Product Description

Alien superfiend Judge Death comes from a twisted dimension in which life itself is a crime. When he escapes his prison in Mega-City One and goes on the rampage, the terror is only beginning.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85761 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Customer Reviews

One of the most disturbing things I have ever read
When in comes to comics and graphic novels, I generally devote my attention to my first loves, Marvel and DC, but that doesn't mean I don't respect or appreciate other comic universes out there, or that I'm even afraid to try something new.

This applies to my recent dive into 2000AD, something that's been around for decades and yet I just haven't been exposed to it properly. That changed somewhat when I read The Batman/Judge Dredd Files, containing such classic crossovers and providing me with a fascinating intro into the world of Judge Dredd and his arch-nemesis Judge Death.

Believe it or not, I came across this 2000AD graphic novel by happy accident. Young Death - Boyhood of a Superfiend wasn't something I was aware of, but given that Judge Death was the star here, and this was a chance for me to learn more about this very ghoulish chap who believes that all life is a crime and the sentence should be death...I thought, "Why not? Let's try something new."

This tale is written by John Wagner and Si Spencer. The artists on hand are Peter Doherty and John McCrea. All together, this team produces a visually haunting/stunning, horrifically captivating story that is NOT for the faint-hearted. In fact, it is perhaps the most disturbing, truly horrific, violent and nightmarish graphic novel I have ever read.

However at the same time, this is one of the most creative ideas I've ever been subjected to. Judge Death has a desire to let the world know his life-story, so he manipulates/threatens journalist Brian Skuter into interviewing him. I've never read an origin tale conducted in this fashion before, which makes it highly original and very clever. But this is also an idea that works so well in practice as it does in theory.

As Judge Death sits down to tell his life-story, you really come to understand just how psychotic and evil Death truly is. Although you can't really understand just WHY he can be so, other than being born this way. After all, his world had done nothing but give him kindness and love, but he just tortures and destroys everything in response. What `Sidney' (his real name) did as he grew up is absolutely horrific and sickening; killing his dog `Woofie' and his family one-by-one, his learning experiences, the development of his views on life, his career choice, his violent school days and his graduation and duties as a young judge are all so cold, sadistic and evil. This is VERY heavy-reading and is guaranteed to put off quite a few readers.

But at the same time, the tale isn't presented as being crude. It's not in the least bit crudely done, and this is far more than just mindless horror and violence. The Dark Judge has plenty of depth to make him an outstanding villain, thanks to the revelations of his childhood, development of his philosophy and his engrossing transformation into the living dead. And his dark humour and admiration for his naïve landlady (YES, you read that right!) Mrs Gunderson adds another dimension to the book that merits such commendation for this team of writers.

One thing I like about this graphic novel, is how Judge Death is portrayed. Whereas psychotic mass-murderers like The Joker and Carnage (for example) have also received the in-depth background to explain their violent tendencies and insane perspectives, there have been notable elements of tragedy that make you (to some extent) feel sorry for them in some bizarre way. What makes Judge Death so unique is that there is absolutely NOTHING to make you sympathetic towards him. Sidney was born a monster and chose to be evil whilst nothing bad had ever happened to him in his life. It really makes you despise him because you have every right to. And that (in some ways) can make for an even better antagonist.

Other qualities of this book include the character of journalist Brian Skuter. When interviewing Judge Death, an insight into Skuter's mind provides a true-to-life expression of how he feels; uncomfortable, fearing-for-his-life, amazed, enthralled, sickened, highly sarcastic of Death's views and realizing that there's more to the Dark Judge than just plain evil. Skuter is the ideal representation of how any real-life journalist would feel when interviewing this monster, and although he's just in the story for the sake of the premise, it's still cleverly done. Judge Dredd and his crew also make a few cameo appearances throughout the book as part of the nice little sub-plot to try and find Death before it's too late. And the art...is absolutely fantastic. The whole tale is painted so vividly and adds to the storytelling perfectly. With such expert writing and artwork, the creative team have produced a real masterpiece.

Still, the sheer violence and chilling horror of this graphic novel is bound to deter some readers. It is truly disturbing in both art and writing and is ideally suited to young adults, but if you can manage to tolerate the violence, you'll come to appreciate just how in-depth this book truly is. It also comes with a nice Afterword from Pete Doherty and a bonus black-and-white story called "Masque of the Judge Death".

Die-hard fans of 2000AD and Judge Death are obviously going to lap this up (and quite right, too). For those who are like me, and fancy reading something a little different from DC and Marvel, I would recommend Young Death - Boyhood of a Superfiend. Not for every comic-fan due to its very adult content but still genius nevertheless. Worth reading, worth buying.