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Judge Dredd

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Judge Dredd
File:2000AD168.jpg
2000AD prog 168 cover by Mike McMahon; 2000 AD and Judge Dredd copyright Rebellion A/S 2005.
Publication information
PublisherIPC Media (Fleetway) to 1999, thereafter Rebellion Developments
First appearance2000 AD #2 (1977)
Created byJohn Wagner
Carlos Ezquerra
In-story information
Alter egoJoe Dredd
Team affiliationsMega-City One Justice Department, Academy of Law; Luna 1 Justice Department
Notable aliasesThe Dead Man, Old Stony Face
Abilitiesnone, notably wields a 'lawgiver' pistol and rides a 'lawmaster' motorbike; excellent marksman and quick thinker; bionic eyes (implanted after time-travelling mission to the City of the Damned) grant 20/20 vision and reduced blinking rate; cited as being "psi-immune"
This article is about the comic-book character. For the 1970s reggae/ska performer, see Judge Dread.

Judge Dredd (Joe Dredd or Joseph Dredd) is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running (having been featured there since its second issue in 1977). Dredd is a law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judiciary and government. Dredd and his fellow Judges are empowered to arrest, sentence and even execute criminals on the spot. He was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, although editor Pat Mills also deserves some credit for his early development.

Judge Dredd is possibly amongst Britain's best known home-grown comic book characters. His name is sometimes invoked to describe politicians or police who overstep their powers, most recently by Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty. [1]

Publishing history

When Pat Mills was developing 2000 AD, he brought in his former writing partner, John Wagner, to develop characters. Wagner had written various Dirty Harry-style "tough cop" stories for other titles, and suggested a character who took that concept to its logical extreme, imagining an ultra-violent lawman patrolling a future New York City with the power to administer instant justice. Mills had developed a horror strip called Judge Dread but abandoned the idea as unsuitable for the new comic, but the name, with minor modification, was adopted by Wagner for his ultimate lawman.

The task of visualising the character was given to Carlos Ezquerra, a Spanish artist who had worked for Mills before on Battle Picture Weekly. Wagner gave Ezquerra an advertisement for the film Death Race 2000, showing the character Frankenstein clad in black leather on a motorbike, as a suggestion for what the character should look like. Ezquerra elaborated on this greatly, adding body-armour, zips and chains, which Wagner originally thought over the top. Wagner's initial script was rewritten by Mills and drawn up by Ezquerra, but when the art came back a rethink was necessary. The hardware and cityscapes Ezquerra had drawn were far more futuristic than the near-future setting originally intended, but Mills decided to run with it and set the strip further into the future.

By this stage, however, Wagner had quit, disillusioned that a proposed buy-out (which would have given him and Mills a greater financial stake in the comic) had fallen through. Mills was reluctant to lose Judge Dredd and farmed the strip out to a variety of freelance writers, hoping to develop it further. Their scripts were given to a variety of artists as Mills tried to find a strip which would provide a good introduction to the character, all of which meant that Dredd would not be ready for 2000 AD's first issue, launched in February 1977. The original launch story written by Wagner and drawn by Ezquerra was finally published several years later in an annual.

The story chosen to introduce the character was submitted by Peter Harris, extensively re-written by Mills, and including an idea suggested by sub-editor Kelvin Gosnell. It was drawn by newcomer Mike McMahon. In it, Dredd brought to justice a criminal who had murdered another Judge and was hiding out in the ruins of the Empire State Building. The story introduced the motifs that would mark out Dredd: novel future crimes are resolved by hi-tech police procedure, with Dredd delivering a severe punishment. In this case, the villain is banished to a penal colony located on a traffic island. The strip debuted in prog 2, but Ezquerra, angry that another artist had drawn the first published strip, quit and returned to work for Battle. Wagner, however, soon swallowed his pride and returned to the character, starting in prog 9. His "Robot Wars" storyline was drawn by a rotating team of artists, including McMahon, Ezquerra, Ron Turner and Ian Gibson, and marked the point where Dredd became the most popular character in the comic, a position he has rarely relinquished. Dredd's city, which now covered most of North America's east coast, became known as Mega-City One.

