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Judge Dredd Mega City Two: City of Courts Director's Cut

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    Nolando
    Senior Member

  • Judge Dredd Mega City Two: City of Courts Director's Cut


    Released by: IDW Publishing
    Released on: June 18, 2014


    Based on the popularity of this series that puts Dredd into the confines of the glossy, cartoony, “always broadcast” world of Mega-City Two this issue reprints its start but also includes the full working script, complete with annotations and sketches. It also includes all the variant covers as well.

    [DROKKIN' SPOILERS BELOW]

    To recap the story, Dredd is sent to the West Coast and Mega-City Two on a sort of exchange mission. His real mission, though, is to discover who's release Meg-City One's cube-dwellers into Mega-City Two and why. Since the chief council don't know the extent of corruption, they're even untrusting of Two's chief justice Kennedy.

    Dredd undertakes his mission with his usual aplomb. However, he's disturbed to find that all his activities are going to be broadcast, requiring the constant accompaniment of a crew from Dahlia Productions. He's also armed with non-lethal bullets and a police car that seems to be programmed in surfer dude-isms.

    Dredd begins his time there by chasing down a stookie dealer armed with a hologram. As he finally catches him, though, he's patched through to chief justice Kennedy who explains how things work in Two: Namely, that crimes aren't prosecuted the way they are in One, that each community (their term for “block”) has its own laws, allowing some fine-tuning that profits everyone, it seems. That includes Dahlia as well, helping their motto of “everyone is a star” in Two.

    Dredd continues to get frustrated trying to halt crimes and the video crew asking for retakes. He lashes out at a litterer but soon finds she's an undercover agent named Hurley. She's working on something similar to what Dredd is doing so offers to help him. She procures a proper bike for his getting around and gets him a Lawmaster without “friendly bullets.” That sets his mood to right as he gears up, ready now for whatever Two can dish out…

    The fish-out-of-water premise is tried and true and really serves this series well here. Douglas Wolk's story is crisp and fun, respectfully poking a little fun at Dredd's seriousness but also at criticizing the gross consumerism and star-filled eyes of Southern California as well. What really makes this all stand out as unique and highly entertaining, though, is Ulises Farinas' admittedly-Geoff Darrow-heavy style. The overwhelming detail combined with soft, curvy cartoonishness gives the whole series a real playful twist, something that's not typically assigned to Judge Dredd stories.

    What follows then are Wolk's annotations, like a director's commentary track for the story and script that is printed next. The full script is there, allowing for ultimate transparency of script to finished product. Cover art variants from Joe Corroney, Brian Miller and Farinas round out the excellent set of extras to this collection.
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