...

...ever...