Judge Dredd

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The Judge system

The Judges act as police, judge, jury and, if necessary, executioner. They also act as unelected governments. Numerous writers have used the Judge system to satirise 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, he was offered the job of Chief Judge but refused it, as he believed he was needed far more out on the streets. On another occasion, the Judges were again subverted from their role of protectors of the citizens of Mega-City One 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, who had again avoided mental conditioning by being away from the city (this time due to having resigned from the Judges and taken The Long Walk (see Tale of the Dead Man)), and a small force of rebel Cadet Judges as well as Judge Anderson, were able to win the day.

Related Topics:
Judges - Caligula - Fergee - Undercity - Sisters of Death - Psi judge - Kit Agee - Dark Judges - Necropolis - The Long Walk - Tale of the Dead Man - Cadet Judge - Judge Anderson

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Mega-City One's population lives in gigantic tower blocks, each holding some fifty thousand or so people, and each 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.) A number of stories feature rivalries between different blocks, on one occasion (recounted in the story "Block Mania") breaking into shooting wars between them; the Judges' arbitrary and total powers reflect the difficulty of maintaining any order at all in the Mega-City environment.

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

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A film based around the comic strip was released in 1995, starring Sylvester Stallone as Dredd. Fans were highly critical, largely regarding it as a failure. In deference to the expensive star, Dredd's face was shown (in the comic, he never removes his helmet); and in spite of the large budget and accurate recreation of the sets and characters appearances, the script writers largely omitted the ironic humour of the original strip, as well as ignoring 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 addition, the film did not find wide mainstream appeal.

Related Topics:
1995 - Sylvester Stallone - Judge Hershey

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