Should Dredd ever be killed off?

[Syne]

"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.

Ah, I see! I have one episode of that story in a second-hand prog, the one where they arrive on the planet just in time for the president to get kidnapped. From the bits I've read, the Judge Child saga looks like a lot of fun.

[O Lucky Stevie!]

EDIT: Beaten to the punch by TB. Again.

Cracking Ron Smith art & eerily resonate with the contemporay situation in Afghanistan.

Which just goes to show how far we've come, eh?

[W. R. Logan]

At the time of Mechanismo I did a fan story idea where I used bio chips to get round Dredds dislike of robot judges although like all good Dredd stories it all goes wrong.
It's probably in a draw somewhere amongst all the other crap I have.

[DrRocka]

have Dredd and Rico get into a situation where only one of 'em walks out of. The other body's burned beyond up, only DNA tests can tell who it was (Which, of course, it can't, as they share the same DNA). The burned up body is wearing the Rico badge, the living the Dredd one. But is all as it seems?....

This would mean Rico takes up the Dredd mantle voluntarily - he's volunteering to step in to the old man's shoes, and trusting on the last few years on he streets (and the old man's advice, told in flashbacks) to keep the Dredd legacy continuing.

This is pretty much what I'd like to see. Plus, there could also be the mystery of how the real Dredd died - Wagner's told for years that one's clone in the bloodline's always gone bad - (Fargo and his brother in Origins, etc) - did Rico kill Dredd? You could keep this going for YEARS and not make to big a dent on continuity.

[JOE SOAP]

have Dredd and Rico get into a situation where only one of 'em walks out of. The other body's burned beyond up, only DNA tests can tell who it was (Which, of course, it can't, as they share the same DNA). The burned up body is wearing the Rico badge, the living the Dredd one. But is all as it seems?....

This would mean Rico takes up the Dredd mantle voluntarily - he's volunteering to step in to the old man's shoes, and trusting on the last few years on he streets (and the old man's advice, told in flashbacks) to keep the Dredd legacy continuing.

and what motivation would Rico have to be so secretive and disrespectful to his mentor and clone brother? -can't be too great a Judge to do that- besides Rico is clearly half Dredd's age anyway so it'd be difficult for man in his 30's to pretend to be in his 70's, as in, a lot more battle-scarred, older and craggier.

[Dash Decent]

We've seen body transplants and the like before, it's no big deal. This wouldn't make Dredd invulnerable, he'll still be in constant danger from snipers, terrorists and the like but it'd solve the ageing problem and, potentially, throw up new challenges for him.

I can see it now - Dredd on the operating table with the donor body next to him.  Suddenly, Judge Death appears, inhabits the cadavear and escapes.  "Get me a body!" growls Dredd with his dying breath.  "I've got to stop that creep."

Unfortunately the only other readily-available corpse is a midget.  Now Dredd is the toughest and shortest cop on the beat.  He can't even reach the pedals on his Lawmaster.

Stay tuned - more new challenges for Joe next week!

[DrRocka]

Way I figure it, Rico'd be aware that the name Dredd should go on (as a symbol to the cits, heard it all before, yadda yadda yadda) and so would take it up as a mark of respect to his mentor/clone brother/father/whatever.

Plus, he'd be a bit burned up too, so he'd get away with it at the scene. Sure, the truth would come out under closer inspection, but then maybe to a select few? "For the good of the city", etc.

Actually, shit, that's pretty much just Necropolis, innit?

[Richard]

There are lots of different ways that this problem could be addressed, and I'm sure that whatever John Wagner decides to do will turn out to be just right, so I'm not worried about what it is, so long as Wagner does it and no-one else.

But the notion that Dredd has another 20 years in him before we have to worry about it is just ridiculous, he'd be bloody 90 years old and running around after perps in their teens and 20s. I don't care what medical advances there have been in the 22nd century, it would just be silly. Even a science fiction story needs to have some grounding in reality on some level. He's now been on the streets for 55 years, anything more than 60 is not going to seem credible without it at least being acknowledged and dealt with somehow. So I think Wagner needs to grab the bull by the horns in the next 5 years at most.

[JOE SOAP]

he'd be bloody 90 years old and running around after perps in their teens and 20s. I don't care what medical advances there have been in the 22nd century, it would just be silly. Even a science fiction story needs to have some grounding in reality on some level.

so's a bunch of supernaturally dead Judges from another dimension.

