Right. I've recently got a new job without a computer and as a result can't access this site too frequently at all, so I'll try and make a serious point for once. And here it is.
I dont want Rico to take over as the new Dredd. Dredd himself is getting old, yeah, and won't be able to keep doing the old stunts and fights for much longer. Fair enough, but I don't care: The image of Dredd on his bike with gun in hand is the classic one, I know, but the Dredd stories that boil down to a stretched out gun- or fistfight (like the return of Trapper Hag and Dredd's last meeting with Orlok), or the ones that concentrate on Dredd doing a series of bike stunts to catch a perp, are, in my unhumble opinion, the least interesting kind of Dredd stories. My favourite stories have always been the political thrillers (such as the entire Democracy storyline, one of the best plot-threads ever), the black social satires (Sunday Night Fever), and the heartstring-tuggers (Bury My Knee etc., and by the way hats off to Gordon Rennie for the Wagneresque latest Dredd). Dredd can go on dealing with cases like these without needing to jump from buildings onto h-wagons and take out entire mutie-gangs single handedly.
See that Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven? Getting on in life and no longer quite the sharp-shooter he was, but still a scary bastard nonetheless? That's our Joe, that is.
Rico, however, has not the wealth of history that earns Dredd the respect he is given. He has, as I see it, come across as a bit of a goody-goody boyscout, snitching on his workmates and talking nervously to his authorities.
I say keep Rico, let him provide the action scenes, while the real Dredd deals with the important stuff. His is the face of Mega-City 1, he was there through all the major wars, disasters and political uprisings. Rico just seems too soulless to take his place completely. I know he'll learn from the streets, but can he really achieve the elevated status Dredd has earned?
If the Dark Knight can Return in his late 50's, and Fidel Castro can run Cuba for however many years it's been, Dredd can still have an interesting future ahead of him.
H'mmm, Chief Judge Dredd, anyone?
I don't know, just a thought.
P.S. I've LOST MY FECKING LOGIN PASSWORD. Anyone know how I can get it again? I cant use any PC but this one.
Talk to yez all when I get the chance.
Okay, confession time. Being completely out of touch with what's currently going on in 2000 AD, someone's going to have explain this 'Leaving Rowdy' story line I keep hearing about. Presumably 'Rico' is not the original Rico, but a clone of Dredd / Fargo as was the situation with Kraken.
As for the previous opinion I was always under the impression the Dredd strip could quite easily continue without Joseph himself and this is presumably what 'Leaving Rowdy' concerns. 'Dredd is a symbol to the [citizens Mega-City One]', as a former Chief Judge said once. 'Respect the helmet, fear the badge'. It's a similar situation to the final issue of 'V For Vendetta', and one brilliantly resolved by Alan Moore.
Or have I completely missed the point?
Or Taggart... ;)
. . . Or Blakey's Seven. 'I hate you, Avon. . .'