The Judges Helmet

[broodblik]

I saw a picture of an upcoming strip on Dredd by Chris Weston (pic below). When actually did the Judges helmet change from the roundest form to the more edgy design? Was the transition in a specific story ? or did it just happened over time?


From Chris Weston's twitter:

Coming soon to @2000ad: Judge Dredd talks a stroll down Memory Lane... but will it lead to danger?

(Of course it does! It's Judge Bloody Dredd, innit?!)

Script and art by yours truly. I'll let you know what Prog its in once I know.

[IndigoPrime]

I recall it just evolved that way, with artists increasingly flipping to the straighter style from the earlier version.
A nice nod to Ezquerra on the right, with the blocky focus outlines also.

[Richard]

What a great image! Chris Weston is by far one of the best artists, not just now but for the whole history of the prog. Looking forward to this story.

[norton canes]

I thought the 'Changing Face of Dredd' montage from the 1981 Dredd annual would be useful for reference, so I Googled and found it here: The Changing Face of Dredd

Thanks, Judge Anon!







Looks like pretty much all the early artists went with Carlos Ezquerra's original round design. John Cooper and Dave Gibbons look to be breaking the mould, and by progs 156/163/164, Dredd mainstays Ron Smith, Brian Bolland and Mick McMahon are all doing the straight-sided look.

[IndigoPrime]

That and the increased tendency towards exaggeration with things like the shoulder pads. Early on, they were more reasonably sized. These days, Dredd would have trouble getting through the average doorway.

[broodblik]

Thx for sharing norton

[TordelBack]

I thought this thread was going to be about a Viz annual.

[broodblik]

I thought this thread was going to be about a Viz annual.

Well it can be, just threadjack it and off we go.....

[Colin YNWA]

That image is great and excited to see the story when it lands.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I thought the 'Changing Face of Dredd' montage from the 1981 Dredd annual would be useful for reference, so I Googled and found it here: The Changing Face of Dredd

Thanks, Judge Anon!







Looks like pretty much all the early artists went with Carlos Ezquerra's original round design. John Cooper and Dave Gibbons look to be breaking the mould, and by progs 156/163/164, Dredd mainstays Ron Smith, Brian Bolland and Mick McMahon are all doing the straight-sided look.

Thanks for that, Norton! Don't think I'd seen that before.  I love how modern Dredd artists tend to acknowledge the change when drawing flashback scenes.  We won't mention the new old-fashioned helmets introduced in Origins, though.

Anyone remember Frazer Irving's spherical helmets?  I think I remember a poll about it on this board - the majority of votes went to 'They're fine, as long as everyone doesn't start doing it'.  Also, Steve Dillon had a brief stab at doing the radically different Brendan McCarthy helmet.  You wouldn't want to be too OCD about visual continuity as a Dredd reader.

[Andrew_J]

That's a great find Norton.

[Rogue Judge]

Dredd's helmet was also different during the Pit storyline. I didn't like the extra indents on the sides of the helmet. I'm assuming this was drawn into the Prog to align with the Stallone film.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Dredd's helmet was also different during the Pit storyline. I didn't like the extra indents on the sides of the helmet. I'm assuming this was drawn into the Prog to align with the Stallone film.

I remember that alright. My suspicion is that it wasn't any kind of decree from Tharg to be more like the film.  I'm guessing Carlos, who had just drawn the comic adaptation of the movie, liked the new bits on the helmet, then when drawing Dredd for the prog afterwards, thought '¿Pór que no?' and kept them. Then the other Pit artists followed suit.

[credo]

Didn't Shaky Kane draw Judge's helmets that were shaped more like cymbals?

[norton canes]

I'm sure I remember Ian Gibson putting a really tiny eagle emblem right in the middle of the red 'X' shape in a couple of his early Dredds.