Judge Dredd, Vol. 4: 13 Judges

Released by: IDW Publishing, Inc.
Released on: May 27, 2014
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This trade collects recent IDW issues #13-16, written by Duane Swierczynski and with art by Nelson Daniel. It also contains three short stories from that run: French for Black (art by John Stanisci), Harsh Conditions (art by Staz Johnson) and Perp Walk (art by Andy Belanger).

The primary story runs as follows: [SPOILERS] Dredd, still recovering from recent action, gets pulled back into active duty due to the apparent assassinations of nine other judges. He's been in stasis but lead Judge Cal - who clearly doesn't care much for Dredd - wants him on the case as soon as possible. Dredd thinks that an old, disgraced judge named Tarjay is behind the murders and Cal agrees. So Dredd sets off to find him to deliver justice.

Meanwhile, Anderson is taking a young, very powerful pre-cog named Dannn into the academy. But he only senses death - strongly - and just in time, too, to prevent Anderson's assassination. It comes at the cost of his own life, however, and this further infuriates & motivates Dredd. But he and Anderson are good investigators and they realize that this is all the plot most likely of someone within their administration. As they head back to HQ, though, the assassin strikes at them and vanishes when they retaliate. But not before a number of civilians are mowed down. Cal shows up, angry at Dredd and puts him under arrest.

The story moves then by showing the “skill” Tarjay has acquired of being able get inside someone's head and transport them to an alien hellscape. This becomes important later on in the story as Dredd's psychic-abled partner, Anderson, tracks down Tarjay while Dredd is being held for questioning.

During Dredd's inquisition he and Anderson are in constant mental contact, continuing the investigation, with Anderson narrating her every move. But to the SJS chief inquisitor Dredd is as impassive and emotionless as ever. Even the SJS agents monitoring the interview don't have any idea of Dredd's extra connection. Eventually, then, Anderson is able to track down Tarjay who's lying in wait for her - or, more specifically, he was hoping for Dredd. Soon, though, he's got her in his alternate dimension and she divines his endgame - just a little too late…

As soon as he loses his connection to her Dredd knows he has to get out of this interview. Which he does in pure Dredd fashion. But as the guards start to pile on it appears that all help for Anderson is soon to be lost.

12 Judges are now on slabs in the city morgue while weasel-ly Judge Cal continues his obsessed drive to punish Dredd. Meanwhile, corrupt former-Judge Tarjay delivers Anderson's corpse to drive his total to 13…

Dredd suspects the worst has happened to his partner Anderson but can't overcome Cal's obstinence so he does what only Dredd can do - he perjures himself, “confesses” to his alignment with Tarjay, stating that Anderson found them out and went after Tarjay first. Cal's not buying much of it, though, choosing instead to paint her as in on the conspiracy. He gets Dredd convicted quickly and ready to be sent off-world. But then Tarjay murders another Judge - one of Cal's own team - so he wants to keep Dredd alive, choosing to torture him further and more brutally to get at “the truth.”

Simultaneously, after Anderson's body is delivered to the morgue, the entire PSI Division receive a brief telepathic message from her, a message somehow being delayed but making them all suspicioius of Cal's assertions of her guilt. They believe Dredd can unlock the message - “Death!” - for them but Cal's having none of it. But he's being awful suspicious around them, too, and eventually relents. This allows Dredd to be back in uniform and, as the PSI Division uses the populace of Mega-City One to finally locate Tarjay, to finally corner the murderous ex-Judge.

The Judges take Tarjay down and, to Cal, that's the end of things. Dredd's put into cryo-stasis and that's that. Except that a mysterious dark fluid transfer finds Tarjay's corpse in the morgue, rejuvenating him as a new version of Dredd's worst enemy, the one name Anderson tried to warn them all with…

The trade opens with the short story French for Black. A retro virus is launched in part of Mega-City One that makes it appear as if it's 1947 so it's viewed (and presented) in black and white. The future residents are very confused by things like paper, cigarettes and gunfire. Dredd is startled but still insistent on enforcing the law. But the residents are going amok, as it appears that since the rules have changed then so, too, the definition of crime. One of them even kills another, thinking this all a dream where he can get away with anything. Yet once the effect of the virus wears off the truth is revealed by a rebellious robot and her mean-spirited owner who created the virus. With things back to normal, then, Dredd is free to haul his “dreaming” perp away to the iso-cubes.

In the short story called Harsh Conditions, the main character is and is narrated by a criminal named Pachoda who, when caught, gets offered a chance by the corrupt Judge Harvies to swap bodies. But the deal goes sour when internal affairs captures Pachoda-as-Harvies right after the swap. She's sentenced to life on the prison on Titan. But she's a survivor and learns to not only adapt to the harsh environment but to also grow strong, readying herself for a return to Meg-City and dealing with Harvies.

In the story Perp Walk the focus is on a thief called Bunker who's serving a 30-year sentence in an iso-cube. But as a student of “mystic arts” he's able to work on separating spirit and body in an attempt to escape his prison. He spends years perfecting this out-of-body technique so that it can last long enough to trip the release to his cell, return to his body, and once whole again Bunker can flee. But the amount of time necessary to do that turns out to be too long for the spirit to return - leaving Bunker's body as a corpse and his spirit trapped forever. As the Judges come to realize what he's done they know that prison is now compromised so they shut it down, trapping Bunker's spirit there for eternity.

These stories are all very true to the Dredd universe - cold, brutal and unrelenting. Daniel's artwork relies heavily on the use of shadow and that suits the story quite well, featuring a killer that can't really be seen and much of the motivations “in the dark.” Johnson's artwork, on the other hand, is creepy and detailed since its story is set in the underworld and prison. Both set the tone to really match their respective stories which are also both very much in keeping with Dredd lore. A very solid collection in this latest series with this iconic character nicely showcasing Swierczynski's take on him.