It's difficult to believe that thirty years ago there was a single judge patrolling our crime-riddled streets. But then in 1977, 2000AD was launched onto an unsuspecting world and with it Mega-City One's top cop, Judge Dredd. An instant hit from Issue 2, he revolutionised British comics with his future brand of law enforcement. Roger the Dodger would never stand a chance. Whilst he remains the lead strip in 2000AD, he also gained his own Megazine. As a result there's a treasure trove of material to mine and this Best Of... volume has attempted to sample some of the many highlights over the years.

The random collection reveals not only the evolution of the character but also the growing confidence of the short-telling which takes on bolder themes that are at time satirical, political, but always entertaining. Reprinting the first story, the stories move through the decades, featuring selected extracts from such multi-episode epics such as The Cursed Earth, which includes art by Brian Bolland who subsequently went to work on numerous comic-book characters including Batman, and the Judge Child with the introduction of regular nemesis Mean Machine, but it also includes self-contained tales. We get to meet the Ugly clinic of Otto Sump and the rat-loving killer, The Fink. Joe Dredd's murderous brother Rico puts in an appearance, offering some background to his past. Once we move into the colour material, Dredd's own origin is finally revealed along with the touching fable America .

It's as interesting to see what has been left out as much as what has been included. No Judge Death or Judge Anderson, no Apocalypse War or Chopper. However, it is almost impossible to do (um) justice to a comic’s phenomenon in three hundred pages. Afficionados will always argue about the final selection. What is not in doubt is the quality of the imagination, a dark vision of our future society after we get nuked. The undoubted Herculean strength of the tales is in the writing of co-creators Alan Grant and John Wagner, who are masters of comic-book storytelling, full of action, wit, and memorable characters. We don't just encounter Dredd along, it’s his whole world that gets fleshed out for us.

What the collection does reveal so magnificently is the outstanding array of artists bringing their own unique styles and vision to the stories. Their combined visual thrill power has been one of the great successes of the character's continual popularity and they showcase Britain's own comicbook superstars. So in these pages are sampled work from the likes of Bolland, Mike McMahon, Ron Smith, Ian Gibson, Liam Sharp, Colin Macneil and probably the definitive Dredd draughtsman, Carlos Esquerra.

Whether you want to argue about the choice of material ot not, or indeed, whether you have read the stories before or coming to them for the first time, The Best Of... is not intended as an authoritative work. It’s a chance to revel in the childhood nostalgic which ahs been bourne out of the best of Commando, War Picture Library, Look-In and indeed, 2000AD collections. The Dredd fanatic might be more discerning, but for anyone who loves inventive fantasy, this is a delightful journey into three decades of Dredd power. He is the law, and don't you forget it!