The Batman/Judge Dredd Collection Paperback – January 7, 2014

"HELLLLO, YOUNG LOVVERSSSSS! I HAVVVVE COMME TO JJJUDGGE YOUUUU!"As soon as I've read these lines accompanied by Simon Bisley's art in the preview I knew I've had to read that book. Judge Dredd has long been on my radar but due to most of the books never going on sales it was always on the "someday" list for me. Thankfully, as this one is published by DC, it's in their sales rotation and you can get it for cheap.This tome is gorgeous. Superb art by top british artists, simple but effective stories by great script writers and that feeling of excitement filling every page. Either due to careful thought or coincidence the book offers a wonderful gateway into the Dredd universe. Pretty quickly you get what Mega-City One is, who is Judge Death, how Dredd does his job, the common slang and the ball is rolling. Structurally it's a collection of four separate Judge Dredd/Batman crossover books that were produced in 1991-1999 with an added bonus of Dredd/Lobo crossover from 1995. All of the books happen chronologically, too.Book one, Judgment on Gotham, has Judge Death enter Gotham to wreak havoc there. Quickly he gets in touch with Scarecrow and goes on from there while Batman is stranded in Mega-City One having charming encounters with their law enforcement. Bisley's art is perfect for the whole story that culminates in a rock concert (as at least half of comicbooks should in my humble opinion) and Alan Grant knows how to make it work. The second credited author is John Wagner which is a name unfamiliar to me coming from the US comicbook scene but a quick check on Wikipedia says he is the creator of Judge Dredd character and Grant is his friend and writing partner. Anyway, this is an excellent start for the collection.Book two, Vendetta in Gotham is a simple story of Dredd teleporting into Gotham to kick Batman's ass while Ventriloquist is busy preparing bomb explosion. The art by Cam Kennedy is much closer to what we'd expect from the US side of things (though he is, again, primarily a 2000 AD artist). The highlight is a great 16-panel grid page featuring a combat montage between Batman and Dredd.Book three, The Ultimate Riddle, returns to the painted art with Carl Critchlow drawing. And, as you've probably guessed, features the Riddler. Both Dredd and Batman are captured and teleported to the strange gladiator arena ruined city and are forced to fight for some royalty's entertainment. Like the previous one, it's short and simple but gets the job done.Book four is the gem of series (even including the Bisley part which is a gem in itself!). It's called Die Laughing and obviously it features the Joker. He gets hold of the dimensional teleporter belt, teleports into Mega-City One and manages to free all four of the Dark Judges. All hell breaks loose with Batman and Dredd on his tail. The art by Glenn Fabry is amazing here, highly stylized and full of double-page spreads.As a nice bonus, there is a story of Lobo going into the Mega-City One to retrieve his payment from a client who swindled him. Short and manic, it's a welcome addition to pad the book. Val Semeiks, whom I recall from his earlier work on Lobo ongoing series, adds his first-class work to the collection. I highly approve of this volume and will certainly check out more work from 2000 AD in the future.

When I first learned of this books impending release I pre-ordered the pants off it. Unfortunatly though, months after I had pre-orderd through amazon my order completly vanished from my account, which was beyond frustrating concidering how at the time it dissapeared I should have already been enjoying it. So I ended up having to order it again and this time through a third party on amazon for more than I originally payed for it. I will give amazon some kudos though as they at least gave me a $5 promo for my troubles. Then some time later after the new order had been shiped from the third party I got an email from amazon saying they refunded my money and canceled my order. WTF? so then once again I had to pull my hair out and yell at some poor sap in india demanding my order. in the end I had to order again this time through amazon as they had the product in stock again, I also recieved another promo but I had to demand one it wasn't offered. My next headache came when the order was suposed to be delivered, I got a text saying delivery attempted and at that point I lost it because I was reading near the front door all day and no delivery had been atempted. soooo once again I had to yell at some poor rep until they got ahold of the delivery service and had them deliver my package that day. This whole ordeal greatly pissed me off as I am a prime member and I order items weekly from amazon. In fairness though, other than slighly damaged items this has been the only major problem I have had with Amazon.Now as far as the collection goes it is superb, the story is pretty good but the art is what really makes this book as it is amazing. BUY THIS.

Still working my way through the title, but overall I like the cross stories and what not. I just feel bad for Batman who has to try and work in his own code of conduct in a world that's so foreign to him.Good to see so many characters from each title going at it, I may have to do a second review when I'm totally finished with it to give it a true testimony.Nice read so far, others may like it, but it has a lot of adult themes and pictures for a Batman comic, parents do not get this one for young readers.

After many disappointing experiences with reading Judge Dredd comics, I can honestly say that I am glad that I took the chance on this crossover effort. It was a really good read. Great stories, excellent artwork, and all the characters that fans of either JD or Batman love---all the great qualities that the original JD comics ARE NOT! After finding some back-issues of the original Eagle Comics releases from the 80s, I was disappointed at all of the qualities that I mentioned above in the original comics. I adore the Judge Dredd character and story, both movies---each for different reasons, and want to like more of his material, but it just isn't happening. After reading this, I have learned that one has to take each Judge Dredd effort on a case-by-case basis, and do a lot of research before buying any JD material.

I got this second hand & whoever had it last, got it autographed by Glenn Fabry

As a fan of both Batman and Judge Dredd, I can say that this book is phenomenal. The artwork is varied but all beautiful and the writing in each one is excellent. I would totally recommend this to anyone interested in either character because I was extremely happy with it. This is definitely worth a read.

Awesome collection of two uncompromising heroes that bring Justice to the streets of Gotham City & Mega-City. Stories and artwork definitely give these epic characters Justice.

Super crossover, récit complet . Nickel

This was truly an epic event. While not the best of comic books, the volume brings together two iconic characters, a prime vigilante, and a 'prime judge'. Even if we disount all other reasons, the mega union of the two (for me, it trounces any recent JLA outing as well) is a comic book event that needs to be on the shelf of any self-respecting comic book nerd.

Recomendable para aquellos que no se clavan en la continuidad, ojala Mike Mignola hubiera ilustrado una de las historias más allá de la portada, también se extraño a Brian Bolland, quien a trabajado con Dreed magistralmente, una gran arte interior, muy buena compra.

Judge Dredd and Batman ! both superheroes for those who dont like superheroes and in a fantastic collection to boot!Dredd has never really broke the us market but cross over stories like this help raise his profile and always do it well! so far we've had dredd/batman,dredd/predator,dredd /aliens and dredd/lobo. and none feel wrong because dredds world is so diverse anything goes! This volume collects all 4 batman /dredd strips released by dc comics and with john wagner on board triumph on all levelsin the first batman ends up in mega city one and makes friends with dredd (not really) after a bit of a to do bats and anderson end up back in gotham trying to stop judge death from wreaking his own brand of mayhem there... Death suffers a bit from the almost comedic way he can be potrayed in this tale,not helped by simon bisleys good but ultimately cartoonish artwork . Next are two almost throwaway tales one sees dredd as drwan by cam kennedy travell to gotham to pick a fight to keep him from doing something else that could affect dredds world (look just buy the damn thing willya?) the other is a riddler tale putting dredd and batman in a hunt with aliens and killers, batman being the quarry! The fourth story is by far my fave,death and his three brothers in arms get a fith member in the form of joker by way of a malfunctioning dimension belt they infiltrate a city block that has chosen to seal itself in and live a hedonistic life away from the judges this naturally goes wrong and they find their paradise swiftly turn to hell... with stunnin artwork throughout (jason brashill and jim murray's being my highlights) the tale arrives to a satisfying conclusion of the lawman and vigilantes team ups ...Dredd vs Lobo is to me the weakest entry but an enjoyable piece of hokum nevertheless not being familiar with lobo i didnt know what to expect . A gorgeous hardback book with full colour painted art throughout this is a joy to own and though i would have liked to see it in a larger coffee book format its still a delight to own...buy yours now..