Mutants (Judge Dredd)
Encyclopedia
Mutants are a recurring theme in the Judge Dredd
science-fiction stories published in British comics 2000 AD
and the Judge Dredd Megazine
. They appear in several stories, in particular "Tour of Duty
." Mutants are genetically
-flawed, physically deformed people who are the subject of prejudice and apartheid
in the 22nd century.
created by radiation
or radioactive contamination
following the Atomic Wars
in 2070. Their genetic mutations (which are inherited by their children) caused them to exhibit bizarre physical deformities, which made them the victims of irrational prejudice by those fortunate enough to be unaffected by the disaster — normal people, or "norms." As a result, all mutants were deprived of citizenship
and expelled from Mega-City One
, Judge Dredd's city on the east coast of America, and forced to live in the radioactive wasteland outside the city, the inhospitable and lawless Cursed Earth
. There they remained for sixty years.
Mutants were prohibited from entering the city, and those who attempted to enter by scaling the city walls would be arrested and expelled, or killed resisting arrest. They would usually feature in stories simply as hostile criminals for Dredd to fight, but some stories set in the Cursed Earth would also show them in a more sympathetic light, as victims of unjust oppression by future society (or sometimes more directly as victims of crime). Initially mutants were mainly used in fight sequences in action stories, but as the years went by, and the tone of Judge Dredd stories matured to appeal to a wider audience, stories featuring mutants increasingly emphasized the injustice of their plight, and the harsh, uncompromising enforcement of the anti-mutant laws by Judge Dredd and the Mega-City Justice Department
(for example "The Gipper's Big Night," (1991)).
The other mega-cities of Earth are assumed to treat mutants in the same way, though they are rarely mentioned. In the first appearance of Texas City, however, the city was shown enacting "mutant clearances," indicating that mutants had been allowed to be citizens until 2102 AD.
Judge Dredd himself was prepared to treat mutants decently when he met them in the Cursed Earth, so long as they behaved themselves. However, any who entered his city were automatically criminals, and had to be dealt with accordingly and without compassion. Any norm who harboured a mutant was himself guilty of a crime, and liable to strict penalties. Since a normal woman could still give birth to a mutant child, the parents of mutated offspring would sometimes go to great lengths to conceal the birth (or, at least, its abnormality) and raise their child in secret. Detection of a mutant foetus in a routine pregnancy scan would result in mandatory abortion
; detection of a mutant birth would result in the parents being forced to choose between exile to the Cursed Earth or euthanasia
of the child.
However, in 2007 a storyline began in which Dredd insisted on the repeal of the anti-mutant laws.
, and indeed by the character Dredd as well. Instead of making brief appearances in the strip to emphasize the science-fictional setting, mutants became the focus of a new storyline which explored Dredd's shifting attitude towards the issue of mutant rights, which began in 2007 with "Mutants in Mega-City One."
to put his motion to a vote before Mega-City One's ruling body, the Council of Five
. While the vote is pending, however, Dredd is still obliged to enforce the very laws he seeks to repeal. When a normal couple discover that their newborn baby is a mutant, they abscond rather than face the Mutant Catchers, who will force them into exile in the Cursed Earth desert. They find refuge with other mutants in a safehouse run by sympathisers, where they hope to live in secret. However Dredd is searching for them, as absconding with a mutant child carries a mandatory sentence
of three years.
In the course of his investigation, Dredd (and through Dredd, the reader) learns from another citizen about some of the terrible consequences of the city's prejudice against mutants. When the citizen's family was discovered to have been hiding his mutant younger brother for twelve years, the whole family was incarcerated for their crime, while the child was deported from the city to a mutant internment camp
in the Cursed Earth. Unable to cope, the child died, and his body was fed to the pigs, mutants not being considered worthy of a decent burial.
Dredd eventually discovers the safehouse where the couple he seeks is hiding, and arrests everyone present. The normal citizens are imprisoned, and all of the mutants are deported to a mutant camp in the Cursed Earth.
Meanwhile the Council of Five unanimously votes against reforming the law. As a result, when Randy Fargo and some of Dredd's other mutant relations arrive at the city gate to visit him, Dredd is compelled to deny them entry to the city, and they are forced to turn back.
