Mean Machine Angel
Encyclopedia
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
stories of the British comic book series 2000 AD. He is one of the sons of Elmer "Pa" Angel, and as such, is a member of the Angel Gang
Angel Gang
The Angel Gang is a group of villains in the Judge Dredd comic strip, published in 2000 AD magazine in the UK.-History:The most infamous and feared band of thugs ever to come out of Texas City, the Angel Gang were responsible for a near endless string of crimes with one overriding common factor -...
.
Fictional biography
When he was young, he was gentle, nice and utterly unlike his viciously criminal family. Pa Angel was not pleased by this, and kidnapped a surgeon from nearby Texas City to operate on him, making him the crazed cyborgCyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
he is now. He has a mechanical right arm and a steel dome over his skull with a dial on the front. This dial has four settings; from 1, where he's surly and disagreeable, all the way up to 4, which is when he is fully berserk. His favourite attack is a head-butt with his steel skull. He is not very bright at best and has often been outwitted.
Mean Machine's dial settings are:
- Surly
- Mean
- Vicious
- Brutal
On rare occasions, an extremely hard headbutt causes Mean Machine's dial to get stuck on 4½, which causes him to enter an Uncontrollable Butt Frenzy, where he can't stop headbutting.
He died during the Judge Child
Judge Child
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...
saga, but was brought back from the grave by the Judge Child
Judge Child
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...
to seek revenge on Judge Dredd. Due to his organic left arm having been shot off in a fight with Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
Mean Machine was left only with the brutal mechanical claw of his right arm. At the end of his return, he was captured by the Mega-City One
Mega-City One
Mega-City One is a huge fictional city-state covering much of what is now the Eastern United States in the Judge Dredd comic book series. The exact boundaries of the city depend on which artist has drawn the story...
judges
Judge (2000 AD)
Judge is a title held by several significant characters in the Judge Dredd series, which appears in the British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine...
and imprisoned. While there have been escapes and attempts to cure him, he is usually incarcerated in Iso-Cube 666 (which holds the most dangerous foes Dredd has gone up against and subsequently captured) in Mega-City One. He is also occasionally "loaned out" to the Judges for missions, such as when he was part of "The Three Amigos" alongside Judge Dredd and Judge Death
Judge Death
Judge Death is a fictional character of the Judge Dredd universe recounted in the UK comic 2000 AD. He is the leader of the Dark Judges, a sinister group of undead law enforcers from the alternate dimension of Deadworld, where all life has been declared a crime since only the living commit crimes...
.
He once married a competing Cursed Earth
Cursed Earth
The Cursed Earth is a part of the fictional universe from the Judge Dredd series that appears in the UK comic book 2000 AD.-Background:...
criminal named Seven-Pound Sally Suggs (named after the 7 lb hammer she used when committing her crimes). This turned out to be a scam, as she easily tricked him into demonstrating his highest setting by ramming the side of the shack the Angels lived in, collapsing it on the rest of the Angels and allowing her to abscond with the loot the Angels had extorted from neighbouring people as "wedding gifts". Mean Machine later discovered that she had born him a son, Junior, who is exactly as kind and gentle as Mean was during his childhood.
In Judge Dredd Megazine #218-20, Mean Machine received a cranial cybernetic implant called a Warden Device, which delivers extreme pain whenever he gets angry, so he could be released into society to marry Iso-cube visitor Porsha Wuss. Mean quickly shorted out the device and was reincarcerated.
Finally in 2129 (Prog 1536), the Judges succeeded in removing both his dial and claw, reverting him to his original simple and peaceful self. He has been released into the care of his son.
In a parallel universe, ruled by Judge Dread (an insane version of Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
), Mean Machine is one of Dread's lieutenants and has a fifth setting - Book a Plot in the Cemetery.
Judge Dredd movie
He was played in the 1995 movie by Christopher Adamson. When Dredd and Fergee are captured by the Angel GangAngel Gang
The Angel Gang is a group of villains in the Judge Dredd comic strip, published in 2000 AD magazine in the UK.-History:The most infamous and feared band of thugs ever to come out of Texas City, the Angel Gang were responsible for a near endless string of crimes with one overriding common factor -...
they are introduced to Mean, who Pa Angel says "We had to make some alterations when he was a child. The Cursed Earth's a tough place on young folks." Dredd manages to free himself, and knocks Mean unconscious, and quickly kills the rest of the Angel Gang. Mean recovers consciousness and kills ex-Chief Judge Fargo
Chief Judge Fargo
Chief Judge Eustace Fargo is an important fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He is Judge Dredd's clone father....
who had just come upon the scene. Dredd and Mean fight and Dredd manages to electrocute Mean using the power from Mean's electric arm.
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham is an English music video film director and video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up in Lakenheath, Suffolk....
(under the stage name of Chris Halls) designed and built the ABC Warrior (based on Hammerstein), and the makeup and prosthetics for Mean Machine. Originally for the movie Mean's dial was going to turn by itself whenever his mood changed, however this did not make it into the final film.
Video game
Mean Machine appears in the 1995 video game as a boss. He can launch missiles from his mechanical arm and can knock a player back using brute force. He must be defeated in order to complete an objective—to find the Book of Law.Crossover comics
Mean Machine appears in the Judge Dredd/Batman crossoverFictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
Judgement on Gotham (1991).
He also appears in the Judge Dredd/Lobo crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
.
Publication
As well as appearing in Judge Dredd he has had his own eponymEponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous series:
- Mean Machine:
- "Son of Mean Machine" (by John WagnerJohn WagnerJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
and Carl CritchlowCarl CritchlowCarl Critchlow is a British fantasy and science fiction comic illustrator. He is perhaps best known for his character Thrud the Barbarian, which originally appeared in White Dwarf magazine, and for his work for the Lobster Random comics....
, in Judge Dredd Megazine, #2.63-2.72, 1994–1995) - "Visiting Time" (by John WagnerJohn WagnerJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
and John HicklentonJohn HicklentonJohn Hicklenton was a British comics artist best known for his brutal, visceral work on flagship 2000 AD characters like Judge Dredd and Nemesis the Warlock during the eighties and nineties.He suffered from multiple sclerosis and recorded an award-winning documentary about...
, in Judge Dredd Megazine, #2.82, 1995) - "Psycho Analysis" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Robert McCallum, in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1995) - "Mean Streets" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Jim Murray, in Judge Dredd Mega-Special, 1996) - "Close Encounters of the Mean Kind" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Anthony WilliamsAnthony Williams (comics)Anthony Williams is a Welsh comic book artist.-Biography:He broke into comics at Marvel UK, drawing for the series Action Force, The Real Ghostbusters and Transformers, among others...
, in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1996) - "Born Mean" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Kev WalkerKev WalkerKevin "Kev" Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering...
, in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.69, 2000) - "The Geek" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
, with pencils by Paul Marshall and inks by Lee Townsend, in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.69, 2000) - "Support Yore Local Bastich" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Wayne ReynoldsWayne ReynoldsWayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games.-Early life and education:Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK...
, in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.69, 2000) - "The Last Vidshow" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
, with pencils by Patrick Goddard and inks by Lee Townsend, in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.69, 2000) - "Butt Me Deadly" (by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
, with pencils by Patrick Goddard and inks by Lee Townsend, in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.69, 2000) - "Angel Heart" (by John WagnerJohn WagnerJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
and David Millgate, in Judge Dredd Megazine, #218-220, 2004)
- "Son of Mean Machine" (by John Wagner