Comic review 171 // The Simping Detective by 2000 AD

One of my favourite 2000 AD characters is the focus of this comic, and it fills me with excitement to read this. Hopefully, I still feel the same at the end.

Title: The Simping Detective

Author: Simon Spurrier

Artist: Frazer Irving

Description:

MEGA-CITY ONE, 2129 AD. Simped-up private eye Jack Point is an undercover 'Wally Squad' Judge – ‘cos only a clown would want to walk the streets of Angeltown, the scuzziest part of City Bottom. He's got two friends in this world; one's long and hard and makes your ears ring after every shot; the other's his gun. In fact, Jack's got enemies on both sides of the Law, and he's never far from trouble.

Written by Simon Spurrier (Gutsville) with art by Frazer Irving (Storming Heaven), The Simping Detective is future-noir at its best!

Stories include:

Gumshoe, Crystal Blue, Innocence: A Broad, Playing Futsie, Fifteen, Petty Crimes and No Body, No How.

Review

The Simping detective delivers on the Noir Private Eye. Perfectly produced black and white artwork sucks you in, then with a bit of red, we are made to think of the Sin-City style artwork. I felt the red was unneeded as it neither added nor detracted from the stories.

Jack Point is part of the unusual Wally Squad (think Dirty Frank, Lenny Zero etc.); these Judges have quirks and can operate out the normal bounds of the Justice Department. For Point, he uses the ruse of being a Simp to hide in plain sight. Simp is a style of attire that is clown-like and foolish, and in Mega-City One, it is viewed as religion! Pair this clownish attire with a private eye, and Jack Point can blend into the background and investigate a crime at ease. Unfortunately for Judge Point, he has gained the taste for smoking, drinking and relationships (wheres the SJS?).

In these tales, we get to join Point as he delves deeper into Angeltown, one of the more downtrodden and seedier sectors of MC-1. We get to watch Jack Point get set up by corrupt Judges, raise an alien pet, become investigated by the SJS, be framed for murder and fall in love with Gallen Demarco. There is so much happening in one book, and I was thrilled. I loved seeing the return of the Raptaur alien from the 90's Dredd story and seeing this creature's story progress. It reminds me so much of a xenomorph. I also enjoyed the classic framed for a crime I didn't commit arc, which was portrayed perfectly and given the MC-1 twist along the way.

As I mentioned, this book is full of fantastic art, classic Film-Noir plots and dialogue. I loved the stories from start to finish, and if you are a fan of Judge Dredd, I highly recommend it.

You can buy a copy over at www.2000ad.com.

Hope you enjoyed it? Come watch me paint Jack Point over on Youtube: How to Paint Jack Point

Comic Review 104 // Complete Case Files 12 (Part 1)

I have got the urge again to enjoy some Dredd! So I am following on from Complete Case Files 11 with number 12 (Huzzah I can count). The stories come from 2000 AD progs 571-618 set in the Years 2110 till 2111. It's a big book, so big in fact that I am splitting it into two parts. So sit back and enjoy the first half with some of my favourite panels and then hopefully I will part two up next week.

Story - Hitman - Dredd has become the main attraction for one Jeffery Jacobi an MC-1 hitman. Having originally wanted to kill Chopper he missed his chance when Dredd allowed him to escape. Now Judge Dredd is replacing the kill and is barely staying ahead of the hitman.

Highlight: Judge Dredd gets beat up in this story, first he is bombed and ends up with a wooden stick through his chest then he is shot through his badge. With poor Dredd ending up in the hospital with a cracked skull and needing a replacement lung.

Story - Simp about the House - A follow-up tale to Nobby the Simp from Case Files 11. It would seem wedded bliss did not happen for this unlikely pairing and following the sixth domestic argument, Judge Dredd forces them into divorce! Discovering life alone is near impossible Nobby forces his way back into his old apartment and into trouble. Soon Dredd is coming to arrest the simp, fearing capture Nobby cleverly hides from detection and fakes an escape but in doing so is trapped by his long-suffering wife, who the nails the hiding hole shut trapping the simp in the floorboards. Seems like the couple will be staying together after all!