"Mutants in Mega-City One" was immediately followed by "The Facility" and "The Secret of Mutant Camp 5," in which Dredd tours Mega-City One's mutant camps in the Cursed Earth, and discovers that standards of care in the camps have sunk to a shockingly low level. His investigations uncover criminal neglect and appalling abuses, including starvation, torture
and outright murder. Dredd cracks down on the camps and arrests most of the staff. Alarmed by Dredd's discoveries, Chief Judge Hershey becomes slightly more sympathetic to Dredd's new views, and orders an improvement in standards at the camps. Nevertheless, no change of general policy is forthcoming.
These stories contained obvious references to Guantanamo Bay detention camp and to the Nazi extermination camps. (They were also the first stories after the end of the "America" trilogy
to feature Cadet America Beeny
.)
Although "Emphatically Evil" (2008) was primarily a story about serial killer PJ Maybe
(and Beeny's first case following her promotion to full judge), the mutants story continued as a subplot
. Public opinion is radically against Dredd's proposed reforms, with polls showing that 96 percent of the city opposes relaxing strict controls on mutants. While anti-reform protests erupt into riots on the streets, the Council convenes to debate Dredd's motion. Although Dredd is absent from the meeting, not being a member of the Council, he has earlier met with the members to try to change their minds, saying "I believe in justice, and an injustice has to be righted, no matter how inconvenient." However it is not Dredd's logic but his threat to resign which ultimately carries the vote in his favour.
Following the vote, the story "...Regrets" depicts Randy Fargo's return to Mega-City One with his family, this time invited by the Judges as guests of honour. As relatives of Chief Judge Fargo
(the founder of the Judge System
and Dredd's clone father), their tour of the city attracts much media attention, and controversy. Although the Mayor of Mega-City One
gives them all honorary citizenship, feelings are still running high amongst the population, and talk shows are full of heated debate about the merits of Dredd's law. Public opinion becomes slightly more favourable after Jubal Fargo gives his life to rescue a four-year-old child from kidnappers, and the Fargos return to their home in the Cursed Earth. However mutants' rights still continue to arouse strong passions.
"Mutie Block" reveals that mutants are being admitted to the city following strict selection processes, and being given segregated accommodation in Norma Jean Baker Block. Anti-mutant protests are still continuing, and mutants are targeted for violent hate crime
s, the murder rate for mutants being 3,600 percent above average. Official government policy is to actively discourage mutants from entering the city by giving them demotivational speeches on their arrival and offering cash bribes in exchange for relinquishing their claims to citizenship.
In "Backlash" (2009) senior, hardline judges begin a campaign to elect a new chief judge
who will repeal the new pro-mutant laws. Their chosen candidate, Judge Dan Francisco
, survives an assassination attempt by mutants. In spite of Dredd's discovery that the assassination was secretly orchestrated by anti-mutant activists in order to increase support for their cause, Francisco still defeats Hershey by a landslide.
"Under New Management" shows Francisco's first day in office as the new chief judge. He replaces the entire Council of Five, prohibits mutant immigration, and institutes a policy of exiling the mutants already in the city to new townships in the Cursed Earth. The new deputy chief judge, Judge Sinfield
, assigns Dredd to oversee the operation, with Beeny as his assistant. This story acts as a prologue to "Tour of Duty," which started in the next issue.
Dredd's assignment effectively amounts to exile from the city, to keep him out of the way while Francisco
and Sinfield
implement their policy of mutant segregation. Similarly, Hershey has been posted to a position on another planet.
Although Chief Judge Francisco favours exiling the mutants to the Cursed Earth, he nevertheless insists on doing so with some concern for their welfare, authorising increased expenditure on building the Cursed Earth townships, which initially were expected to be cheap shanty-towns. In this respect he is opposed by his Council, who are dismayed at what they see as his wasteful spending of the city's limited budget. Eventually, Deputy Chief Judge Sinfield resorts to illegally drugging Francisco with a mind control
drug and persuading him to resign, thereby becoming acting chief judge. Sinfield immediately begins a crackdown on mutants, introducing automatic loss of citizenship and exile from the city for all mutants convicted of any crime, however trivial. The mutant population diminishes from two million to 170,000.
