33: Necropolis

There are maybe 5-10 Dredd stories that were so big when first published, and have been analysed and examined so often since, that it can be challenging to find much to say about them that hasn't already been said - and said better. America was one, and Necropolis is most certainly another.

I'm not going to have some contrarian view or any sort of "hot take" here: Necropolis is great. John Wagner's work feels energised and urgent, driven by the themes that have been bubbling away all this through this and the previous Volume: duty, becoming obsolete, inheritance and how succession works (or doesn't) to name just a few. Even though Necropolis has 26 episodes to play with, Wagner wastes no time in getting to work. Dredd's apartment is destroyed in fire right at the start - the very last symbolic act of his removal from Mega-City One.

I was surprised just how quickly Kraken falls to the power of the Sisters. My memory of my first read of this story was that it was a much longer struggle - but it's insanely quick. I'm always impressed with how Wagner doesn't go for the obvious. We could have had 10 episodes of inner turmoil and struggle, but Wagner doesn't see any point in hiding the inevitable conclusion: Kraken is weak, and always was.

In the end, amidst all the fantastic scenes of the City under the power of the Sisters and the Dark Judges, this run of stories has always been about Dredd - how reliant the City is in him, how fallible he is and how hard he will be to replace when the time comes. Kraken should have been the ultimate replacement - honed to be a Judge. But he falls at the very first hurdle. And when he falls, the entire system falls. The Judges end up under the power of the Sisters, oppressing the citizens they are meant to protect.

Mega-City One is imperilled by "The Perfect Judge", working as a solo force. It is saved by a group of the imperfect - raw cadets not yet Judges; somewhat crazy McGruder; injured Anderson; and Dredd himself. Kraken was used by Odell and Silver after they thought Dredd was past it - but the City is eventually saved with the return of two "old-timers", Dredd and McGruder, from out of the Cursed Earth. In the end the idea of a single superhuman Judge can't work. It's working together with others that fight on despite what holds them back that allows Dredd to do what he does.

In the end Kraken is a tragic and doomed figure. Used by the Judda, then by the Justice Department, then by the Sisters. Kraken was meant to the perfect solo Judge, a man alone enforcing the Law - and it turned out that the one thing he could never be was his own man. Dredd eventually gives Kraken the only release he can - some measure of acknowledgement that Kraken was a victim, and then a quick death.

Everything around this central issue is just window dressing, but the majority of it is very entertaining. Carlos Ezquerra's colour-stained artwork is evocative and gripping; the return of McGruder is hilarious and her unlikely buddy comedy road trip with Dredd is a fun mid-story diversion.

At the time, Necropolis was the finale to a masterclass in storytelling by John Wagner, bringing together story threads from years previously to this renewal of Dredd. It's still effective today. What else is there really to say?

32: Dear Annie

For the third time in the Mega Collection so far, when a letter is written - things go very bad, very fast! We’re still exploring the absence of Dredd, and Dear Annie doesn’t even really have anything from the Justice Department bar a single panel. This is very much the real prologue to Necropolis, with the introduction (at least in terms of these Volumes) of the Dark Judges.

It’s clear that John Wagner enjoys writing the twisted monsters, giving them a sick sense of humour that counterbalances their over-the-top horror. Carlos Ezquerra is having a good time too, with an incredible full-page scene showing off all four of the Dark Judges as they take out other citizens.

Wagner takes a gleefully nasty route to reintroduce the epic villains we’ll be facing in the upcoming epic. They’re not back through some scientific experiment, or a cult or some other obvious plot device - they come back through a loving couple that are then forced to go through a twisted version of a failing marriage! The whole thing is even structured around a desperate letter to an agony aunt. Wagner really piles on the cruelty to poor Chip. Stabbed by his own wife and left for an undead superfiend!

This idea that Xena is essentially "seduced" by Judge Death is a nice little set up for Necropolis and Kraken's storyline. Wagner and Ezquerra are obviously no strangers to the horror genre and its underlying themes of being drawn to dark and seductive powers - it's a real appetiser to the main course as the entire City faces the same horror.

31: Rights of Succession

A one-shot that continues the "Countdown to Necropolis" by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Here we see Kraken take Dredd's name, badge and reputation and hit the streets. Wagner's crisp and checklist-like narration (Item!) encourages as to view Kraken as a machine, a force not of nature but of design. We keep getting references to the bloodline, to the idea that there's something at the very core of both Dredd and Kraken that ties them to the City - and to being a Judge.

I think Wagner is drawing some subtle distinctions between Dredd and Kraken here. Dredd can often just be seen as an all-action Judging machine, but his recent doubts have humanised him. Is Kraken here much different to what we've seen Dredd do before? But here we're made to question it, to wonder whether it's right. Every small crime picked up, every sentence harsh.

It's fascinating watching Wagner use Dredd's absence to really examine the the lawman, and not just who he is but what he means. You can't help but think that the brief sliver of frame that holds Dredd's badge splattered with blood doesn't bode well for how well Kraken will take up that mantle.

30: By Lethal Injection

We're into the "Countdown to Necropolis" now as John Wagner moves all the final pieces into position before Mega-City One's darkest hour. This is a pretty plot-heavy two-parter that sees Kraken granted full Judge status, despite the fact that Dredd failed him before taking the Long Walk. John Wagner's refusal to take the simple option is great here - it would be so much easier and more obvious if Kraken was just a Judda who was plotting and scheming and pretending. But Kraken is conflicted, and does genuinely believe he's worthy of being a Judge. Wagner gives his internal monologue some gravitas here as he almost seems to be dazed, sleepwalking to his death.

Carlos Ezquerra is back and isn't flashy or too dramatic, but his depiction of Kraken preparing to inject himself with the lethal concoction is so impressive that it even makes the 2000AD cover for that Prog! It's always good to see Wagner and Ezquerra together.

But at the end of the day this is Wagner taking the lead with meticulous planning and storytelling. I've read that Wagner was possibly seeing Necropolis as his swansong with Dredd. It's not too much of a stretch to see where Wagner's head is at as he explores what Mega-City One does without Dredd. Dredd is gone, and the Justice Department seem ready to replace him very quickly with a potentially dodgy copy. It's a mark of confidence in the world-building, over a decade into Judge Dredd stories, that Wagner is comfortable to explore stories without the Lawman himself actually appearing.

A lot of the stories in this Volume are about Dredd's relationship with the City he loves. In this extended prologue, we start by exploring what happens when he's not around - and whether he can be replaced.