It’s clean up time for the Big Meg. With a growing “stationary caravan” of non-citizens seeking a better life on the edge of the city, extreme measures are called for. “Rebuild the wall!” you say? Pffft-that would be too easy. Besides what if these filthy rapists and murderers develop the ability to dig? Better to break them up and send them packing. And we know just the man to do it…
DATELINE:
January 2105 (Prog 300-303).
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?:
John Wagner and Alan Grant deal with the homeless and Ron Smith dials up the silly.
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
The Judges decide to clean up the shanty town near the city walls.
WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Chief Judge Hilda McGruder finally agrees to assign Dredd to clean up shanty town and signs off on sending the homeless to the work farms. I bet that was a difficult decision that took all of three seconds.
Judges Barbara Hershey, Owl, Blofeld and Shaver aid Dredd in the clean up.
Judge Ocks loses part of his left arm to a stub gun.
Judge Glennon is suckered into a trap that even Helen Keller wouldn’t fall for.
Judge Salvador is a mook who is ambushed and killed by Y-Shanty.
Judge Elvino apparently can’t navigate well enough to return to the city for help and is also killed.
Judge Dietrich helps lead the workers to the food farms west of the city.
IT’S CULTURAL, INNIT?:
Mad Mox is probably a nod to “Mad” Max Rockatansky of the Mad Max series of films. He even gets to drive a tanker, which Max did in the second film of the series.
ANY LAW LORE?:
Justice Department has work farms 100km from the city.
CANON FODDER?:
Neither the Strato V nor the stub gun look anything like the Carlos Ezquerra models, which are the gold standard.
Dredd is carrying two Lawgivers, one of which he uses as an improvised hammer later on.
WHAT THE DROKK?:
What is Dredd riding up on that first splash page? He even seems to be lower than ground level.
Y-Shanty all have printed t-shirts. How did they get these made up in a shanty town?
Where would the shanty town villains suddenly get hold of a phosphor tanker and why does it have “PHOSPHOROUS DANGER” in huge letters on the side?
Several of the Judges accompanying Dredd have moustaches. With Dredd’s dislike of facial hair did he recruit them specially so they would die?
Nine Judges are in Dredd’s squad (including him). Glennon, Elvino and Salvador get whacked and one nameless bastard gets a stub gun through the chest, so how come there are still six standing at the end of the battle?
Even though he used an actual hammer earlier in the story, Dredd uses his Lawgiver as a hammer. It’s the lack of respect for the property that annoys me more than anything.
WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
Despite a few art misfires and some poor design work, the layouts are great and it flows well on this basis. I fucking love that panel of the Judges surrounded by their enemy, all of whom are clearly taking a very long dirt nap.
HOW MANY LINKS?:
Starting off with the sad tale of a family selling off their child and then justifying it as he will have a better life without them, this rapidly becomes a siege story and in doing so loses any sense of reflection. There are some good set pieces here though, such as the Judges ruthlessly rounding up their perps and booting them west and the end of the story where the survivors, having given up their citizenship during the war, are sent to the work farms. Three links.
Everything Comes Back To 2000AD 