The character has appeared in almost every issue since, the bulk of the stories written by Wagner (between 1980 and 1988, in collaboration with Alan Grant). Other illustrators of the strip have included Brian Bolland, Ron Smith, Steve Dillon and Cam Kennedy.

Since 1990 Dredd has also headlined his own title, the Judge Dredd Megazine. With Wagner concentrating his energies there, the Dredd strip in 2000 AD was left to younger writers such as Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and John Smith. Their efforts were not popular with fans, and sales fell. Wagner returned to writing the character full-time in 1997. Recently, many strips have been written by Gordon Rennie, and in interviews Rennie and Wagner have indicated that there is a plan for Wagner to retire once Rennie has established himself.

Character biography

Judge Dredd, drawn by Mike McMahon for the first ever story

Joe Dredd, one of a number of clones of Chief Judge Fargo, is the most famous of the elite corps of Judges that run Mega-City One with the power not only to enforce the law, but also to instantly sentence offenders -- and (if necessary) execute them. Dredd has a large, computer-driven "Lawmaster" motorbike, which mounts powerful cannons, and has full artificial intelligence, and is capable of responding to orders from the Judge and driving itself. It is also connected to the Justice Department who can receive and transmit information from and to the bike and is equipped with a video communication system. He also has a "Lawgiver" handgun (DNA-coded to recognize his palm-print alone) that fires six types of bullets; a daystick; a bootknife; and, a uniform with a helmet that obscures all of his face except his mouth and jaw. His entire face is never shown in the strip (however, see The Dead Man below). In an early story written by Mills Dredd is forced to remove his helmet and the other characters react as if he is disfigured but the artwork by Massimo Bellardinelli was not satisfactory and Dredd's face was covered by a faux censorship sticker. A frequently used phrase in the series is "I am the Law." Some see Dredd as a personification of the idea of Law, thus his face cannot be shown because as The Law he transcends any particular form. This is not to say, however, that he is totally inhuman. Throughout the strip he displays emotions (mostly anger) and irony: Another common Dredd quote is "Democracy is not for the people", a short sentence containing the Judge's very human opinion of other humans -- that they need to be very strictly controlled.

Dredd used to share his flat with a domestic robot called Walter the Wobot who performed all his domestic chores. Walter has a speech impediment, hence the name. Dredd also had a landlady called Maria. Both Walter and his landlady were kidnapped several times by criminals, and Walter has been destroyed at least once. In later years, Dredd threw out both Walter and Maria, and eventually left his flat, preferring ten minutes on a sleep machine in the Grand Hall of Justice. Maria sank into poverty and eventually died, homeless and alone. Walter tried to set up his own business, but it was shut down by Dredd. Bitterly, he plotted a second Robot Rebellion, and was defeated by Judge Giant, though not before shooting Dredd. As a free robot, Walter was sentenced to imprisonment rather than destruction. Walter later repented, and petitioned Judge Dredd to release him. Dredd agreed, on condition that Walter resume work as a servo-droid, releasing him into the custody and service of Mrs Gunderson.

As the strip occurs in real time, Dredd is currently more than sixty years old. However, his vitality is explained in the context of the stories with allusions to rejuvenation treatments, and a possible body transplant with a younger future clone of Fargo thanks to the advanced medical technology of the future. Recently, characters in the comic have mentioned that Dredd is not as young and fit as he used to be.

Joe is nicknamed old stoneyface a name he apparently acquired while still a cadet. More recently he has become known as the "Old Man", though not confirmed Joe is likely the oldest Judge still on active street duty. The recent Black Flame novels and strips have confirmed that Joe is well aware he is living on borrowed time with his replacements already being lined up. These include clones like Rico Dredd II or Cadet Dolman and also street Judges like Judge Giant II who often partners Dredd.

Family and Friends

Dredd's loyalty is to the law, first and foremost. However he does have relationships.

Joe is a clone, along with his brother Rico. However, something went bad in Rico forcing Joe to turn him in. Twenty years later Rico returned seeking revenge. This attack failed and Joe was forced to kill him. In spite of Rico's status as a perp, a wounded Joe chose to carry him out of the apartment where Rico had died, stating "He ain't heavy, he's my brother".

