Prog 1998 - A Dredd End

[Eme]

I don't buy that fully functional PJ would have done nothing between catching the DJ's and Death coming to rescue them, as he was fully functional when he did so (with no voices in his head).

There is also the point of ' HOW did Death come back to this realm' to rescue his buddies in the first place, that's not been explained properly yet .

PJ would have talked endlessly with Fear,Fire and Mortis,  especially about an afterlife existence ( another time another life , could be one of us...etc) , and would guess he would try to strike a deal, re-summon Death for eternal after-life... maybe.
I hope so anyway.. A lone rogue Dark PJ would be awesome

[sheridan]

Just realise that he went same way as Ma-Ma

I was thinking that as I was reading - particularly as he even had a bomb primed to detonate.

[Richard]

There is also the point of ' HOW did Death come back to this realm' to rescue his buddies in the first place, that's not been explained properly yet .

Yes it has, the Sisters did it.

I think that Frank on the previous page may be into something. Maybe PJ Maybe wasn't in that story at all, and that guy we saw was just another sap who thought he was PJ, and the black voice is the symptom of his brainwashing. If so: poor guy! But that would be brilliant.

[Judge Nutmeg]

There is also the point of ' HOW did Death come back to this realm' to rescue his buddies in the first place, that's not been explained properly yet .

Yes it has, the Sisters did it.

I think that Frank on the previous page may be into something. Maybe PJ Maybe wasn't in that story at all, and that guy we saw was just another sap who thought he was PJ, and the black voice is the symptom of his brainwashing. If so: poor guy! But that would be brilliant.

i think so too, as for dna match PJ is crafty, be an odd out of character anti-climax if this truly his demise but I think we should keep a close eye on any new characters Wagner introduces to the strip. Hope Mrs G is ok.

[Frank]

(Maybe) that guy we saw was just another sap who thought he was PJ, and the black voice is the symptom of his brainwashing

we should keep a close eye on any new characters Wagner introduces to the strip

Dredd's sidekick, Corrigan, is a dead ringer for Maybe's last known incarnation.

The problem with the idea the Black Voice demonstrates a link to the Dark Judges is that their speech bubbles are black bamboo calligraphy in a white bubble with a wobbly outline.

When they possess someone, like Logan or the guy Death's wearing in Dark Justice, their speech is regular black script inside a white bubble with a wobbly tail. Fun, this - innit?

[TordelBack]

Sure, and the voice sounds nothing like the Foetid Four, and a lot like PJ Maybe. But something happened with the DJs during DoC and PJ hasn't been the same since, so it's a reasonable conjecture that they are involved in some way in this new state of mind.

Meanwhile, I'm totally happy to accept that Philip's mental state had deteriorated to the point that he was as disappointment to himself, he tried a sloppy plan against a focused Dredd and lost, in the process stripping away all the false glamour surrounding a nasty little murderer.

[Magnetica]

Better get a mop and bucket and run those blood works.

I had the same thought, but PJ has a history of fooling Justice Department DNA tests - in "Bring me the Heart of PJ Maybe" he gives up his real heart, and he later hacks the JD computer to overwrite the record of his stolen identify (er..memory failing...assume it was Mayor Ambrose) - so I assume it wouldn't actual prove anything. Especially if my theory that that was a PJ clone turns out to be true.

If we don't see him again I will go with the voices in his head / cracking up theory.

[Dandontdare]

A long-shot, but when PJ loses it and starts screaming about "taking you to hell with me" is he talking to Dredd at all? Perhaps he's talking to the dark presence?

[robert_ellis]

I'd love to have seen Dredd's face had the spirit form of Dark PJ appeared.

[Hawkmumbler]

A long-shot, but when PJ loses it and starts screaming about "taking you to hell with me" is he talking to Dredd at all? Perhaps he's talking to the dark presence?

Aye, that's another thing. PJ's been using odd pronouns throughout this story. Add that to the dark thought bubbles, it really does bring into question where we actually stand with PJ post Dark Justice.

[dweezil2]

Better get a mop and bucket and run those blood works.

I had the same thought, but PJ has a history of fooling Justice Department DNA tests - in "Bring me the Heart of PJ Maybe" he gives up his real heart, and he later hacks the JD computer to overwrite the record of his stolen identify (er..memory failing...assume it was Mayor Ambrose) - so I assume it wouldn't actual prove anything. Especially if my theory that that was a PJ clone turns out to be true.

If we don't see him again I will go with the voices in his head / cracking up theory.

He certainly is a cunning stunt that Maybe!! 

[I, Cosh]

Ah lads, surely it's the most perfectly crafted open-ended open-ending ever?  Either (1.) we see the truth about serial murderers, that they are pathetic self-aggrandising little fecks with a big (white-on-black lettered) screw loose and eventually their luck runs out and they are run to ground to end up as one more boring smear on society: and that's a perfect end; or (2.) there's a lot of funky Deadworld/cloning/brainwashing insanity going on and PJ has pulled another miraculous escape out of the bag cos he's the best baddie ever and that's a perfect ending. 

Much like Nikolai Dante, you get to choose which ending works for you.

This is a very good reading. Apart from the nonsense about Dante. It's perfectly clear what happened in the next panel...

Not quite sure what to make of the ending myself but it's been a really solid story. Maybe need to give PJ a full retrospective.

[Hawkmumbler]

Ah lads, surely it's the most perfectly crafted open-ended open-ending ever?  Either (1.) we see the truth about serial murderers, that they are pathetic self-aggrandising little fecks with a big (white-on-black lettered) screw loose and eventually their luck runs out and they are run to ground to end up as one more boring smear on society: and that's a perfect end; or (2.) there's a lot of funky Deadworld/cloning/brainwashing insanity going on and PJ has pulled another miraculous escape out of the bag cos he's the best baddie ever and that's a perfect ending. 

Much like Nikolai Dante, you get to choose which ending works for you.

This is a very good reading. Apart from the nonsense about Dante. It's perfectly clear what happened in the next panel...

Slipped down the stairs and broke his neck?

[Proudhuff]

My money is on [spoiler]PJ being dead and done for.[/spoiler] I don't think Mr W has given all the DJ shenanigans a second thought...

[Frank]

.
You don't need dead fluids, teleporters, clones or any other kind of magic to explain what happened or for Judge Dredd to investigate another Maybe case.

That smoking, pink blob might very well be all that's left of the character Liam Sharp drew in 1987, but there's at least one other citizen in MC1 who's programmed to think and act exactly like Maybe.

Not to mention a faithful family retainer droid* and billions salted away in Cuidad Barranquilla.


* Like Robert in America, who also helped his master act from beyond the grave, and Inga who - either by deliberate programming or the same phenomenon that means dogs resemble their owners - established precedent for Maybe's droids behaving badly.