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2000 AD: Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd: Mechanismo
Trial By Machine!
In Mega-City One the authorities reveal the latest development in law enforcement: robot Judges built to serve, protect and - where necessary - execute. But for one particular street Judge this is a step too far, and when the Mechanismo models start malfunctioning it's up to Dredd to take them down!
In Mega-City One the authorities reveal the latest development in law enforcement: robot Judges built to serve, protect and - where necessary - execute. But for one particular street Judge this is a step too far, and when the Mechanismo models start malfunctioning it's up to Dredd to take them down!
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
John Wagner
1,263Ìýbooks183ÌýfollowersJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, for which he created Judge Dredd. He is noted for his taut, violent thrillers and his black humour. Among his pseudonyms are The best known are John Howard, T.B. Grover, Mike Stott, Keef Ripley, Rick Clark and Brian Skuter. ()
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 9, 2021
It's lacking the conclusion, where Dredd finally hunts down Number 5. That's a bit of a black mark.
October 6, 2022
Well I had to have a look at the next one in the series and I have to say I could not resist it. This is the story (and artwork) I remember from reading 2000AD at uni and boy did I enjoy it.
I guess the danger here is to be full of praise for those stories about Dredd and his adventures while dismissing the more experimental stories exploring the supporting characters or even the very fringes of the world of 2000AD but there is something ultimately rewarding when the Judges roll in to town.
This is one of the more modern story arcs and the colour artwork reflects this however to say that this is classic Dredd is not far from the truth. Being penned by veteran John Wagner this is one of the story lines (and yes there are a few) that have reverberations through the subsequent publications - confirming not only the quality of the story but also the fact that these stories make up a rich tapestry this is greater than the sum of its parts.
I guess the danger here is to be full of praise for those stories about Dredd and his adventures while dismissing the more experimental stories exploring the supporting characters or even the very fringes of the world of 2000AD but there is something ultimately rewarding when the Judges roll in to town.
This is one of the more modern story arcs and the colour artwork reflects this however to say that this is classic Dredd is not far from the truth. Being penned by veteran John Wagner this is one of the story lines (and yes there are a few) that have reverberations through the subsequent publications - confirming not only the quality of the story but also the fact that these stories make up a rich tapestry this is greater than the sum of its parts.
February 13, 2016
The robot always malfunctions and goes on a killing spree. That is expected. This collection lacked the expected associated humour though. No heads kept as trophies or anything like that.
June 30, 2020
With the Justice Department under-strength, Chief Judge MacGruder authorises the deployment of ten robotic judges to the streets. However, as Judge Dredd himself predicts, the robots soon begin to malfunction and unleash untempered judgement upon Mega-City One.
The main body of this book is taken up by Wagner's 'Mechanismo' storyline which, with 2000AD's signature mixture of brutality and dark humour, explores the idea that a machine shouldn't be able to sit in judgement over human beings. What I liked most about this was seeing Dredd's reaction to the harsh behaviour of the robot Judges who are, in fact, programmed to emulate his own personal style.
There's also a short extra story, the one by Grant, tacked onto the end of the book, which features a street thug out to make a reputation for himself by attempting to kill Judge Dredd. It's neither big nor clever and felt like a real step down from the far more engaging Mechanismo story.
* More reviews here: *
The main body of this book is taken up by Wagner's 'Mechanismo' storyline which, with 2000AD's signature mixture of brutality and dark humour, explores the idea that a machine shouldn't be able to sit in judgement over human beings. What I liked most about this was seeing Dredd's reaction to the harsh behaviour of the robot Judges who are, in fact, programmed to emulate his own personal style.
There's also a short extra story, the one by Grant, tacked onto the end of the book, which features a street thug out to make a reputation for himself by attempting to kill Judge Dredd. It's neither big nor clever and felt like a real step down from the far more engaging Mechanismo story.
* More reviews here: *
January 5, 2013
Interesting because Dredd often appears cruel and arbitrary in handing out punishment, and here we get a mechanical version of Dredd for comparison that is far worse.
April 8, 2020
First two stories were good. Quite enjoyed the first one, however the rest of the book didn't make click.
Maybe it is just me.
Next one in the queue is The Apocalypse War, so... Let's see.