Highlight: The poor goldfish suffering an ill fate in the Black Atlantic.

Story - Skeet and the Wrecking Crew - Truck driver Skeet has been told one rule about driving the big rigs; Never leave the cabin. One night whilst driving Rosie (a truck), Skeet ignores the rule and leaves the cabin to check on a person lying in the road. Unfortunately for Skeet, it is an armed wrecking gang who raid the goods onboard before destroying Rosie. Having recovered from his injuries Skeet is in a pit of despair after discovering Rosie is to be junked, following one too many synth-ales Skeet takes Rosie for the last spin - hoping to get revenge before Dredd can catch up.

Highlight: A sad but lovely tale, that can only end one way Skeet doing time for murder.

Story - The Gaia Conspiracy - All across MC-1 a new (or old) cult has surfaced, the worship of Gaia. Soon Dredd is sent to get to the bottom of it and enlists the help of PSI Judge Corey. Whilst attempting to discover the truth the worshippers release Kali the Goddess of Death! Only through Dredd's quick thinking is the goddess laid to rest and the worship of Gaia outlawed.

Highlight: As a form of religion the worshipers are sentenced to live in the Cursed Earth, but where they tread plants grow, a lovely nod to the fact that Gaia is the goddess of life.

Story - The Blob - A one-off sci-fi late-night special. Something unseemly has snuck into the MC-1 docks and is devouring all in its path. But how do you stop a gelatinous blob that can absorb physical harm so easily?

Highlight: A very fun short tale, I like these shorter tales as it allowed us to see a different side of MC-1 life in a funny and charming way.

Story - The Fall Guy - Set in one of my favourite locations Pie in the Sky, Don Pesci is celebrating his 100th birthday. During his surprise Judge-a-gram, Pesci kills the actor thinking them to be a real Judge. What follows is a comedy of cause and effect as the falling body hits bat-guilders and sky surfers as it heads to ground level.

Highlight: Don Pesci wanting to relieve his younger glory years. You're never too old to kill a street Judge.

Story - The Blockers - A short one-shot tale following the day to day life of your average citizen. Stupid and funny. A bit of a filler piece but worth the page space.

Story - The Sage - A sage has arrived at the gates of MC-1 seeking enlightenment. Unfortunately for him, Judge Dredd doesn't seem to be convinced. Facing every possible terror the Judges can throw at him, they admit defeat without breaking the wise man. Believing to have now gained entry to MC-1 the wise sage is disappointed to discover that he is being thrown out of the city once more.

Highlight: The little wise man punching Dredd. A great panel and worth the price of admission.

Story - Full Metal Jacket - Dog Deever local gang member has been gunned down and discovered by Judge Dredd. After recovering, Deever withheld information on his attackers and ended up serving three years. Now released Deever is determined to regain his gang and get revenge on the guys that originally shot him.

Highlight: Great multi-part tale and artwork, I enjoyed the fact it was Dredd light and instead showed us the working mind of a gang member. Would love to read more tales like this one.

Story - Bloodline - With this story, we start to see the fall out from the OZ storyline from Complete Case Files 11 and of the Judda. A tale of two halves the first follows Kraken a clone of Fargo (aka like Dredd) who is actually a captured Judda, believing he has escaped from a Judges Holding Cell he attempts to get to a Judda safehouse and enact revenge on MC-1. The other tale is Judge Dredd who is getting visions of a safe house and Judda and has to investigate. Here begins the story of ageing Dredd and his would-be replacement.

Highlight: One of my favourite story arcs in 2000 AD is based around Kraken so I know what is coming, but for me, it is the first time reading this tale and I am excited to see it continue!

Story - Bat Mugger - In the future where money is hard to obtain legally, some very intelligent people will do stupid things to fund their passion. So what are you to do as a failing artist, when you are incredibly skilled at mugging and bat gilding? That's right start a crime wave.

