Should Dredd ever be killed off?

[Mark Taylor]

Hang on! haven't they done that a few times already?!?!?!?!?!?

No.

[Emperor]

Dredd would give his life, passing the mantle onto Rico. Rico would accept the mantle, and in honour of the old man, change his name to Dredd.

Man I don't know. Dredd would never do something that sentimental. He wouldn't give a stomm about his 'mantle' or legacy.

Exactly - the point is that Rico isn't Dredd. He after all picked the name Rico when he decided not to where the Dredd badge.

If anything, I could see Justice Department thrusting the Dredd name at Rico, with some belief that if there isn't a 'Judge Dredd' to put fear in the minds of would-be law breakers crime rates would go up city wide. And then Rico just has to deal with having this big legacy thrown on top of him without his consent.

Yeah, I can see that angle working. The good thing is it'd introduce new angles and different ways you could tell the same story, which would be vital for when Wagner passes the baton on. That way the new writers can make this character their own, while there still being familiar enough elements in place for older fans of Dredd to hook into.

[vzzbux]

To have Rico at the Dredd mantle. Introducing old enemies to the thro not knowing the switch could give some dark, witty humour.



V

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Not yet!

[Syne]

There's certainly nothing stopping the writers keeping J.D. round forever. They could implant his brain in a robot, time-snatch young Dredd from the past and have him take on the role, or aliens could descend from the sky and invest him with superpowers. Mega-City rejuvenation tech could make a sudden advance, allowing him to be rewound to the age of 18 whereupon he becomes a rapping social-worker Judge making 'say no to sugar' vid promos with hordes of dancing juves.

Wagner has been deliberately building up this "aging problem" for a while now though, and its given real depth to the character. A quick-n-easy fix would be a bit of a let down.

[opaque]

In the grand scheme of things another 20 years of life is a fair age until his brain needs to go into a robot etc so I don't think we really need to worry about it.

[Aonghus]

Wagner has been deliberately building up this "aging problem" for a while now though, and its given real depth to the character. A quick-n-easy fix would be a bit of a let down.

THis is an excellent point: Wagner does seem to have been deliberately working up to this, so presumably he knows exactly what he wants to do here. The fact that it may be 20 years off only makes him a master strategist

[Mikey]

The fact that Dredd has aged in 'real time' suggests to me there is the possibility Dredd might go at some point. I don't know how I'd feel about that if I'm honest. Killing off Dredd...hmm...as others have said, the aging problem could be sci-fied away and it would make perfect sense. If that did happen, I'd hope at least the lead up would be worth it and soundly reasoned rather than a throw away in the middle of some standard yarn. I think the most obvious way would be to have Rico take on the Dredd badge, but even perps would notice that he'd lost a good 30-40 years!

As far as 'should' goes, well if you want a certain amount of realism or at least consistent character development, considering his attitudes have become more complex over time and that he is aging, then yes, at some point he should.


M.

[W. R. Logan]

Bio-Chip him, it's appeared in Dredd before it did in Rogue Trooper.

[A.Cow]

I think the most obvious way would be to have Rico take on the Dredd badge, but even perps would notice that he'd lost a good 30-40 years!

Why does it have to be a secret?  Surely it'd be no problem to identify Rico publicly as a clone, and formally announce that he's taking over the Dredd badge.

Given that Dredd is more likely to die in the course of duty rather than step down, it allows for a proper state funeral and would also put the fear of a new, young, revitalised Dredd into perps' minds, which must be a good thing.

[Bat King]

Clone replacement is the most believable.  But I'm sure there are many good, and not so good, ideas the professionals can come up with.

Personally I'm fine with Joe dying, so long as it is a good story and not throw away. Doesn't have to be Rico that replaces him, new clone would do.

As for who decides the name continues, makes more sense that it would be Justice Department.

Plus, new Dredd, younger Dredd... That is bad news for perps. His reactions are faster and his view of life and justice are straight out of the Academy.  He'd be harsher, no nonsense taking.

But then again... we've all had these thoughts and discussions before.  It'll all happen when and as...

[O Lucky Stevie!]

Turn Dredd into fumetti so CF can get his 1000 quid's worth.

[Bat King]

Rumour has it he gets replaced by a clone of Judge Burdis found in CF's cellar.

[Syne]

Bio-Chip him, it's appeared in Dredd before it did in Rogue Trooper.

Really? What story was that in?

[TordelBack]

Bio-Chip him, it's appeared in Dredd before it did in Rogue Trooper.

Really? What story was that in?

"Planet of the Body-Brokers" during in The Judge Child (Casefiles 4).  Planet in question is called Lesser Lingo, and there's some less-than-subtle Native American analogs, but I love the story and its glorious Ron Smith art.