Ron Smith (13) (1924–2019)

This volume reprints Oz, as well as a few other short stories (including an early Democracy storyline). Oz isn't my favourite of the long stories and the long, long race section is a bit tedious by the end.

This edition has some problems. It's a thick volume, so quite a lot gets lost in the gutter, making some dialogue unreadable. At this stage 2000AD was printing Dredd with the first two pages in colour, but these have been printed in greyscale here. Quite a lot of detail gets lost in the process. Subsequent volumes switch to full-colour printing on better quality paper.… (mais)

This second volume of collected Judge Dredd strips from the pages of 2000 AD is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it includes "The Cursed Earth" cycle, possibly the greatest adventure in the history of the character. "The Cursed Earth" features spectacular artwork from the amazing Mike McMahon, and a Pat Mills script that is almost as good. Unfortunately, the rest of the contents of this volume represents mediocre work at best, both in terms of lackluster artwork and story lines that are either just plain dull ("The DNA Man") or bloated and tedious ("The Day The Law Died"). Still, Mike McMahon's work on "The Cursed Earth" is truly something to behold...… (mais)