The Judge Child

The Judge Child
"The Judge Child"

Interior artwork from 2000 AD prog. 181 (Oct 11 1980). Art by Ron Smith.
Publisher IPC Magazines Ltd
Publication date 15 March – 11 October, 1980
Genre Science fiction
Title(s) 2000 AD progs 156-181
Creative team
Writer(s) John Wagner, Alan Grant
Artist(s) Mike McMahon, Brian Bolland and Ron Smith
Editor(s) Tharg (Steve MacManus)
Collected editions
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 04 ISBN 1-904265-90-1

The Judge Child was an extended storyline in the 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd that ran from issues 156 to 181 in 1980. It introduced a character with the same name. Written by John Wagner and drawn by Mike McMahon, Brian Bolland and Ron Smith, the story also introduced the popular villain "Mean Machine" Angel and the future chief judge Judge Hershey, as well as drastically expanding the scope of the Judge Dredd universe. Consequences of the Judge Child story affected a number of plotlines for the next eighteen years, as well as leading to a notable sequel, City of the Damned.[1] The story is also notable as introducing Alan Grant as Wagner's long-term co-writer of the series (beginning in the final episodes set on Xanadu).

Synopsis

A dying member of Psi Division has a precognitive vision that Mega-City One will be destroyed unless the Judges can find the "Judge Child," a boy called Owen Krysler with extreme telepathic and precognitive powers. He also a birthmark on his head shaped like the Judges' Eagle. Krysler is destined to rule Mega-City One in its direst hour. Dredd is sent after the boy and tracks him across the Cursed Earth to Texas City where the Judge Child falls into the hands of the Angel Gang who escape from Earth. Dredd uses the ship Justice One to pursue the gang and the Child across a number of star systems and through various strange encounters with alien worlds.

Dredd becomes convinced that only by using Oracle Spice will he be able to find the Child, and after further dangerous adventures he gains this on the planet Necros. Oracle Spice gives precognitive powers to whoever takes it (similar to the spice from the Dune saga), but is very dangerous to the inexperienced user. Dredd orders a member of the Justice One crew, Judge Lopez, to take the Oracle Spice. This kills Lopez, but not before he reveals that the location of the Judge Child is known by the 'Jigsaw Man,' whom Dredd traces to the planet Ab. The 'Jigsaw Man' is a human called Prosser who had been the pilot of a spaceship hijacked by the Angel Gang, who are heading to the free robot planet of Xanadu. Prosser's nickname stems from the fact he is a victim of the alien wasting disease known as "Jigsaw Disease", which causes the victims to vanish piece by random piece. Just before he dies he tells Dredd that he believes the Judge Child is evil, because it was the Judge Child who caused him to catch the disease in the first place, apparently intentionally.

Dredd begins to doubt the mission but continues to Xanadu where he confronts and kills most of the Angel Gang, who had also begun to suspect the boy had been manipulating them. However the last of the Angel Gang is killed by the Judge Child himself. Finally having hold of the Judge Child, Dredd looks into his eyes and sees that he is evil. Believing that the ruler of his city has to be pure and uncorrupted, and that Owen Krysler is unfit to rule, Dredd abandons him on the planet and returns home.

Sequels

For deliberately failing in his mission Dredd himself had to be judged, in the story's epilogue Block War in prog 182. This story introduced another major character, Judge McGruder, who thought that Dredd had exceeded his authority.

In a sequel called Destiny's Angels,[2] the Judge Child was executed for attempting to assassinate Dredd in revenge for depriving him of the opportunity to rule Mega-City One. In McGruder's eyes this vindicated Dredd's earlier judgement of him, and she authorised the execution herself.

Owen Krysler was reincarnated in City of the Damned,[3] this time as a deformed but much more powerful telepath called The Mutant.

The Council of Five deliberates on Dredd's decision in Block War. McGruder is second from left. (Art by Brian Bolland.)

References

  1. ^ 2000 AD progs 393-406
  2. ^ 2000 AD progs 281-288
  3. ^ 2000 AD progs 393-406
Preceded by
The Day the Law Died!
Major Judge Dredd stories
1980
Succeeded by
Block Mania

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Judge Child — as Wagner s long term co writer of the series (beginning in the final episodes set on Xanadu).ynopsisA dying member of Psi Division has a precognitive vision that Mega City One will be destroyed unless the Judges can find the Judge Child, a boy… …   Wikipedia

  • The Judge Charles J. Vallone School — Infobox School name = The Judge Charles J. Vallone School imagesize = 200px caption = School Logo location = Queens, New York streetaddress = 23 70 31st Street LONG ISLAND CITY region = Queens city = state = New York district = province = county …   Wikipedia

  • Judge McGruder — Chief Judge McGruder (painted by Peter Doherty) Publication information Publisher Rebellion Developments …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Francisco — Illustration by Mike Collins Publication information Publisher Rebellion Developments …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Dredd — This article is about the comic book character. For the performer, see Judge Dread. For the forthcoming film, see Dredd. Judge Dredd Cover to 2000 AD prog 168 Art by Mike McMahon …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Lopez — Infobox comics character caption= character name=Judge Lopez publisher=IPC Media (Fleetway) to 1999, thereafter Rebellion Developments debut= 2000 AD #162 (1980) creators=John Wagner Brian Bolland alliance color=background:#ffc0c0 status=dead… …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Griffin — Superherobox caption = Chief Judge Griffin (drawn by Brian Bolland). character name = Judge Griffin publisher = Rebellion Developments debut = 2000 AD prog 27 (1977) creators = John Wagner, Alan Grant and Ian Gibson alter ego = full name =… …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Hershey — Infobox comics character character name = Judge Hershey imagesize = 250 converted = y caption = Judge Dredd and Chief Judge Hershey (painted by John Burns) publisher = Rebellion Developments debut = 2000 AD prog 162 (1980) creators = John Wagner… …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Dredd (film) — Infobox movie caption = Judge Dredd film poster name = Judge Dredd director = Danny Cannon writer = Michael De Luca, William Wisher, Jr. producer = Charles Lippincott, Beau Marks cinematography = Adrian Biddle music = Alan Silvestri distributor …   Wikipedia

  • The Young and the Restless minor characters — The following are characters from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless who are notable for their actions or relationships, but who do not warrant their own articles. Contents 1 Current Characters 1.1 Genevieve …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”