Review- JUDGE DREDD: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES VOL. 7

JUDGE DREDD: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES VOL. 7 (2000 AD, Fourth UK Printing, 2012; Softcover)

Collects the Judge Dredd stories from 2000 A.D. #322-350, 353-375 (cover dates June 25, 1983- June 30, 1984)

Writers: Alan Grant and John Wagner

Artists: Steve Dillon, Ron Smith, Carlos Ezquerra, Cam Kennedy, Ian Gibson, Kim Raymond, Brett Ewins, and Jim Baikie

My on-again, off-again Judge Dredd marathon continues! Things start out strong with a 7 part epic called Cry Of The Werewolf. I love werewolves. I love Judge Dredd. This is like chocolate and peanut butter combined to make a Reese's Cup. Some of the more typical Dredd elements (i.e. having different types of bullets which can be called out by name via voice recognition) come into play during the course of this book.

As I have stated in reviews of previous volumes, the style and pace of these British comics would go on to be a major influence on American comics. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a mainstream comic published after 2000 that doesn't ape from this style of storytelling. This helps this thirty year old material feel fresh and contemporary.

I have enjoyed what I have read so far. I hope that volumes 8-23, all four Restricted Files, and Daily Dredds hold up...or I will have bought a lot of sucky books! Stay tuned to find out.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- These Rebellion/ 2000 AD books are wider than standard US trades. The artwork is still shrunk down from the original publications to fit.

The stories in #351 and #352 were reprints from earlier issues and thus are not included here.

Linework and Color restoration: Mostly good. Sometimes the backs seem too heavy, resulting in the letters of the word balloons being murky.

Paper stock: Thick uncoated stock.

Binding: Sewn binding.

Cardstock cover notes: Matte coating, easily scuffed. It is nearly impossible to assemble a mint condition collection of these books.