Nice to be back among the streets of MC-1. I originally read this back in 2019, but I never reviewed it for some reason. Why did that happen? But it gave me what little excuse was needed to re-read it. Found at my local library, so let us dive in.
Title: Judge Dredd: The Small House
Author: Rob Williams
Artist: Henry Flint
Blurb: The critically-acclaimed and fan-lauded latest Judge Dredd tale which sent shockwaves through the universe and Mark Millar called “one of the best runs ever!”
Everything is at stake and no-one is safe – in the critically-acclaimed storyline from Rob Williams and Henry Flint, Judge Dredd and his team of hand-picked allies finally takes on the nefarious Judge Smiley, Mega-City One’s behind-the-scenes manipulator – but who will be left standing at the end? And with tensions with Chief Judge Hershey at breaking point, has Dredd finally met his match?
Format: 96 pages, Paperback (buy via Amazon: Affiliate Shop - thanks for the support)
Review
As a long-time reader, you can't read a Rob Williams' Dredd story without having this feeling of building dread. He is being sneaky in his stories and hinting at something in the shadows working against Dredd and possibly MC-1, but what is it or better yet, who? This story is bringing this all to a head and seems to be finally closing this arc (maybe).
The tale begins on Titan with a survivor of an early Rob William story - Judge Sam. If you haven't read Titan, I highly recommend it, and you could say this is the beginning adventure of the arc. Judge Sam hails from Brit-Cit and is a brilliant Architect. With too much free time on Titan, Judge Sam has noticed a more like a web pattern. This web of actions across the globe all lead to MC-1 and, more importantly, to the Grand Hall of Justice. Wanting to unravel this mystery, Judge Sam requests a transfer to MC-1 and becomes a street judge hoping to discover more.
Now I don't want to ruin it with spoilers, so I must stop there with the plot. But inside this story, we get Judge Dredd, Judge Giant, SJS Judge Gerhart, Judge Sam and Wally Squad Dirty Franks working together. It's like a dream team! We also finally discover the origin story of Dirty Frank and boy it does not disappoint!
Ultimately this is a classic conspiracy tale that can be enjoyed as a stand-alone piece, but also very enjoyable to see all the loose strings tied up. The artwork, unsurprisingly, is fantastic. Henry Flint is my favourite Dredd artist of the modern line-up. He just knows what works! Backgrounds are detailed but not distracting, his characters show their age, and I wonder how he does it, but he can portray the persona of a character purely through art. The story this writer/artist combo has produced over the years has been some of my favourites in the series, and I can't wait to get more of their work soon!
There is one line you see a lot about this tale, but it sums up the conspiracy perfectly:
“There is a house, you know. A small house. And it has no doors. There is no way in and no way out. Yet someone lives there.”
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