![Judge Dredd, [Classic title]](jd_title.gif)
PERSONAL DATA
REAL NAME: Joe Dredd ALSO KNOWN AS: "Old Stoney Face" SOCIAL CATEGORY: Judge PLACE OF ORIGIN: Mega-City One OCCUPATION: Senior Judge KNOWN RELATIONS: Rico Dredd ( Brother,deceased ), Vienna Dredd ( niece ) GROUP AFFLIATIONS:Mega-City One Judges FIRST APPEARANCE: Prog 2 ( 5th March 1977 ) CURRENT STATUS: Active
Judge Dredd is the longest-running, best known and most popular strip ever to appear to 2000AD. Although Dredd didn't make his debut until Prog 2, he has only been absent from the Galaxy's Greatest Comic a few times since (see prog check below). His adventures have spilled over into a daily newspaper strip ( Daily Star ), his own annuals, specials and monthly megazine and in 1995 a Hollywood version of Judge Dredd. He has featured in several board games, computer games, inspired at least two hit records and emblazoned whole wardrobes of T-shirts.
Biog Series History
Main Writers: John Wagner, Alan Grant, Pat Mills, Garth Ennis
Joe Dredd and his brother, Rico, were cloned from the bloodline of Judge Fargo in 2066. They both up in the Academy of Law and soon proved to be two of the finest cadet Judges in Mega-City One history. Nevertheless, Joe was always marginally behind his brother when it came to skill and achievement throughout their training, although his extra flair came with a fatal flaw in his personality. Only after their graduation with honour in 2079 did Joe find out about some illegal sidelines that Rico had set-up for himself. Forced to arrest his own brother and have him sent to Titan, and it was only then that the Justice Department realised what a special Judge they had in Joe. Morphy, the Judge who passed him on his final street assessment, had recognised Joe's potential right away. In fact, Judge Morphy was almost like a father to Dredd and he was always there for him, if he needed any advice. Joe became an even tougher Judge. He soon achieved the status of Senior Judge and rapidly became not only the most feared and respected Judge in Mega-City One, but also a powerful figurehead for justice in the wild and dangerous world of the 22nd century.
The judge's fears were realised when Call-Me-Kenneth started the Robot Wars and thousands of Judges and Citizens lost their lives their lives before the robots were defeated. Dredd had been helped by Walter the Wobot during the conflict and the Vending droid soon moved into his apartment at Rowdy Yates Conapts, determined to serve the Judge - whether Dredd liked it or not! Psi-Divison's top pre-cog, Judge Feyy, warning of a impending catastrophe unless a boy known as the Judge Child was installed as Chief Judge. 21XX cal,aplyopse 21XX nercopolsis vote,
Judge Dredd was created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. The first script by John Wagner was TOO harsh with 'commie burning finale', a second story about a 'bank raid' drawn by Carlos Ezquerra. here the story gets long and complex explained in The Mega-History. But finally a story submitted by Peter Harris and rewritten by Pat Mills and Kevin Gosnell, was in fact the first episode to see print. John Wagner soon returned to become regular writer on the strip and, later with co-writing Alan Grant, set about creating Dredd's world in greater depth. Most Judge Dredd stories have been told over a single episode, but the series has developed significantly through a number of 'epic' storylines like "The Robot Wars", "The Cursed Earth", "Block Mania/Apocalypse War" ( introduced Orlok ), "Judge Child Quest/The city of the Damned" ( introduced Angel Gang and Judge Hershey ), "Oz" ( featured Chopper, Judda and Kraken. And saw the end of the John Wagner/Alan Grant as a regular writing team ) and "Deadman/Necropolis" ( featured Dark Judges, Cadet Giant ), Mechanismo/Wilderlands (featuring Robo-Judges and McGruder), The Pit/Narcos/Doomsday (featuring Galen DeMarco, Giant), Sin City (featuring Orlok)
Main Artists: Carlos Ezquerra, Mike McMahon, Brian Bolland, Ron Smith, Ian Gibson, Steve Dillon, Cam Kennedy, John Burns, John Higgins, Cliff Robinson, Colin MacNeil, Kevin Walker, Will Simpson, Peter Doherty.. and many more.
Other writers, (mostly for stories between May 1993 and July 1995, when Grath Ennis left and John Wagner was not back regularily ) => Dan Abnett, John Higgins, Peter Hogan, Alan McKenzie (under pen-name of "Sonny Steelgrave"), Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, John Smith, Chris Standley.
