Comic Review 158 // Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files 15 by 2000 AD

It's been a hot minute since I read a complete case files series. The last was of course Case Files 14 which was a true epic. I can foresee this volume being all about the fallout of that story arc and the return of Dredd all of which is very important.

The volume itself contained 17 stories in total with Death Aid and Emerald Isle taking up most of the page space. The first story: Theatre of Death throws us straight into a Judge Death tale and makes sure that we the reader, are not yet safe from this fearsome boogie man! We also get to catch up with everyone's favourite serial killer P.J Maybe, in the greatly titled: Wot I Did During Necropolis. All these tales are happening whilst the Democrats are rising once more in popularity and the Justice Department is stretched thin. Mega-City One is in rough shape and I am not sure how it will recover.

The stories inside this volume are really just a bunch of short tales, meaning fun to read but too short to warrant reviewing everyone. But they do help to rebuild how the new city is doing and grow out sub-plots that will grow in time. Nightmares was a nice nod to the Dead Man saga and see the return of Yassa Povey, a young man who rescued Dredd in the Cursed Earth, but ultimately lost his sight to the Sisters of Death. This story was nice as it brought in the Democrats, Cadet Judge Giant and PSI Judge Anderson, whilst also leading us into the Hunters Club story arc. Speaking of which Death Aid is a bit of comic relief, as Hunter's Club goes on a "Charity Killing Spree" in hopes of raising funds for the impoverished by killing scores of citizens!

We then get a few stories that focus on the viewpoint of the citizens. These are great though short-lived, but they truly help to flesh out the New Normal of Mega-City One. These tales nice lead us into the main focus of the issue - Emerald Isle. In which we see Judge Dredd on a diplomatic mission to Murphyville. His goal was to track down a terrorist who is assisting the local militants to rise up and bring down the local government. Murphyville is an excellent location, showing us how the Ireland of the future managed to survive by becoming a theme park. It is full of skin-crawling stereotypes with cute cottages, pubs serving Guinness and potatoes (tho these are made with rice lol). We also get to meet Judge Joyce (read more here), a man who enjoys a beer and chatting more than working. Overall a great story and I hope we get more of Murphville soon as I want to visit there again.

The rest of the volume is pretty standard Dredd In Return of the King, the animated corpse of Chief Judge Silver returns and attempts to overthrow McGruder until Judge Dredd passes judgement. This for me though a silly piece, starts to move Judge Dredd along the path of being above the LAW. Here he can show his strength and no one stops him, showing how many Judges will treat him moving forwards, Dredd is the saviour, Dredd is never wrong, Dredd is the Law. This is a dangerous path and one that will bite everyone in the arse in future for sure.

Overall an above-average read, the fact that it followed Necropolis, really affected my rating of it. Such an epic story would need these tales to help the read adjust to the new way of life, but it just leaves you wanting more action!

I hope you enjoyed the review? Want to read for yourself? Use my Amazon link to purchase and I will get a sweet payout (Win, win): Complete Case Files 15. Feel free to comment below or seek me out on one of the many social platforms I hang out on. Here is a quick LINK (Solo bio link) to my details. Cheers to reading this.