Joe also has a niece Vienna who was fathered by Rico in jail. Vienna has inherited some of their combat skills and has a close relationship (for Dredd) with him. Joe has gone out of his way to save her on occasion, and they get on relatively well.

Joe's first clone, Rico II, is often mistaken for Dredd. He eventually inherited Dredd's apartment at Rowdy Yates.

Joe's best "Friend" is probably the second Judge Giant. They often work together and, Rico II notwithstanding, Giant is seen as Dredd's replacment (though Giant has always acknowledged that that is an impossible task).

Joe has known Chief Judge Hershey for twenty years, like all chief Judges since Goodman Joe has easy access to her but they also have a personal relationship based on mutual respect for each other.

Dredd's world

The strip is set 122 years in the future. The timeline is worth noting, because the strip appears in real time - thus, as the Dredd strip has been published since 1977, Dredd has aged 29 years as of 2006. The Earth has been badly damaged by a series of international conflicts, much of the Earth is desertified, and populations have tended to aggregate in enormous conurbations known as 'mega-cities'. The world of Judge Dredd is centred on the megalopolis of Mega-City One. Within Mega-City One extensive automation including the creation of a caste of intelligent robots has rendered the majority of the population workless. As a consequence the general population is prone to embracing any fashion that comes along. Much of the remaining world's geography is somewhat vague, although other megacities have been referred to and visited in the strip.

Despite its frequent disasters, Mega-City One stretches from around Boston to Charlotte. Although no date is given in the strip, the Judge Dredd Role-Playing Game (using as its framework the unofficial chronology featured in the 1984 Judge Dredd Annual) cites Mega-City One as being established in 2031. At its height, the city contained a population of about 800 million; the current population is less than half of that. There are two other major population centres in Dredd's Northern America - Mega-City Two (from around San Diego into Baja California) and Texas City (formerly Mega-City Three). The centre of the continent is a nuclear desert called the Cursed Earth.

Nuclear deserts and destruction elsewhere are also extensive. In South America a new desert extends from Nicaragua, covering Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and pushing far into Amazonas. Cities in South America are Brasília, Ciudad Barranquilla, and on the western side the Pan-Andes Conurb and South-Am City. The majority of the Caribbean islands have been destroyed and the water there and across much of the north Atlantic is severely polluted, and is now known as the Black Atlantic.

Europe has suffered considerable reshaping, especially the south. A desert covers much of eastern France, extending south into Spain and across to cover much of Central Europe. Classical Greece is gone, as are parts of Turkey. The Black Sea and the Caspian Sea are now joined. In Europe the major cities are Brit-Cit (covering all of southern England), Calhab (part of Scotland), Euro-City (eastern France), Vatican City (most of Italy) and Ciudad España (eastern Spain). Ireland is now known as the Emerald Isle, essentially an enormous theme park re-creating a stereotypical view of traditional Irish life. Further east into Asia are more nuclear deserts, the ruins of East-Meg One (destroyed by a massive nuclear strike at the climax of the Apocalypse War), and further east the megalopolis of East-Meg Two.

In Asia, separated from East-Meg Two by an extensive nuclear desert, are Sino-City One and -Two in eastern China, with Hong Tong built in the remains of Hong Kong; Hondo City on the remains of the islands of Japan; and Indo City (also called Nu-Delhi) in southern India. Between Hondo and Sino-City lies the Radlands of Ji, a nuclear desert full of chaos magic and many violent outlaw gangs & martial arts schools. Into the Blue Pacific cities survive in south-east Australia, the Sydney-Melbourne Conurb, and on a number of Pacific islands. Borneo has been covered in mutagens, as have all of Indonesia's islands which are now linked by a network of mutant coral; called "The Web", this network of islands is a lawless hotbed of crime.

