Judge Anderson: PSI Files Volume 1 (2009)

Authors: Alan Grant / John Wagner

Illustrators: Brett Ewins / Cliff Robinson / Robin Smith / Barry Kitson / Jeff Anderson / Will Simpson / Mark Farmer / Mick Austin / David Roach / Arthur Ranson / Carlos Ezquerra / Kim Raymond |  Page Count: 384

‘I’m hurting inside ... in the secret places only the PSIs know.’

When something is considered too weird for the regular Judges of Mega-City One to deal with they’ll often step aside and call in PSI Division. The PSI Judges have abilities that enable them to literally get inside the minds of criminals.

The best of them, Judge Cassandra Anderson, is a psychic and a telepath, with some limited precognition powers. Being receptive to the thoughts of others makes her a little eccentric. She’s accountable to the law the same as everyone but sometimes PSI Judges are granted special dispensations; she has been known to take advantage of such things.

Since Rebellion acquired 2000AD they’ve been re-releasing some long out of print material in very attractive editions with a large page count that would make any shelf envious. This first volume collects together Anderson’s earliest adventures in chronological order.

She has an outspoken nature from the beginning, but it’s not until tragedy hits her that she begins to really take shape as a unique character, so stick with it. There are a few missteps along the way but mostly the stories are entertaining and help distance her daily routine from that of Dredd’s. The early adventures that she shared with him, the ones that introduced her to the world, aren't in this volume, you’ll need to get the separate Judge Dredd Case Files for those. What it does have is the ‘Engram’ storyline that contains one of the most important revelations about the character; one that changed her forever in a deeply unsettling way.

It’s black and white art, which hopefully won't put anyone off. That’s how the original stories were published and that’s how they should remain. I’d have been very disappointed if they’d coloured it.

4 horrific truths out of 5