One of the things I love about comics is when I stumble upon something I ‘m not familiar with that sucks me right in. For years I had only really known about Judge Dredd peripherally mainly because I had no real interest in a future cop story. When The Dead Man came across my desk heralded as a prologue to one of the most important Judge Dredd stories ever told, “Necropolis”, I was instantly curious. Not only because it was written by A History Of Violence scribe John Wagner and Hellblazer artist John Ridgway but because of how the book looked more like an issue of Weird Western Tales than Judge Dredd.
The story begins in a small town cradled deep in the heart of Cursed Earth, the post apocalyptic scorched remnants of a planet long dead. These towns are all that’s left outside of the gigantic Mega Cities where Judge Dredd and his fellow cops dole out justice. A young boy named Yassa finds a body that is completely burned up but somehow still alive. From there comes an adventure that includes cannibalistic mutants, psychic projections, dark shadows and an acid river. How it all ties into Judge Dredd is a secret I’ll let stay for when you read this new collection of The Dead Man from 2000 AD.
John Wagner is a master of allowing a story to slowly unfold and The Dead Man is no exception. Instead of rushing into the action Wagner allows things to breathe, for the read to get comfortable with the characters and the situations before bringing on the violence. In The Dead Man you become attached to Yassa, his faithful dog and the towns people who protect him. Wagner also allows The Dead Man’s tale to be a jigsaw puzzle slowly being put together so while the action is taking place there remains an element of mystery. As always, Wagner’s dialogue is crisp and he manages to use narration without it getting monotonous. I was even impressed on how he brought a new slant to the age-old “deadly stranger” western vibe.
Visually, things don’t get much better than John Ridgway. Taking lessons learned from Bernie Wrightson, Alex Toth and old Creepy Comics Ridgway creates a palpable feeling of tension and dread (no pun intended) in The Dead Man. The art in this book is only black and white but the violence has more impact to it than many of the full color books out today. It’s the way Ridgway uses shadow and negative space to create a “what’s around the next corner” feeling because when you create that kind of tension the violent pay off is that much more disturbing. Just look at the splash page featuring one of the Sisters Of Death and you’ll see why Ridgway is a master of using basics to create complexity.
The Dead Man is a great tale on its own and the idea that it leads into something bigger is even more exciting. For the first time in the years since I first heard about Judge Dredd I’m actually dedicated to finding out more about the character and what I’ve missed. Outside of the great storytelling the real magic behind Wagner & Ridgway’s The Dead Man is how it reinvents the Dredd story and how it draws in not only old school fans but also the Dredd-ignorant like me.
