The Doomsday Scenario
Encyclopedia
The Doomsday Scenario is the collective name of a series of Judge Dredd
comic stories published in 2000 AD
(progs 1141-1164) and the Judge Dredd Megazine
(vol. 3 #52-59) in 1999. Written by John Wagner
, it was the third such crossover story between those two publications, but was the first in which it was possible to read a complete and coherent tale by reading only those episodes which appeared in one comic or the other without having to buy both magazines. It was reprinted as two trade paperbacks
, each collecting the episodes from one comic. Altogether it is the second longest Judge Dredd story arc ever told, at a total of 32 episodes and 279 pages, as well as several prequels and epilogues. The story tells of the Second Robot War in the year 2121, but its epilogues wrapped up two story arcs that had been developing for several years: former judge Galen DeMarco
's unrequited love for Judge Dredd, and Dredd's bitter rivalry with Judge Edgar
. The story is also notable for leading to the promotion of Judge Hershey
, Dredd's sidekick
and one of the strip's longest-running supporting characters, to the office of chief judge
.
This was the last Judge Dredd story to exceed 20 episodes until "Origins
" in 2006.
(in 2000 AD) and former judge Galen DeMarco
(in the Megazine).
DeMarco was formerly a colleague of Dredd until she resigned from the Justice Department
after being disciplined for kissing him, in breach of regulations (romantic liaisons between judges being prohibited). Dredd soon discovered that Judge Edgar
had been responsible for uncovering her transgression, and had secretly orchestrated DeMarco's punishment as a way of revenging herself on Dredd in pursuance of a grudge.
After Judge Death
, Orlok is arguably Judge Dredd's second most deadly archenemy, being responsible for numerous terrorist attacks on Dredd's city (such as spreading the Block Mania
virus). A former judge
of East-Meg One, his hatred of Dredd for bringing about the destruction of his home city in the Apocalypse War
had not diminished nearly two decades later. However Dredd's colleague Judge Anderson
believes him to have rehabilitated somewhat, and allowed him to go free on the last occasion they met.
However Nero Narcos is the main villain of the story, although not prominent until its last few episodes. Already introduced in earlier stories, he is the leader of the notorious Frendz Mob, the most powerful criminal organisation in Mega-City One
. Having been badly injured in a gangland assassination attempt, his brain has been transplanted into an armoured robot body. Unknown to the judges, the Frendz Mob has sabotaged their new improved Mark II Lawgiver firearms, with which the street judges are already being issued.
Meanwhile DeMarco is trying to cope with adjusting to civilian life. Although Dredd is uninterested in her romantically, he retains an interest in her welfare, and he helps her to find a job as a licensed private detective. Her first assignment appears to be a missing person case, but it actually transpires that her client is working for the Frendz Mob, and is using her to locate a man who they wish to kill. DeMarco manages to find their intended victim and save his life, and she calls Dredd to interrogate him. The man reports that he works in a warehouse in which the Judges' new Lawgiver handguns are kept before being shipped to the Justice Department to replace the old models. He has been bribed to allow the Frendz Mob to exchange the microchips in the weapons with new ones, but does not know why.
Dredd investigates the warehouse, but before he has time to warn anyone about the sabotage, Nero Narcos begins his "Operation Doomsday," which turns out to be an all-out assault on the Judges of Mega-City One, in order to overthrow them and seize control of the city-state for himself. Although Dredd and DeMarco's discovery of his actions has forced Narcos to begin his coup early, it is nevertheless successful, since most of the judges have already been issued with the sabotaged Lawgivers. Legitimate Lawgivers have a safety feature which consists of a sensor in the grip which can detect the palm print
of the user, and an explosive charge, so that if an unauthorised user attempts to fire one, it will explode in his hand. On the transmission of a radio signal by Narcos, however, all of the sabotaged Lawgivers are programmed to explode if fired by a judge, resulting in hundreds of judges across the city being killed or crippled before they realise what has happened. At the same time, Narcos dispatches thousands of "Assassinator"-class robots from hiding-places city-wide to attack the judges everywhere simultaneously. Surprised and hampered by the sabotage of their weapons, the Judges are soon in disarray.