The Middle East is without major cities, being either nuclear or natural deserts; the Mediterranean coast is heavily damaged by mutagens. In Africa much of the south is nuclear desert, South Africa proper has been shattered and is entirely uninhabitable, and the continent is now known as Pan-Africa. The major cities are Umur (Libya), New Jerusalem (north-east Ethiopia), Luxor City (Egypt) and Simba City (Cameroon). Lake Victoria is enlarged and has been renamed the Kenyatta Sea.

The high levels of pollution have created instances of mutation in humans and animals. The Mega-Cities largely operate on a system of genetic normalcy making expulsion from the cities the worst punishment possible.

Earth's moon has been colonised, with a series of large domes forming Luna City.

Continuity errors have crept into the history at various stages. An example is an early story featuring a mad scientist who experimented with human cloning - despite the fact that it had already been revealed that many Judges, including Dredd himself, were clones. The most glaring one is the reference to the penal colony for rogue Judges on Titan, which is said in the strip at various stages to orbit either Jupiter or Saturn (the latter is correct), seemingly at the whim of the writer at the time.

The Judge system

Each street Judge acts as police, judge, jury and, if necessary, executioner. They also act as unelected governments. Numerous writers have used the Judge system to satirize contemporary politics. The judges are, in theory, rendered absolutely incorruptible by the psychological conditioning they receive -- although this has been subverted on several occasions to various degrees. One of the worst instances was by the insane Judge Cal who manipulated his way to the office of Chief Judge. Once he had absolute power, he proceeded to behave much like his namesake Caligula, even appointing his pet goldfish as his Deputy Chief Judge. Dredd was the leader of the rebel Judges who overthrew Cal; after Cal's death at the hands of Fergee, a dweller of the Mega-City's undercity, Dredd was offered the job of Chief Judge. He refused it, believing that he was needed far more out on the streets. On another occasion, the Judges were subverted from their role of protectors of Mega-City One's citizens by the Sisters of Death, who (through the body of psi judge Kit Agee), used supernatural powers to create the Dark Judges' dystopian state of Necropolis. Once more, Dredd avoided mental conditioning by being away from the city. This time, he had resigned from the Judges and taken The Long Walk (see Tale of the Dead Man). With the aid of a small force of rebel Cadet Judges, as well as Judge Anderson, Dredd was able to win the day.

Mega-City One's population lives in gigantic tower blocks, each holding some fifty thousand or so people. Each is named after some historical person or TV character (Dredd lives in the Rowdy Yates block); there is usually some very British, ironic joke in the names of the blocks. For instance, Rowdy Yates was a character in the U.S. TV cowboy drama Rawhide, played by a young Clint Eastwood. Eastwood would later play "Dirty Harry" -- one of the thematic influences upon which Judge Dredd was based. A number of stories feature rivalries between different blocks, on one occasion (recounted in the story "Block Mania") breaking into gunfire wars between them. The Judges' possessing such arbitrary and total powers reflect the difficulty of maintaining any order at all in a Mega-City's stifling environment.

Various versions of the Judge system hold power in all the Mega-Cities of Dredd's world.

Major Judge Dredd storylines

Template:Spoiler

File:2000AD85.jpg
2000AD Cover artwork from The Cursed Earth storyline, artwork by Mike McMahon.

There have been a number of Judge Dredd storylines that have either significantly developed the "Dredd mythos" or have been "epic" in scale (i.e., been multi-part stories). Some of these include:

  • The Robot Wars (the Mega-City judges face an uprising by the city's robot servant workforce, led by carpenter-droid Call-Me-Kenneth)
  • The Return of Rico (prog 30) (Joe Dredd's clone brother Rico Dredd returns from Titan [a penal colony for Judges who themselves have broken the law] seeking revenge)
  • "Lunar One" (progs 42-59) (Dredd is made Judge Marshall of Mega-City One's Lunar Colony. During this mission we meet for the first time Judges from East Meg One).
  • The Cursed Earth (progs 61-85) was the writers' take on the basic plot of Roger Zelazny's Damnation Alley: Dredd, accompanied by punk biker Spikes Harvey Rotten undertakes an epic journey across the deserts of the Cursed Earth, transporting the vaccine for the deadly 2T(Fru)T virus that is devastating Mega-City Two's population)
  • The Day the Law Died (progs 89-108) (the tyrannical and insane Chief Judge Cal takes control of Mega-City One, with disastrous consequences for the population. This story introduced the Kleggs, a crocodile-like race of interplanetary mercenaries)
  • Judge Death (progs 149-151) (the first appearance of both Judge Death, perhaps the Mega-Cities' darkest foe, and Judge Anderson)
  • Judge Child (progs 156-181) (The space opera style search for the mutant child Owen Chrysler, who Mega-City 'pre-cog' Psi-Judge Feyy has predicted will have the power to save the city from an unspecified future disaster. This story introduced several characters into the Dredd mythos, such as: Judge Hershey; The Angel Gang (including the ever-popular villain Mean Machine Angel); Murd the Oppressor; and, the bizarre Jigsaw Disease, whose victims literally disappeared piece by piece)
  • Block Mania (progs 236-244) (contamination of water supplies by Orlok the Assassin leads to all-out war between Mega-City One's many city blocks. This story is a prologue to Apocalypse War)
  • Apocalypse War (progs 245-270) (weakened by the effects of Block Mania, Mega-City One is attacked and invaded by the forces of East Meg One. Dredd leads the resistance.)
  • City of the Damned (progs 393-406) (the Judges develop time travel technology. Dredd and Anderson travel into the future to discover more about the disaster predicted by Psi-Judge Feyy. However they learn that the Judge Child Owen Chrysler has in fact caused the events, rather than preventing them from happening. In a time paradoxical moment, Dredd meets an undead future version of himself and loses his eyes. These are replaced by the bionic eyes that he still retains)
  • Oz (progs 545-570) (Dredd visits the Australian Mega-City of Oz on the trail of renegade sky-surfer Chopper. At the same time the Mega-City One Judges are attacked by the Judda, a 'lost tribe' of Chief Judge Fargo clones who share Dredd's bloodline)
  • The Dead Man ((NB. This was not billed as a 'Judge Dredd' story when it first appeared in 2000 AD) a mysterious disfigured stranger with no memory wanders the deserts of the Cursed Earth. In the final episode of the story this turns out to be Dredd, who has encountered the Sisters of Death. In this story Dredd is shown throughout without his famous feature-covering helmet, although his face has been badly burned and scarred.)
  • A Letter to Judge Dredd (prog 661) (Dredd receives a letter written by a child who has been killed as an indirect result of the Judges' suppression of a pro-democracy demonstration, causing him to seriously question the entire ethical basis of the Judge system, and setting in motion the chain of events recounted in the episodes that follow)
  • The Tale of the Dead Man (progs 662-668) (Dredd resigns and takes the Long Walk following his assessment of ex-Judda Cadet Judge Kraken, and his crisis of faith in the Law that he had always sworn to uphold. This story acts as a prologue to Necropolis)
  • Necropolis (progs 669-673 (Countdown to Necropolis) and 674-699) (manipulating the confused mind of Judge Kraken, the Sisters of Death are able to use the body of Psi-Judge Agee in order to take control of Mega-City One and create a trans-dimensional bridge enabling The Dark Judges to once again manifest themselves)
  • Democracy (the long running tensions between the totalitarian Judge system and the movement for the restoration of democracy in the Mega-City at last come to a head...)
  • America (Megazine 1.01-1.07) Regarded by many fans as the quintessential Dredd story. In this tale Dredd's philosophy is explored when democracy activists resort to terrorism. This story introduces the tragic characters America Jara and Bennett Beeny.
  • Judgement on Gotham (a 'cross-over' story co-published by DC Comics and Fleetway. Dredd and Batman reluctantly join forces to defeat Judge Death, who has used dimension-jump technology to breach the DC Universe and attack Gotham City). This issue was also notable for painted artwork by Simon Bisley.
