IS JUDGE DREDD DEAD, OR ARE COMIC BOOKS KING OF THE MOVIES?

Comic books have a lot to answer for because of the way they've affected the world around us. For many years Math, English, and Science homework has been neglected and put to one side, the finest books in literature have been constantly passed by, plus to make matters even worse, some of the most spectacular movies in the history of film have been hitting the silver screen. Well, as you can see, it's not all that bad, not totally, anyway, even though the influence of the comic book industry continues to dominate our culture at the margins. Heck, men and women in their forties and fifties still happily go to conventions in order to collect every last special edition, one-off print, and rare first appearance.





For generations comic books have had their say on society and in modern times have even spawned countless games and films that the paying audience have lapped up in their masses. And why not? After all, the heroic characters created by this genre have been quite brilliant, so brilliant in fact, that some of them can easily be defined as classic superheroes of our time.

For instance, Stan Lee created Spider-Man for Marvel back in 1962 and the character has gone on to become an icon of the comic book and superhero genre. He's been depicted in numerous games, including those featured on the Sega Megadrive, dating back to the early 1990s, where we could pretend to be the web firing hero in a 2D side scrolling adventure.

He has also been depicted in several movie adaptations involving some high-profile names, such as Tobey Maguire, who took to the role in the Sam Raimi trilogy of 2002 to 2007; Andrew Garfield, who played the character in the subsequent version, coined 'The Amazing Spider-Man'; as well as Tom Holland, who played the part in the 2017 hit, 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'.

Another example of this brand of comic book cross-over can be seen in the character of Judge Dredd. Back in 1977 he was created by John Wagner for a small independent publishing house based in the UK called Rebellion Developments, and like Spidey, he also took to the silver screen, the printed page, and the world of gaming, brandishing his own style of futuristic law enforcement before becoming a pop-culture icon in his own right. Dredd can also be played in the online slots at William Hill games where players can play for cash prizes in a game themed in the dystopian future depicted in the comics and movies.

Famously Sylvester Stallone portrayed the character in the 1995 movie where he marched through the crime ridden streets of Mega City 1 handing out justice in a way that only he can. The film was then remade in 2012 and was simply titled Dredd, with Karl Urban playing the role of the judge.

Now while the original movie was a slight box office success, grossing $113 million on a budget of $90 million, the remake was less successful, only grossing $41 million against a budget between $30 to $45 million. Based on these numbers the scope for another reboot does not seem all that promising, but that said, if the themes of the comic book could be explored in a more intellectual way it would give a new movie a much better chance of success.

Even Stallone thought the first film back in 1995 was a missed opportunity because themes of police states, authoritarianism, and rule of law could be delved into in more depth.

Along similar lines, John Wagner, the creator of Judge Dredd, once gave a statement in the press where he said that the 1995 movie “Tried to do too much and told the wrong story”, and if someone can tell the “right” story, then there is plenty of life in the Judge Dredd franchise yet.

A Judge Dredd film could explore the ideas of what happens when police and judges are given too much power outside the jury led courts of real society, or even explore how a corrupt state can misuse authority for their own gain. So what do you think, dear reader? Would you like to see a new Judge Dredd film or more of this?