Dredd and some other judges with him are besieged in the warehouse, but manage to survive and defeat the robots sent against them, although DeMarco is knocked unconscious by an explosion, and the judges suffer heavy casualties. During the conflict, however, Orlok infiltrates the warehouse, kills a judge and steals his uniform. In Dredd's moment of victory against the robots, Orlok kills all of the judges except Dredd and the unconscious DeMarco, and kidnaps Dredd. Orlok flies Dredd and Anderson out of the city, leaving behind him a city which has become a warzone.
. As the Free State is an independent micronation
, Mega-City One has never been able to take action against the Diktatorat before, despite the reward on Dredd's head. The Diktatorat announces that it intends to put Dredd on trial for genocide
and war crime
s for his role in the annihilation of East-Meg One seventeen years earlier; an action in which half a billion people lost their lives. The trial will be broadcast around the world on live television.
Orlok objects to this, insisting that no trial is necessary as Dredd's guilt is indisputable, but he is overruled, and to punish his insubordination he is ordered to act as Dredd's defence counsel. When the prosecution finishes their case, Orlok calls Dredd as a witness, but Dredd flatly refuses to participate, denouncing the trial as a farce. Unable to bring himself to speak on Dredd's behalf, Orlok simply rests his case.
At this point Anderson, who is no longer a prisoner and has been allowed to be present at the trial, objects, and the Diktatorat permits her to conduct Dredd's defence instead. She immediately calls Orlok as a witness and questions him about his own involvement in the Apocalypse War
. Answering her questions truthfully, Orlok concedes that East-Meg One started the war by sending him to attack Mega-City One with the Block Mania
virus, as well as launching the first missiles. He also accepts that, had a similar attack been launched against his own city, his response would have been similar to Dredd's.
Faced with this evidence, the Diktatorat retires to consider its verdict, and realises that in deference to world opinion they can no longer convict and execute Dredd with any credibility. Instead they plan to acquit Dredd, and arrange for a man whose family died in the war to shoot Dredd in a feigned fit of rage at the verdict. Discovering this plot, Orlok is outraged at the proposed deception, believing that Dredd should be convicted or released, without regard for the Diktatorat's public image. Orlok is further disillusioned with his masters when they confess that the ten billion credit reward on Dredd's head was secretly funded by Nero Narcos, to eliminate Dredd before Operation Doomsday began. Tired of Orlok's protests, the Diktatorat dismiss him from their service, whereupon Orlok assassinates most of them and rescues Dredd from his cell.
Orlok, Dredd and Anderson attempt to escape from the Free State, in the course of which Dredd sinks the main East-Meg vessel. Enraged by this, Orlok again turns on Dredd and they each try to kill each other. Their fight is interrupted when Dredd inadvertently throws Orlok into the sea, where he is attacked by East-Meg survivors. Anderson and Dredd leave him for dead and escape in a hijacked airship, which they fly to Brit-Cit
. (However Orlok kills his attackers and escapes, to return in another story three years later.)
is attempting to organise the resistance. However the war is going badly for the judges, since Narcos appears to have an inexhaustible supply of robots to take the place of those destroyed, and the judges are dying in droves. Already Narcos's robots have seized Mega-City One's military satellites which contain the city's nuclear arsenal. Narcos also has control of the Grand Hall of Justice
and the Public Surveillance Unit
, enabling him to monitor the whole city and deploy his forces more effectively.
Dredd arrives in Brit-Cit, where ostensibly the British judges refuse to help him. However this is a ruse, and they offer Dredd all possible assistance short of outright military assault on Narcos's forces. Dredd recruits a squad of American judges from Mega-City One's embassy in Brit-Cit, and they fly in a Brit-Cit Justice Department airship to the Cursed Earth
desert outside Mega-City One. Brit-Cit has discovered that Narcos has four spaceships landed in the Cursed Earth, each containing thousands of Assassinator droids. Dredd's squad infiltrates one of them, seizes it and reprograms the robots on board to fight for them. Brit-Cit then destroys the other three ships, ending Narcos's supply of reinforcements at a stroke.
