Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham
Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham is the first of four Batman and Judge Dredd crossover comic books, published by DC Comics and Fleetway Publications in 1991. It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with art by Simon Bisley. Publication history. "Judgment on Gotham" was released as a graphic novel in 1991 () and has been reprinted a number of times since. Synopsis. Judge Death makes a dimensional jump to Gotham City, murdering two lovers and a police officer. Batman defeats Death, who flees in spirit form. Among the remains of his host  body, Batman finds a dimensional jump belt that he accidentally activates, transporting him to Mega-City One, where he is confronted by Mean Machine Angel. As Mean Machine attacks Batman, they are both confronted by Judge Dredd. Mean Machine flees to Gotham using the belt, then wanders into the city looking for Judge Death. In Mega-City One, Dredd arrests Batman for possession of illegal weapons (the contents of his utility belt) and accuses him of vigilantism. Batman is frustrated at his inability to explain himself to Dredd, until telepath Judge Anderson scans Batman's mind to ensure that Death  is not "hiding" in his brain, and explains Death's nature and motives to Batman. Batman insists on returning to Gotham immediately, and Dredd insists on Batman first serving a 20-year sentence for his "crimes". Batman breaks his bonds and punches Dredd to the floor, before being subdued by several other Judges. Anderson breaks Batman out of custody and drives him to a functioning dimensional gate. Dredd calls for them to be stopped and, when this fails, follows them to Gotham. In Gotham, Batman's enemy the Scarecrow, and his henchman, Benny, break into the City Morgue to steal  the raw materials for his hallucinogenic "fear-toxin". Promised a "feast of fear" in exchange, the Scarecrow becomes partners with Judge Death. After killing Benny, Death attempts to turn on the Scarecrow, who stops him with a dose of his fear toxin (exposing Death to visions of cute, fluffy bunnies and "My Little Ponies") and directs him to a heavy metal concert featuring a band called Living Death. Meanwhile, Mean Machine demolishes a bar and is directed to the same concert. As Death slaughters the heavy metal band, Batman, Anderson, and Dredd appear. In the battle that follows, Death is  on the verge of killing Dredd when Batman uses a batarang to destroy his physical body while Anderson imprisons his spirit in her mind. Mean Machine, stuck in a berserk frenzy that demolishes the stage, is subdued after a pinpoint shot from Dredd destroys the mood-controlling dial on his head. The Scarecrow is likewise captured. Dredd prepares to take Anderson and Mean Machine back to Mega-City One, and insists that Batman come along to complete his "sentence". They are close to blows when Anderson persuades Dredd to drop the charges against Batman, especially since she warns that Death  must be delivered to proper containment before he successfully breaks free from her mind. As they depart, Dredd admits that Batman is a "bit of a tough guy", implying some respect. Character handling. In this version, the Scarecrow is given a ghoulish, almost phantom-like look, as compared to his contemporary appearance in DC Comics wherein his costume resembled that of a conventional scarecrow. Unmasked, Batman has a number of distinctive grey hairs. Alec Worley, who wrote a trilogy of novellas chronicling Cassandra Anderson's first year as a Judge, wrote in his foreword to the omnibus edition that he  first became captivated by her character based on her appearance in "Judgement on Gotham", noting that Bisley had chosen to draw her as "more like a musclebound Tori Amos than the chic Debbie Harry lookalike she had been under Brian Bolland". Reception. Igor Goldkind was "2000 AD"s marketing consultant at the time and recalls one successful event: "Judgment on Gotham" won a number of comics industry awards, including the 1992 UK Comic Art Award for Best Original Graphic Novel. In addition, Bisley's work on the book garnered him the Best Artist Eisner Award and UK Comic Art Award for  1992. "Judgment on Gotham" was also nominated for the 1992 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, losing out to Will Eisner's "To the Heart of the Storm". Other Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers. This was the first of four joint adventures, all by the same writers – the other three were: