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About The Book

Dawn of Justice!

In this volume of the best-selling Complete Case Files series, Dredd uncovers the House of Pain, a no-way-out, brutal torture prison for serial perps, and must stop Orlok from spreading a lethal bio-virus – from beyond the grave! And, after a mysterious package is delivered to the Grand Hall of Justice, Dredd ventures into the Cursed Earth in search of answers that will unveil the history of the Judges, and their ascent to total power.

Written by John Wagner (A History of Violence), Gordon Rennie (Warhammer), John Smith (Devlin Waugh), and Simon Spurrier (Hellblazer, X-Men), with art by Colin MacNeil (Strontium Dog: The Final Solution), PJ Holden (Fearless), Laurence Campbell (BPRD: Hell on Earth), Simon Fraser (Nikolai Dante), Paul Marshall (Tharg’s Future Shocks), Peter Doherty (Superman/Batman: World’s Finest), and Inaki Miranda (Fables).

About The Authors

John Wagner has been scripting for 2000 AD for more years than he cares to remember. His creations include Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Ace Trucking, Al’s Baby, Button Man and Mean Machine. Outside of 2000 AD his credits include Star Wars, Lobo, The Punisher and the critically acclaimed A History of Violence.

Gordon Rennie is one of 2000 AD's most prolific creators, with co-creative credits for Caballistics, Inc., Missionary Man, Necronauts, Storming Heaven, Rain Dogs and Witchworld. Rennie has written for Heavy Metal and Warhammer, as well as Species, Starship Troopers and White Trash.

John Smith is unquestionably a 2000 AD hero, with a host of creative credits to his name, including A Love Like Blood, Devlin Waugh, Firekind, Holocaust 12, Indigo Prime, Pussyfoot 5, Revere, Slaughterbowl, Tyranny Rex, Leatherjack, Dead Eyes and Cradlegrave. Smith has also written Future Shocks, Judge Dredd, Judge Karyn, Pulp Sci-Fi, Robo-Hunter, Rogue Trooper, Tales from Beyond Science, Vector 13 and Tales from the Black Museum. Smith’s work beyond the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic includes the long-running New Statesmen series in Crisis, DC/Vertigo’s Hellblazer and Scarab, and Harris Comics’ Vampirella.

Simon "Si" Spurrier writes novels and comics. His work in the latter field stretches from award winning creator-owned books such as Numbercruncher, Six-Gun Gorilla and The Spire to projects in the U.S. mainstream like Hellblazer, The Dreaming, and X-Men. It all began with a series of twist-in-the-tail stories for the UK's beloved 2000AD, which ignited an enduring love for genre fiction. His latest book, Coda, is being published by Boom! Studios at present. His prose works range from the beatnik neurosis-noir of Contract to the occult whodunnit A Serpent Uncoiled via various franchise and genre-transgressing titles. In 2016 he took a foray into experimental fiction with the e-novella Unusual Concentrations: a tale of coffee, crime and overhead conversations. He lives in Margate, regards sushi as part of the plotting process, and has the fluffiest of cats.

About The Illustrators

Carlos Ezquerra was the co-creator of Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rat Pack, Major Eazy and many other fan-favourite characters, he designed the classic original Dredd costume as well as visually conceptualising Mega-City One. In addition to these credits he also illustrated A.B.C. Warriors, Judge Anderson, Tharg the Mighty, and Cursed Earth Koburn amongst many other stories. Outside of the ‘Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’, Ezquerra illustrated the first Third World War episodes in Crisis magazine, and became a regular collaborator with Garth Ennis, working on Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, Bloody Mary, Just a Pilgrim, Condors, The Magnificent Kevin and two special Preacher episodes. He died in 2018 but his profound influence on the world of comic art cannot be overstated.

Since joining 2000 AD in 1986 Colin MacNeil has worked on many strips, including Chopper: Song of the Surfer and the infamous death of Johnny Alpha in Strontium Dog: The Final Solution. He went on to collaborate with John Wagner on the award-winning America for the Judge Dredd Megazine. He has also worked on Shimura, Maelstrom and Fiends of the Eastern Front: Stalingrad, and, outside of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, provided the atmospheric artwork on Bloodquest for Games Workshop. He also enjoys creating large abstract paintings. He says it’s art therapy!

Paul J. Holden has illustrated The 86ers, Judge Dredd, Tharg’s Future Shocks, Rogue Trooper and Johnny Woo for 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine. P.J. lives and works in Belfast, and is married with two children.

As well as illustrating Judge Dredd, Laurence Campbell’s extensive work for 2000 AD includes Synnamon, DeMarco, Breathing Space and being one of the co-creators of Bison. Beyond 2000 AD he has also worked on a Punisher story and Deadpool Pulp for Marvel.

Simon Fraser is best known to 2000 AD fans as the co-creator of Russian rogue Nikolai Dante, whose adventures have been a staple of the comic since his debut in 1997. Fraser is also the co-creator of Family in the Judge Dredd Megazine, and has drawn Judge Dredd and Shimura. His best-known non-2000 AD work is Lux & Alby: Sign On and Save the Universe, a collaboration with Scottish post-punk author Martin Millar. He is currently working on an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s Hell House and is also writing and drawing Lilly Mackenzie and the Mines of Charybdis.

Paul Marshall co-created The Corps and Firekind, and has also pencilled Judge Dredd, Mean Machine, One-Offs, Sinister Dexter, Tharg’s Future Shocks, Tyranny Rex and Vector 13. His other work can be seen in Harris Comics’ Avalon.

Peter Doherty is primarily known to fans of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic as artist of the Young Death series, which opened the Judge Dredd: Megazine’s first volume, but he has also contributed extensively to Judge Dredd, working on the epic Judgment Day as well as many shorter stories, including John Wagner’s classic ‘Bury My Knee At Wounded Heart’. Outside of 2000 AD, Doherty’s comic work includes The Dreaming, Superman/Batman: World’s Finest and a Grendel Tales series and Shaolin Cowboy.

After graduating in Fine Arts and testing the waters of animation and video games, Inaki Miranda made his debut in comics in 2003, illustrating UK’s cultural icon Judge Dredd for 2000AD. He got his DC Comics break as a guest artist in Vertigo’s multiple award winning series Fables. That lead to Fables spin-off Fairest and the co-creation of Coffin Hill. This was followed by his work in the DCU with Catwoman, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Ragman and Old Lady Harley.

Kev Walker is the co-creator of Badlands and The Balls Brothers, and has also provided artwork for Dan Dare, Judge Dredd, Future Shocks, Harlem Heroes, Mercy Heights, Rogue Trooper, Time Twisters and Tor Cyan. For the Judge Dredd Megazine, he wrote The Inspectre and has illustrated Judge Anderson, Mean Machine and Wynter. Walker has recently finished an acclaimed run on DC’s L.E.G.I.O.N. and has pencilled Marvel Comics’ The Eternal.

Product Details

  • Publisher: 2000 AD (January 18, 2024)
  • Length: 304 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781837860944

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More books in this series: Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files