Where to Start Reading Judge Dredd

I get asked "where do I start with Judge Dredd?" rather a lot. My short answer: Of the books that are currently in print in the U.S., you're going to want to start with Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files 05. That's right: volume 5. It's a very solid introduction; you won't need any information from the earlier volumes that it won't give you, and you can always go back and read those volumes later if you want. It's a big fat black-and-white paperback with a year's worth of weekly stories, circa 1981-1982, including (among others) three very fondly remembered serials: "Judge Death Lives" (drawn by Brian Bolland), "Block Mania" and "The Apocalypse War" (drawn by Dredd's co-creator Carlos Ezquerra).

The best introduction to Judge Dredd is probably America, a collection of three stories by John Wagner and Colin MacNeil (from 1990, 1996 and 2006) that made the series much more interestingly complicated. It's finally back in print--in the U.K., not the U.S.--but there's a Kindle edition of it that's available in the U.S., too. (There's also an argument that a lot of the drama of America comes from its reversal of what had come before it; I still think it's a terrific place to start.)

The most recent material that's been collected is Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty - Mega-City Justice , which collects a pretty terrific 2009-2010 serial. It's a British book, though, and effectively the second half of a long storyline (the first half has been collected as Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty - The Backlash). (UPDATE: As of this writing, the most recent U.K. material to be collected is the terrific Judge Dredd: Trifecta.)

The most recent long storyline in the weekly 2000 AD comics was "Day of Chaos," an excellent, very densely packed thriller that ran for an entire year, from 2000 AD #1740 to 1789. It hasn't yet been collected, and it's the payoff for several years' worth of buildup. You can, however, buy the whole thing issue-by-issue, in physical or digital form, from 2000 AD's site. (UPDATE: It's now available in two volumes:  Judge Dredd Day Of Chaos: The Fourth Faction and Judge Dredd Day Of Chaos: Endgame.)

Is there a story from which Dredd-the-movie was adapted? No, there isn't. (From what I can tell, the movie effectively takes place a little while before the beginning of the comics series.) However, Olivia Thirlby's character Cassandra Anderson makes one of her memorable early appearances in "Judge Death Lives," in the aforementioned Complete Case Files 05. (UPDATE: There is, however, a one-shot comic book sequel to the movie that's also available in digital form: Dredd: Underbelly.)

If you want to read everything in order, there's always the blog you're looking at right now: I'm writing about all the non-redundant collections of Dredd comics in the publication order of the first story they include that hasn't already been covered (with a few exceptions). There are a lot of them--counting spinoffs with the same setting, there are currently about 75 volumes' worth of material, and that's not counting the hundreds of episodes that haven't yet been reprinted. 

And the best books? The general favorites among fans are everything named above, as well as the British collection Complete Case Files 14, which collects the "Necropolis" storyline (and serves as the payoff to another few years' worth of stories). My personal faves also include Brothers of the Blood and the spinoffs Chopper: Surf's Up, Mega-City Undercover Vol. 02: Living the Low Life, The Taxidermist and Devlin Waugh: Red Tide.)

(Note that if you click through on any of these links and end up buying the book from Amazon, I get a little cut of the price; I hope this guide is helpful to you! And if anyone wants, I can set up links to Powell's, too.)

If you have other opinions, feel free to leave them in the comments!