I am the Law

An in-depth examination of the ways in which the comic strip Judge Dredd, published in 2000 AD, has predicted the changing face of policing in Britain over the last 45 years.

He is the law—and you better believe it! Judge, jury and executioner, Judge Dredd is the brutal comic book cop policing the chaotic future urban jungle of Mega-City One, created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra and launching in the pages of 2000 AD in 1977. But what began as a sci-fi action comic quickly evolved into a searing satire on hardline, militarised policing and ‘law and order’ politics, its endless inventiveness and ironic humour acting as a prophetic warning about our world today—and with important lessons for our future.

Blending comic book history with contemporary radical theories on policing, I Am The Law takes key Dredd stories from the last 45 years and demonstrates how they provide a unique wake-up call about our gradual, and not so gradual, slide towards authoritarian policing.

From the politicisation of policing to ‘zero tolerance’, from violent suppression of protest to the rise of the surveillance state, I Am the Law examines how a comic book warned us about the chilling endgame of today's 'law and order' politics.