Exasperated with Sinfield, Dredd eventually decides to run against him in another election. However in order to attract enough support to mount a serious challenge, Dredd is forced to compromise his mutant rights stance. Instead of promising a return to Chief Judge Hershey's policies, Dredd has to settle for returning to Francisco's.
However before the election can take place, Sinfield's crime is uncovered and he is arrested. Francisco returns to office and appoints Dredd to the Council of Five.
:
, a series which also appears in 2000 AD and is written by John Wagner. There are two crossover stories which link these two series together in the same world.
Durham Red
is a spin-off from Strontium Dog, which portrays interplanetary war between mutants and "norms" in the distant future.
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...
science-fiction stories published in British comics 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
and the Judge Dredd Megazine
Judge Dredd Megazine
Judge Dredd: The Megazine is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in October 1990. It is a sister publication to 2000 AD. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Dredd's locale Mega-City One.-Content:...
. They appear in several stories, in particular "Tour of Duty
Tour of Duty (Judge Dredd story)
Tour of Duty is a Judge Dredd story published in British comic 2000 AD . It lasted for 46 episodes, 39 of which were written by John Wagner. It has the greatest number of episodes and pages of any Judge Dredd story...
." Mutants are genetically
Introduction to genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, and tries to explain what they are and how they work. Genes are how living organisms inherit features from their ancestors; for example, children usually look like their parents because they have inherited their parents' genes...
-flawed, physically deformed people who are the subject of prejudice and apartheid
Crime of apartheid
The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other...
in the 22nd century.
Overview
Mutants have appeared in Judge Dredd since the earliest stories in 1977. "The Cursed Earth" (1978) explained that they were de novo mutationsMutation
In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...
created by radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
or radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases , where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places...
following the Atomic Wars
Atomic Wars
The Atomic Wars or Great Atom War is a fictional event in the Judge Dredd universe.In 2070, the possibly psychotic President Robert L. Booth started World War III by starting a nuclear war which dragged in all the major superpowers....
in 2070. Their genetic mutations (which are inherited by their children) caused them to exhibit bizarre physical deformities, which made them the victims of irrational prejudice by those fortunate enough to be unaffected by the disaster — normal people, or "norms." As a result, all mutants were deprived of citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
and expelled from 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...
, Judge Dredd's city on the east coast of America, and forced to live in the radioactive wasteland outside the city, the inhospitable and lawless 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:...
. There they remained for sixty years.
Mutants were prohibited from entering the city, and those who attempted to enter by scaling the city walls would be arrested and expelled, or killed resisting arrest. They would usually feature in stories simply as hostile criminals for Dredd to fight, but some stories set in the Cursed Earth would also show them in a more sympathetic light, as victims of unjust oppression by future society (or sometimes more directly as victims of crime). Initially mutants were mainly used in fight sequences in action stories, but as the years went by, and the tone of Judge Dredd stories matured to appeal to a wider audience, stories featuring mutants increasingly emphasized the injustice of their plight, and the harsh, uncompromising enforcement of the anti-mutant laws by Judge Dredd and the Mega-City Justice Department
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...
(for example "The Gipper's Big Night," (1991)).
The other mega-cities of Earth are assumed to treat mutants in the same way, though they are rarely mentioned. In the first appearance of Texas City, however, the city was shown enacting "mutant clearances," indicating that mutants had been allowed to be citizens until 2102 AD.
Judge Dredd himself was prepared to treat mutants decently when he met them in the Cursed Earth, so long as they behaved themselves. However, any who entered his city were automatically criminals, and had to be dealt with accordingly and without compassion. Any norm who harboured a mutant was himself guilty of a crime, and liable to strict penalties. Since a normal woman could still give birth to a mutant child, the parents of mutated offspring would sometimes go to great lengths to conceal the birth (or, at least, its abnormality) and raise their child in secret. Detection of a mutant foetus in a routine pregnancy scan would result in mandatory abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
; detection of a mutant birth would result in the parents being forced to choose between exile to the Cursed Earth or euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
of the child.
However, in 2007 a storyline began in which Dredd insisted on the repeal of the anti-mutant laws.