[Richard]

True, but any 90-year-old who can't be killed and who can also reach into your chest and squeeze your heart until it stops beating, or set you on fire, or make your flesh decompose just by touching you, or scare you to death by looking at you, has an unfair advantage.

[The Sherman Kid]

I think this issue will be resolved sooner than most think.

Firstly, Dredd is what, 70 or 75 ,depending on if you take into account his 'advanced clone birth', he can't credibly carry on for more than just a few more years as a street judge without seriously weakening the character.

Secondly and more importantly John Wagner will want to be the one who provides that answer.As much as I would like him to continue forever, he will want to hang up his Lawgiver someday and will naturally want to 'round off' Dredd character himself.He has already largely done this with 'Origins ' and no doubt has in mind an ending.I really don't think he would opt for a sci-fi solution, that would devalue earlier stories, the character and simply wouldn't work. Dredd has developed subtly over many years and his actual age is a huge part of that - changing that with some ultimate 're-juve' would weaken Dredd hugely.No - I'm afraid he has to die.

I've always automatically asssumed that replacement would be a clone.Rico seems a good choice (even though he's already almost died twice), too late for Dolman , but there was mention of SEVEN other clones so one of them may emerge.Not an option now of course, but Viennas baby to sov bad guy Pasha, may re-emerge at some distant point (a replacement for the replacement  ).

It all hangs on of course HOW it's done.I personally think a NEW Dredd could be done and work very well.The old Dredd could be revisited via flashbacks to older cases etc until the new Dredd is bedded in and was accepted.I don't believe John Wagner will leave this huge question to anyone else so the answer will come in the next 4/5 years max methinks.

[Spikes]

I cant help thinking if Dredd goes, then everything will follow it. Judge Dredd is Joe Dredd, its not some stand-in clone, replacement, or other. That would be taking it into "Taggart" territory.
And look whats happened in the past - the precedents arent looking good. The re-vamped Dan Dare in 2000ad, and then in the re-launched Eagle (wasnt he the "great-great-great-grandson of the original"?). People rightly saw these reincarnations as a sham, and lost interest. Same, to a degree, with the Rogue trooper/Friday debarcle.
I dont want to come across as negative, but its just the worry that itll end up being a total and utter mess, and bring everything crashing down with it.
Despite the fact that the whole ageing thing has produced some great stories, and given Dredd more depth than the usual comic character, over the years - have not the writers boxed themselves into a corner to a degree?
Of course im not privvy to Wagner's plans, or if indeed Rebellion would even consent to something so radical, so who knows. But like i say replacing Dredd in whatever way, just seems such a risk.

[Richard]

I think that the real reason people didn't like the new Dan Dare was not necessarily because he was the great-whatever-grandson of the original, but just because the stories were not as good or not written in the same style that people recognised from the original. I am sure that nobody would have minded that it was not the "original" Dan Dare if it had been up to scratch. 2000 AD's Dan Dare actually was the original, but the stories were entirely different from the Eagle's take on the character, so they were not as popular. My point is that if Dredd is replaced by another Dredd, nobody will mind too much that it is not the original Joe Dredd (after a transitional period perhaps) as long as the stories are as good and the new Dredd's personality is recognisably the same -- it will still feel like the same character. After all it is not as if the new Dredd would always be mentioning his roots in every single story.

Rico II has been around for 12 years now, he first appeared in 2000. By the time this happens (if it does) he will have been on the streets for nearly as long as Joe Dredd had in 1977 / 2099.

[Spikes]

I agree to a point - the reason why people (and the writers) lose interest is for a number of factors, but the prime reason is that once all the excitement has died down, your left with something that is pretending to be something else. Then all the fudging, re-conning, early years stories, flash-backs, re-inventions etc kick in. Just becomes such a mess.
Ive nowt against Dredd being killed off (well, i have but i can see the validity of it), but Rico taking over doesnt thrill me at all.  The Dredd name has become just a franchise, then? and your still potentially left with all the problems ive mentioned.
As i say - its the worry that itll become such a mess.
Can anyone give an example of something similar working in the past?

[TordelBack]

The Dredd name has become just a franchise, then?

In fairness to Rico II, his name was Dredd long before it was Rico.  But I do tend to agree with your concerns (that said, the Mills/Wagner Dan(-iel) Dare was great, and an interesting character in his own right - he just fell foul of the general disintegration of the '80s Eagle).