Review by Frank Plowright

Introductions to collections by writers considering the work they produced years previously generally mention the fun they had, and what a joy it was to work with artists x, y and z, and Garth Ennis certainly ticks those boxes. However, without wanting to put people off reading the work he produced in 1990 and 1991, he also admits it falls way short of Judge Dredd at his finest. That’s not false modesty, but an honest appraisal.

With Ennis coming from Northern Ireland and artist Steve Dillon an Irish resident, in 1990 having Judge Dredd visit what the place had become in his future seems a natural enough starting point, and Ennis’ idea of the Spud Gun in the opening chapter begins the toying with clichés. Dillon’s sample art continues the satirical theme by showing Ireland transformed into a theme park highlighting cultural touchstones. It’s an idea worked to death, though, and the jokes become too thin as the plot extends too far. Ennis provides his own critique by noting in the introduction that he was trying to write John Wagner’s Dredd rather than his own. Positive aspects are a good twist before the end, and Dillon’s action art being classic Dredd.

Ian Gibson really pulls out all the stops for the splash page to ‘Almighty Dredd’, Dredd pictured on his bike as seen from the floor. Gibson’s energetic cartooning is exemplary throughout a story of a religious cult building around Dredd. It’s better than the title story for making its point in half the number of chapters.

‘The Magic Mellow Out’ is based on a good idea, but never fulfils the potential. Ennis writes his caption boxes as if the narration from 1960s kids TV show The Magic Roundabout, while Anthony Williams redesigns the cast just enough to avoid legal letters. However, it never flies any higher with a predictable plot.

All these stories are also available in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 15, and that’s the best place to get them for the curious, surrounded by other material that’s better.