Copyright Judge Dredd and Simon Bisely
Judge Dredd and 2000AD
Comic books have been around for about a hundred years now and their popularity has been in flux. One of the earliest publications that we can see that resembled a comic book was published in 1837 than in English in 1842 by Rodolphe Topffer. His works work were standard six panel pages with text. The comics that we see today have come a long way from this. There are some comics that sell really well and others that do not. Why is this? In some cases it is because of the content of the comic. The Walking Dead is a prime example of a comic that is popular because of content. The idea of zombies has been around since 1932 when White Zombie was released, though it became a cultural phenomenon with the release of Dawn of the Dead. We see zombies everywhere in our culture today, which has sky rocketed the sales of this comic. Other factors in the success of comics are the artwork. The art that goes into the pages of a comic are just as important as the writing itself. Many comic cook characters that we see today have an iconic style that fits their persona. The dark and tough type characters such as Judge Dredd, Batman and The Walking Dead have art that reflects that. There are hard edges and bold lines with a heavy use of dark or neutral colors. The style that the artist uses to illustrate is often based on the time he is working or even the direction he wants to take the character. Many of these characters have been drawn the same way for years and in some cases decades.
What sparked this article was a comic I picked up recently call Judge Dredd: Mega City Two. It is a four part miniseries that feature Dredd going to Mega City Two on the west coast. When I saw the cover art I was very excited and interested to what the comic would bring. After opening it I was sorely disappointed. The art was soft and cartoony. For myself and all other Dredd fans, this is a huge turn off for buying the comic. The art is supposed to be reflective of the character and when it is not it seriously impacts the comic because now the reader has to wonder if the writer did as poor a job as the artist when creating this. I am not saying that the art used was bad art. It was well done, but in the context of the character and the history of his artwork Mega City Two is done horribly. This is something that happens around the industry. Judge Dredd made his first appearance in issue #2 of 2000AD. Since then he has been a regular staple in the British comic. His original image was in black and white with a classic Sci-Fi look to it, something that might be seen on the cover of an Isaac Asimov novel. Today he is a stone cold character. He has very defined facial expressions and dark colors. We see this type of development in Batman as well, since Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns he has been a dark and shadowy figure. There is a well established character profile and trying to change that or alter it in anyway looks wrong. In the case of Mega City Two the artist uses almost none of the classic Dredd features. He comes off as childlike. When looking at it I see Alex + Ada, an Image comic that takes place in the future. The colors and features are flat and give the impression of emotional detachment of the character. Judge Dredd may not be a highly emotional man, but he has a very strong personality that is portrayed in his expressions. They say you should never judge a book by its cover and this is true, flip through a few pages because you may like what you see or not…
By Steven Grajek
