Judge Dredd: Innocents Abroad
Story:
Art:

Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Greg Staples & Gary Erskine
Letters by Tom Frame

Notes: Contains Judge Dredd stories which originally appeared in 2000 A.D. progs 741, 761, 776-779, 804-807 & 825.

Published by Titan Comics.
Price: £9.99/$14.95
My verdict: Gold mine for Ennis fans.

A collection of Dredd stories by Garth Ennis hits. First up, the title story about the return of Emerald Isle's Judge Joyce, in Mega-City One to nab some bank robbers--and let's just say that he and Dredd have differing styles of doing things. Next up, "Babes in Arms" is the charming love story about four women who, for reasons that are eventually explained, decide to brutally perforate their husbands. Next up, some one shots: "The Rough Guide to Suicide" outlines the Judges' reaction to a very lethal fad hitting the city; "Blind Mate", where a perp on the run tries to hide (and poorly) in a dating show; and lastly, "Twin Blocks," where a woman is murdered and that leads to an investigation of a gun-running ring.

Dredd is simply everbody's favorite fascist. And here, written by Ennis (Preacher) are some tales of the Judge told in a twisted humor that Ennis fans can quickly recognize and enjoy. Granted, no new ground is being broken here: "Innocents" is a fish-out-of-water story that pokes fun at the Irish version of Dredd, "Babes" is pretty much I Spit on Your Grace but with huge guns...the list goes on. However, you don't necessarily go to Dredd for innovation. You generally go to Dredd for violence--lots and lots of violence, all delivered with extreme prejudice.

All of that to say that Ennis serves the character, situations and stories well. Granted, "Blind Mate" is obviously a direct smack in the face (in the story, that's very literal) to some Brit TV show that I simply don't catch, but so be it. One story out of five that doesn't translate. The rest are all quite entertaining.

The art is good too, and although Staples' Bisley-esque painted style is nice, Erskine's work is a lot cleaner and more eye-friendly. Erskine is a lot like Geof Darrow would be if Darrow would lay off the triple espressos: i.e., same cool technical art, ten percent of the background details. Not that there's anything wrong with Darrow, mind you: Darrow rocks balls, but sometimes his crowd scenes can make your head explode. I've always been a fan of Erskine, so maybe that's just me.

So bottom line, if you're an Ennis fan, you'll want to definitely pick up this early bit of his work--here he's able to cut loose in funny ways that don't necessarily work when he pulls them in his current run on Punisher.