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That's how I say it. Sat, like the word "sat". Then anus, but not like the word "anus". So, more like "an", then "us". If it was more like anus, that'd be a dinosaur with a whole different sort of threat.

A Tyranno-Sore-Arse Rex, as it were.

Thanks all for the kind words! I'll be keeping an eye out for future comps. I've noticed open submissions haven't been taken since the pandemic, hopefully they reopen at some point!

All the news has been shared on the website if you want to see the submissions

https://2000ad.com/news/the-ultimate-one-page-judge-dredd-story-whos-won-the-latest-2000-ad-art-stars-competition/

Art Stars 2023 has concluded, and since I'm not big on social media, I just wanted to take opportunity here to offer a congratulations to everyone who entered - there were some fantastic entries!

The third place runner up entry, 'Dirty Protest', was mine Absolutely delighted to have been selected, it was not expected given the overall calibre of entries.

Congrats to Brett and Alan for second and first place, superb entries both. And a massive thank you to Rebellion, Mike Molcher and Tharg for the recognition and the wonderful shipment of graphic novels!

Just listened to Big Finish's "99 Code Red" which largely follows a team of Judges from B-Watch in Meg East, with Dredd rotating in. Which leads me to a Random Dredd Question:

The story features Judges working a shift format we've seen before, notably in The Pit (and much like real police forces) - Judges are assigned to a particular Sector House, on a particular 'watch' unit under a Watch Commander, who cover their Sector in 8-hour shifts. The different units rotate duty to cover round the clock.

This format sees each team with a handful of Judges who work regularly together. They'll attend briefings then go out on patrol and respond to incidents in their Sector.

So where does Dredd himself fit into this pattern? Has it ever been established whether he fits into a particular team or unit?

Older stories saw him working Meg Central, most commonly based from the Grand Hall. Before Sector Houses were introduced, all Judges reported to the Grand Hall before duty (Day the Law Died). But since then, despite his rhetoric on the importance of teamwork, he's very much portrayed as a loner to goes across the city wherever he likes, with no set unit or location.

I recall some stories showed he has a (rarely used) office at the Grand Hall, and we can also take into account Rowdy Yates Block which firmly based him in Central. We see him commonly teaming with Giant etc so could infer they're on some overlapping pattern/location.

So does Dredd just have some kind of special dispensation to do whatever he likes? Is it his role as a Senior Judge which sees him rotating frequently around the city? Is it his authority which sees him reporting directly to the CJ and going wherever they want him?

'99 Code Red' also suggests that Dredd's insistence on using sleep machines and working 24/7 is a personal choice, and that other Jays take downtime aside from Mandatory Eight.

Also, the 2012 movie gives Dredd as assigned to Sector 13, though I've never seen this as part of comics canon.

I agree with material for 1/12 scale - never scales correctly and the thickness gives rise to all sorts of awkward poses. Mezco's figures tend to look very stiff to me. While 3A's 1/12 Dredd did look very good, the Dark Judges lost their skeletal appearance and seemed too bulky.

In other news - new 1/18 'Gaze into the Fist of Dredd' Dredd and Fear twin pack announced. Looks like both figures might have tweaked colours and Fear has a new head sculpt.

This would be far more palatable to me if Fear were a standalone variant, as the duplication is milking it a bit by now. To collect the entire set, between this, the Dredd vs Death set, Lawmaster sets, B&W and regular figures, collectors will have bought Dredd 5 times now, Anderson twice, Death and Fear three times each etc. And they ain't cheap. Granted the ghostly Death is substantially different, but on the whole I never thought I'd be hoping to read "figure sold separately" 

While the idea for this set is neat enough, it's a shame that the toys aren't quite capable of recreating the pose, especially with the shoulder armour having to weirdly flip upside down to lift the arm up. If Hiya want to produce variations then that could have been one issue to solve...

The original Undercity concept was very much a network of sealed and abandoned subway tunnels and passageways. I imagine this much like the WW2 shelters beneath UK cities (like the Anchor Exchange in Birmingham) or the Paris Catacombs.