Prog Check 2-104, 106-154, 156-1099, 1101-1137, 1139-on
2000AD annuals 1978-1996
Dan Dare Annuals 1979,1980
Judge Dredd Annual 1981-1996
2000AD Sci-fi Specials 1978-1996
Judge Dredd Specials 1988-1996
Judge Dredd Megazine Vol 1 #1-on
Full of Judge Dredd story in 2000AD index => 2000AD online or Colonel X's guide
MEGACITY: Le site francais de Judge DREDD
The Judge Dredd strips in the Daily Star newspaper won the Cartoonist club of Great Britain award for years running.
Judge Dredd - Banned in Britain? (progs 71,72,77,78)
Back to Mega-City One
Is JUDGE DREDD a Fascist?
Judge Dredd - is he a fascist? This might seem a redundant question at first sight. Dredd is obviously a fascist. The whole edifice of Justice in Mega-City One is built on unaccountability and the dictatorial enforcement of draconian laws. The Judges - in effect, police, judge, jury and executioner - are the personification of the fascist ideals of strong leadership and Law and Order. And yet...
Maybe we should approach this from another single and ask: what is fascism?
If you delve beneath the popular image (jackbooted thug maintaining a hold on political power though undemocratic means, such as extreme violence), the tag fascist begins to look less appropriate when applied to Judge Dredd.
Fascism emerged as a reaction to communism, but stole from communists the idea of infiltrating every level of society. At the top the fuhrerprincip operated; in other words, there was a strong leader who ruled by dictate, based on personal will. This system had no basis in law. Its main strength was making up the rules as it went along, in order to hold on to political power.
Laws were created from nowhere, speciously justified, and then enforced by the police or by paramilitary forces.
But in Mega-City One, the Law is everything. Arbitrary acts by the Judges are themselves judged mercilessly. There is no opportunity for fuhrerprincip, for a Chief Judge to become a dicator and act outside the Law - lessons were leant from Judge Cal's reign of terror. Moreover, the Judge system is not inherently political. It does not seek political mind control set toward some political agenda. It seeks merely to contain the population within the bounds of the Law.
The Judges of Mega-City One are no more undemocratic than the judges operating in the present British's modern judges are considerably more political than those of Mega-City One.
For a different angle, compare the Judge system with recent "fascist" police actions around the world. Thailand, Tiananmen Square, Romania - they cal all be seen to have a specific political dimension. All were rearguard actions by the police, acting as tools of beleaguered governments threatened by Democracy. Even the (apparently legal) concept of "manageable force" used notoriously, and disastrously by the Los Angeles police, is inspired by an unspoken political (racist) agenda.
So where does that leave Judge Dredd? As a character he was conceived as an extreme satire on the idea of law and order. Fifteen years on, the tactics of Los Angeles Police Department are like Imitating Art. Dredd may have the trappings of a fascist viewed through the layers of irony in the comic strip, but he is clearly no Torquemada of Termite. Dredd is the Law, and all are equal before the Law, especially the Judges themselves.
Before you start thinking Judge Dredd is advocating a benevolent but brutal kind of fascism, maybe we should look at the recent story about a referendum on whether the Judges should stay in power (Twilight's Last Gleaming and Better the Devil you know, 2000AD progs 750-756, September-November 1991). Maybe we should see it as a dark satire on the failures of democracy, not as an ironic celebration of the triumphs of fascism. Although the greatest failing of democracy is that your side often loses, the greatest enemy of democracy is not fascism, but apathy.
In the referendum, the Judges won with 68% of all votes cast. But there was a turnout of only 35% In other words, the Judges won with the backing of only 23.8% of the possible electorate. And that is just 2% less than the percentage of the American population which first elected Ronald Reagan in 1980.
The above article was first published in Judge Dredd Megazine #9 Vol I ( August 22 1992 ) by Martin Rowson, political cartoonist for 'The Guardian', 'The Independent on Sunday', 'Time Out' and Dublin's 'Sunday Tribune'.
Classic Art
Pup Fiction page1,page2 by Cliff Robinson, Doomsday by Colin Wilson War Games by Mike McMahon, Blood cadets by Simon Frazer
From Block Mania (One of my favourite Dredd stories)...City going mad & Complete Judge Dredd reprint cover by Mike McMahon - Orlok and Judge Giant & city map pre-Apocalyse Warby Steve Dillon - Brian Bolland
Psycho Tales from Mega-City One by Siku -|- Cityscape/Unemployment by Cam Kennedy (written by John Wagner) -|- Dredd looming over city by John Higgins -|- Headbangers by Kev Hopgood (written by Alan Grant) -|- Scales of Justice by John Higgins
