Who has written the most episodes of Judge Dredd? Everyone
knows the answer to that, it’s the character’s co-creator, John Wagner!
For a character who has been in print every week for the last 38 years, and at least once a month for the last 25, not to mention the star of his own semi-regular
annuals, mega-specials and a long-running newspaper strip, the real wonder is
that not only has one writer been in control for so long, but so few others
have had to step in to help out.
 |
| Art by Ian Gibson; words by Wagner & Grant |
Here’s the breakdown of all the scribes who have written
multiple Dredd stories for the house of Tharg. This covers the Progs, Megs,
Annuals, Mega-Specials, Poster Progs and all that guff. I’m also listing, in
brackets, episodes of the Daily Star and Metro Dredd stories (which is
definitely the same Dredd, but a subtly different storytelling medium).
But I haven’t
included: any Dredd novels and audio dramas – same Dredd, different medium. Nor
indeed the ill-fated run of comics that were released to tie in with the 1995
film (Lawman of the Future; Judge Dredd; Legends of the Law – on the grounds
that all of them feature a slightly different Dredd), nor indeed the rather
better fated recent IDW series (is this the same Dredd? Is it?), and, I hope
not too controversially, the Dredd
stories that are explicitly about the movie Dredd, more obviously a separate
character in his own version of Mega City 1.
 |
| Art by Jason Brashill; words by John Wagner |
The top two names on the list are entirely uncontroversial.
Just to inject a little fun I’ve listed a collaboration as a separate entity. Beyond
that there’s a bit of a mess around who has written more stories vs who has written more episodes,
and how much weight one likes to ascribe to the newspaper strips.
 |
| Art by Ron Smith; Words by Wagner & Grant |
No commentary this time around! Let the stats speak for
themselves. With one exception, I'm only listing people who have written more than 1 episode.
Name
|
Separate stories
|
Individual episodes
|
John Wagner (solo)
|
478
|
1107
|
Wagner/Grant
|
206 (+492)
|
427 (+1832)
|
Alan Grant (solo)
|
102
|
124
|
Gordon Rennie
|
78 (+13)
|
143 (+242)
|
Garth Ennis
|
48
|
137
|
Robbie Morrison
|
43 (+4)
|
65 (+167)
|
Al Ewing
|
30
|
54
|
Michael Carroll
|
26
|
59
|
Rob Williams
|
21
|
37
|
Pat Mills
|
17
|
49
|
Mark Millar
|
17 (+33)
|
39 (+1349)
|
John Smith
|
15
|
47
|
Si Spurrier
|
14 (+5)
|
18 (+5)
|
Ian Edginton
|
8
|
12
|
Malcolm Shaw
|
6
|
6
|
John Tomlinson
|
5
|
10
|
Alan McKenzie
|
5 (+10)
|
9 (+390)
|
Jim Alexander
|
5
|
6
|
Paul Neal / Marc Wigmore
|
5
|
6
|
Si Spencer
|
5
|
5
|
TC Eglington
|
4
|
8
|
Dan Abnett
|
4
|
5
|
Chris Standley
|
4
|
4
|
Grant Morrison
|
3
|
30
|
Emma Beeby
|
3
|
9
|
AlecWorley
|
3
|
3
|
Arthur Wyatt
|
2
|
3
|
Kelvin Gosnell
|
2
|
2
|
Alan Barnes
|
2
|
2
|
Peter Harris
|
1*
|
1
|
 |
| Art by Mike McMahon; Words by John Wagner |
*Plenty of people have written a single Judge Dredd tale;
I’ve singled out Peter Harris as he wrote the very first one that saw print,
often praised by Pat Mills, the editor and co-creator who judged his story to
be the best available kick-off to the new character.
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