Like Mega City Undercover, this is a Dredd story where the Judge himself is more of a background character; but again, that doesn't mean that couldn't change in the adaptation process, and again, it doesn't stop America from being one of the most rightly-feted storylines in the history of 2000 AD's publication. Setting up a lot of the conflicts that came to a conclusion with The Devil You Know/Twilight's Last Gleaming, America is a parable for the way that Mega-City One is irredeemably screwed. It follows the opposing experiences of two of its citizens, America Jara and Bennett Benny: where the latter accepts the fascistic system and is greatly awarded with fame and fortune, the former grows more and more disillusioned, eventually joining a terrorist group and coming face-to-face with Dredd himself. Widely regarded as one of the all-time best Judge Dredd stories, America works because it goes even further than the first Dredd in critiquing the way Mega-City One works, the validity of the "justice" Dredd deals out, but also whether the people fighting against that system are any better. It's a morally grey story, which would make it incredibly interesting as a blockbuster movie. Obviously with more action scenes.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
