Mega-City Zero is a collection of Judge Dredd stories where Dredd wakes up in a world very different from the one he knows. Fields and grass have overgrown Mega-City One and the locals no longer respect the authority of Judges. In true Dredd style, some swift justice means the citizens have to take him seriously as he tries to work out where (or when) he is. The only lead he has is his notes from the last case concerning a mass disappearance from a Mega-Block. After a run-in with some children, Dredd learns that gaining access to the mysterious Ang Avi building is the only way forward.
I must admit I’d not read much Judge Dredd for a while and I was curious to see how much it had changed. The good news for me what that it hasn’t changed much at all, and I love it! Mega-City Zero is the way it has really captured the style of the original Dredd from his early appearance in 2000 AD. The main change from the very early comics is it no longer has black & white artwork, and that’s about it. Dredd still has his stern expression, says Drokk and looks like he’s at least 6’ wide at the shoulder pads. Sounds are described by large letters spelling out “BRAAOMMMMM”. There’s even an asterisk mid-speech to describe a term used by Dredd. The references to contemporary culture are still there although they’re now updated for the current era.
The story is engaging and it’s interesting to see Dredd outside his standard Mega-City One environment. You can work out if you think you’ll enjoy seeing a fish out of water Dredd almost being a regular person in this strange world – I say almost, after all he’s still Dredd. I imagine some people would prefer to see him in his regular Judge life.
Mega-City Zero from IDW Publishing, is 102 pages long and features Judge Dredd issues #1-4 – Part 1: Terms of Service, Part 2: Flame Wars, Part 3: The Feeding of the Trogs and Part 4: The Forum. It was created by Ulises Farinas, Erick Freitas, Dan McDaid and Ryan Hill.
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