| Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham | |
|---|---|
 Judgment on Gotham, cover art bySimon Bisley. | |
| Date | December 1991 |
| Main characters | Batman Judge Dredd Judge Death Scarecrow Psi-Judge Anderson Mean Machine Angel |
| Page count | 60 pages |
| Publisher | DC Comics Fleetway Publications |
| Creative team | |
| Writers | Alan Grant John Wagner |
| Artists | Simon Bisley |
| Letterers | Todd Klein |
| Colourists | Simon Bisley |
| Editors | Steve MacManus Dennis O'Neil |
| ISBN | 1-56389-022-4 |
Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham is the first of fourBatman andJudge Dreddcrossovercomic books, published byDC Comics andFleetway Publications in1991. It was written byJohn Wagner andAlan Grant, with art bySimon Bisley.
Judgment on Gotham was released as agraphic novel in1991 (ISBN 1-56389-022-4) and has been reprinted a number of times since.
Judge Death makes a dimensional jump toGotham City, murdering two lovers and a police officer.Batman defeats Death, who flees in spirit form. Among the remains of his host body, Batman finds a dimensional jump belt that he accidentally activates, transporting him toMega-City One, where he is confronted byMean Machine Angel. As Mean Machine attacks Batman, they are both confronted byJudge Dredd. Mean Machine flees to Gotham using the belt, then wanders into the city looking for Judge Death.
In Mega-City One, Dredd arrests Batman for possession of illegal weapons (the contents of hisutility belt) and accuses him of vigilantism. Batman is frustrated at his inability to explain himself to Dredd, untiltelepathJudge Anderson scans Batman's mind to ensure that Death is not "hiding" in his brain, and explains Death's nature and motives to Batman. Batman insists on returning to Gotham immediately, and Dredd insists on Batman first serving a 20-year sentence for his "crimes". Batman breaks his bonds and punches Dredd to the floor, before being subdued by several other Judges. Anderson breaks Batman out of custody and drives him to a functioning dimensional gate. Dredd calls for them to be stopped and, when this fails, follows them to Gotham.
In Gotham, Batman's enemy theScarecrow, and his henchman, Benny, break into the City Morgue to steal the raw materials for his hallucinogenic "fear-toxin". Promised a "feast of fear" in exchange, the Scarecrow becomes partners with Judge Death. After killing Benny, Death attempts to turn on the Scarecrow, who stops him with a dose of his fear toxin (exposing Death to visions of cute, fluffy bunnies andMy Little Ponies) and directs him to aheavy metal concert featuring a band called Living Death. Meanwhile, Mean Machine demolishes a bar and is directed to the same concert.
As Death slaughters the heavy metal band, Batman, Anderson, and Dredd appear. In the battle that follows, Death is on the verge of killing Dredd when Batman uses abatarang to destroy his physical body while Anderson imprisons his spirit in her mind. Mean Machine, stuck in a berserk frenzy that demolishes the stage, is subdued after a pinpoint shot from Dredd destroys the mood-controlling dial on his head. The Scarecrow is likewise captured.
Dredd prepares to take Anderson and Mean Machine back to Mega-City One, and insists that Batman come along to complete his "sentence". They are close to blows when Anderson persuades Dredd to drop the charges against Batman, especially since she warns that Death must be delivered to proper containment before he successfully breaks free from her mind. As they depart, Dredd admits that Batman is a "bit of a tough guy", implying some respect.
In this version, the Scarecrow is given a ghoulish, almost phantom-like look, as compared to his contemporary appearance inDC Comics wherein his costume resembled that of a conventional scarecrow.
Alec Worley, who wrote a trilogy of novellas chroniclingCassandra Anderson's first year as a Judge, wrote in his foreword to theomnibus edition that he first became captivated by her character based on her appearance inJudgement on Gotham, noting that Bisley had chosen to draw her as "more like a muscleboundTori Amos than the chicDebbie Harry lookalike she had been underBrian Bolland".[1]
Igor Goldkind was2000 AD's marketing consultant at the time and recalls one successful event:
I also organised more professional press conferences before major signings and national comic book signing tours, which hadn't really been done on a big scale in this country before. I remember the Judge Dredd vs. Batman graphic novel signing launch at theVirgin Megastore atOxford Circus in London amazed even the police with the numbers that lined up around the block to get their book signed by Simon Bisley, John Wagner and Alan Grant. The store manager said it was a bigger draw than whenDavid Bowie had done a signing the month previously.[2]
Judgment on Gotham won a number of comics industry awards, including the 1992UK Comic Art Award for Best Original Graphic Novel.[3] In addition, Bisley's work on the book garnered him the Best ArtistEisner Award and UK Comic Art Award for 1992.Judgment on Gotham was also nominated for the 1992 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, losing out toWill Eisner'sTo the Heart of the Storm.
This was the first of four joint adventures, all by the same writers[4] – the other three were:
