OK, so you know without thinking about it who has written more Dredd – but who has drawn
more? This is a toughie for sure, and it turns out there isn’t a
straightforward answer…
 |
| Art by Cam Kennedy; Words by John Wagner (big feet meme by Mike McMahon) |
I’ve counted up using the same criteria as with the writers,
only this time covers come into play, too. I’m including in this count covers /
star scans that relate to the Judge Dredd story inside the Prog/Meg, even if
Dredd himself does not feature.
 |
| Art by Greg Staples This relates to the Dredd story inside, so it counts towards Staples's Dredd total |
I’m also including covers that feature Dredd
prominently as part of a general 2000AD ensemble. I’m also including all-new covers that were used on
reprints (but not reprinted covers) directly produced by the House of Tharg -
2000AD monthly, Classic Judge Dredd etc, and, this time around, that includes the audio dramas and in-house
novels. Covers produced for the Titan comics reprint collections, and covers
designed for the US
market (i.e. Quality comics) are listed in brackets.
 |
| Art by Colin MacNeil this relates to the Shimura story inside - it doesn't count towards MacNeil's total. |
I’m not including covers/stories that relate to Dredd’s
world (even if Dredd ends up appearing as a character), so no Anderson, Psi Division amongst many
others.*
But, as before, I’ve not counted anything relating to the
movie-Dredd in either incarnation, or the IDW Dredd stuff (on the grounds that
these are essentially different characters or at least part of a different
Universe.**)
 |
| Art by Cliff Robinson This definitely counts! |
Enough with the pre-amble. Who are the top 10 Judge Dredd artists (by volume)?
Well, it depends, so here are two alternative Top 10s for you:
Version 1
1. Carlos Ezquerra (as it should be; has drawn more episodes of Dredd than anyone else by some margin)
2. Ron Smith (even without his years as the newspaper strip mainstay)
3. Cliff Robinson (cover artist at large)
4. Ian Gibson
5. Mick McMahon
6. Brian Bolland (even without all his cover work, he's drawn more Dredd than you might think)
7. Colin MacNeil (America; what more needs be said?)
8. Henry Flint (king of the latter day mega-epic)
9. Cam Kennedy
10. Paul Marshall (bet you didn't see that coming)
 |
| Art by Carlos Ezquerra; Words by Wagner & Grant |
 |
| Art by Ron Smith; Words by Wagner & Grant |
 |
| Art by Ian Gibson |
Version 2
1. Ron Smith (has drawn the most individual Judge Dredd stories, even ignoring the Daily Star Dredds)
2. Carlos Ezquerra
3. Mick McMahon
4. Cliff Robinson
5. Ian Gibson
6. Brian Bolland
7. Greg Staples
8. Colin MacNeil
9. Paul Marhsall
10. Cam Kennedy
To unpick the logic behind the two lists, I'll present the bald data for ALL Judge Dredd artists who have a total count of at least 10 epsiodes/stories/covers.
If there’s a name you think is missing, it’s because their total count is less than 10.***
 |
| Art by Mike McMahon; words by John Wagner |
 |
| Art by Brian Bolland; Words by John Wagner |
 |
| Art by Henry Flint; Words by John Wagner |
 |
| Chin by Colin MacNeil Words by John Wagner |
Total 1 is
straightforward: stories + ‘normal’ covers, and does not including the
newspaper strips.
Total 2 gives a
figure that combines individual episodes and all covers. I have somewhat arbitrarily judged that 15 episodes of
the newspaper strip counts as a single episode equivalent of a 2000AD Prog
episode (rounding up to get whole numbers).****
Name
|
Total 1
|
Stories
|
Episodes
|
Covers
|
Total 2
|
Ron Smith
|
131
|
80 (+266)
|
161 (+1117)
|
51
|
287
|
Carlos Ezquerra
|
120
|
75
|
302
|
45 (+3)
|
350
|
Mike McMahon
|
94
|
53
|
88
|
41 (+15)
|
144
|
Cliff Robinson
|
91
|
44
|
47
|
122 (+2)
|
171
|
Ian Gibson
|
81
|
68 (+24)
|
98 (+634)
|
13 (+5)
|
159
|
Brian Bolland
|
68
|
21
|
42
|
47 (+47)
|
136
|
Greg Staples
|
67
|
25
|
50
|
42
|
92
|
Colin MacNeil
|
58
|
32
|
100
|
26
|
126
|
Paul Marshall
|
57
|
45
|
91
|
12
|
103
|
Cam Kennedy
|
55
|
41
|
90
|
14 (+1)
|
105
|
Robin Smith
|
53
|
22
|
23
|
31
|
54
|
Henry Flint
|
50
|
31
|
93
|
19
|
112
|
Pete Doherty
|
47
|
28
|
52
|
19
|
71
|
Jason Brashill
|
43
|
12
|
19
|
31
|
50
|
Brett Ewins
|
43
|
22
|
30
|
21 (+2)
|
53
|
John Higgins
|
38
|
35
|
59
|
31
|
90
|
Steve Dillon
|
38
|
19 (+1)
|
51 (+41)
|
19 (+1)
|
74
|
Brendan McCarthy
|
38
|
21
|
34
|
17 (+8)
|
59
|
John Burns
|
36
|
27
|
60
|
9
|
69
|
Dermot Power
|
36
|
10
|
21
|
26
|
47
|
Sean Phillips
|
31
|
7
|
10
|
24
|
34
|
Liam McCormack-Sharp
|
30
|
16
|
22
|
14
|
36
|
Kev Walker
|
30
|
11
|
31
|
19
|
50
|
Trevor Hairsine
|
29
|
8
|
22
|
21
|
43
|
Mick Austin
|
29
|
10
|
21
|
19
|
40
|
Chris Weston
|
28
|
17
|
22
|
11
|
33
|
Dylan Teague
|
27
|
9
|
14
|
18
|
32
|
Dean Ormston
|
26
|
10
|
20
|
16
|
36
|
Ben Willsher
|
25
|
17
|
41
|
8
|
49
|
PJ Holden
|
20
|
18
|
26
|
2
|
28
|
Anthony Williams
|
23
|
18
|
23
|
5
|
28
|
Siku
|
21
|
12
|
24
|
9
|
33
|
Jock
|
21
|
7
|
10
|
14
|
24
|
Glenn Fabry
|
21
|
8
|
8
|
13
|
21
|
Simon Bisley
|
20
|
9
|
9
|
11 (+8)
|
28
|
Barry Kitson
|
20
|
15
|
20
|
5
|
25
|
Jim Murray
|
20
|
8
|
9
|
12
|
21
|
Colin Wilson
|
19
|
13
|
24
|
6
|
30
|
Karl Richardson
|
19
|
9
|
20
|
10
|
30
|
Will Simpson
|
18
|
13
|
30
|
5
|
35
|
Jim Baikie
|
18
|
11
|
19
|
7
|
36
|
Simon Davis
|
18
|
6
|
10
|
12
|
22
|
Mike Collins
|
17
|
16 (+13)
|
22 (+734)
|
1
|
72
|
Richard Elson
|
17
|
12
|
19
|
5
|
24
|
Garry Leach
|
17
|
12
|
15
|
5
|
20
|
Simon Coleby
|
17
|
11
|
18
|
6
|
24
|
Mark Harrison
|
16
|
2
|
6
|
14
|
20
|
Carl Critchlow
|
15
|
12
|
33
|
3
|
36
|
Boo Cook
|
15
|
8
|
15
|
7
|
22
|
John Ridgway
|
14
|
8
|
29
|
6
|
35
|
Patrick Goddard
|
13
|
12
|
27
|
1
|
28
|
Nick Percival
|
13
|
3
|
15
|
10
|
25
|
Alex Ronald
|
12
|
9
|
16
|
3
|
19
|
Kim Raymond
|
12
|
9
|
13
|
3
|
16
|
Duncan Fegredo
|
12
|
3
|
3
|
9 (+1)
|
13
|
Dave Taylor
|
11
|
7
|
20
|
4
|
24
|
Arthur Ranson
|
11
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
11
|
Clint Langley
|
11
|
2
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
Andrew Currie
|
9
|
9
|
24
|
0
|
24
|
Nick Dyer
|
9
|
9
|
17
|
0
|
17
|
Lee Sullivan
|
8
|
8
|
16
|
0
|
16
|
Simon Fraser
|
8
|
8
|
14
|
0
|
14
|
Jeff Anderson
|
8
|
7
|
12
|
1
|
13
|
Leigh Gallagher
|
8
|
6
|
14
|
2
|
16
|
Steve Yeowell
|
8
|
5
|
7
|
3
|
10
|
Charlie Adlard
|
7
|
5
|
21
|
2
|
23
|
Inaki Miranda
|
7
|
5 (22)
|
10 (22)
|
0
|
12
|
John Hicklenton
|
5
|
3
|
13
|
2
|
15
|
Calum Alexander Watt
|
4
|
3
|
9
|
1
|
10
|
Carlos Pino*****
|
0
|
(26)
|
(1091)
|
0
|
(73)
|
 |
| Art by Paul Marshall |
*Got to draw a line somewhere. I’m drawing it at stories that ran under the banner ‘Judge Dredd’ – basically the same criteria begin used to include stories in the Case Files/Restricted Files range, which is more selective than the Mega-Collection range. I am including the first ‘America’, though, because come ON. That is a Judge Dredd story through and through.
**And if you prefer to disagree, it’s not too hard to plug in the missing numbers yourself…
***So no Kevin O’Neill, no David Roach, no John Cooper, no Frank Quitely among many others.
****Yeah, Megazine episodes are longer. Not to mention the Batman crossovers. Perhaps a truly dedicated stats nutcase would start in on an individual panel count…
*****Poor Carlos Pino never drew a ‘proper’ Dredd episode for the Prog, but did slog his way through the Mark Millar / Alan McKenzie years at the end of the Daily Star Dredd era. I’ve never seen one of these episodes, but am curious to see Pino’s take on Dredd.
