Teaser poster for IDW - Judge Dredd - City of Courts

[Colin YNWA]

Apparently from adverts in the forthcoming FCBD comics comes a teaser poster for Judge Dredd - City of Courts By Douglas Wolk (I'm assuming the Douglas Wolk?) and Ulises Farinas.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45163

Not sure what this is about, but all interesting stuff.

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Words nearly failed me when I looked at that cover. I'm only hoping that is a Dredd from some alternate universe. Possibly one with a different style of badge, where Lawgivers have bears heads stuck to them, his boots have laces in them, etc...
Still, I'll buy it

[Spikes]

Yeah - what the fook is going on with that 'Lawgiver'?? 

[hippynumber1]

I know it's all about artistic interpretation an' all, and it's going to be somebody's favouritest Dredd cover EVER, but I think that's horrible! I don't like it at all... 

[Frank]

Words nearly failed me when I looked at that cover. I'm only hoping that is a Dredd from some alternate universe. Possibly one with a different style of badge, where Lawgivers have bears heads stuck to them, his boots have laces in them, etc ... Still, I'll buy it

The title, Mega City 2: City of Courts, and the strapline Dredd Heads West, suggest the peerless Douglas Wolk is about to further muddy the waters concerning the current state of reconstruction and system of government in MC2. There's no indication from that image that he'll be following Mike Carrol's lead, and giving us a harrowing tale of enforced labour under the whip and watchful eye of the judiciary of EM2, picking up on Alan MacKenzie's aborted Sino-Cit takeover from the nineties, or portraying the second megacity as the radioactive wasteland it would have been following Garth Ennis's Judgement Day.

This seems like A Good Thing to me; I don't see why writers should be hidebound by bad ideas other men had two decades ago, or why readers should get their knickers in a twist when said bad ideas are quietly dismissed in favour of better ones. I've never been particularly interested in the specifics of the history of Dredd's wider world (or continuity in general) - the function of any other city is to be unlike MC1 in some way, ditto for its judges. MC1 history is sacrosanct; everything else is allegory and metaphor.

Sending Dredd on holiday is a fun way of defining what makes the character and the system which shaped him tick, and the typography here suggests a burlesque of (eighties) US cop dramas set on the West coast; and the junk food, the bear motif on the firearm, and da tweety boids make me think there might be some kind of satire of Disney/theme park culture going on too. The art style reminds me of Yan Shimony's work on Texas City Sting, which might be my favourite example of the Dredd-goes-to-another-city genre (after Our Man In Hondo); we'll just have to wait to see whether there's an in-story explanation for Dredd wearing lace-up boots, to keep John happy.

[Spikes]

Just a random thought about the Bear-giver, and Dredd's trip to the West coast. Isnt the Bear the emblem for California?, or at least it features on California's flag

[Frank]

Yeah - what the fook is going on with that 'Lawgiver'?? 

The lawgiver's an odd design, and there's only ever a handful of artists who can make it look good in any generation. Carlos and Mick McMahon's mark ones were both fantastic, but inspirational artists and capable draughtsmen such as Brian Bolland and Steve Dillon never really got the hang of it. The blunt nose version of the mark two currently in favour looks functional but unremarkable in the hands of most of today's wacom wigglers, but at least it's no longer as reminiscent of the Stallone gun as it was when first introduced around the time of Doomsday.

Special bonus question; does anyone know which artist designed the MII lawgiver? I assumed that it was Jim Murray, since some of the features resembled the kind of individual design details he added to the hand cannons which were his stock in trade at the time. Was there a feature on the new design in a sci-fi special that I missed or can't remember?

[TordelBack]

My first thought was that Douglas' script must read:

FULL PAGE SPLASH: Dredd, looking angry and quite obviously loaded for bear.

[Richmond Clements]

Why are we assuming it *is* a Lawgiver?

[radiator]

Exciting stuff! Will definitely be checking this out. Think it's safe to say that Wolk understands Dredd.

[Spikes]

Special bonus question; does anyone know which artist designed the MII lawgiver? I assumed that it was Jim Murray, since some of the features resembled the kind of individual design details he added to the hand cannons which were his stock in trade at the time. Was there a feature on the new design in a sci-fi special that I missed or can't remember?

Wasnt Jason Brashill the designer, or co-designer - along with Murray, for the MK II?

Yeah - what the fook is going on with that 'Lawgiver'?? 

The lawgiver's an odd design, and there's only ever a handful of artists who can make it look good in any generation. Carlos and Mick McMahon's mark ones were both fantastic, but inspirational artists and capable draughtsmen such as Brian Bolland and Steve Dillon never really got the hang of it. The blunt nose version of the mark two currently in favour looks functional but unremarkable in the hands of most of today's wacom wigglers, but at least it's no longer as reminiscent of the Stallone gun as it was when first introduced around the time of Doomsday.

Of course, different artist's have put there own spin on things, regarding the Lawgiver. Not many have drawn a Teddy Bear's face on it, though 

[radiator]

Got to big up IDW - they are really pushing Dredd and treating it with more respect than any other US publisher ever has.

I'm not too fussed about the main Dredd series or the artist collections, but things like this and Year One (and the shrewd choices of writing talent like Matt Smith and Douglas Wolk) are very cool indeed. Plus I'm really, really psyched for the colourised Block Mania/Apocalypse War.

As for the artwork above, I kinda like it. Looks to me like the artist hasn't quite nailed Dredd yet, but there's lots of elements I like - love the utility belt.

[JOE SOAP]

 

the function of any other city is to be unlike MC1 in some way, ditto for its judges. MC1 history is sacrosanct; everything else is allegory and metaphor.

I think this has been an under-exploited area the Megazine could've covered better. Give the other cities and societies on Dredd's Earth more extreme systems in contrast to Mega-City 1 instead of other Judge-systems with funnier head-gear.

Sending Dredd on holiday is a fun way of defining what makes the character and the system which shaped him tick, and the typography here suggests a burlesque of (eighties) US cop dramas set on the West coast; and the junk food, the bear motif on the firearm, and da tweety boids make me think there might be some kind of satire of Disney/theme park culture going on too.

It's got that Grand Theft Auto retro-vibe going on but I can't help thinking this makes it feel like a Mongoose role-playing-game, maybe that's the point, and the reason for so many titles on one cover.

[Pete Wells]

Is that shitty toilet paper on Dredd's leg or has he cut himself shaving his legs?

[Dash Decent]

Words nearly failed me when I looked at that cover. I'm only hoping that is a Dredd from some alternate universe. Possibly one with a different style of badge, where Lawgivers have bears heads stuck to them, his boots have laces in them

And where the uniform is blue.