Maybe it is just me.
Next one in the queue is The Apocalypse War, so... Let's see.
December 3, 2023
A volume collecting three story arcs of the Justice Department’s failed robotic Judges. The first arc covers the proof of concept and introduction to active service of ten units, and their inevitable malfunctions and carnage. Arc 2 covers the accidental reactivation of unit 5 and its overly-aggressive approach to crime fighting, including a broad acceptance of collateral damage. Arc 3 covers the rollout of the mark II robo-Judges, with their first task being to anticipate the actions of the revived unit 5 in order to destroy it.
It’s interesting to see Dredd shift from being exactly correct in predicting the failure of the mark I units, to undermining and sabotaging the mark IIs in order to prevent their deployment, despite no signs of problems so far. It seemed off in the way he went about it, from destroying a unit and gaslighting Stich into believing the mark I destroyed the mark II. A real lack of integrity that I’m not used to seeing from Dredd.
It’s interesting to see Dredd shift from being exactly correct in predicting the failure of the mark I units, to undermining and sabotaging the mark IIs in order to prevent their deployment, despite no signs of problems so far. It seemed off in the way he went about it, from destroying a unit and gaslighting Stich into believing the mark I destroyed the mark II. A real lack of integrity that I’m not used to seeing from Dredd.
September 15, 2021
Following yet another city-devastating crisis, Chief Judge McGruder backs a plan to supplement the Judges with robot cops, and it all goes terribly wrong. Solid storytelling and Colin McNeil's to it design is great, but not a stone cold classic. There was an opportunity here to really dig into the notion of AI law enforcement, but it goes unexplored. Still worth a spin, though.
May 18, 2020
Big robots, bigger guns and a lot of needless violence. This book has amazing art and a wickedly dark comedic vibe at least in my opinion. For those who root for ED-209 in Robocop, Number 5 in this book will show you how its done.
December 27, 2019
An excellent cautionary tale about overly trusting in machines and the dangers of automation.
April 22, 2022
Y
the above was probably a little short for what I thought about this collected edition.
When they are on form the writers and artists of 2000ad are sublime. As a kid many many years ago I used to love 2000ad and now an adult I do try to pick up collected editions and digital editions when the opportunity arises. This was one of those opportunities.
John Wagner is a great writer who is able to add nuance and uncertainty to a character who was always meant to be a larger than life satire. The satire is still there but here we get to see an ageing and increasingly intransigent Dredd as he deals with the fall out from a failed project to mechanise Judges.
In this story it is a wonderful thing that what leads to it going wrong is that the droids are based on Dredd himself. In particular his certainty and lack of doubt.
The story is solid and the art of a very high quality. The fact is was going to go wrong is never in douibt and Dredd's certainty of the fact it would go wrong is all the better for the policitical difficulties it causes him.
There were lots of parts of this tale that foreshadowed issues for future stories. There were also some aspects where grey areas became apparent.
I liked the fact the Chief Judge was weak and did not like the strength and certainty of Dredd
I liked the way Dredd crossed certain lines one would not expect him to in order to be proven right. I wonder where that went later if anywhere.
I liked the way the designer of the Mechanical Judges was dealt with an his story arc.
A high quality read.
the above was probably a little short for what I thought about this collected edition.
When they are on form the writers and artists of 2000ad are sublime. As a kid many many years ago I used to love 2000ad and now an adult I do try to pick up collected editions and digital editions when the opportunity arises. This was one of those opportunities.
John Wagner is a great writer who is able to add nuance and uncertainty to a character who was always meant to be a larger than life satire. The satire is still there but here we get to see an ageing and increasingly intransigent Dredd as he deals with the fall out from a failed project to mechanise Judges.
In this story it is a wonderful thing that what leads to it going wrong is that the droids are based on Dredd himself. In particular his certainty and lack of doubt.
The story is solid and the art of a very high quality. The fact is was going to go wrong is never in douibt and Dredd's certainty of the fact it would go wrong is all the better for the policitical difficulties it causes him.
There were lots of parts of this tale that foreshadowed issues for future stories. There were also some aspects where grey areas became apparent.
I liked the fact the Chief Judge was weak and did not like the strength and certainty of Dredd
I liked the way Dredd crossed certain lines one would not expect him to in order to be proven right. I wonder where that went later if anywhere.