Even Las Vegas has, if I recall, effectively an Undercity - giant spillways in case of flooding that have become home to a large homeless population.

I guess the concept has been exaggerated and expanded over the years to include the entirety of Old New York, oddly stuck in the 80s despite being part of the city proper until decades later. Hey, maybe it's a timeslip caused by radiation?

Ties in I suppose with the gradual retconning that the Meg was no longer intentionally constructed in the 2030s, but formed of urban sprawl to be eventually isolated by the nukes.

The Undercity is a great location and definitely an interesting idea, but one I would like to see a little more world building devoted to.
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As an aside; Batman: Arkham Knight has a believable Undercity on Founder's Island. The new developments have been built on a platform atop and through the old buildings.

Then we have Futurama which seems to have borrowed quite a lot from Dredd's world, with a mutie-inhabited Old NY.

I'm inclined to agree with your suggestions, my headcannon has been that the Undercity comprises an array of domed/capped off areas that the Meg has grown around, and eventually on top of. These may be loosely connected via other sewers, caverns or foundations. But how the city forms around these domes isn't clear.

I guess it's a bit difficult to imagine how mega structures might work over uneven terrain. Visualisations of MC-1 tend to err with the suggestion of a completely flat base - we see flat, stepped layers bur rarely inclines, unless it's an elevated roadway - so exactly how stacked blocks would maintain form atop natural hills, cliffs or even mountains remains to be seen. I almost want to see an horizontal cross section of the city to see how it's constructed atop the land.

The height of the Undercity has varied over the years, from only the upper floors of the WTC removed, to something a few stories high with entrances directly onto the lower building rooftops. I guess this lends credence to the idea of a dome, or of various different sections.

Recently having read through to Judge Dredd/Aliens, the prelude 'Out of the Undercity' (progs 1313-1316) places the White House in the Undercity.

I was always under the impression that the Undercity was confined to Manhattan, and not the entire Meg.

Especially given that the Black Atlantic ports on the East side, and Cursed Earth gates along the West Wall, must be ground level. The logic of the Undercity gets a bit strange when you consider sea level - I'd love to see someone tackle an Undercity map which fleshes out the practical implications and how such architecture might be feasible.

Not as much a fan of the face sculpture as the 4" Dredd, but I like the wealth of accessories and options to swap expressions.

I've also been burned by preorders. I cancelled all my Zavvi orders, and am having unnecessary difficulty cancelling & refunding a Comic Warehouse order that had been paid up front. My emails keep going ignored so looks like a bank visit for a chargeback.

As much as I genuinely love the range, I've been waiting so long that buyer's regret set in before actually getting the goods. Some are popping up reasonably priced on eBay now, but I think the money will be going towards furniture instead.

I used to work in the animation industry which has some overlap with what you've asked. I specialised in Stop Motion animation and sculpture for commercials and TV projects. And I loved the craft of it, but as a career it simply wasn't substantial enough.

In a nutshell, it's a small industry led largely by agencies, who filter work (minus 90% of the budget) down to studios and freelance workers. There are very few, if any, full time jobs. It's all well and good having a living wage day-rate when the projects are so low budget they can't afford you, and try to knock you back. In that position, do you stand your ground and accept no work on principle, or concede to at least have some low-paying work to pay bills?

While a decent day rate might sound reasonable, you must also consider hours worked; I found oftentimes that the project deadlines necessitated working such hours that the day rate regularly dropped well below minimum wage per hour.

One thing I would recommend to discuss with your students is lifestyle. As in, 'What kind of lifestyle can I expect if I follow this career?' This in my opinion turned out perhaps more important to me than the money itself, and it's something that often gets overlooked (especially by universities). Because the lifestyle associated will not suit everyone.

The work was inconsistent and if you wanted to earn anything resembling a consistent living, you would have to travel for it, for anything from days to months at a time. Essentially living out of a suitcase and couch surfing for a substantial amount of your time. Those who didn't would, similar to how others have said, often struggle to supplement those earnings with part time work or other projects where available.