Without reinforcements, and under attack by Dredd's converted Assassinators, Narcos begins to suffer heavy casualties. The Judges take heart and fight back with renewed vigour, led by Deputy Chief Judge Hershey, and the tide begins to turn. Dredd and his squad return to the city to join the fight, and by the time Narcos recognises he is defeated, Dredd's robots have regained control of the city's nuclear weapons, and Narcos's Doomsday option is no longer open to him. Narcos is gunned down in the street by a dozen judges, and the Judges regain control of the city.
Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a gunshot from the chief judge's office. Racing to the scene, they discover that Volt has shot himself dead.
seven years later, in which Chief Judge Fargo
's suicide was also covered up and a heroic death in the line of duty was invented for him.
In The Cal Legacy, Hershey was elected permanent chief judge, and asked Judge Shenker
to step down from the Council of Five
as a result of his division's failure to give sufficient warning of the impending Second Robot War. The new chief judge also demoted Judge Edgar
, effectively ending her ability to threaten Dredd and his associates.
The events of the war would also lead to the Banzai Battalion
robots, their owners killed in the fighting, joining the Justice Department; later still, the spectre of another robot war would lead to the Department trying to shut them down, and the Banzais fleeing.
.
All references to the Judge Dredd Megazine
are to volume 3.
, which introduced DeMarco and also featured the Frendz Mob.
:
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...
comic stories published in 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...
(progs 1141-1164) 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:...
(vol. 3 #52-59) in 1999. Written by John Wagner
John 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...
, it was the third such crossover story between those two publications, but was the first in which it was possible to read a complete and coherent tale by reading only those episodes which appeared in one comic or the other without having to buy both magazines. It was reprinted as two trade paperbacks
Trade 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...
, each collecting the episodes from one comic. Altogether it is the second longest Judge Dredd story arc ever told, at a total of 32 episodes and 279 pages, as well as several prequels and epilogues. The story tells of the Second Robot War in the year 2121, but its epilogues wrapped up two story arcs that had been developing for several years: former judge Galen DeMarco
Galen DeMarco
Galen DeMarco is a fictional character in the world of Judge Dredd. She is a former street judge who first appeared in the Judge Dredd storyline "The Pit" in 2000 AD #970.-Biography:...
's unrequited love for Judge Dredd, and Dredd's bitter rivalry with Judge Edgar
Judge Edgar
Judge Jura Edgar is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. Although in most of her stories she is not evil or a murderer in the manner of most villains in the Judge Dredd series , she is nevertheless one of Dredd's adversaries...
. The story is also notable for leading to the promotion of Judge Hershey
Judge 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...
, Dredd's sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
and one of the strip's longest-running supporting characters, to the office of 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...
.
This was the last Judge Dredd story to exceed 20 episodes until "Origins
Origins (Judge Dredd story)
Origins is one of the longest Judge Dredd storylines to run in the pages of British comic 2000 AD. Making extensive use of flashbacks, it tells the story of how the Judges of Mega-City One rose to power. It was written by John Wagner and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra, who between them created...
" in 2006.
Back-story and supporting characters
The opening chapters of the story focus primarily on two characters that had appeared in previous stories: the villain Orlok the AssassinSov Judge Orlok
Sov Judge Orlok, also known as Orlok the Assassin, is a fictional character in the British comic strip Judge Dredd. He is an operative of the Soviet megacity of East Meg One.-Fictional character biography:...
(in 2000 AD) and former judge Galen DeMarco
Galen DeMarco
Galen DeMarco is a fictional character in the world of Judge Dredd. She is a former street judge who first appeared in the Judge Dredd storyline "The Pit" in 2000 AD #970.-Biography:...
