When January 22nd rolls around . . . you are in for a treat. Particularly if A.) you're a Judge Dredd fan, B.) if you love the writing of Douglas Wolk, and C.) are a fan of the unparalleled illustrating talents of Ulises Farinas. Eatyourcomics contacted Mr. Farinas just for this review to ask the master how he works. That spot will follow. First let us delve into Mega-city Two, Dredd on the West Coast.

Open with the famous Dredd grimmace, the one that says, “Cross me, any part of me, any time, and you will be judged.” Mega-city One is Dredd's home, the East Coast Megalopolis that is home to more violent crime than the entirety of the current continent of Africa. He's used to dealing out justice with a few sentences and a gun. But in Mega-city Two Dredd is immersed in a relatively happy-go-lucky kind of environment where his bike has been replaced by a talking, and bubbly hovercar (The Lawcruiser Mark 3), and his gun has been replaced by a weapon with a smiling teddy bear insignia on it that fires “friendly bullets.” They knock you down, but you get back up.

Judge Dredd, welcome to hell.

With nary a bit of guts to splatter all the super-cop can do is follow the rules, and hope to dispense some justice. He's after some nobody called Gubbins, a stookie dealer with a holo-projector that allows him to hide amongst the masses. Dredd's perplexity, and the cool way he handles it is good stuff, funny, and expertly timed. In this futuristic Hollywood the special effects are real. Dredd darts through a couple live sets following the perp, and runs into a real alien monster that offers his assistance, rather than trying to take on the Judge. Dredd's nigh uncontainable rage is contrasted expertly in both the story, and the illustrations, by combining situations with environment. Overall the effect of the book is nabbing.

I'm a Dredd fan from the movies, and have read only a few Dredd comics in my day. Jumping in with “Judgre Dredd: Mega-city Two – City of Courts” has made me want more. And the fact that it's illustrated by the careful, meticulous, and legendary Ulises Farinas serves only to increase its appeal, and add immense value to the story. Eatyourcomics was privileged enough to engage in some dialogue with Mr. Farinas:

Your work is both painstaking, and elegantly simple. How do you know which panels to elaborately create, and which to reveal with simplicity?

I sort of look at drawing comics like I'm making a song, it's gotta hit the right beats at the right time, but also know when to get quiet and when to breathe.

What do you enjoy most about doing comics?

Working on my own, making my own schedule, and being in charge of my future.

What process do you go through to conceive of the design, and ultimate execution of the panel?

The composition of an individual panel in relation to the rest of the panels, and how the entire page looks is really important to me. So I try to make a single page function as an effective composition, while still providing a clear story.

How much is collaborative with your colleagues, and how much is just Ulises' mad genius?

Working with Douglas Wolk has been one of my best collaborative experiences in comics. But on my own personal work, I always work with my co-writer Erick Freitas. But any one I work with, I always think it works best when collaborators worry less about who is the writer, who is the artist, and instead just make sure that together they make a great comic. I think Mega City 2, my work on Gamma from Dark Horse, are both great made genius examples of that.

And so they are. A special thanks to Ulises Farinas for sharing a brief moment with Eatyourcomics, and a strong recommendation that you get this comic! Five stars.