They investigate a trio of homicides in the Peach Trees megablock (a city contained within a massive skyscraper that dwarfs the Empire State Building). The film follows a day in the life of a Judge of Mega-City One, as Dredd assesses the telepathic Judge candidate Anderson (Olivia Thirlby). But finally Alex Garland, author of The Beach and screenwriter of 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Never Let Me Go, managed to get the funds together to make a low budget film, this one titled simply Dredd.ĭredd stars Karl Urban in the title role. As a result, another attempt at adapting the property to film hasn't happened for almost twenty years. It's also tainted the franchise in American eyes so thoroughly that the character is considered something of a joke by anyone who hasn't read the brilliant comic books. While that movie has some fun elements, it did a terrible job of translating the comic to the screen. Sadly, in America, most people's only exposure to the character is the 1995 Sylvester Stallone vehicle. Judge Dredd is so popular in his native Britain that his name is used as a byword for the threat of a police state. The comic is incredibly ambitious, with many storylines taking place over the course of six months or more. Even more surprising, the comic takes place in real time, meaning that one year of our lives is one year in the world of Judge Dredd.

The property proved so popular that the strip has run non-stop in every issue of 2000 AD ever since. The title character of the strip was a stern, no-nonsense cop living in an absolute police state. This sci-fi anthology magazine debuted in the mid-70's, and in the second issue it featured a strip called Judge Dredd. In fact, many of the brightest names in American comics started writing in other countries, especially Britain, which has a distinct comic book industry that in many ways takes more chances than Marvel, DC, Image, or Dark Horse. Many people don't know this, but there's more to the world of comic books than superheroes.

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