(in the Megazine).
DeMarco was formerly a colleague of Dredd until she resigned from the 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...
after being disciplined for kissing him, in breach of regulations (romantic liaisons between judges being prohibited). Dredd soon discovered that Judge Edgar
Judge Edgar
Judge Jura Edgar is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. Although in most of her stories she is not evil or a murderer in the manner of most villains in the Judge Dredd series , she is nevertheless one of Dredd's adversaries...
had been responsible for uncovering her transgression, and had secretly orchestrated DeMarco's punishment as a way of revenging herself on Dredd in pursuance of a grudge.
After 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...
, Orlok is arguably Judge Dredd's second most deadly archenemy, being responsible for numerous terrorist attacks on Dredd's city (such as spreading the Block Mania
Block Mania
Block Mania is a Judge Dredd story, which ran in British comic 2000 AD #236-244, in 1981. The story itself is a prologue for the longer storyline "The Apocalypse War", which immediately follows the conclusion of "Block Mania".-Story:...
virus). A former judge
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...
of East-Meg One, his hatred of Dredd for bringing about the destruction of his home city in the Apocalypse War
Apocalypse War
The Apocalypse War is a storyline from the comic strip Judge Dredd, first published in British comic 2000 AD in 1982. A sequel to the story "Block Mania", it was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra...
had not diminished nearly two decades later. However Dredd's colleague Judge Anderson
Judge Anderson
Judge Cassandra Anderson is a fictional character that started as a supporting player in the comic story Judge Dredd of 2000 AD and eventually rose in prominence and became the star of her own series, which is entitled Anderson: Psi-Division. It was created by writer John Wagner and artist Brian...
believes him to have rehabilitated somewhat, and allowed him to go free on the last occasion they met.
However Nero Narcos is the main villain of the story, although not prominent until its last few episodes. Already introduced in earlier stories, he is the leader of the notorious Frendz Mob, the most powerful criminal organisation in 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...
. Having been badly injured in a gangland assassination attempt, his brain has been transplanted into an armoured robot body. Unknown to the judges, the Frendz Mob has sabotaged their new improved Mark II Lawgiver firearms, with which the street judges are already being issued.
Early episodes
Orlok is a fugitive on a distant planet, where he learns that a ten billion credit reward for the killing or kidnapping of Judge Dredd has been advertised by the Government-in-exile of East-Meg One, a band of ex-diplomats and others who survived the thermonuclear destruction of that city by Dredd's hand in 2104. Although not interested in the reward, he considers it unfitting that Dredd should be killed by anyone but himself, and heads for Earth. Arriving in Mega-City One, he is detected by Anderson, who tries to dissuade him from killing Dredd. Too late, she realises that Orlok has not changed as much as she thought, and she tries to arrest him, but Orlok overcomes her and takes her prisoner.Meanwhile DeMarco is trying to cope with adjusting to civilian life. Although Dredd is uninterested in her romantically, he retains an interest in her welfare, and he helps her to find a job as a licensed private detective. Her first assignment appears to be a missing person case, but it actually transpires that her client is working for the Frendz Mob, and is using her to locate a man who they wish to kill. DeMarco manages to find their intended victim and save his life, and she calls Dredd to interrogate him. The man reports that he works in a warehouse in which the Judges' new Lawgiver handguns are kept before being shipped to the Justice Department to replace the old models. He has been bribed to allow the Frendz Mob to exchange the microchips in the weapons with new ones, but does not know why.
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
of the user, and an explosive charge, so that if an unauthorised user attempts to fire one, it will explode in his hand. On the transmission of a radio signal by Narcos, however, all of the sabotaged Lawgivers are programmed to explode if fired by a judge, resulting in hundreds of judges across the city being killed or crippled before they realise what has happened. At the same time, Narcos dispatches thousands of "Assassinator"-class robots from hiding-places city-wide to attack the judges everywhere simultaneously. Surprised and hampered by the sabotage of their weapons, the Judges are soon in disarray.