Dredd's mutant relations
In 2006, early episodes of the story "Origins" introduced Randy Fargo and his family, mutants who are distant cousins of Judge Dredd. Dredd was unaware of their existence until he met them in the Cursed Earth in 2129. After the Fargos helped Dredd in his mission, they parted on amicable terms. However they would soon return to the Judge Dredd strip in 2007. "Origins" heralded a turning-point in the treatment of mutants by writer John WagnerJohn Wagner
John 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 indeed by the character Dredd as well. Instead of making brief appearances in the strip to emphasize the science-fictional setting, mutants became the focus of a new storyline which explored Dredd's shifting attitude towards the issue of mutant rights, which began in 2007 with "Mutants in Mega-City One."
"Mutants in Mega-City One"
In "Mutants in Mega-City One" (2007), Judge Dredd concludes that the anti-mutant laws are unjust and should be repealed, having given serious thought to the issue for the first time in his life as a result of meeting his mutant relatives. He persuades Chief Judge HersheyJudge Hershey
Judge Barbara Hershey is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd series that appears in British comic 2000 AD. For nearly two decades she regularly appeared as Dredd's sidekick, before being promoted to become his superior: she was chief judge for nine years...
to put his motion to a vote before Mega-City One's ruling body, the Council of Five
Council of Five
The Council of Five is a fictional legislature and court in the Judge Dredd comic strip appearing in 2000 AD. It first appeared in 2000 AD prog 86 ....
. While the vote is pending, however, Dredd is still obliged to enforce the very laws he seeks to repeal. When a normal couple discover that their newborn baby is a mutant, they abscond rather than face the Mutant Catchers, who will force them into exile in the Cursed Earth desert. They find refuge with other mutants in a safehouse run by sympathisers, where they hope to live in secret. However Dredd is searching for them, as absconding with a mutant child carries a mandatory sentence
Mandatory sentencing
A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison...
of three years.
In the course of his investigation, Dredd (and through Dredd, the reader) learns from another citizen about some of the terrible consequences of the city's prejudice against mutants. When the citizen's family was discovered to have been hiding his mutant younger brother for twelve years, the whole family was incarcerated for their crime, while the child was deported from the city to a mutant internment camp
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in the Cursed Earth. Unable to cope, the child died, and his body was fed to the pigs, mutants not being considered worthy of a decent burial.
Dredd eventually discovers the safehouse where the couple he seeks is hiding, and arrests everyone present. The normal citizens are imprisoned, and all of the mutants are deported to a mutant camp in the Cursed Earth.
Meanwhile the Council of Five unanimously votes against reforming the law. As a result, when Randy Fargo and some of Dredd's other mutant relations arrive at the city gate to visit him, Dredd is compelled to deny them entry to the city, and they are forced to turn back.
"Mutants in Mega-City One" was immediately followed by "The Facility" and "The Secret of Mutant Camp 5," in which Dredd tours Mega-City One's mutant camps in the Cursed Earth, and discovers that standards of care in the camps have sunk to a shockingly low level. His investigations uncover criminal neglect and appalling abuses, including starvation, torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and outright murder. Dredd cracks down on the camps and arrests most of the staff. Alarmed by Dredd's discoveries, Chief Judge Hershey becomes slightly more sympathetic to Dredd's new views, and orders an improvement in standards at the camps. Nevertheless, no change of general policy is forthcoming.
These stories contained obvious references to Guantanamo Bay detention camp and to the Nazi extermination camps. (They were also the first stories after the end of the "America" trilogy
America (Judge Dredd story)
America was a Judge Dredd story published in the Judge Dredd Megazine in 1990. Told in flashbacks, the story concerns the character America Jara, her friend Bennett Beeny and their tragic encounters with the Justice Department. As Bennett Beeny grows up to reap the benefits of Mega City One,...
to feature Cadet America Beeny
Judge Beeny
Judge America Beeny is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine. She appeared as a cadet in most of her stories, graduating to full street judge in a story published in early 2008....
.)
Law reform
In "The Spirit of Christmas," Dredd again confronts the Chief Judge and demands a second vote on repealing the mutant laws, threatening to resign if she does not support him. As Dredd is the city's most famous and feared judge, Hershey bows to this threat and agrees to schedule another vote, hoping that enough senior judges can be persuaded to change their minds.Although "Emphatically Evil" (2008) was primarily a story about serial killer PJ Maybe
PJ Maybe
Philip Janet Maybe is a fictional character in the 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd. He is a notorious serial killer, and most notably assumed the identity of Mayor Byron Ambrose, who he murdered.-Fictional character biography:...
