Judge Dredd: Total War
Written by John Wagner
Art by Colin MacNeil, Henry Flint and Jason Brashill
“I’ll give ‘em total war!”, so said Judge Dredd upon finding a blood-stained note declaring ‘Total War’ on a Judge’s body in the classic tale America. The terrorists didn’t go away though and some 13 years on became the main players in this recent epic tale. The plot is straight-forward enough: Total War have continued their activities over the years, with bombings and assassinations, all in the name of seizing complete freedom for the citizens, even if they have kill many of them in the process. Now they have smuggled a number of nuclear devices into the city and threaten to detonate them unless the Judges abdicate.
This Rebellion collection features 3 stories: Terror, Total War and After The Bombs. Each has a different focus but all highlight various aspects of both terrorism and the justice system.
The first looks at how people may be drawn into terrorism: guilty and innocent alike. The Judges are far from perfect, nor can they protect everyone from every crime, in Terror it is one of the casualties of crime that is the focus of the story. Yet equally his blaming of the Judges may well be misplaced, how far does the responsibility of the Judges extend?
The second considers the claims of terrorism and their reality, namely that despite acts being taken in the name of the citizens, it rarely is that straighforward. It is a power grab, one group of rich citizens wish to rule instead of the Judges and so use the cause of democracy as a respectable façade for their ambitions. These ambitions become all too clear as their extreme acts reveal their intent to all: The detonation of two of the devices splinters Total War, it is too much, too far, too extreme.
After The Bombs depicts the aftermath by an innovative plot device of an amnesiac accessing psychic ability, who turns out to be have been a member of Total War’s assassination squad.
If you are looking for a clearly defined tale of good and evil, with one side to cheer and the other to loathe you may be surprised by the collection for it can disturb with the tactics employed by the Judges, such as abducting a citizen off the street, covertly fitting surveillance equipment on them, like cameras on their optic nerves and then returning them to the streets. And the art? The art trio are all excellent on their respective tales, the depiction of the nuclear detonations is particularly strong, being just horrific enough without going overboard.
These stories were published in 2004. The first June-July, the second Sept-Dec. One reason for returning to the Total War plot can be seen in the 09/11 attacks which showed a new form of terrorism. The terror attacks seen in the story have different aims and repercussions. The bar bombing at the start which is small, the aim being to bring Judges to the area in time for a second larger bomb to explode. One resonance here is with the Omagh bombing where crowds were sent in the direction of a bomb due to a warning of a device being elsewhere. The nuclear detonations mix sheer scale with total disregard for life, which has been the hallmark of Al Qaeda’s activities from the destruction of the World Trade Centre to the Bali bombs. The suicide run method of driving a truck of explosive is also covered, which has been used in Kenya and Iraq and elsewhere.
At the same time these parallels can be read into the material, the story stands in its own right - 5 or 10 years later the story could be read without relying upon these contemporary events. I found the story a good deal more disturbing due to the vivid nuclear detonations and the July attacks in London, plus the would-be bomber’s viewpoint can easily gain the reader’s sympathy due to the skilful writing. The nukes recalled the burning towers imagery and the feeling I had that it was all designed. Where this collection really succeeds is that it can have you encouraging the Judges utterly, whilst in the back of your head the question lingers: What if they investigate me? Well you haven’t done anything wrong, have you? Not that you know of anyway…
In summary, this a surprisingly complex, finely balanced tale that is wise enough to raise difficult questions and not give out-right answers, as a result of that and the very sharp art, those questions linger on in the mind for a good time after you’ve finished reading it.
Ben Crofts is resident in Essex, works in London and has found comics and philosophy mix surprisingly well.