‘Judge Dredd: Nordland Rising’ – Various (2000AD)

 

Page Count: 112 Pages

It’s looking like a busy kind of day, what with one thing and another, so this is going to be a quick(ish) post. And to be honest, while it wasn’t a bad read as such, ‘Nordland Rising’ isn’t a book that has a lot to say for itself. At least, not from where I was sitting. Lets see if I can explain myself a little more clearly…

THE INTERDIMENSIONAL INVASION HAS BEGUN!

Thanks to advances in Nort technology, War Marshal Josef Jaegir has used the black hole around which Nu Earth orbits as a means of invading other universes. Reaching out to Sov War Marshal Kazan, he’s joined forces with East-Meg One to subjugate Mega-City One, and in other realities the Norts have allied themselves with the alien Krool, the Geeks,the Volgans and the Nazis. It’s a war on all fronts, with Jaegir demanding nothing less than total victory.

Can Judge Dredd and a team of mighty multiversal warriors including, Rogue Trooper, Major Eazy and Bad Company, overcome this overwhelming alliance of evil?

When I was able to get my hands on a copy of 2000AD, as a kid, I used to love reading ‘Rogue Trooper’ stories; mostly because we all knew who the ‘Norts’ were supposed to represent and as such, it was fun to watch Rogue carve his way through their ranks. That’s what initially drew my attention to this book and the blurb… The blurb has so much potential, doesn’t it? A war that encompasses multiple dimensions and features a whole host of old favourites. There is scope for a lot of storytelling here, especially when you consider that the Norts and their allies don’t exactly trust each other.

And then I read ‘Nordland Rising’ and realised that this book is the complete story… With the best will in the world, 112 pages isn’t nearly enough room to do a lot more than introduce characters to each other and have them fight some Norts. You’ve basically got the bare bones of a story, which means that you also have the sense of a real missed opportunity for the writers to develop the plot into something that could have been really interesting to follow, especially when you take into account that a lot of these incursions look like time travel…

‘Nordland Rising’ is fun to read with a lot of action and chances to meet those old favourites and see how they would fare against the Norts; not a bad afternoons read then not much more than that. It’s an intriguing ‘what if?’ story but it feels rushed when it should have been allowed to breathe a little more and take in the places that it wanted to visit. I reckon that could have made all the difference. Having said all that though, ‘Nordland Rising’ has also reminded me that I need to re-read ‘The Apocalypse War’. So, thanks for that ‘Nordland Rising’, I appreciate it ;o) And with that, onto the next book...