Highlight: This is a great Judge Dredd tale and for a while, it seemed like the main villain would get away with his criminal activity. But as is always the case, he gets greedy and ends up on Judge Dredd's radar. Love a good bat-glider character and this one hits it out of the park.

Story - Hottie U - Hottie U the dumbest Frat in MC-1. They leave the newly recruited member in a rough sector just with a grill and some Hotties, the new recruit then has to earn their way back to campus. Judge Dredd knowing the danger of this sector, offers the student a ride home. But when the foolish student turns down the offer Dredd decides to hang around.

Highlight: The Frat boys getting carjacked whilst they watch the newbie get beaten. The ending is also so comical. It is a nice comic relief from the darker tales in this collection.

Story - Brainstem Man - Judging by the writing style this new monster on the block was once human or it is controlled by a human? The tale talks of allowing your animal side free, to hunt, to kill, rules of the jungle. But what happens when this wild creature meets Dredd? Unsurprisingly it results in the creature's death, leaving an unexplained case open for Dredd. A rare story indeed that I can only guess will continue later.

Story - Twister - Jug Mckenzie three times Supersurf winner is in the southern outskirts of MC-1 hoping to ride the Big One. The name was given to the radiated twisters that curse this zone. Whilst keeping an eye on Mckenzie Dredd is lucky enough to be on hand when a gang of outlaws kidnaps Mckenzie. In the upcoming chase, Dredd destroys the criminal's car and is about to make an arrest when he is sucked into the twister. Suffering head trauma Dredd believes himself to be in OZ and suffers a trippy experience as he goes on to capture and kill the gang and save Mckenzie.

Highlight: Great way to introduce more colour pages to the comics then by ripping on the idea of the Wizard of Oz. Loved this piece.

Story - What PJ Maybe did - Catching up with PJ Maybe is always a blast. The last time we encountered him he was randomly getting away with murder and even outsmarted Dredd. Looks like PJ is up to his tricks again but this time is taking on his uncles and Grandfather, as he attempts to put control of the trouser business into his father's hand.

Highlight: The idea that being thirteen means being ignored by the adults, making it surprisingly easy for PJ Maybe to get away with murder. Can't wait for more of this tale.

And with that tale we finish part one of Case Files 12. Seeing Kraken arriving on scene seriously excites me as I know Necropolis is coming soon, along with the sisters of death and the dark judges.

What story of Judge Dredd do you all enjoy? Drop me a comment below and I will work on part two for next week. Thanks for stopping by.

Comic Review 87 // Complete Case Files 11

Feels like an age since the last Complete Case Files which was back in October 2019. I'm excited to get back into the timeline and find some inspiration for terrain and characters. Published in 2000AD PROGS 523 - 570 and set in the Year 2109 till 2110. Let's jump in.

Story Breakdown

Story - Pit Rat - Whilst investigating a Rat fighting ring Judge Dredd discovers a new strain of rat, one that is bigger stronger and smarter than the average Mega-City One rat. Fearing that this new breed would spread Judge Dredd investigates and discovers a pack of them and calls in pest control.

Highlight - Justice Department discovered that the rats are a healthy meat source and start breeding them for food.

Story - The Raggedy Man - An injured Judge Dredd is discovered by a Helltrek group and is loaded on to a wagon. Who could have injured the Judge Dredd? Well, his current name is The Raggedy Man but he once was Judge Izzard.

Highlight - The ending. So many questions left unanswered! Where did the bolt come from? Would he have gone crazy on his own? What is Black Scab?

Story - Simp - A new craze is spreading across MC-1 SIMPING! This fashion trend has one rule: There are no rules. You can dress in anything you like and the more crazy looking you are the better you are at Simping. Nobby is new to the Simping game and attempts to Simp it up at his wedding, this, of course, does not go as he plans and leads him into the path of Judge Dredd!

Highlight: Nobby's canoe pants getting caught in a bus door and dragging him down the highway. A great funny tale for sure.