I liked the way the designer of the Mechanical Judges was dealt with an his story arc.
A high quality read.
August 9, 2015
Another great Judge Dredd instalment though lacks the edge of "America" - In this one, much to Dredd's annoyance, Chief Judge McGruder initiates the scheme of robot judges. 10 units, programmed based on Dredd's personality, are sent into the field with, as expected catastrophic results.
Since the character of Dredd himself is fairly robotic, this particular arc highlights his humanity in the face of true 'mechanismo' which I thought was a nice touch. I also like all the pop culture references: Robocop (the father of one of the civilians is named Peter Weller), Short circuit (Number 5 is alive!), cyborg, terminator... its all here and deliberately tongue in cheek.
The artwork is bold and brightly coloured which contrasts with the dark subject matter and bloody violence - making the gunfire seem even more explosive.
As well as the main robot judge arc there are a couple of bonus stories. S.A.M (self arming munition) is a brilliant piece of satire on bureaucracy (almost worthy of Brazil) - In my opinion this one's the highlight of the whole volume. There's also another bonus 'safe hands' in which new medical droids start killing their patients because they think that death is best for human happiness.
While this one's not all that morally ambiguous - more old school Dredd, there's still tonnes to enjoy, its bloody, its fun and its very tongue in cheek.
Since the character of Dredd himself is fairly robotic, this particular arc highlights his humanity in the face of true 'mechanismo' which I thought was a nice touch. I also like all the pop culture references: Robocop (the father of one of the civilians is named Peter Weller), Short circuit (Number 5 is alive!), cyborg, terminator... its all here and deliberately tongue in cheek.
The artwork is bold and brightly coloured which contrasts with the dark subject matter and bloody violence - making the gunfire seem even more explosive.
As well as the main robot judge arc there are a couple of bonus stories. S.A.M (self arming munition) is a brilliant piece of satire on bureaucracy (almost worthy of Brazil) - In my opinion this one's the highlight of the whole volume. There's also another bonus 'safe hands' in which new medical droids start killing their patients because they think that death is best for human happiness.
While this one's not all that morally ambiguous - more old school Dredd, there's still tonnes to enjoy, its bloody, its fun and its very tongue in cheek.
March 1, 2015
The second book in the Mega Collection, is one that i had not read before (or one i was aware of).
The first couple of stories were from Judge Dredd Magazine, in full colour. The first has a lot of homage to the film Short Circuit - with Number 5 being alive and judging. He is eventually brought down by Dredd. I liked how the robots ethics were based on the book produced by Dredd. Just goes to show that a human element is needed.
Number 5 returns after 12 months and starts to judge again. I got a similar impression about his judging that i got with the Judge Death and his friends.
The rest of the book was filled with a couple of smaller stories regarding droids. These were ok, but didn't really add anything to the main story, so came across as page fillers.
Would be nice to have more on the history of the stories, writers, artists etc. We do get a page or two, but they seem a little weak. Nice to see old 2000AD covers as well.
The first couple of stories were from Judge Dredd Magazine, in full colour. The first has a lot of homage to the film Short Circuit - with Number 5 being alive and judging. He is eventually brought down by Dredd. I liked how the robots ethics were based on the book produced by Dredd. Just goes to show that a human element is needed.
Number 5 returns after 12 months and starts to judge again. I got a similar impression about his judging that i got with the Judge Death and his friends.
The rest of the book was filled with a couple of smaller stories regarding droids. These were ok, but didn't really add anything to the main story, so came across as page fillers.
Would be nice to have more on the history of the stories, writers, artists etc. We do get a page or two, but they seem a little weak. Nice to see old 2000AD covers as well.
April 2, 2015
Loved it. Just what every fan of Dredd and futuristic sci-fi wants. Violence, dark humour and biting satire all very nicely balanced.
Epic.
Number 5 is alive.
What happens when the Justice system understaffed of Judges decides to try out Robotic Judges programmed basically like the man himself, Judge Dredd.
Dredd mistrusts them, he thinks the Chief Judge has lost what little mind she has left and when the Mechanismo's start running amok, malfunctioning left, right and centre it gives Dredd more fuel to burn.
