Writer: Duane Swierczynski

Artist: Nelson Daniel

Reviewer: Ray Willis

Crowd Control

This is a continuation of the mental battle of minds between a revived Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson against Chief Judge Cal. A few months later, Dredd is back on the streets of Mega-City One to combat cyber-vigilantes called G.O.D. or Guardians of Drokk.

The story starts out slow but builds up fast as droids begin to malfunction with an unknown virus called Deadeye which is making the droids attack, take access of terminals, and reveal the secrets of Mega-City One. No one’s privacy is safe from a G.O.D. attack, even if it’s a Judge or a civilian. As this is going on Dredd is questioned by SJS Judge Verrity about Chief Judge Cal and the two being on friendly terms after the manhunt that happened in the last arc. There is more to tell but will have to read the rest of the issue to find out more.

I really enjoyed this issue because it really set the tone to what’s going to happen in the first few pages. Malfunctioning droids, sectors on fire, and Judge Dredd going to stop it all. Duane Swierczynski does a great job of writing the characters because of what happened in the last arc has carried over to the beginning of this new arc. He really writes a good Judge Dredd and he has done a good job with the series. As the issue progresses we do know more about what’s going on with Anderson but spoiler for people haven’t read the series. Judge Anderson is Chief Judge Cal now by jumping into his mind while he was invading Dredds mind last issue. The interactions between the characters are good with Dredd being the by the books street judge and the interactions by the crowd that despises Chief Judge Cal. There’s a character that featured in the issue which has the first and last name switched that relates to the artist Nelson Daniel which is pretty interesting. I didn’t find any faults in this issue at all.

Nelson Daniels art has been really good throughout the series and I have no complaints about it. The characters look good and detailed with their own styles because it is Mega-City One after all. The issue flows really well and the scenery is great, though some of the scenes are a bit comedic.

This was great setup issue for the beginning of the “Crowd Control” arc which brings back Judge Dredd trying to stop a dangerous threat to the city. The characters are well written and interactions between characters are nice especially between Chief Judge Cal and Judge Dredd. For a setup issue it had a nice pace and shows that with Mega-City One there is always a dangerous foe to combat. The aftermath from the last arc is present and I wonder how this arc will play out. The art by Nelson Daniel is great with some great details to characters and a very funny scene at the beginning before the droids begin to attack. I hope Duane Swierczynski doesn’t make this arc too long because the Dark Judges arc lasted a bit too long for my taste. Overall this was a good issue and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

4.5 Judges out of 5