Story - Reasons to be Fearful - Guz Hardy is a vid host on Know your Rights. A nightly show where normally Guz would smear the Judges and call them out on issues such as bullying, fearmongering and being tyrants. This all changes when the Justice Department decides to the Fear Ampilifcation Beam or FAB ray on Guz. It causes the victim to see scary visions and suffer mental stress during attacks. He is soon told by a shrink (an undercover judge) that the visions happen due to his mind believing that he is lying about his beliefs in the Justice System and the only way to stop them is to start being nice about the judges. Of course, he believes this and that night on his show he only has praise for the Judges.

Story - Fairlyhyperman - Move over Judge Dredd MC-1 has a new hero. Heralding from an exploded world Fairlyhyperman has come to MC-1 to fight crime with his Fairly good powers. After introducing himself Judge Dredd, Fairlyhyperman ends up on the wrong side of Judge Dredd and the pair face off multiple times with Dredd losing the faces off. That is until Dredd discovers the right crystals to use and shoots down Fairlyhyperman and send him off to the cubes.

Highlight: Complete and utter rip off of Superman and I love it. Great story.

Story - Revolution - The Democrats are moving once more in MC-1 and this time they have Chief Judge Silver worried. The Chief Judge tasks Dredd with shutting them down and lets Dredd lead the way on rulemaking. Under Judge Dredd's leadership, the judging team start to undermine the figureheads of the movement one by one. Some they post rumours about how they assisted the Sovs in the war, whilst others they kept stood for hours on end in the interrogation rooms exhausting them before the big march. Soon the actual protest march starts but the support is lacking and with a few well placed undercover judges the Justice Department soon crush the march completely.

Highlight: Great final panel about how the Judges won't this battle but the war is not over. I love seeing how the tyrant justice system stands up to democracy. They have a true fear of it and the idea of losing power terrifies them.

Story - PJ Maybe - The introduction to one of the most renowned serial killers to ever stalk the streets of MC-1. We get to join in the discovery of the first of many victims and the fact that PJ Maybe kills purely for fun and enjoyment. I can't wait for more stories to arrive about him.

Story - Alabammy Blimps - The Brit-Cit ambassador's transport has been attacked and crash-landed in the Alabama Morass. Of course, Dredd leads a team the rescue team and is soon knee-deep in swamplands fighting the fauna. Whilst this happens the poor ambassador's day gets worst and worst, after being "rescued" by a local redneck group the ambassador and his rescuers are attacked by the Alabammy Blimps a cannibal tribe of women folk who love eating rednecks.

Highlight: Judge Dredd entering a one on one fistfight with the Queen of the Alabammy Blimps. It was a real clash of the titans.

Story - Return of Death Fist - Stan Lee the only man to have ever beaten Dredd in a fight is back in MC-1 and Dredd is now looking for revenge or is he looking to prove the law can't be beaten. Having tracked Stan Lee down Dredd challenges him to a fight that is filmed and broadcast live across MC-1 allowing everyone to see the action.

Highlight: The artwork by Kitson is great and detailed and really shows off Dredd's increasing age and scar damage.

Story - Corporal Punishment - A young boy reports his parents to the Judges and following their interrogation the boy ends up in complete control of the household. After weeks of abuse, the parents one day leave on a Helltrek into the Cursed Earth leaving the annoying youth behind. A real filler piece of no real value.

Story - Killkraze - Westworld meets Mega-City One. Killkraze a fully automated and safe zone where people can re-enact some of the most dangerous eras of Earth's history. Periods include World War Three, 1920's and the wild west. Here people use fake bullets to fight each other and robot actors. That is until one wrong error sees the guns loaded with real ammo!

Highlight: To control the space zone the judges turn on gravity dropping everyone hard onto the ground...priceless.

Story - OZ Parts 1 to 6 - The main story of the book along overdue multi-part story picking on the character Chopper (see casefiles 04). Since being arrested at the end of Supersurf 7 Chopper has been in the ISO-Cubes. But now three years later it's time for that all to change. Fearing the protests it is decided to transfer Chopper to a more secure location, during this the crowd surge and in the confusion, Chopper escapes. This is Chopper's big chance at a comeback and proves he is the best by entering Supersurf 10. The only problem is this year the competition is in OZ.

