Judge Dredd: Dredd v Death

The Classic 2000 AD Graphic Novel in Full-Cast Audio

Preview

Failed to add items

Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.

Add to basket failed.

Please try again later

Add to wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Remove from wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Adding to library failed

Please try again

Follow podcast failed

Unfollow podcast failed

Try Premium Plus free

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.

Access exclusive sales and deals.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Judge Dredd: Dredd v Death

By: John Wagner

Narrated by: Peter Serafinowicz, Amber Rose Revah, Adam Basil, Doug Cockle

Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

No valid payment method on file.

Add payment method

Switch payment method

We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method

Switch payment method

Pay using card ending in

Switch payment method

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Cancel

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The essential Judge Dredd graphic novel series—the ultimate introduction to the Lawman of the Future!

The crime is life! The Judgement is death! When Judge Death enters Mega-City One from a parallel dimension, his plan is simple: to find every single living cit and sentence them—to death!

The critically acclaimed Essential Dredd Collection is a perfect jumping on point for new listeners and this volume introduces Judge Death, the Dark Judges and wisecracking Psi Judge Cassandra Anderson.

Featuring Adam Basil as Judge Dredd with an ensemble cast including Amber Rose Revah, Peter Serafinowicz and Doug Cockle, long-time fans and newcomers to the world of Judge Dredd will be transported to Mega-City One for an immersive listening experience like no other.

Also available:

Judge Dredd: Origins

Judge Dredd: America

Judge Dredd: The Pit

Judge Anderson: Shamballa

Fantasy

Fiction

Science Fiction

Superhero

Listeners also enjoyed...

Judge Fear's Big Day Out and Other Stories cover art

Rogue Trooper: Welcome to Nu Earth cover art

The Ballad of Halo Jones: Complete Edition cover art

The Boys: Volume 1 [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art

Critic reviews

"When people think of Dredd enemies, they think of The Dark Judges." (Comics Beat)

Most relevant

(edited to remove a couple of points which, on a second listen, I figured were a bit unfair of me; and to add something about the five-minute episode format)

I'm not sure what I expected, going in. This left me feeling a bit cold. I think it might be because they were trying for too close an adaptation. I can understand wanting to preserve as much of John Wagner and Alan Grant's original script as possible, not wanting to add too much and definitely not wanting to take anything away from it. Problem is, since this is sound-only, one doesn't have Brian Bolland, Brett Ewins, Robin Smith, and Cliff Robinson's visuals. Relying mainly on the spoken word, one can't help but hear the flaws in the dialogue -- which in the first three episodes, based as they are on something more than 40 years old, is going to sound a little stilted. "His fingers - piercing Runciman's neck... like custard!" and so on. Here and there we get the sort of description which probably works better as narration rather than character speech.

The narration is particularly brief, pretty much reading the captions. In the comic they have to be short, because you don't want to obscure all the artwork with boxes and balloons. But where the listener could do with a bit more description,a bit more atmospheric noise, we don't get very much at all. I suppose this is where John Wagner's famously terse scripts don't help. As a comic script, it's great - gives the artist plenty of scope for interpretation (was it Cam Kennedy who described his scripts as 'a series of exciting postcards?) - but for audio drama... I think everyone's just erred on the side of caution, and being a little bolder with this adaptation might have helped the whole thing to come together.

Now, don't get me wrong - there ARE good sound effects and music. The sound of Judge Death sticking his hand into people to squeeze their hearts was particularly satisfying, and whoever designed it should be pleased with that at least. The voice actors do as well with the script as they can. Not a bad performance there.

The adaptation gets through the episodes pretty rapidly (the original comics put out 5-6-page episodes, one episode a week, which does set a fast pace) but the effect is more of a story not given space to breathe, rather than the breakneck, clock's ticking, bodies-are-piling-up urgency of the original.

I've mentioned that following the format so closely can be to the audiobook's detriment, and I think that really shows in the episode / chapter format. Each episode is five minutes long, and we get a recap with each one. Granted, it's only a few seconds, but being reminded of the events we just heard five minutes ago is -- jarring. It's different with the comic, because there's a wait of a week between episodes, and there was always the risk that we'd missed an issue and needed to be brought up to speed quickly. But that eventuality doesn't occur here, because we've got the whole thing in one go!

And then we're brought out of it all too quickly, Which I must admit I was a bit worried about when I saw the total runtime was a hair under two hours.

But for a straight adaptation of the comics with none of the original omitted -- no more, no less -- it's not bad.

Faithful adaptation, but a little unsatisfying.