Judge Dredd is back with a new mini-series. Does it live up to the Year One title?

Here’s the official description from IDW:

“The Long Hard Road” begins here! In an all-new adventure from Joe Dredd’s early days as a Mega City-One Judge, writer (and Eagle-award-winning 2000 AD Editor) Matt Smith presents a tale where “all the young juves, carry the news,” only in this case, the news is delivered with a lethal blow!

Judge Dredd is a very mysterious character. We don’t really know who he is, he’s just the face of the law. So a Year One mini-series was welcome. Fans of the recent movie would probably wonder how Dredd started out. Sadly this series doesn’t really look to explore that, rather it explores Dredd’s earlier days in a slightly less corrupt Mega City-One. While calling it ‘Year One’ might be giving the reader false hope of exploring Dredd’s character, it’s still a solid opener with an interesting plot.

Matthew J. Smith successfully writes a story predating the Ongoing. Mega City-One feels less corrupt and we get some interesting dialogue regarding Dredd. Since he’s apparently just out of the academy, we see him patrolling the streets to see what kind of criminals he’s up against. It’s an interesting comparison between here and what we see in the Ongoing or movie. As for the actual story, it’s unique with an unexpected ending. Why are these kids all of a sudden having psychic attacks? I also like how Smith strayed away from using comedy, it’s a pretty serious story throughout.

Simon Colby’s art is definitely better than what we see in the Ongoing. It’s by no means amazing, but it’s solid enough. The main cover is what’s special. It has Dredd on his cycle in front of a blackened Mega City-One. Definitely one of the best Judge Dredd covers to come out of IDW. The two variants aren’t nearly as special.

Overall, the first issue of Jude Dredd: Year One is a pretty good start. New fans wanting to know more about Dredd himself may be a little disappointed, but it’s still a solid story set in the early days. People whom are reading the Ongoing should give this series a go. All Dredd fans should see what this thing is about.

4/5