Prog 2371 - Smash the State

[M.I.K.]

I mean, she's been shot through the forehead by a sniper.

She's certainly been shot in the head.

[Barrington Boots]

On the third page of Dredd, what "Drokking thing came alive!" that is "supposed to be inactive". To me it looks like the filing box in the bottom right corner of the panel, but I realise that isn't the case.  Is it the something to be with the cube of shards in the background? And is that a thing I've forgotten is a thing?

Yeah, that's almost certainly one of those snuffbots from the auction scene. Giant mentioned there was another one and I was sure the guy Dredd shot down was going to be controlled by one of them, rather than the real Major Domo.

I liked Maitland too and I'm gutted.

[Funt Solo]

Main character status?

Cal was in ten stories. Maitland fifteen.

Of course, it's subjective.

[Richard]

I mean, she's been shot through the forehead by a sniper.

She's certainly been shot in the head.

We can clearly see the exit sound at the back of her head. She's dead.

[Richard]

*exit wound

[Richard]

(Although I imagine it also made a sound. A squelchy one, probably.)

[Link Prime]

Perrier meant more to me than the irritating bean counter.

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

I dunno. What is a major character? Dredd these days is more like several universes running in parallel. But there surely becomes a point where a character is prominent and influential to the degree that they matter. I can't imagine too many would begrudge Giant that status, say. Or Nixon. Or even Janus, for that matter.

Also, purely subjectively, I liked this character. She was in many ways a breath of fresh air, in all kinds of ways. Wiping her out makes Dredd's world a little bit duller, and judging by quite a few frames in the strip, primarily populated by intolerant men who care far more about power than justice and people's wellbeing. Which is perhaps the point and a nasty analogy for today's reality.

You can imagine something similar today, in various areas. UBI has been tested dozens of times now, for example. You just know governments are waiting for the one time it goes wrong to tear it down and hurl it into the sea. Same here. Her project ran effectively for an entire year. But one fuck-up that my MC1 standards isn't exactly massive (and that is clearly the result of antagonists) and – boom – it's all gone. (Probably. I guess we'll know for sure next week.)

Main character status?

Cal was in ten stories. Maitland fifteen.

Of course, it's subjective.

I dunno, someone who made a long-term impact on either the title character, location and/or a story/character arc, whilst still alive...?

[norton canes]

That double page spread is of course presented on two separate pages in the digital prog (at least, that's how my CBR file reader's done it). Upon seeing just the left half, my immediate thought was that Maitland, after approaching him on the previous page, had been shot by Dredd.

Anyway. Running out into a full-scale firefight, screaming for the participants to stop? Not sure about that.

[broodblik]

That double page spread is of course presented on two separate pages in the digital prog (at least, that's how my CBR file reader's done it).

I use CDisplayEx and it has a setting where can view it in Double Page mode, so you can see it in its fully glory.


 

[IndigoPrime]

Given how strategic she was, it felt a bit weird for her to not do calculations such as:

- Should I run out of this building into a screaming mob, and;
- Should I first put on my helmet, so someone doesn't shoot me through the forehead

But, to be fair, she was probably pretty stressed at that point and we all do stupid things.

As for impact, sure, Cal had loads because he upended the very nature of the city. But I'm not sure this needs to be a pissing contest. Some folks here couldn't give two hoots that the accountant is dead. I'm personally sad, because she was a character I really liked and who was a bit different and because she provided some balance and diversity to a strip that is so often Judge Dredd And The Many Mostly White Men of Mega-City One.

Bah. (It's also quite dispiriting to wonder if the worst-cast scenario of sorts is rocking up next week, in terms of the strip ending on a downer. Maitland: dead. Maitland's ideas: dead. Glenn: not dead and possibly even getting away with his shit. Hernandez: I dunno – maybe he kicks the Chief Judge into a pile of deranged Hondo City robots, claims the title for himself, and then thumbs his nose at Dredd, who's demoted to traffic duty in Sector 304.)

[Richard]

I do think it's a great pity to wipe out a very rare prominent female character (and POC) ... Remove Maitland and Beeny from the strip and there'd be almost no women and certainly none of note.

We used to have Judge Sanchez, whatever happened to her?

[Funt Solo]

We're assuming that Dredd is still alive. (Which is a fair assumption.)

[Jacqusie]

I remember Rob Williams once saying something like: "Don't get too attached to my characters in Dredd" and you can see why. I was gutted about Judge Sam and still am, I am.

Henry Flint mentioned in the Thrill Cast that there was a head in hands, moment crying out "Noooo!" and there it was.

It makes it somewhat hard to invest in a story and the characters, if one has this pervading sense of doom over them and it appears we are just waiting for 'that' moment. Why do the good guys always die? Or do we just feel it more when they do? Is that just life in MC1?

Apart from ol' Dreddy of course... although you never know with Rob around...

[JayzusB.Christ]

Ffs.  For the third time this week, I've written a long post, pressed 'post' and come back to find it's disappeared.  Could be my new phone.

Anyway, as has been mentioned upthread, a cranial exit wound in Dreddworld doesn't necessarily mean death.

I've only read Dredd so far this issue, and I found it very powerful and absolutely heartbreaking- not so much about Maitland but about her dream, violently crushed underfoot like so many MC1 visions of a better future.

Since Al Ewing left, I've struggled to be invested in a (largely) post-Wagner Dredd. I didn't give a flying feck what happened in that Horsemen of the Apocalypse one, for example, and barely remember how it played out.  But this one has been breathtaking- the end of most episodes have had me excited for the next in a way I haven't been in ages, even if I knew it would most likely be an America-style tragedy unfolding.