The Law In Order: The Game Show Show

Posted by dredd2079 on January 18, 2019
Posted in: 2000AD Retro. Leave a comment

Game shows are something that Orlok doesn’t really like. There were times as a kid when he wanted Noel Edmonds to flip the fuck out during Telly Addicts and butcher the Thomas family for the studio audience. But, this was a childish fantasy. After recently catching an episode of Tipping Point at the gym, Orlok doesn’t want the host to do the slotting anymore. He wants to do it himself.

DATELINE:
August 2104 (Progs 278-279).

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?:
John Wagner and Alan Grant lambaste the game show mentality while Jose Casanovas throws his hat in the ring.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
Dredd investigates a mass disappearance of game show hosts.

WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Chief Judge Hilda McGruder orders Dredd to investigate. Eventually.
Judge Jones is on hand to pull bodies from a rad pit.

IT’S CULTURAL, INNIT?:
Bamber Gastank, Eammon Enos, Larry Gruesome and Jeremy Weevil are clearly takes on presenters Bamber Gascoigne, Eammon Andrews, Larry Grayson and Jeremy Beadle.

WHAT THE DROKK?:
Barimore Dreery’s robots clearly assault humans. Ok, maybe he was able to reprogram them or something but it just seems inconsistent.

WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Jose’s design work but this is certainly brimming with detail and I’d forgotten just how dense it can be. I did like the look of the city but it seems too pristine for a post nuke out metropolis. Worst of all was the Lawgiver which looks ridiculously small in one panel.

HOW MANY LINKS?:
The humour’s very effective throughout though there are some misfires. Dredd being involved in a gigantic game of deadly mousetrap has some merit but him cracking a joke seems a little off. Two links.

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The Law In Order: Fungus

Posted by dredd2079 on January 16, 2019
Posted in: 2000AD Retro. Leave a comment

Remember swine flu or before that mad cow disease? Well, this is like that but with the homeless dregs of society as the carriers of the contagion. Rather than round them up and burn them as Judge Burdis suggests, the Justice Department shake their helmets and try a different tack by engaging the public. Judge Burdis, meanwhile decides to load incendiary rounds into his Lawgiver and go down to the Big Issue office. You know, just to make sure…

The last Welshman is rounded up…

DATELINE:
August 2104 (Progs 275-277).

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?:
John Wagner and Alan Grant bring the pain while Carlos Ezquerra pops some cits.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
Former mayor Jim Grubb brings a fungus disease to the city.

WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Chief Judge Hilda McGruder issues a city-wide broadcast to find the mushroom men, actively lying to the victims.
Med Judge Kildare dies after infecting himself with the spores. His sacrifice provides vital info to Dredd on the lifecycle of the disease.
Judge Porteous identifies the first victim as Jim Grubb. That’s pretty much all he does.

IT’S CULTURAL, INNIT?:
Kildare is doubtless named after Doctor Kildare, the titular medic of the popular 1960s TV series starring Richard Chamberlain.
Fred C. Dobbs was a character in the book (and film) The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre.

WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
A nice circle panel and some solid work from Ezquerra makes this a good and smooth read.

HOW MANY LINKS?:
As a procedural tale this works well and there’s a fascinating look at how the Judges deal with a contagion that has city wide implications. This is a lesson that will come in handy in fighting the Chaos Bug in the futu-, oh, wait…no it won’t. Four links.

The Law In Order: The League Of Fatties

Posted by dredd2079 on January 14, 2019
Posted in: 2000AD Retro. Leave a comment

As a man of a certain age, Orlok knows the price that comes with fine food. For every pizza he eats, every stout that he necks and every courgette he inserts into his rectum (look, it makes them ripe- a priest told him and they don’t lie) he knows that the only solution is to run for 5-10k per day and stave off the fatness. But he knows that the day will come when the knees fail, the will bends and the mobility scooters are half price. And on that day, a new fatty will be born…

DATELINE:
July 2104 (Progs 273-274).

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?:
John Wagner and Alan Grant take a pop at the rotund while the great Ron Smith goes alarm clock crazy.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
The Justice Department deals with the fatty problem in Mega City 1.

WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Chief Judge Hilda McGruder is on hand to do nothing other than agree to what is essentially apartheid.
Judge Peters assists Dredd in tracking down a food convoy that has been hijacked by the League of Fatties.

IT’S CULTURAL, INNIT?:
Tobias Belch is probably named for Toby Belch, a character from Twelfth Night.
Frank Cannon was a portly TV detective of the 1970s played by William Conrad.
Wm “Billy” Bunter was the tuck loving schoolboy created by Frank Richards.
Orson Welles was a talented (and eventually grossly fat) actor, director and unintentional hoaxer.

ANY LAW LORE?:
Four segregation blocks are appointed to stop the victimisation of fatties and to keep them under control. The weight limit for these blocks is 300 kgs and over. That’s about

WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
Smith’s art is workmanlike but not magnificent and at one stage (the opening splash) the fatties look not only fat but also about 7 feet tall. Despite that, it’s solid stuff.

HOW MANY LINKS?:
The rise of fattism in the Big Meg (as well as advocacy of cannibalism) is a nice play on how a city or a state will vilify the other given the right set of circumstances. The fatties themselves being both the victims and villains of the strip speaks to the strength of it and the final pay off of apartheid is bleakly funny. Four links.