(and Beeny's first case following her promotion to full judge), the mutants story continued as a subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
. Public opinion is radically against Dredd's proposed reforms, with polls showing that 96 percent of the city opposes relaxing strict controls on mutants. While anti-reform protests erupt into riots on the streets, the Council convenes to debate Dredd's motion. Although Dredd is absent from the meeting, not being a member of the Council, he has earlier met with the members to try to change their minds, saying "I believe in justice, and an injustice has to be righted, no matter how inconvenient." However it is not Dredd's logic but his threat to resign which ultimately carries the vote in his favour.
Following the vote, the story "...Regrets" depicts Randy Fargo's return to Mega-City One with his family, this time invited by the Judges as guests of honour. As relatives of 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....
(the founder of the Judge System
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 Dredd's clone father), their tour of the city attracts much media attention, and controversy. Although the Mayor of Mega-City One
Mayor of Mega-City One
Mayor of Mega-City One is a fictional office in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. The most significant mayor to appear in the comic was serial killer PJ Maybe, in disguise as Byron Ambrose....
gives them all honorary citizenship, feelings are still running high amongst the population, and talk shows are full of heated debate about the merits of Dredd's law. Public opinion becomes slightly more favourable after Jubal Fargo gives his life to rescue a four-year-old child from kidnappers, and the Fargos return to their home in the Cursed Earth. However mutants' rights still continue to arouse strong passions.
"Mutie Block" reveals that mutants are being admitted to the city following strict selection processes, and being given segregated accommodation in Norma Jean Baker Block. Anti-mutant protests are still continuing, and mutants are targeted for violent hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
s, the murder rate for mutants being 3,600 percent above average. Official government policy is to actively discourage mutants from entering the city by giving them demotivational speeches on their arrival and offering cash bribes in exchange for relinquishing their claims to citizenship.
In "Backlash" (2009) senior, hardline judges begin a campaign to elect a new chief judge
Chief Judge of Mega-City One
Chief Judge of Mega-City One is the title of several supporting characters in the Judge Dredd comic strip published in 2000 AD. The chief judge is dictator and head of state of Mega-City One, a fictional future city of around 400 million people in 22nd-century America...
who will repeal the new pro-mutant laws. Their chosen candidate, Judge Dan Francisco
Judge Francisco
Chief Judge Dan Francisco is a fictional supporting character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He is chief judge of Mega-City One.-Fictional character biography:...
, survives an assassination attempt by mutants. In spite of Dredd's discovery that the assassination was secretly orchestrated by anti-mutant activists in order to increase support for their cause, Francisco still defeats Hershey by a landslide.
"Under New Management" shows Francisco's first day in office as the new chief judge. He replaces the entire Council of Five, prohibits mutant immigration, and institutes a policy of exiling the mutants already in the city to new townships in the Cursed Earth. The new deputy chief judge, Judge Sinfield
Judge Sinfield
Judge Martin Sinfield is a fictional supporting character and antagonist in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD, most notably in the story "Tour of Duty"...
, assigns Dredd to oversee the operation, with Beeny as his assistant. This story acts as a prologue to "Tour of Duty," which started in the next issue.
"Tour of Duty"
"Tour of Duty" (2009–10) is the longest Judge Dredd story ever published, running for 46 episodes and 285 pages. It tells of Dredd and Beeny's mission in the Cursed Earth, overseeing the resettlement of mutants exiled from the city.Dredd's assignment effectively amounts to exile from the city, to keep him out of the way while Francisco
Judge Francisco
Chief Judge Dan Francisco is a fictional supporting character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He is chief judge of Mega-City One.-Fictional character biography:...
and Sinfield
Judge Sinfield
Judge Martin Sinfield is a fictional supporting character and antagonist in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD, most notably in the story "Tour of Duty"...
implement their policy of mutant segregation. Similarly, Hershey has been posted to a position on another planet.
