Judgement on Gotham

"Judgement on Gotham"sic is the first of four Batman and Judge Dredd crossover comic books published by DC Comics and Fleetway in 1991. It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with art by Simon Bisley.

ynopsis

The story opens in Gotham City where a trysting couple are slain by a ghoulish creature calling itself Judge Death. Two police officers arrive on the scene, only for Judge Death to murder the first. He is prevented from murdering the second by the arrival of Batman, who unintentionally impales him on a fence. Death recovers but is then burnt to ashes by some inflamed gasoline. Judge Death flees in spirit form.

Batman then finds a strange device which he accidentally activates. It is a dimension-jump belt that allowed Judge Death to reach Gotham. Batman rematerializes in Death's place of origin, Mega-City One, and is confronted by Mean Machine Angel, who claims that he and Death were supposed to be partners.

Mean Machine has a dial on his head which gives him various nasty moods ranging from surly to brutal. He turns his dial to 2, which makes him literally mean, and attempts to butt Batman, only to fall off the edge of the building. Pushed by his moral code not to allow any death or killing, Batman saves Mean Machine who resents this and fights back, insisting nobody saves him unless he asks them to.

At that point they are confronted by Judge Dredd, law-enforcer of Mega-City One. Mean Machine flees to Gotham using the dimension-jump belt. There he head-butts the surviving police officer who confronted Judge Death and wanders off into the city looking for his erstwhile "partner".

Back in Mega-City One, Dredd tells Batman to put on a set of handcuffs. When Batman tells him the cuffs are unnecessary, Dredd knocks him unconscious with his nightstick, cuffs him and takes him in for questioning.

Meanwhile, in Gotham, Batman' enemy, the Scarecrow, and an assistant break into the City Morgue to steal the raw materials for fear-toxin that will make people face their worst nightmare. Judge Death floats into the morgue looking for a new body, only to be startled by the Scarecrow. As the Scarecrow gloats over having scared a ghost, Judge Death enters his mind and finds a kindred spirit (of sorts) in the twisted sociopath. Being promised a feast of fear in exchange, the Scarecrow becomes partners with Judge Death.

In Mega-City One, Dredd piles up the list of unintended offences caused by Batman (largely weapons charges concerning the contents of his utility belt) and the years of prison-time that he is to serve. The Dark Knight's claims that it is all due to circumstances beyond his control is irrelevant. "Is there any chance I could speak to someone with a little intelligence?" snorts the frustrated Batman. At that moment telepath Psi-Judge Anderson enters asking "Somebody lookin' for me?", showing her own opinion of her colleague Judge Dredd.

Anderson scans Batman's mind and tells him about Judge Death. She decides that they ought to go to Gotham in order to deal with Death and she'll need Batman, who knows the time and place well. This idea is blocked by the by-the-book Dredd who, though he accepts that Batman is from another dimension, insists that it makes no difference: "the creep broke the law, he's doing time", which is a twenty-year sentence. He also states that Gotham is beyond their jurisdiction and that they'll need to refer to higher authority before dealing with Mean Machine and Judge Death.

This attitude infuriates Batman who is now fully aware what is loose in his city. He snaps his bonds and punches Dredd to the floor, kicking him in the gut before Dredd kicks him back and Batman is subdued by several other Judges.

In Gotham City, the fearsomely evil Judge Death is restored and clad in a semblance of his former uniform. After killing the Scarecrow's henchman, he attempts to turn on the Scarecrow himself only to be stopped by a dose of Fear-o-sol which exposes him to his greatest fears: fluffy bunnies, My Little Ponies and other cutesy characters.

Awakening from it, he promises to obey the Scarecrow, who leads him to a heavy metal concert featuring a band called Living Death. Meanwhile, Mean Machine demolishes a bar and is directed to the same concert.

Anderson resolves to break all the rules in order to re-capture Death as soon as possible. She attacks her own colleagues and breaks Batman out of custody. They then dimension-jump into Gotham City. A furious Dredd calls for them to be stopped and then goes to Gotham himself.

In Gotham, Judge Death slaughters the heavy metal band and prepares to extend his work from there only to be interrupted by Mean Machine who still wants revenge for the double-cross. Batman, Anderson and Dredd then appear on the scene. In the battle that follows, Death is on the verge of actually killing Dredd when Batman uses a batarang to destroy his physical body while Anderson imprisons his spirit in her mind. Mean Machine, whose dial got stuck on 4 1/2 (Uncontrollable Butt Frenzy) during the fight, is subdued.

Dredd prepares to take Anderson and Mean Machine back to Mega-City One. He also insists that Batman come along to complete his "sentence" even though the Dark Knight saved his life. They are close to coming to blows when Anderson insists that there is no time to waste. She may have Death trapped inside her but if she does not get him into a secure unit that will hold him she will not "answer for what happens". Dredd grudgingly agrees to drop the charges and leave. Batman takes care of Scarecrow.

As they are about to depart, Dredd admits that Batman is a "bit of a tough guy", implying some growing respect.

Character Handling

In this version the Scarecrow is given a ghoulish, almost phantom-like look, as compared to his contemporary appearance in DC comics where he was just a man dressed as a scarecrow of the sort seen in a farmer's field.

Unmasked, Batman has a number of distinctive grey hairs.

Reception

Igor Goldkind was "2000 AD"'s marketing consultant at the time and recalls one successful event: [ [http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2006/goldkind/igor-goldkind.shtml 2006 interview with Igor Goldkind] ]

I also organised more professional press conferences before major signings and national comic book signing tours, which hadn’t really been done on a big scale in this country before. I remember the Judge Dredd vs. Batman graphic novel signing launch at the Virgin Megastore at Oxford Circus in London amazed even the police with the numbers that lined up around the block to get their book signed by Simon Bisley, John Wagner and Alan Grant. The store manager said it was a bigger draw than when David Bowie had done a signing the month previously.

Publication

It was released as a graphic novel in 1991 and has been reprinted a number of times since. ISBN 1-56389-022-4

Other Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers

This was the first of four joint adventures, all by the same writers [ [http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&Comic=Specials&choice=BATMAN 2000AD Online - thrill zone ] ] - the others were:

*"Vendetta in Gotham" (1993) Art by Cam Kennedy
*"The Ultimate Riddle" (1995) Art by Carl Critchlow and Dermot Power
*"Die Laughing" (1998) Art by Glenn Fabry and Jim Murray

References

External links

* [http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=prog&page=specials&choice=BATMAN1 2000 AD profile]
* [http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/reviews/extra/2004/trades/batmandredd/batmandredd.shtml Review]