Highlight: Getting to ride along with Chopper through the skies of MC-1 and the Cursed Earth. A nice fun read and a great build-up to what is about to happen.

Story - OZ Parts 7 to 8 - The Judda. Whilst MC-1 is distracted by Chopper, Tek Division comes under attack by some multi-coloured, funky looking Judge wannabes. These guys are strong and use what looks like shock sticks to attack their targets who are all Judges. Unfortunately for them, they try to take down Dredd. In a short one-sided fight Dredd bests, the Judda sent after him using his boot knife, sadly Defoe is attacked whilst on the toilet and is killed and MacNamee is burned alive. While Dredd's dead Judda is examined it is discovered that he is the genetic match of Chief Judge Fargo, ex-Judge Rico and Judge Dredd!

Highlight: The artwork is great. The story is weird and so many questions!

Story - OZ Parts 9 to 13 - Back to Chopper and the Pacific ocean. Chopper is running out of power for his board and a mean storm is blowing towards him, things are truly looking rough. But with a strong possibility of Chopper making it to OZ, Judge Dredd is sent over to become the welcome party.

As news breaks out about the storm many believe Chopper is dead and his fellow surfers hold a funeral for their lost friend. But he is far from dead and finds what seems to be an abandoned ship, but upon landing Chopper discovers the robot chef. Believing his luck is turning Chopper starts charging his board and enjoy a freshly cooked meal. But nothing is never that simple and it turns out the Robot chef has a few fried cells and that this one has actually killed the crew and is using them to cook the food! Of course, Chopper defeats this hurdle at the coast of damaging his board and has to use the boat to cross the ocean and use the time to repair his board. But soon Chopper is just off the coast of OZ and receives a warm welcome from down under, well nearly everyone. Of course, Judge Dredd spoils the fun and tries to arrest Chopper and almost succeeds until once again the crowd turns nasty and forces the OZ Judges to put Dredd under house arrest!

Story - OZ Parts 14 to 19 - Turns out Judge Dredd's house arrest was a ruse to make him an easy target for the Judda. When the Judda struck Judge Dredd and the OZ Judges were ready and managed to capture one of the Judda alive. Following intense interrogation we discover the truth of the Judda - they are in fact the clones of famous MC-1 Judges created by Morton Judd. Still failing to discover the whereabouts of their base Judge Dredd puts on the Judda teleporter and beams straight into the snake's nest. Discovering an entire city of Judda, Dredd is outgunned and way too far underground. As he attempts to escape he finds his way blocked and in an attempt to communicate with the outside world he hooks his tracer and to bat and sets it free. Now captured Dredd faces down Judd, whilst outside Dredd's bat alerts the Oz Judges to his location in Ayers Rock. Soon fighting breaks out in Ayers Rock and the Grand Hall of Justice, but in a classic Dredd move, a well-placed nuke brings the fighting to an end.

Story - OZ Parts 20 to 26 - Remember Supersurf? Well, it is two hours away by part 20 of this epic story arc and we are treated to a real race. Having defeated the Judda Dredd gives Chopper one final chance to race but promises to wait at the finish line to arrest him and if Chopper runs he promises to kill him. The race itself was high octane and also has an equally high body count. Ultimately Chopper comes second and facing 23 more years in iso, he decides to flee into the Radlands. As Dredd sights, his gun his aim is blocked by the winner of Supersurf and Chopper flees into the Radlands of OZ. Is this the last we will see of Chopper? I seriously hope not.

And with this, the case files are over. This was a fun, solid read and a very strong case file with only one semi-weak tale - Corporal Punishment, which wasn't terrible it was just obviously a filler. I highly recommend this book if you are on the fence of reading Dredd comics. The artwork was great especially during the Return of Death Fist. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and please do take the moment to follow my blog.