Although Chief Judge Francisco favours exiling the mutants to the Cursed Earth, he nevertheless insists on doing so with some concern for their welfare, authorising increased expenditure on building the Cursed Earth townships, which initially were expected to be cheap shanty-towns. In this respect he is opposed by his Council, who are dismayed at what they see as his wasteful spending of the city's limited budget. Eventually, Deputy Chief Judge Sinfield resorts to illegally drugging Francisco with a mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
drug and persuading him to resign, thereby becoming acting chief judge. Sinfield immediately begins a crackdown on mutants, introducing automatic loss of citizenship and exile from the city for all mutants convicted of any crime, however trivial. The mutant population diminishes from two million to 170,000.
Exasperated with Sinfield, Dredd eventually decides to run against him in another election. However in order to attract enough support to mount a serious challenge, Dredd is forced to compromise his mutant rights stance. Instead of promising a return to Chief Judge Hershey's policies, Dredd has to settle for returning to Francisco's.
However before the election can take place, Sinfield's crime is uncovered and he is arrested. Francisco returns to office and appoints Dredd to the Council of Five.
Collected editions
Some of the stories have been collected into trade paperbacksTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- Tour of Duty: The Backlash (written 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...
, unless indicated, 272 pages, September 2010, ISBN 9781907519239) collects:- "The Streets of Dan Francisco" (art by Rufus DaygloRufus DaygloRufus Dayglo is a London-based comics artist working for 2000 AD and Titan Books in the United Kingdom, and IDW Publishing and Image Comics in the United States...
, in 2000 AD #1520, 2007) - "Fifty-Year Man" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #1536, 2007)
- "Mutants in Mega-City One" (art by Colin MacNeilColin MacNeilColin MacNeil is a British comics artist, best known for his work on 2000 AD and in particular on Judge Dredd and other stories within his world like Shimura and Devlin Waugh....
, in 2000 AD #1542–1545, 2007) - "The Facility" (art by Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #1546, 2007)
- "The Secret of Mutant Camp 5" (art by Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #1547–1548, 2007)
- "The Spirit of Christmas" (art by Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #2008, 2007)
- "Emphatically Evil: The Life and Crimes of PJ Maybe" (art by Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #1569–1575, 2008)
- "...Regrets" (art by Nick Dyer, in 2000 AD #1577–1581, 2008)
- "The Edgar Case" (art by Patrick Goddard and Lee Townsend, in 2000 AD # 1589–1595, 2008)
- "Mutie Block" (art by 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 2000 AD #1600–1603, 2008) - "Mutopia" (written by Al EwingAl EwingAl Ewing is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press and for 2000 AD.-Biography:Al Ewing began his career writing stories in the five-page Future Shocks format for 2000AD...
, with art by Simon FraserSimon Fraser (comics)Simon Fraser is a British comics artist and writer best known for his work on Nikolai Dante, a series he created with writer Robbie Morrison in 2000 AD.-Career:...
, in 2000 AD #1611–1612, 2007) - "Backlash" (art by 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 2000 AD #1628–1633, 2009)
- "The Streets of Dan Francisco" (art by Rufus Dayglo
- Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice (June 2011, ISBN 9781907992391)
- "Under New Management" (art by Carl Critchlow, in 2000 AD #1649, 2009)
- "Tour of Duty" (John Wagner's episodes only, in 2000 AD #1650–1667, #2010, #1674–1693, 2009–2010)
Mutants in related series
Mutants, and their persecution by normal humans, also feature prominently in the series Strontium DogStrontium Dog
Strontium Dog is a long-running comics series featuring in the British science fiction weekly 2000 AD, starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter with an array of imaginative gadgets and weapons....
, a series which also appears in 2000 AD and is written by John Wagner. There are two crossover stories which link these two series together in the same world.
Durham Red
Durham Red
Durham Red was originally created in 1987 as a female sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running British comicbook series Strontium Dog. She was a sexy bounty hunter with a mutation that gave her a vampiric lust for blood.-Publication history:...
is a spin-off from Strontium Dog, which portrays interplanetary war between mutants and "norms" in the distant future.
See also
- For the Judge Dredd character known simply as "The Mutant," see City of the Damned (Judge Dredd story)City of the Damned (Judge Dredd story)City of the Damned is a Judge Dredd story which was published in British comic 2000 AD in issues 393–406 . It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant and illustrated by Steve Dillon, Ian Gibson, Ron Smith and Kim Raymond. It was the first Judge Dredd story to feature time travel...
.