Still entirely bonkers and weaving its way into the early 1980s. Seems to be a few issues playing with the art style which is great. No very-long story arcs but there is a completely madcap multi-parter involving 'sov-block' where Judges with hammer & sickle insignias plot to use a cyborg - who thinks a colossal mutant squid is his mother - to launch dozens of nukes against Megacity One. Bizarre fun.

A reread so many years on. Great to see the Judge Child again. Good mix of long and short tales.

At last! The first appearances of Judges Anderson and Death and of the Angel Gang. Just when you think you're moving towards what Dredd became though, Walter reappears. This is a big step in the evolution of Dredd, stepping away from classic British comic-book tropes and becoming a more mature cannon. That transition's not yet quite complete though.

This Judge Dredd Case Files opens with a cracking long story: the search for Owen Krysler or the Judge Child, a psychic boy which a precognitive Judge predicts would save Mega City One from destruction in the future. The search would lead Judge Dredd to Texas City and then outer space after Krysler is kidnapped by the infamous Angel Gang. But as the quest continues, Dredd begins to doubt his mission and at the end, must decide whether to bring Krysler back or not.Other short stories would introd...

This collection begins with our hero tracking an abducted clairvoyant child to the ancient Egypt themed lair of a self styled 'God of Garbage'. Then it gets weird....The opening Judge Child saga takes us on a whacky road trip through post apocalyptic Cursed Earth and off world to a series of crazy planets. The art from Brian Bolland and Ron Smith is just terrific and everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into this adventure. I loved the dry humour of Dredd's 'Captain's Log' (poor Judge Lopez...

Formative moments in my childhood: Fink Angel, Block War! Get ugly with Otto Sump and most importantly, Marlon Shakespeare / Chopper appearing for the first time. Classics.

It's a good job I'm getting the Case Files books digitally. By the time I' catch up with today's Dredd, I'd be in need of a room just for the books if I were buying paper copies.File 4 contains another of the great Dredd epics- the Judge Child Quest. This is one I haven't seen the whole of before, because back when I was picking up the Quality/Eagle reprints, this was a mini-series of its own. Disaster is coming to the Big Meg, and it has been predicted that only a child called Owen Krysler can

Case Files 4 is a decent affair, but the epic Judge Child saga had me scratching my head. Half the book is devoted to this story, and reads a bit like a pen and paper RPG - the GM has many stories to tell, but can't quite come up with a main plot line. The idea is decent, but the story arc seems a bit to random and scattered for my liking. The rest of the book however is bloody Stella, and a big improvement over Case Files number 3.

My least favourite JD Case Files so far.The Judge Child epic didn't work for me. I think it is because MegaCity 1 & the Cursed Earth are part & parcel of the Judge Dredd experience; they are the underrated supporting acts that make Dredd the fascinating character he is. I think one of the reasons JD is such an enduring character is that we can project multiple anxieties about our current environment into his stories. So placing Dredd on alien planets reduces his effectiveness as a fictional char...

The Judge Child storyline dominates the first half this collection, the second half is a little more eclectic, lots of smaller stories set in the big meg, there's even room for a small sequel of sorts to the JC story, as a previously unknown member of the Angel gang makes an appearance looking for vengeance.

The bulk of this Dredd omnibus is taken up by the quite impressive "Judge Child" storyline, where we see the Judge Dredd universe branch out into space opera. Something I genuinely did not see coming, but that story arc surprises and impresses me at every turn. The remainder is taken up by one-shots, even there however you can see the ambition of "The Judge Child" rub off with one of the Angel Gang making a repeat appearance. I can understand why, that clan of murderous religious fanatic hillbil...

This is my favorite of the Case Files so far because Dredd goes into space and shit gets a little weirder than usual.

While the majority of stories are still rather child-like in their approach, it is great to see Dredd develop as a character, albeit very slowly, in arcs such as The Judge Child. Much of the wit is now outdated (chiefly the names of Blocks being called after famous people of the era) but as a result has taken on a bizarre humour beyond its original intent. One of the oddest highlights has to be the new 'ugly trend' which sweeps the city, in which beautiful people take to plastic surgery and othe...

Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 04 kicks off straight after the previous book! :D Dredd has to overcome the Judge Child who he is sent to retrieve by the Chief Judges! :D It becomes very apparent that things are not all that they seem and the the Judge Child himself is up to no good I the neighbourhood! :D To top all of this off as well the SOV's are also up to no good stirring up trouble in Mega City One! :D The stories all go along at a great pace never letting up at all! :D This of course...

The book starts with the introduction of some of the most iconic characters in Dredd’s universe: the Angel gang and Judge Barbara Hershey. The book ends with another: Marlon “Chopper” Shakespeare. But the most interesting thing about these early stories is 1. Grant’s world building is getting more solid and thoughtful (The Apocalypse War basically starts in a throwaway pirate story) 2. Grant’s confidence in creating popular villains he’ll then happily kill off (with a now regretted exception, mo...

The first volume so far that felt a little underwhelming. I really enjoyed The Judge Child mega-epic, even if the ending left a little to be desired. But everything after that was incredibly hit or miss, and the writers clearly thing Otto Sump is a WAY funnier concept than he turns out to be (the Beatles one-off parody was gold though).

Part of my ongoing efforts to read all of classic Dredd in chronological order. This latest volume covers well over a year's worth of Dredd strips from 1980-81, right when I was at my peak of buying weekly comics and waaaaay too scared to pick up 2000 AD. Included here is the Judge Child saga which ran over half a year in weekly chapters. I can only imagine how exciting it must have been to watch this play out every time a new issue became available for 10 or 12p at the local newsagents. What a

Best Dredd Case Files so far. They're totally in a groove by this point and the quality of the strips is very consistent, whether they're epics, stand-alone throwaway tales (well, I guess they're all throwaway!) or refer back to previous story lines. The mixture of childlike swashbuckling, satire and casual violence is always great fun. Ace.

Fourth in the ongoing series reprinting every Dredd story from 2000AD, this covers progs 156-207 originally published between 1980 and 1981 (my golden period of reading ‘the galaxy’s greatest comic’). The biggest story is “The Judge Child”, which I don’t remember at all and while it starts well, it then sets off on a wild goose chase which now appears little more than an excuse to try Dredd in different settings rather than follow any chain of logic. The bulk of the stories are written by John W...