3 out of 5

An interesting miniseries that captures a lot of key Mega City / Dredd elements – which is great for IDW’s attempts at introducing American audiences to more of Joe beyond what they might know from movies – but that also plays a bit too wishy-washy with our lead at the same time, and rather peters out on an interesting concept by the end. Perhaps fittingly, its structure seems much better suited for the prog versus a one-off series, when knowledge of more Joe adventures next week helps to smoothe out when an ending doesn’t quite land.

Matt Smith, the god-blessed editor of 2000 ADs longest winning streak, very much thanks to his oversight, undeniably knows the worlds and their inhabitants which he helps oversee, but hasn’t quite – to me – bridged the divide when its come to scripting the characters. It’s almost as though his need to, presumably, be able to manage every writer’s slightly different take on Dredd has put him in a position of writing Joe in a way that feels a bit too broad. It’s Year One, so we have some wiggle room with Joe’s personality, and I do think there’s some good work done here, juggling Joe as a hardliner-rookie with flashes of uncertainty, but the narration is applied somewhat inconsistently, so it doesn’t always feel like one person; some scenes he drops one-liners; some scenes he’s “classic”; some scenes he’s doubting; and these could all be from different writers – that’s the broadness.

This is inserted into a pretty great story hook, though, in which suddenly psi-powered teens are wreaking havoc in MC-1, and the Judges are able to trace the source to an alternate / different timeline, into which Joe readily jumps, of course. Flashes of Deadworld flutter through, but that’s not the tale we’re telling – Smith uses that template of Joe as sort of the lone survivor, though, to craft a pretty tense all-odds-against-him story.

Artist Simon Coleby should be good for this, as they excel at the junky, broken environs / patrons of Jaegir, but Coleby’s stiffness with characters works in that strip, and kind of leaves some action-y moments feeling a bit unmotivated here. However, that’s not to say it’s not a style I think was mis-applied overall – it’s another “key” to sort of showing off how the look and feel of the Dreddverse differs from American hero books.

Smith keeps things moving along well, exploring the mystery of what’s happening, and I do love how Joe boils it down to, basically, a perp being a perp – he doesn’t care how grand the plan is. That does feed into a pretty underwhelming ending, though, which, as mentioned, is maybe less fitting in a monthly published book.

Matt always has intriguing ideas in his comic / novel writing. I’m sure he’s crazy busy with editing, making it admirable he’s able to get any work out, but it’d be nice to see him flex the skill more consistently, so we can see these intriguing ideas presented with more impact.