“Batman, Amalgams, and Crossovers: A History” - Batman and Dredd’s Code of Justice:
After Len Wein's 1981 DC Special Series comic with #theBatman and The Incredible Hulk (discussed in our last post), the #intercompanycrossover would quickly become a thing of popularity throughout the 1990s. One of the first #crossover series is the #DarkKnight and #JohnWagner and #CarlosEzquerra’s #JudgeDredd. The duo’s first encounter of a total of four comes in December 1991's "Batman/Judge Dredd: #JudgementonGotham", written by #AlanGrant and Wagner with illustrations by #SimonBisley. The #DCComics and #Fleetway crossover begins when, after #JudgeDeath is able to jump dimensions into Batman’s territory of #GothamCity. Him and the #CapedCrusader go toe to toe with Batman victorious. Finding the time jump device, Batman accidentally travels to #MegaCityOne where he runs into Mean Machine Angel. This new battle naturally attracts the attention of the #StreetJudge himself. While Mean Machine Angel is able to jump to Gotham and is now on the hunt for Judge Death, in Mega City One, Judge Dredd seeks to arrest Batman for vigilantism and desires to give him a 20 year sentence. However, #JudgeAnderson's telepathy showcases that Batman and Judge Death are not allies, which makes Batman feel no guilt escaping to return to his Gotham City. Not satisfied, Dredd follows Gotham’s protector through the dimensional gateway. While Batman and Judge Dredd share differences in what justice truly means in their worlds, the duo must join forces when God of Fear himself, #Scarecrow, when he finds a new villainous ally with Judge Death for his fear toxins. In the end, Batman, Judge Dredd and Anderson team up against Scarecrow and Judge Death and the villains are defeated. Dredd decides to not make the Batman serve his decades long sentence and he isn’t such a bad ‘vigilante’ after all. This would not be the last time these characters would literally cross paths again, which we will continue to highlight in this retrospect here on #HistoryoftheBatman.✌🏼💙🦇 #Batman80 #ComicBooks #Comics #LongLiveTheBat