There have been literally thousands of individual Judge Dredd stories, they have been breathtakingly exciting, occasionally moving, and frequently absurd. And sometimes - just sometimes - they get a little too silly.
They can be so silly they must never be spoken of again, and are locked away in the darkest, deepest iso-cube. Sometimes it's the story where the Angel Gang get brought back to life in the dumbest possible way - we saw Pa and Junior burn in the fiery lava of Xanadu! - and sometimes it's the story in this annual where Judge Dredd beats up the literal Devil.
The hardcore Dredd fan is not supposed to like these kinds of stories, they disrespect the seriousness of Chaos Day and the Apocalypse War. But I'm as hardcore nerd as it gets, and I freaking love the ridiculous stuff. It's all part of the great buffet of Dredd, just a sweeter taste than usual.
Besides, Carlos Ezquerra draws a bitching Prince of Darkness. And the devil has returned in other stories since then, so he's not totally forgotten.
There's also a great interview with Carlos, and the 1984 annual has two other serious - but still light - Dredd stories by Ezquerra, with a mutant gang on the rampage and a detective story involving time travel from the future. Plus there is some gorgeous black and white art from Jose Casanovas on Max Normal and Mike McMahon doing his 'carved into wood' thing on a text story.
McMahon also does a timeline of the world of Judge Dredd which must have been a revelation for readers of the time. So things might get silly, but that should keep the nerds who hate the fun a tiny bit happier.
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