With Dredd a hero across the entire North American continent, it’s up to one man to piss on his synthi-chips. Enter the Pat Mills doppleganger, Judge Cal, who seems to have a particular dislike for Joe. Still, it’s not like he’s Trump and a psycho who has been elevated to a position of power and is using lies and deceit to get wha-, oh, hang on…
DATELINE:
June 2100 (Progs 86-88).
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?:
John Wagner writes a solid tale while Brett Ewins, Brian Bolland and Brendan McCarthy play with the visuals.
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
Cal frames Dredd for the murder of a journalist in order to remove the Judge from the city.
WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Judge John Giant seems to suspect Cal is up to no good yet takes no further action.
Deputy Chief Judge Cal sports a fine mop of 70s hair, not unlike the great Pat Mills.
Chief Judge Clarence Goodman is an easily manipulated fool.
Senior Judge Bill serves on the Council.
SJS Judges Slocum and Quincy are two of Cal’s SJS stooges who arrest Dredd.
Judge Shultz is also on Team Cal.
Judge Ochs is told off for questioning Cal’s orders.
Judge Gibbons is searching Dredd’s apartment while his colleague gives Walter shit.
ANY LAW LORE?:
Cal has a book called, imaginatively, Cal’s Book.
Judges submit expenses claims, but what sort of expenses would Dredd have had in the Cursed Earth?
The SJS are introduced as the ones who investigate any possible wrongdoing by the Judges.
IT’S CULTURAL, INNIT?:
The Blob was finally remade again.
ANY TEETHING TROUBLES?:
Mega City One is again reported as having 100 million people instead of 800 million.
Voting on the Council of Five is done by dropping one of two balls into bowl which is all very Masonic.
Maria offers Dredd some “pop”, a very 1970s UK term.
The photographer who snaps Dredd uses a very old fashioned camera.
WHAT THE DROKK?:
Dredd has been in Mega City Two recovering from his ordeal for weeks and yet still gets half a day off because he is “tired”. Lazy shitehawk.
Titan is around Saturn, not Jupiter as stated here.
Judges are seen riding their bikes and playing musical instruments. Even given that they have the bikes on automatic, when do street Judges need to have musical instruments or even learn to play them?
Dredd is tried by five of his peers. Isn’t a suspect Judge usually just investigated by the SJS and then sentenced accordingly?
When Dredd is placed on the Titan shuttle, his guard is armed with a Lawgiver but is dressed and looks like something out of a Tom of Finland back catalogue. Why isn’t he in uniform?
The guard’s Lawgiver is taken by Dredd so why doesn’t it have a self-destruct charge? If non self-destructing Lawgivers are issued, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
The Penal Pod has the word “Boo!” written on it for some reason.
Dredd’s landing at the spaceport crashes into a building, possibly killing or injuring innocent citizens but this is never addressed.
Dredd figures out he has been framed by a robot without any evidence or hint to support this. It could easily be a clone or even a face changed colleague.
Cal’s office has not only a bust and portrait of himself, but also a portrait of Adolf Hitler. Why has this worrying sign not been reported? And who is commissioning these things?
Once the truth is revealed, Goodman suddenly snaps back to his old self. What the fuck?
WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
Great in places and it’s nice to see Ewins finally given some work on the strip and able to pull off some quality stuff. Goodman’s fragile state is conveyed well by the art, too.
HOW MANY LINKS?:
This leads nicely to the naughtiness that ensues with Cal. The characterisations are smart and all in all it hits the right notes despite a plot hole or two. Some of the design work lets it down, however, and I’ll never quite get over the sight of Judges playing musical instruments. Four links.
Everything Comes Back To 2000AD 