From my experience in the creative sector, by all means pursue, but do so knowing what to expect. The lifestyle didn't suit me, and I made the decision to move on. Though, I appreciate that this might be a slightly different situation for other branches, especially those where remote working is a possibility.

Regards the flag question, I always assumed it was displayed as a history lesson. In an MC-1 school I'd expect Pre-Atom War history to be a core subject, not that the little spugs would pay attention!

In earlier comics, MC-1, MC-2 and TC were known as the Triumvirate, the United Cities of North America. There was a flag with three stars if I recall. Eventually the concept was abandoned.

Regards clones, it's been said that a third of the Judges are clones, which does beg the question why they aren't all being taken from the 'top stock'. Then again, not all of the Fargo clones were as equally successful as Joe. To my knowledge, stories haven't really covered what limitations may exist with the tech.

Was it one of the older novels which featured a virus that was affecting clones and knocking the Department out? Maybe it was A Savage Amusement unless I'm mistaken.

I've also just emailed Simon, thank you for the opportunity! I can't wait to see the final piece. I hope any references I linked to were of help.

In his Dogbreath interview (also here: the author's old website), Jonathan Clements mentions there are still convicted Judges on Titan

Interesting, thanks for the tidbit!

Cheers all for the info on the Liberty Statue. Good to know I've not missed anything.

Perhaps Cal intentionally allowed certain transgresses to continue for the purpose of collecting dirt for blackmail, a la The Cal Files?

On the subject of Titan sentences, I listened to the Big Finish drama Trapped on Titan recently, set in 2124. Evidently rebuilt following destruction in Purgatory, the penal colony is now a privately-run institution where prisoners are regular perps, and not ex-Judges. No mention is made therefore of where crooked Judges are currently being sent!

One of the prisoners has been on Titan for the past 30 years, and met Rico in person prior to his release in 2099. This begs the question; this prisoner was on Titan at a time when it was exclusively for ex-Judges, who would receive a standard 20 year sentence for all crimes. Firstly, why is he still on Titan after 30 years? Secondly, how is he still on Titan after 30 years, when the facility was destroyed in Purgatory, and all escaped inmates killed at the end of Inferno? Thirdly, why is no mention made of this prisoner being an ex-Judge? There most certainly would not have been a civilian perp on a 30-stretch on Titan, at the same time bent Judges were being sent there for 20.

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I'd also like to throw in a Random Dredd Question!

Does anybody know when the Statue of Liberty lost its hand (or rather, when the rest was demolished)? Did this occur in a story, or off-panel somewhere? As I recall, Bennett Beeny noted in Fading of the Light that the statue had been destroyed by 'somebody else' (i.e. not Total War). Prior to this, I'm sure the Statue was seen intact. There are only a handful of uncollected stories that I've not read up until this point in the canon, so maybe I've missed it.

There was a decent H-Wagon design in the Dredd vs. Death game - skip to either 10:15 or 11:38 in the following video. It'll show the design from multiple angles too which would make for a decent reference.

The terminology for the various wagons has changed somewhat over the years. The Catch Wagon / Pat (Patrol) Wagon seem to be essentially the same thing, capable of holding up to several perps at a time, and appear to be similar to a police cage van / cub van. So it would make sense for these to be a little blockier in design, owing to the 'mobile cube' nature of the vehicle. As an aside, the Catch Wagon is typically depicted as road based.

The Med Wagon / Meat Wagon is the typical Med Div stand-in for an Ambo. Also usually road based.

The H-Wagon (Hover Wagon) would best be described as a stand-in for a police carrier, or riot van, in that it is typically depicted as a larger vehicle used for transporting numbers of personnel and equipment. As you already know, it's the go-to Justice Department aircraft. Of the assorted wagons, the H-Wagon is the one that's usually depicted as equipped with weaponry. One variation of this is the Manta Prowl Tank which has been discussed.

Trivia - I believe I read that the US 'Paddy Wagon' term was actually a slur against the Irish being arrested. Nowadays the typical patrol car will be referred to as a Panda due to the black/white colouring. We use this name in the UK too.