  • Judgement Day (progs 786-799) (Sabbat the Necromagus re-animates the corpses of the dead and uses them to attack the world's Mega-Cities, leading to the deaths of billions. This story includes the teaming of Dredd with Johnny Alpha, a character from another long running 2000 AD comic strip, Strontium Dog [Dredd and Alpha had however previously crossed paths in an earlier story])
  • Mechanismo (after Necropolis and Sabbat's zombies, Mega-City has lost far too many judges. To combat this, the Chief Judge test-runs ten robot judges, with disastrous results.)
  • Inferno (progs 842 to 853) Escaped rogue Judges from Titan take over the city, forcing the Judges into the Cursed Earth.
  • Wilderlands (progs 891-918 and Megazine 2.57 to 2.67) Dredd is exposed as helping falsify evidence to shut down the Mechanismo project and is forcibly discharged, while Chief Judge McGruder attempts to remain in power and see Mechanismo's brought in despite her failing mental capacities. When malfunctioning Mechanismo's crash a space cruiser on an alien world in an attempt to kill McGruder, Dredd is forced to take control of the survivors. The mega-epic ended many long-running subplots including the Mechanismo's and McGruder's second stint as Chief Judge, as well as bringing in Judge Volt, bringing back the Council of Five and introducing Judge Castillo.
  • The Pit Dredd takes the job of Sector Chief at Sector 301, an isolated area of the city that has become a dumping ground for corrupt and incompetent judges. Introduced the popular character Judge Galen DeMarco, the closest thing Dredd has had to a love interest, who would go on to star in her own strip
  • Doomsday for Dredd/Doomsday for Mega City One was the first series to run the same story from different viewpoints concurrently, one in 2000 AD and the other in the Judge Dredd Megazine. DfMC-1 is told from the viewpoint of Galen DeMarco, now a civilian, as she is caught up in Crime lord Nero Narkos' attempt to take over the city with his army of robots. DfD is told from Dredd's viewpoint as he is taken prisoner by Orlok the Assassin and tried by the East Meg One government in exile for his war crimes during the Apocalypse War. Once Dredd escapes (with Anderson's assistance), he secured the help of Brit-Cit in breaking Neros' control over his robot hordes. The story saw the Judges briefly lose power and Chief Judge Volt committed suicide as a result; Hershey replaced him.
  • Helter Skelter (progs 1250 to 1261) In an alternative dimension, Judge Cal (see The Day the Law Died) was not defeated by Dredd, and has obtained dimension jump technology from the Dark Judges. He uses this to cause chaos between the dimensions, bringing back many of Dredd's greatest foes from other alternative dimensions, as well as a variety of characters from other 2000 AD stories (including cameos from Halo Jones, Rogue Trooper, D.R. and Quinch and others). On the verge of the total collapse of all universes (Helter Skelter), Dredd defeats Cal with the help of dimension technician Darien Kenzie.)
  • Blood Cadets saw the introduction of a new clone of Dredd, who took the name Rico; Blood And Duty saw the return of Dredd's niece Vienna Pasternak. With Vienna's reintroduction and the new Rico's arrival, Dredd was given a family and several new plot points for future stories, including the Justice Department creating a large number of Dredd clones and Dredd's problems with trying to connect with his niece.
  • Judge Dredd VS Aliens (Prog 2003 annual to 1335) pitted Dredd against the monsters from the Alien movie series, with mutant terrorist Mister Bones breeding an army of xenomorphs in the Undercity and having them assault the Department of Justice.
  • Judge Dredd - Terror and Total War (a combined mega-epic that deals with the actions of a terrorist cell in Mega-City 1. Fanatically dedicated to the democratic cause, Total War smuggles 12 nuclear devices into the vast megalopolis and threaten to detonate them all unless the Judges leave the City. A standard thriller plot made more significant through explorations of Judge Dredd's extended family, including Vienna and a Dredd clone, Nimrod).
  • Judge Dredd - Blood Trails, following on from elements of Total War and Gulag (where Dredd led a Judge team to try and free POWs from the Sov block), had a clone of Sov general Kazan try to attack Dredd by targeting Vienna, sending the face-changing assassin Pasha to gain her trust and abduct her. In the aftermath of the story, the Kazan clone was cut loose by East-Meg 2 and claimed political asylum from Mega-City One; Dredd's long-term ally Guthrie was severely injured, losing both legs and an arm and eventually being turned into a cyborg; and both Judges Giant and Rico were severely injured.
  • Judge Dredd - Regime Change, a 4-part Megazine story dealing with Mega-City One working with other Mega-Cities (mainly Brit-Cit and Euro-City) in a humanitarian intervention in Ciudad Barranquilla - which Mega-City One is using as a cover to bring about favourable regime change (before Sino-Cit and East-Meg do the same thing).

