Sector 102: Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd
Background
Mega-City One in the 22nd century was a vast urban nightmare situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. The irradiated wasteland known as The Cursed Earth to the west, covering most of America, and the polluted Black Atlantic to the east. Home to 400 million citizens, crammed into gigantic city blocks, overcrowding is rife, unemployment endemic, and boredom universal. Tensions run a constant knife edge, and crime is rampant. Only the Judges can prevent total anarchy. Empowered to dispense instant justice, these lawmen are judge, jury and executioner. Judge Joseph Dredd is the toughest of them all, and he is the Law!
Judge Dredd, one of several clones of Chief Judge Fargo, is the most famous of the elite Judges that run Mega-City One with the power to enforce the law and instantly sentence offenders - to death if necessary. Dredd and his twin brother Rico emerged from the cloning facility as five years old in 2066, which took only months. They are enrolled in the Academy of Law at this young age and will graduate 13 years later in 2079. While these details are featured throughout the years of comics, the Judge Dredd Origins story arc recently delves into the atomic wars and Dredd's time as a cadet. If the timeline is correct, Dredd is currently over seventy years old. During his years of service, he has received numerous injuries, many severe, and his body is a mess of scars. During the Proteus mission (in which he and Judge Anderson were sent forward in time to 2120), his eyes were gouged out by a demon and replaced with bionic ones. Most recently, he was diagnosed with a malign growth on his duodenum, although this was caught in time to be treated.
Equipment and Weapons
Judge Dredd has a large Lawmaster motorbike with powerful side-mounted cannons, a centrally-mounted laser (the 'Cyclops' laser), and complete Artificial Intelligence. It can also respond to orders from the Judge, such as driving itself. It is connected to the Justice Department, which can receive and transmit information from and to the bike, and is equipped with a video communication system. Dredd also has a handgun, which is known as a Lawgiver. It is DNA-coded, so no one else may use the weapon - it will explode if it reads an incorrect palm print. These are standard issue for Judges, firing six types of ammo such as Standard bullets, Rubber Ricochet, Armour Piercing, Heat-Seeking, Incendiary and Hi-Ex. It can also fire tracking bullets, stun shots, and more, although it requires loading. Other weapons Dredd carries as standard include a Scattergun (pump-action shotgun), a "Daystick" (long two-handed cudgel), and a Boot Knife. His uniform consists of a blue/black bodysuit (depending on the artist); green padded boots, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves; golden alloy shoulder pads (the right in the shape of an eagle - the symbol of the Justice Department), and a blue/black (depending on artist) helmet with a red side trim which almost entirely hides his face and has protective lenses, a respirator and communicator built in.
A mean man in a meaner time, Dredd is now pushing 70. Can this lawman keep going forever?
Other Dredd's
Judge Dredd has also inspired two movies. We won't go into details here, as I will do a future post on them, but I have included the following pictures to show off the movie versions.
Stallone's 1995 versus Karl Urban's 2012
Also, as mentioned above, there is some talk as to the colour of the body suit. Some believe it is a dark blue. While others believe it is black. I have read a lot of different arguments on this topic and think it all comes down to an artist/reader's preference. I prefer Dark Blue for the mainline judges, leaving me with the black uniform for the SJS. It helps them stand apart on the board.
Miniature Dredd
Now, to the final part, my painted version. I have chosen the classic blue uniform and a more comical yellow than a brass gold metallic effect. Please drop me a comment to let me know what you think.
Thank you for sticking to the end with me and hopefully you like the mini. If you have any questions or comments or want to help, drop me a comment below.
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Cheers!