Can the flesh Judges rule the day.
What happens when one of the robots doesn't deactivate, half destructed by Dredd goes missing and can't be found until it starts making reports to the Justice System again. Number is 5 is back doing rounds on the streets of Mega City 1.
Is it right to send new and improved robotic Judges after the malfunctioning and highly dangerous robot?
What will Judge Dredd do?
Epic.
Number 5 is alive.
What happens when the Justice system understaffed of Judges decides to try out Robotic Judges programmed basically like the man himself, Judge Dredd.
Dredd mistrusts them, he thinks the Chief Judge has lost what little mind she has left and when the Mechanismo's start running amok, malfunctioning left, right and centre it gives Dredd more fuel to burn.
Can the flesh Judges rule the day.
What happens when one of the robots doesn't deactivate, half destructed by Dredd goes missing and can't be found until it starts making reports to the Justice System again. Number is 5 is back doing rounds on the streets of Mega City 1.
Is it right to send new and improved robotic Judges after the malfunctioning and highly dangerous robot?
What will Judge Dredd do?
November 27, 2017
I tend to prefer the early/mid 80s black and white Dredd’s more, with their heavy irony and cartoony action, so resisted the colour megazine with its more serious tone and increased emphasis on violence. This is an oddity though, as the humour comes through more strongly than in, say, America and the story is quite cartoony in its style, so it ticks my boxes. Besides, having just read and enjoyed the 80s� Apocalypse War, who am I to moan about violent content?
There is a one-off story at the end, with one of 2000AD’s typically crazy robots, this time a bomb, that is just superb btw. Very funny.
There is a one-off story at the end, with one of 2000AD’s typically crazy robots, this time a bomb, that is just superb btw. Very funny.
September 8, 2020
Robots have always had a place in the Judge Dredd universe but until Mechanismo they were mostly for humour/ black humour purposes. The stories here are still a bit clumsy, but you can sort of see the seed for what they would become - a contrast to Dredd’s own questions about the Judges and democracy and humanity. That’s certainly the most recent focus they’ve had in the prog and a far more interesting one than the slightly slapdash thrillers here, but having said that the running thread of MacGruder’s steep mental decline is far more carefully done, leading us to...
March 10, 2010
Number 5 is alive. Nothing totally special here. The first three Mechanismo are here. The art is fine though not always as quirky as past titles. Mainly it needs more Dredd instead of Number 5's judge-MENTAL rampage. There is a little too much of the same thing going on throughout. This is not me saying the book is bad though; this is me saying the book doesn't quite hit the high standard Wagner usually hits.
October 24, 2020
Excellent Dredd arc. Poses questions of morality, following orders and extreme logical conclusions in typically cyber-Punk fashion.
Also interesting to see the progression of comic-styles as the series continues, painted and more impressionist-leaning style giving way to more digital-realism in the follow up S.A.M. and Safe Hands stories.
Glad to have this in my collection, will no doubt read it again eventually.
Also interesting to see the progression of comic-styles as the series continues, painted and more impressionist-leaning style giving way to more digital-realism in the follow up S.A.M. and Safe Hands stories.
Glad to have this in my collection, will no doubt read it again eventually.
February 6, 2017
I have started to import the Judge Dredd Mega Collection, as they are gorgeous books and reprint the stories in related arcs. I have always loved the art and the ambience of 2000 AD, but not having a firm footing kept me from diving in. Now that I can read complete story arcs, I am enjoying what I read much more. Great fun and always relevant.
April 6, 2017
Great follow up to JUDGE DREDD: AMERICA, and certainly another must-own from the Judge Dredd 38+ year back log. Even if you don't live in the UK/Ireland, track this down in the Complete Case Files and check it out. Good stuff
April 21, 2015
Not so keen on the style of artwork used in Mechanismo, but the story is good.
March 20, 2019
great everything, but I think colin McNeil made a mistake, in the first story unit 9 is drawn as unit 6, did he get mixed up with numbers or is it supposed to be like this
March 14, 2013
Very basic straight forward Dredd fun. Nice gorey art, though.
April 15, 2019
Edición inglesa.
Colección 200 AD, A Mandarine Graphic Novel.
Colección 200 AD, A Mandarine Graphic Novel.
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