Judge Dredd: the movie

Main article: Judge Dredd (film)

A film based on the comic strip was released in 1995, starring Sylvester Stallone as Dredd. Fans were highly critical, largely regarding it as a failure creatively; non-fan viewers reacted negatively, and it was a huge commercial failure as well. In deference to its expensive star, Dredd's face was shown. In the comic, he very rarely removes his helmet -- twice in the entire history of the series, apart from the above mentioned The Dead Man storyline -- and even then, his real face is never revealed. Also, in spite of the large production budget and accurate re-creation of the sets and characters' appearances, the writers largely omitted the ironic humour of the comic strip; they also ignored important aspects of the 'Dredd mythology'. For example, in the film a 'love interest' is developed between Dredd and Judge Hershey, something that is strictly forbidden between Judges in the comic strip. In America, the film won several "worst film of the year" awards.

Note: Judge Dredd's first name is 'Joseph' only in the movie. In the comics when his first name is used it is always 'Joe'.

Judge Dredd video games

Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death was produced by Rebellion Developments and released in early 2004 by Sierra Entertainment for the PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The game sees the return of the Dark Judges when Mega-City One becomes overun with vampires and the undead. The player takes control of Judge Dredd, with the optional addition of another Human player in Co-operative play; his mission is to bring the Dark Judges to Justice again. The whole game is played in the style of an FPS (first-person shooter) - with key differences from the standard FPS being the requirement to arrest lawbreakers and an SJS death squad which will hunt you down should you kill too many civilians.

Weapons include the standard Lawgiver Mark III, the Arbitrator, the Lawrod Rifle, the Spit Gun, Stump gun and a variety of other common FPS weapons.

The player can also go up against three of his friends in the various multiplayer modes which include Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch, Elimination/Team Elimination, Informant, Judges Vs Perps, Runner and more.

There have also been several games released across formats such as the Snes/Famicom, Sega Genesis/Megadrive and several home computers, such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, while a high-profile arcade game, or 'coin-op', was developed - but never released - by Midway Games, creators of the Mortal Kombat videogame franchise.

Bally also produced a Judge Dredd pinball machine.

Judge Dredd boardgames, role-playing games and CCGs

Two role-playing games based on the Judge Dredd universe have been released. The first was published under license by Games Workshop in the 1980s and used a rules system created specifically for the game. They also published a Judge Dredd boardgame, and another set in Mega City 1 based on the Block War concept. Their magazine, White Dwarf also featured articles for the RPG and also published a rules supplement for their Bloodbowl game (a fantasy version of American football) which included a team of Judges and a team of Fatties.

In 2002, Mongoose Publishing acquired the rights to publish games set in the worlds created by 2000AD, and they quickly released Sláine and Judge Dredd role-playing games, which used on the D20 rules system. They have also released a miniatures 'Gang Wars' game based in Mega City 1.

There was also a short-lived collectible card game called simply 'Dredd' based on the world of Judge Dredd. In the game players would control a squad of judges and arrest perps. The rules system was innovative and the game was well-received by fans and collectors alike, but various issues unrelated to the game's quality caused its early demise.

