The iconic Judge Dredd work of a master artist, from his earliest stories to his groundbreaking work on serials such as “The Cursed Earth” and “The Judge Child,” this Apex edition of Mick McMahon’s Judge Dredd work shows how his style constantly evolved and helped make him one of the greatest Dredd artists of all time. Featuring high-resolution scans of original artwork, this is a deluxe, over-sized facsimile edition that reproduces McMahon’s original art pages at their actual size. Complete stories such as “Frankenstein II,” “The Wreath Murders,” and “Dream Palace” are published alongside pages from “The Cursed Earth,” “The Day the Law Died,” “The Judge Child,” “The Fink,” and “Block Mania.” This book ends with a section devoted to his colour Dredd work from the early Eighties, including the complete “Pinboing Wizard” and several double page spreads from the legendary “The Vampire Effect.”
- 2000AD, January 04, 2023
- ISBN 978-1-78618-675-1
- 481mm x 371mm (14.75″ x 19″), 128 pages, hardcover
- $105.99 USD
- Order online: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet
As with all AE format material (Artist’s Editions, Artifact Editions, Gallery Editions, Art Editions, Studio Editions, etc.), this is a collection of classic comic material and I’ll be reviewing the book and not the story. For a complete list of all current and announced editions, with review links, please visit our Index. Also, see What is an Artist’s Edition and our Artist Index. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
These stories were published in 2000AD, which is an anthology. So a complete chapter from an issue is 5-6 pages. Using those criteria we’re presented with six complete chapters, plus sixteen covers, a pin-up, a print, and many other interior pages. A nice mix of inked art and fully coloured pages. McMahon’s style evolved drastically throughout his career and the progression shown here is almost jarring.
The scans are without issue: no softness or digital artifacts. The word balloons have aged to semi-translucent, allowing quite a bit of art to come through. It must have been the type of glue used in-house at 2000AD. Blacks show gradients. Very little blue pencil, correction fluid or margin notes: outside of the art and lettering the pages are surprisingly clean.
The design is simple and direct, with no colour added to the title page, colophon, or biography. Instead, cream-coloured paper is used to differentiate from the original art. The table of contents lays everything out and every page has the issue, story name, and page number along the outer bottom edge. 2000AD began this with the last Apex Edition and is such a critical piece of information for every original page of art.
Production is excellent: a sewn binding of thick matte paper stock, probably 170 gsm. The book comes shrink-wrapped in a cardboard case that has the title and product code printed on the front. The box is an odd design, with an inside tray holding the book. The cardboard is quite thin and doesn’t hold up well.
I had pre-ordered my copy months ago but it didn’t arrive at my local comic shop on January 4 as expected. Some harassment of Diamond distributors shook the book loose and it arrived this week.
