It’s the character exploration I mentioned before, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. While that sounds grim, Judgement on Gotham has a healthy dose of irreverence. By placing Dredd next to Batman, Grant and Wagner have found a new way in their ongoing exploration of the former and his dystopian future.

Inversely, Judge Dredd is part of the law, working strictly to his interpretation of it, and yet has no issue with shooting wrong-doers. This is stressed when he feels remorseful about accidentally “killing” Judge Death on their first encounter. However, he’s not willing to kill anyone in order to achieve his goals. Batman is a vigilante working outside of the law. While the characters have the same goal, methods and philosophies are oceans apart. Grant and Wagner use this as a tool to explore their differences. Having the pair not seeing eye-to-eye is far more interesting than if they teamed up. Original art from Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham by Simon Bisley. However, this comic flips that on its head for interactions more on-brand for each character and gives supporting cast member Judge Anderson a larger role. Usually, this is where the two characters will let bygones be bygones for the greater good. There, he meets Judge Dredd, and they butt heads. Batman encounters Dredd villain Judge Death and, in the process of pursuing him, ends up in Mega City-One. They were joined by artist Simon Bisley, who was red-hot off the back of Slaine: The Horned God and had recently entered the DC Comics system with Lobo.Īt first glance, Judgment on Gotham follows the character crossover formula. He also had a few Batman scripts to his name and a long working relationship with Grant. As for John Wagner, he co-creatored Judge Dredd, having written the majority of strips to that point. Alan Grant had written both characters, with extensive runs on the Judge Dredd strip in 2000 AD and an underrated run on Batman in Detective Comics and the self-titled series. It’s a line that Judgement on Gotham managed to walk, much in part due to the creative team involved. Writers need to capture the essence of two franchises and then combine them into a compatible story that makes sense within that context.

These kinds of crossovers walk a precarious tightrope. That’s just what happened with 1991’s intercompany crossover Judgment on Gotham. With both franchises buzzing at a high point in their publication history, they were bound to cross paths eventually. Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham cover by Simon Bisley.

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