American comics fans were born and raised on a steady diet of super-heroes, but for the people of the United Kingdom they had another hero to look up to: Judge Dredd. Created in 1977 in the just-launched anthology magazine 2000AD, Judge Dredd came of age in the early 80s as a UK counterpart to the “growing up” of comics as seen in other books like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. Living in a post-apocalyptic future, Judge Dredd is a law enforcement officer operating in a violent, bustling city walled away from the wasteland outside called Mega City One. The series played the “tough as nails” cop to the hilt, with Judge Dredd brandishing both the crime and the punishment in the name of the law.

For the world outside the UK, Judge Dredd has existed as a import with varying degrees of availability. Considered both exotic and violent, Dredd has stepped into American comics both in a crossover with Batman as well as a series of DC-originated titles. Neither caused much of an impact, leaving American fans of Judge Dredd to rely on imported shipments of comics to get their fix. But with the advent of graphic novels and collections, Judge Dredd’s brand of law is finally permeating the world outside Mega City One.

iFanboy has put together five essential books to get to know Judge Dredd and the world of Mega City One. They’ll cost you a few creds, but it’ll be worth it.

The Best of Judge Dredd: This multi-faceted compilation cherry-picks some of the best works from Dredd’s stories, showing excerpts from sprawling epics as well as highlighting dynamic stand-alone stories that flesh out the world. Of special attention in this is the “The Fink”, a story that would be a treat to fans of Transmetropolitan. Also included is the complete “America” storyarc, which acts as a look at Mega City One and its Judges from the perspective of pro-democracy dissidents. This book stands out from the other “best of” collection, Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files because instead of simply publishing every story from beginning to end it culls it out for true gems all in one book — includingthe excellent “The Cursed Earth,” “The Judge Child” and introducing you to Otto Stump.

Judge Dredd: Judgement Day: In a nutshell, it’s Judge Dredd versus zombies. Written by UK-transplant Garth Ennis, fans of Preacher and The Boys will get a (severe) kick out of this as Judge Dredd wrangles up Judges from all over the world to stop a mad necromancer and kills millions in the process.

Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War: An early story in the long-running Judge Dredd strip, this arc sees Mega City One on the defensive as nearby East-Meg One mounts a nuclear strike before full-on invasion. Using hints of Cold War politics, Judge Dredd and other Mega-City judges are forced to go in as a defacto wetworks squad to mount an attack. The story is done by Judge Dredd creators John Wagner & Carlos Ezquerra, joined in by co-writer Alan Grant

Judge Dredd: The Day The Law Died: Judge Dredd’s authoritarian police work is put on trial as he’s convicted of murder, leading to a whole new regime to head up MC1’s Judges. Dredd must break out of incarceration, band together with retired and laid-off Judges to put a stop to the dictarorial regime that made Dredd’s policies look liberal. The abortive Stallone movie borrowed some of its elements from this arc, but refer to the original here to really enjoy it. This arc features phenomenal art by Brian Bolland and Mike McMahon, and is written by Alan Grant.

Judge Dredd featuring Judge Death: Arguably Dredd’s most popular foe, Judge Death gets his first appearance here. Coming from another dimension, Judge Death operates with the motto “The crime is life, the sentence is death!”, thinking that since only living people can do crime then life is the true criminal and needs to be put to justice. Considered by some to be Judge Dredd’s Joker (or perhaps Venom, for Spider-Man fans), Death became one of the few villains to last since most of Dredd’s foes are quickly executed with his kill-first attitude.