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Dredd's real-time ageing?

Started by JayzusB.Christ, 10 April, 2021, 03:59:53 PM

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JayzusB.Christ

 So, I'm wondering - has Dredd gone the way of Batman, Spiderman and that lot?  That is to say, has Tharg given up on the whole 'real-time ageing' thing?  I mean, he was feeling his age over 30 years ago.  I know he gets new skin now and again, but he's remarkably well-built and nimble for a geriatric.  I know ageing is slower in the future and all that, but other old people in MC1 look like old people.

I remember Cyber-Matt talking about how there's no reason Dredd can't go on forever, like Superman and co.  But we'll have to give up on the idea that Dredd ages in real time if that's going to happen, surely?
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Woolly

'Carousel' answered this one surely?
Yep he's getting older, nope he's got new skin and muscle.

Also, the classic Wagner quote: '70 is the new 40'.
AND the ages that certain (ie: rich) people in MC1 can get to means that the top Judge, with the Department's supposedly endless resources, is going to be kept round for a looooong time yet!


ISTR that Tharg himself once chimed in on this, when confronted with the idea of killing Dredd off - something along the lines of 'Yeah, let's end our most well known IP - good plan earthlet!'

Woolly

Short answer - yes. Dredd ain't going nowhere!

DrRocka

It irks me tremendously that they won't kill him off, and to be honest I've found my enthusiasm levels for Dredd tend to wane a lot compared to days of old now I realise he's unlikely to be killed off. If End Of Days didn't do it, what could?

And yet, the IP could easily continue with Rico, making for far fresher stories - imagine a Dredd who's battling inner turmoil every so often that he may actually be the bad guy, his bloodline etc. And yet you could just keep firing out standard wacky stories of the week.

As soon  as Tharg seemed to abandon the "aging wearily" stories, a lot of the sense of the character being "real" left.
Never ever bloody anything ever

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: DrRocka on 10 April, 2021, 04:39:31 PM

And yet, the IP could easily continue with Rico, making for far fresher stories - imagine a Dredd who's battling inner turmoil every so often that he may actually be the bad guy, his bloodline etc. And yet you could just keep firing out standard wacky stories of the week.


Well, it's kind of been done before.  But I kind of see what you mean about the 'ageing wearily' thing; it was one of the most fascinating parts of the whole strip for me.

I'm not quite sure what I'd like to see happen now, though. Dredd gone and Rico taking the main slot would be odd for me; all that history wiped out in favour of a character I'm not nearly as invested in. 
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Woolly

Quote from: DrRocka on 10 April, 2021, 04:39:31 PM
And yet, the IP could easily continue with Rico, making for far fresher stories - imagine a Dredd who's battling inner turmoil every so often that he may actually be the bad guy, his bloodline etc. And yet you could just keep firing out standard wacky stories of the week.

As soon  as Tharg seemed to abandon the "aging wearily" stories, a lot of the sense of the character being "real" left.

I'm not against this, and find it a bit weird that we never seem to hear about Rico these days.
However - it wouldn't be Dredd.

It's those rare (usually Wagner written) insights into Joe's thinking that are the real draw for me, and also seems to be the hardest thing for new writers to get a grasp on. (Apart from Al Ewing and Ken Neimand of course!)
That said, I can appreciate that there is a certain level of 'the illusion of change' with this, and maybe it's better to finally off Dredd and let the strip (and indeed MegaCity-1) move on?

The Enigmatic Dr X

Not at all. The beauty of Dredd is that he is the only constant in the story. The city can change. Justice Dept can change. He is the same. He is a motionless pivot around which another 40 years of plot could be spun.
Lock up your spoons!

Funt Solo

Cadet Dredd retconned Manta Prowl Tanks (which were invented by Tech-Judge Brufen, you'll recall, around 2105 - I think in Rumble in the Jungle or thereabouts) back to 2077.

That's incongruous for me, but the creators probably don't know as much about the strip as long-term fans do, or they may be of the opinion that continuity doesn't really matter when you place it alongside the needs of telling a story. Some online commentators are of the opinion that reading a sequential comic sequentially is some sort of bizarre ritual only carried out by the most awful types of consumer. Instead, we should just read any comic, in any order - backwards even, or perhaps starting in the middle and then randomizing each frame, and each letter in each word bubble, and each pixel. Or something.

Dredd being this old and doing what he does is a bit daffy - it's been shoe-horned in using tech-magic because dropping "Judge Dredd" from the comic would be an even worse idea. 

++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Woolly

Bringing this back on-topic - the 'real-time' aspect. Maybe it *is* time to drop this in favour of stories that can be set at any time in Dredd's life and adventures....

Funt Solo

We could ask the question: did that work for Strontium Dog?
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: Funt Solo on 10 April, 2021, 06:14:48 PM
We could ask the question: did that work for Strontium Dog?

I was just thinking the same. 

Also, there's the fact that Dredd stories are not just about Dredd, but about his world, and of course his city.   Massive changes happen; and everything that happens is seen (by me at least) through a lens of post- or pre- something-or-other. 
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Woolly

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 April, 2021, 05:05:56 PM
The beauty of Dredd is that he is the only constant in the story. The city can change. Justice Dept can change. He is the same. He is a motionless pivot around which another 40 years of plot could be spun.

To be fair, Dr X has already nailed it here.

JayzusB.Christ

But I said it better. (No I didn't.)
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Rara Avis

Tbf he's not jumping in the regenerator (or whatever it's called) every week only when it's absolutely necessary and we have seen some massive character development in the past few years .. that story with Judge Beeny comes to mind .. a slight smile at her innovation delivering justice .. that's what comes to mind .. wish I could be more specific but the booze has me right now.

The Corinthian

It's well established (in e.g. 'Night of the Rad-Beast') that even ordinary citizens of Mega-City One have potentially longer lifespans than anyone would reasonably expect in the present day. So Dredd's longevity shouldn't be that much of a stretch.

Dramatically speaking, things like MC1's rapid return to normal post-Chaos Day and Dredd repeatedly blanking all the failures of the Judge system he keeps being confronted by are much bigger problems for the strip.