Judgement on Gotham
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Judgement on Gotham, published by DC Comics and Fleetway in 1991, is the first of four Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers. It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with art by Simon Bisley.
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[edit] Synopsis
The story opens in Gotham City, where a trysting couple are slain by a ghoulish creature calling itself Judge Death. Two police officers arrive on the scene, only for Judge Death to murder the first. He is prevented from murdering the second by the arrival of Batman, who causes him to inadvertently impale himself on a fence, and then burns him to ashes with gasoline. Judge Death flees in spirit form, whilst Batman investigates his body and accidentally activates the dimension-jump device that allowed Judge Death to reach Gotham. Batman rematerializes in Mega-City One, and is confronted by Mean Machine Angel, who explains that he and Death were supposed to be partners.
Mean Machine turns his dial to 2 and attempts to butt Batman, only to fall off the edge of the building. Batman saves him (well, attempts to) and the pair are then confronted by Judge Dredd. Mean Machine flees to Gotham via the dimension-warp, where he head butts the surviving police officer who confronted Judge Death and wanders off into the city looking for Judge Death. Dredd tells Batman he has to come in for questioning and tells him to put a set of handcuffs on. When Batman tells him the cuffs are unnecessary, Dredd knocks him unconscious with his nightstick, cuffs him and takes his mask. As Dredd questions Batman, The Scarecrow and an assistant break into the Gotham City Morgue to steal the raw materials for more fear-toxin. Judge Death floats into the morgue looking for a new body, only to be startled by the Scarecrow. As the Scarecrow gloats over having scared a ghost, Judge Death enters his mind and finds a kindred spirit (of sorts) in the twisted sociopath.
Being promised a feast of fear in exchange, the Scarecrow becomes partners with Judge Death. In Mega-City One, Psi-Judge Anderson is called in to scan Batman's mind, telling Batman about Judge Death after she finishes. When Dredd tells Batman that he's going to prison and that the Judges won't be setting off after Mean Machine and Judge Death until they've gotten authorization, Batman snaps his bonds and punches Dredd to the floor and then kicks him in the gut before being subdued by several other Judges. In Gotham City, Judge Death is restored and clad in a semblance of his former uniform. After killing the Scarecrow's henchman, he attempts to turn on the Scarecrow, only to be stopped by a dose of Fear-o-sol. Awakening from it, he promises to obey the Scarecrow, who leads him to a heavy metal concert featuring a band called Living Death. Meanwhile, Mean Machine demolishes a bar and is directed to the same concert.
Psi-Judge Anderson, knowing full well that Judge Death must be arrested as soon as possible, rescues Batman and dimension-jumps with him to Gotham City, the two being pursued by Judge Dredd. In Gotham, Judge Death slaughters the band and prepares to extend his work from there, being interrupted by Batman, Anderson and Dredd. Teaming up, Batman and Dredd destroy Judge Death's body, while Anderson re-imprisons his spirit in her mind. After subduing Mean Machine, whose dial got stuck on 4 1/2 (Uncontrollable Butt Frenzy) during the fight, Judge Dredd and Psi-Judge Anderson return to Mega-City One.
[edit] Publication
It was released as a graphic novel in 1991 and has been reprinted a number of times since. ISBN 1563890224
[edit] Other Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers
This was the first of four joint adventures, all by the same writers [1] - the others were:
- Vendetta in Gotham (1993) Art by Cam Kennedy
- The Ultimate Riddle (1995) Art by Carl Critchlow and Dermot Power
- Die Laughing (1998) Art by Glenn Fabry and Jim Murray
