Another Gordon Rennie one-shot exploring the aftermath of Total War, with Judges Dredd and Guthrie out in the Cursed Earth looking for survivors who fled the nuclear detonations. I think I actually enjoyed this one a fair bit more than Visiting Hour however. While Rennie felt constrained there by having to deal with the complex family connections between Dredd and Vienna, here he is able to tell a very simple story about a single Mega-City family that fell victim to the crazy events that continually afflict the Big Meg.
Rennie's stark story rams home the oft-made point that a true win is very hard to come by in this world. Nothing is solved or fixed here. A family are killed by scavengers in the Cursed Earth, and then the final surviving member has to be taken out by the force meant to protect them - the Judges. Just one among millions. The only lesson Dredd can pull out of it is to get tighter boots, focus on the job and move on.
What really kicks this up a notch for me though is Carl Critchlow's artwork. I really love his scraggly lines and textures, which seem to fit particularly well for the Cursed Earth setting. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his artwork in further Volumes.
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