Music and celebrity fans

  • The metal band Anthrax included a song about Judge Dredd on their third album (Among the Living) entitled "I am the Law,". They also released a 12" single and a 7" picture disc, both bearing the image of Dredd. One 12" version featured a fold-out poster of the band dressed at Judges drawn by drummer Charlie Benante.
  • The UK ska/Two-Tone band Madness also recorded a tribute single to Dredd under the name of The Fink Brothers, entitled "Mutants in Mega-City One". Released on the Zarjazz label, the record featured a cover drawn by 2000 AD Dredd artist Brian Bolland.
  • The UK band The Human League also wrote a song about Judge Dredd. "I am the Law" appeared on the band's most popular album, Dare.
  • The Screaming Blue Messiahs recorded "Mega-City One" on their final album Totally Religious.
  • The Manic Street Preachers' song, "Judge Yr'Self" was influenced by the comic, and was intended to appear on the film soundtrack. It reached the demo stage, but after lyricist and guitarist Richey Edwards disapeared, the other members of the band said that a song for a soundtrack was the last thing on their mind [2]. Edwards himself was heavily influenced by the Judge Dredd comics. A fully produced mix (by long time Manics producer Dave Eringa) was later released on the double-album of B-sides and rarities, Lipstick Traces.
  • Simon Pegg is a fan of 2000AD, and Judge Dredd memorabilia (supplied by the comic) appears in the background of several episodes of Spaced.
  • Celebrity fans of Dredd also include Terry Pratchett, Jonathan Ross, Richey James Edwards from the Manic Street Preachers, Lemmy from Motörhead, and Simon Le Bon.
  • A bar featuring live bands existed in Manila, Philippines, called Club Dredd (1990-1998), as a tribute to Judge Dredd. Owners were known fans of 2000 AD comics. It became known for alternative music and featured a large Anthrax poster of "I am the Law" at the bar's entrance.
  • There is a rapper from Houston, Texas who goes by the name of Judge Dredd. He was featured on two tracks on Chamillionaire's Greatest Hits Mixtape.
  • Scottish punk band The Rezillos have a song called 2000 AD on their debut LP Can't Stand the Rezillos.
  • The Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire was imortalised as a character in the comic book series. He has said that this annoyed fellow band member Richey James Edwards, who was a great fan of Judge Dread and even had one of his drawings published in the comic during his late childhood [3].

Novels

From 1993 to 1995, Virgin published nine Judge Dredd novels. They had hoped the series would be a success in the wake of the feature film, but the series was cancelled after insufficient sales. The books are:

  • Deathmasques (Dave Stone, August, 1993 ISBN 0352328738)
  • The Savage Amusement (David Bishop, August, 1993 ISBN 0352328746)
  • Dreddlocked (Stephen Marley, October, 1993 ISBN 0352328754)
  • Cursed Earth Asylum (David Bishop, December, 1993 ISBN 0352328932)
  • The Medusa Seed (Dave Stone, January, 1994 ISBN 0352328959)
  • Dread Dominion (Stephen Marley, May, 1994 ISBN 0352329297)
  • The Hundredfold Problem (John Grant, August, 1994 ISBN 0352329424)
  • Silencer (David Bishop, November, 1994 ISBN 0352329602)
  • Wetworks (Dave Stone, February, 1995 ISBN 0352329750)

In 2003, Black Flame started publishing official 2000 AD novels, including a new run of Judge Dredd novels which include:

The audio series

In recent years Big Finish Productions have produced eighteen audio plays featuring 2000 AD characters. These have mostly featured Judge Dredd although three have also featured Strontium Dog. In these Judge Dredd is played by Toby Longworth and Johnny Alpha, the Strontium Dog is played by Simon Pegg. The 2000AD audios will end with the release of Solo.

The current list of 2000 AD audio plays featuring Dredd includes:

Note: 3 and 10 are Strontium Dog stories that do not feature Dredd.

In addition, both "The Day the Law Died" and "The Apocalypse War" stories were featured on Mark Goodier's afternoon show on BBC Radio One, and issued separately on dual cassette and double CD. Both titles have since been deleted. "The Apocalypse War" contains plot elements from "Block Mania" as this story set the scene for the East-Meg One Invasion.

References

  • The A-Z of Judge Dredd: The Complete Encyclopedia from Aaron Aardvark to Zachary Zziiz, by Mike Butcher, St. Martin's Press; ISBN 0312137338 (trade paperback, March 1999)
  • David Bishop (2002-2003), "Thrill Power Overload!", Judge Dredd Megazine vol 4 issues 9-18, issues 201-209
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