Nexus Wookie
Posts: 2247
Joined: 24/9/2011
From: the Godcity
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JUDGE DREDD: AMERICA
WARNING: SPOILERS
I was absolutely blown away by this comic! It is without doubt - a masterpiece. It is a stunning piece of work which can easily sit alongside such comic books greats as Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns. But the subject matter is more resonant than the mentioned two, it is something more vital, and is like a chilling prophecy on where the our world is heading towards, especially in this climate of Terrorism and citizens rights being slowly eroded.
The story centres around two friends, America Jara and Bennett Beeny. Childhood freinds growing up in Mega City 1. Beeny is bullied as a child by other other kids, but find's a kindred spirit in America Jara. Beeny fall's in love with America but feels she is out of his league. His fears are soon realised when she falls for someone else. However, Beeny can never get America out of his mind. He send's letters to her but they soon grow to lead totally different lives. Beeny becomes a successful comedian and singer, whilst America Jara joins a Terrorist organisation 'Total War' which is intent on taking out the fascist Judges. But even as they drift apart, Beeny still yearns for his childhood friend and love. A chance meeting years later has terrifying consequuences for Beeny, and it will ultimately lead to tragedy for both.
America is a love story foremost, and a critical look into the oppresive way of life for the citizen in Dredd's world. Dredd is not the protagonist of the piece, but rather an antagonist. We see him at certain times like in the begining showing his views on where he stands: '' The people, they know where I stand. They need rules to live by - I provide them. They break the rule, I break them, Thats the way it works'' these words follow to the iconic artwork of Dredd standing on the American flag. The statue of Liberty stand in the foreground, but that itself is overshadowed by the collusus statue of Judgment. A ''symbol' of liberty, sacrificed for the harsh laws of the Judges.
It is ironic because America Jara's father names her America for the fact that as an immigrant, he is proud to be accepted in the land of the free. But that is a false notion as he himself discovers. Freedom is long dead, and oppression reigns supreme. And no where is it more clearer than the opening panels.
Wagner has written a very grown up story, an affecting, tragic and critical look into this world, and the life of two of its citizens. This story is a far cry from the earlier Judge Dredd comics. There is a very little humour in this story. But what makes America such a brilliant read is thanks to the beautiful painted artwork by Colin MacNeil. It has an almost dreamy quality to it. It is an artistic achievement of such resounding beauty, once I started reading it I could not take my eyes of the panels. There are images in the comic which have now seared themselves into my mind, images such as the one i've mentioned of Dredd standing before the statues of Liberty and Judgement, his foot on the Amercian flag. And images of a child (Beeny) standing with his ice cream on the floor as the figure of Judge Dredd on his bike looms near him. It is a chilling look into a system gone awry, where citizens have very little say on politics and how their city is run. It reminded me of other great fictional works such as Alan Moore's V For Vendetta, and George Orwell's 1984, of a totalitarian state or police state which posseses all the power over what people can do or say.
This book has the two sequels to America. The first is called 'The Fading of the light'. Again Wagner and MacNeil are on writing and artistic duties respectively. It is not as powerful a story as the original, but nonetheless very enjoyable. We get to see Bennett Beeny with his daughter 'America Beeny'. He is very ill, his brain is rejecting the body of America Jara he has worn since her death (a full body transplant). It may seem a little weird at first, but we get to see the tortured man beneath and the reasons for his decision. The media see him as a pervert, a loony. But as we see in the story that is far from the case. We have a troubled man, still trying to come to terms with his guilt over America's death. We are introduced to a devious character called Victor Portnoy, who blackmails Beeny into carrying out a bomb attack on an award ceremony.
I found it a really intrigueing read. The artwork is not as stunning as the original story, but I still loved it. There's a really harrowing rape scene towards the end which made me nauseous. And the fact that a Judge is near the incident and fails to intervene makes you the reader as furious as the victim. Its a really moving story which I thought was a good sequel to the orginal.
The third story in the book called 'Cadet' shows Bennett Beeny and America Jara's daughter 'America Beeny' as a young adult working as a trainee Judge. The decision for Beeny to become a Judge was made by her dying father in the previous story as he felt that she would be most safest in the the Judges Academy of Law. Its not surprising it's the poorest of the three stories seeing as the orginal story and even its sequel was a hard act to follow, but even then it is much better than the dozen's of comic i've read over the years. And this was really the first time during my read that I laughed out loud! I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet but if you do read it or have done, you'll agree that bastard had it coming!
One character I haven't yet mentioned, but who is ever present in the background in all three stories, offering his assistance and unflinching loyalty was the character of Robert the (robot) butler of Bennett Beeny. He is such a likeable guy, like C3-P0 but with brains! I really loved the character and how he alway's stood by Beeny, and helped his daughter in her investigation too. I wish I had a robot butler like him!
All in all it was a really enjoyable read. I can now see why America is regarded as the greatest Judge Dredd graphic novel by many. It's a really beautiful, moving, tragic story made doubly brilliant by MacNeil's stunning artwork. Seriously, Judge Dredd: America has to be one of the greatest comic book story ever written.
''you can't ignore whats going on. You can't bury your head in the sand and forget what the Judges are doing to us. You've got to keep fighting. You've got to keep looking for America''.
JUDGE DREDD: AMERICA ***** 5/5
< Message edited by Nexus Wookie -- 20/10/2012 9:53:48 AM >
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My blog: http://nexuswookie.wordpress.com/
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RE: What comic book are you reading right now? - 
I understand Case Files 04 is the first time we meet the Angel gang and Judge Anderson too. If I cannot make time to go back to HMV, then I think this'll be going top of my must buy list from online. 
Carlos Ezquerra... 
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