Judge Dredd Yearbook #1995
The Judge Dredd Yearbook 1995 is the final entry in the four-year run of oversized Fleetway softcover yearbooks that replaced the traditional IPC hardback annuals from 1992 onward, making it the bookend of a distinct publishing era in British comics. Published in the charged lead-up to the Sylvester Stallone film, it assembled an eclectic roster of Mega-City One's most beloved and dangerous characters — Judge Death, Mean Machine Angel, Fink Angel, Harmony Krieg, and Judge Hershey — giving readers new original material alongside the fan-service density typical of yearbook-format publishing. It also preserves two painted episodes of the abandoned 'Son of Mean Machine' strip by Chris Halls, work that would otherwise have gone entirely unseen and that stands as an accidental historical artifact of a project cut short mid-production.
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Published by Fleetway on 25 August 1994 with a cover date of 1995, the yearbook was edited by David Bishop and is listed on Amazon with Mike Perkins as a contributing illustrator — an early credit for an artist who would go on to extensive work at Marvel Comics. The volume grew out of Fleetway's policy during this period of requiring that all commissioned and completed work be printed regardless of circumstance, which is directly responsible for the inclusion of Chris Halls' two unfinished 'Son of Mean Machine' painted episodes; Halls would shortly afterward become better known under his birth name Chris Cunningham as a director of acclaimed music videos, having provided Mean Machine's makeup effects for the 1995 Judge Dredd film.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Fleetway Publications on 25 August 1994, cover-dated 1995; the last in the run of Judge Dredd Yearbooks spanning the 1992–1995 era.
- The yearbook series ran from 1990 to 1994 (cover dates 1992–1995), replacing the earlier IPC hardback Judge Dredd Annual format.
- Contains five original stories featuring Judge Dredd, Judge Death, Mean Machine Angel, Fink Angel, Harmony Krieg (spelled 'Kreig' in publisher synopses), and Judge Hershey.
- Includes 'The Missionary Man' — a strip featuring the character Preacher Saul Cain — as one of the featured adventures, alongside the main Dredd stories.
- Preserves two painted episodes of the unfinished 'Son of Mean Machine' strip illustrated by Chris Halls before he departed the project — the only place this artwork was published.
- Chris Halls, the artist on the abandoned 'Son of Mean Machine' strip, went on to provide Mean Machine's makeup effects for the 1995 Judge Dredd film and later became acclaimed music video director Chris Cunningham.
- All stories from the Judge Dredd Yearbook 1995 were subsequently collected in Rebellion's trade paperback Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files Volume 04, alongside material from other 1994–1996 specials.
- ISBN: 9781853863318; large-format softcover with gatefold covers, mixing colour and black-and-white comic strip art with illustrated text stories.