Unpublished Reviews : The Complete Judge Dredd Case Files Volume 2 . Spent and Fairweather by Joe Matt

These are reviews submitted for the may issue of Verbal Magazine to help promote the 2d Festival. They were cut due to " lack of space" . Bastards.

To whet your appetite for June's 2d Festival, Ciaran Flanagan brings us a retrospective look at some highly recommended Graphic Novels.

2d or Not 2d…

Judge Dredd: the Complete Files Vol. 2 by John Wagner and Pat Mills (Rebellion)

The last time we checked in on Judge Dredd (Verbal issue 10) things were not going too well for him. My verdict on Vol. 1 of the series was that it was childish, poorly drawn and the characters were underdeveloped. Oh dear! Fortunately for any Dredd heads out there, volume 2 of the ongoing collection shows some moves in the right direction.

Of all the things that Vol. 2 has going for it the fact that the majority of the artwork is by Brian Bolland is top of the list. With his crisp lines and insanely detailed (sometimes MASSIVE) panels he is for my money the quintessential Dredd artist. Also on hand is David Gibbons of Watchmen fame.

This period of Dredd history featured the first of the 'Mega Epics' - huge story lines which could take up to a year to play out (no mean feat for a weekly comic). The Cursed Earth sees Dredd travel through the heartland of America. Of course, this being the future, the heartland of America is now a radioactive wasteland filled with mutants, dinosaur cults and alien slave traders. So, no real changes to speak of. Writers Pat Mills and John Wagner are obviously having a blast exposing the foibles of American culture through this madness. Although sadly, the chapter involving a thinly disguised southern fried chicken supremo and his genetic experimentations is excised for what could best be described as 'Copyright issues' and at worst as 'imminent threats of legal action'. Still, there’s plenty of satirical fun to be had, and it’s all aged very well.

So there you have it. Judge Dredd Complete Case Files Vol: 2. - showing signs of improvement. Keep up the good work.

Spent by Joe Matt (Drawn and Quarterly)

Fair Weather by Joe Matt (Drawn and Quarterly)

While he is no Harvey Pekar (American Splendour) Joe Matt is fast amassing an

impressive pedigree as far as autobiographical comics go. After his excellent first collection The Poor Bastard, Matt has followed up with these two starkly contrasting works. The comics collected in Fair Weather have been described as being 'Philip Roth for the younger set', but I think 'The Wonder Years with a spoiled bastard as the main character', would be more like it. Matt looks back on a week of his childhood through what could best be described as a set of defective, rose-tinted glasses. No real revelations or shocking life stories, just your typical nostalgia piece, but with slightly more nudity than average.

Spent on the other hand, reveals more about young Joe Matt than you would possibly ever care to know. Far more, in fact, than I could discuss in a literary magazine at any length without getting myself into serious difficulty. So I'll just say that he really likes playing with himself and leave it at that.

Both highly recommended.