Deathstroke vs. Judge Dredd: Somebody Please Make This Happen!!!

I don't normally use my Deathstroke Files blog for self-serving purposes, but why bother creating a virtual soapbox if you're not going to climb atop it from time to time to let your voice be heard. Of late, DC Comics has entered a new era of cooperation with other comic book companies. Collaborations with companies like Archie Comics [Harley & Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica (2017)], Boom! Studios [Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern (2017)], Dark Horse Comics [Wonder Woman/Conan (2017)], and Dynamite Entertainment [Batman/The Shadow (2017) and The Shadow/Batman (2017)] are becoming commonplace.

Frequent DC Comics collaborator,
IDW Publishing

DC Comics has cultivated an even closer relationship with IDW Publishing than with the previously mentioned comic book companies. This partnership has yielded many crossover series and specials including Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2015), Star Trek/Green Lantern (2015), Love is Love (2016),  Star Trek/Green Lantern vol. 2: Stranger Worlds (2016), Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (2017), Batman/The Maxx (2018), and Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (2019). But to me, DC Comics' relationship with IDW is of particular interest because of one character: Judge Dredd.

IDW holds the North American license to publish Judge Dredd through a partnership with the UK-based Rebellion Publishing, which owns and publishes Judge Dredd in Britain. For the uninitiated, Judge Dredd, created by writer John Wagner and the late Carlos Ezquerra, follows the exploits of Joe Dredd: a government-sanctioned street judge charged with keeping the peace and administering swift, street-level justice as literally judge, jury, and often executioner in the mean streets of the post-apocalyptic North American megalopolis, Mega-City One. Dredd metes out justice from atop of his Lawmaster motorcycle, which is armed with machine guns and a laser cannon as well as his multifunction high-tech sidearm, the Lawgiver. Needless to say, Judge Dredd is a no-nonsense, tough as nails badass. Does Dredd's description sound familiar to Deathstroke fans?

Tell me this isn't an intriguing matchup!

As if it isn't obvious by now from the image above, I am proposing that DC and IDW come together for either a limited series or an original hardcover graphic novel pitting Deathstroke the Terminator against Judge Dredd. Think about it, Deathstroke, the world's greatest assassin going to war with Mega-City One's greatest lawman. Deathstroke accepts a contract to take out someone in the future with Judge Dredd sparing no violence at all to bring him down. Brawling, explosions, gunplay, and plot twists colliding intelligently with savage, heavy artwork that harkens back to a 1980s Frank Miller-style blood fest! The assassin that always fulfills his contracts and the judge who is the law; SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE! This project has to happen (Ok, I suppose the world could continue on just fine if this doesn't happen, but it would be a cooler world if it did)!

Let's see what we can do to make this dream matchup a reality. Use the hashtag, #DeathstrokevsDredd, to discuss this topic on DC Comics' and IDW's social media. I'm not saying we can make this project happen (this is not the largest blog out there after all), but I'd at least like to give it a try. Feel free to use the image below in any way you see fit to help me promote this idea to the powers that be to see if we can make this dream matchup a reality.

#DeathstrokevsDredd

DC Comics, IDW, Rebellion Publishing...Please make this happen!
#DeathstrokevsDredd