In a battle of 'I Am The Night' vs 'I Am The Law', Batman and Judge Dredd were featured in four crossovers during the 1990's. First was Judgment On Gotham in 1991, followed by Vendetta In Gotham in '93, The Ultimate Riddle in '95 and Die Laughing in '98. All of the stories were written by Alan Grant (that man again) and John Wagner, and were drawn by such luminaries as Simon Bisley and Glenn Fabry, two artists known for their lush, yet gritty and dark fully painted style. Judgment On Gotham, the first meeting of the two characters, neatly established the differences between the two heroes. Namely, Batman was no fan of Dredd being judge, jury and executioner. This tale spanned both Mega-City One and Gotham City, with characters able to jump between the two with the aid of a 'dimensional jump belt'. This belt also allowed Dredd's nemesis Judge Death a path to Gotham, where he teamed up with The Scarecrow to bring fear and death to the city. The story ends with the taciturn Dredd admitting that Batman is 'a bit of a tough guy', which is probably as close to a compliment or sign of respect that anyone will ever get from 2000 AD's most famous lawman. All four tales were released by DC in a massive hardcover collection in 2012, which shows that there is still a demand for these stories and that they haven't fallen into obscurity like many comic book crossovers tend to after the novelty has worn off. It's a great read for any fans of either character, and the successive stories feature other villains like The Riddler and The Joker. The collection also reprints Dredd's encounter with another DC anti-hero, the alien bounty hunter Lobo.