Dredd and some other judges with him are besieged in the warehouse, but manage to survive and defeat the robots sent against them, although DeMarco is knocked unconscious by an explosion, and the judges suffer heavy casualties. During the conflict, however, Orlok infiltrates the warehouse, kills a judge and steals his uniform. In Dredd's moment of victory against the robots, Orlok kills all of the judges except Dredd and the unconscious DeMarco, and kidnaps Dredd. Orlok flies Dredd and Anderson out of the city, leaving behind him a city which has become a warzone.
The trial of Judge Dredd
Orlok takes Dredd to the Government of East-Meg One, the Diktatorat, which is based on the Mediterranean Free State: a huge collection of ships docked together in a single compound in the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. As the Free State is an independent micronation
Micronation
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...
, Mega-City One has never been able to take action against the Diktatorat before, despite the reward on Dredd's head. The Diktatorat announces that it intends to put Dredd on trial for genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
and war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s for his role in the annihilation of East-Meg One seventeen years earlier; an action in which half a billion people lost their lives. The trial will be broadcast around the world on live television.
Orlok objects to this, insisting that no trial is necessary as Dredd's guilt is indisputable, but he is overruled, and to punish his insubordination he is ordered to act as Dredd's defence counsel. When the prosecution finishes their case, Orlok calls Dredd as a witness, but Dredd flatly refuses to participate, denouncing the trial as a farce. Unable to bring himself to speak on Dredd's behalf, Orlok simply rests his case.
At this point Anderson, who is no longer a prisoner and has been allowed to be present at the trial, objects, and the Diktatorat permits her to conduct Dredd's defence instead. She immediately calls Orlok as a witness and questions him about his own involvement in the Apocalypse War
Apocalypse War
The Apocalypse War is a storyline from the comic strip Judge Dredd, first published in British comic 2000 AD in 1982. A sequel to the story "Block Mania", it was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra...
. Answering her questions truthfully, Orlok concedes that East-Meg One started the war by sending him to attack Mega-City One with the Block Mania
Block Mania
Block Mania is a Judge Dredd story, which ran in British comic 2000 AD #236-244, in 1981. The story itself is a prologue for the longer storyline "The Apocalypse War", which immediately follows the conclusion of "Block Mania".-Story:...
virus, as well as launching the first missiles. He also accepts that, had a similar attack been launched against his own city, his response would have been similar to Dredd's.
Faced with this evidence, the Diktatorat retires to consider its verdict, and realises that in deference to world opinion they can no longer convict and execute Dredd with any credibility. Instead they plan to acquit Dredd, and arrange for a man whose family died in the war to shoot Dredd in a feigned fit of rage at the verdict. Discovering this plot, Orlok is outraged at the proposed deception, believing that Dredd should be convicted or released, without regard for the Diktatorat's public image. Orlok is further disillusioned with his masters when they confess that the ten billion credit reward on Dredd's head was secretly funded by Nero Narcos, to eliminate Dredd before Operation Doomsday began. Tired of Orlok's protests, the Diktatorat dismiss him from their service, whereupon Orlok assassinates most of them and rescues Dredd from his cell.
Orlok, Dredd and Anderson attempt to escape from the Free State, in the course of which Dredd sinks the main East-Meg vessel. Enraged by this, Orlok again turns on Dredd and they each try to kill each other. Their fight is interrupted when Dredd inadvertently throws Orlok into the sea, where he is attacked by East-Meg survivors. Anderson and Dredd leave him for dead and escape in a hijacked airship, which they fly to Brit-Cit
Brit-Cit
Brit-Cit is a huge fictional city in the fictional universe of British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd. It is also the home of Sam Slade in some of 2000AD's Robo-Hunter stories. The city covers the south of England and bordering on the Black Atlantic...
. (However Orlok kills his attackers and escapes, to return in another story three years later.)
The Second Robot War
Meanwhile in Mega-City One, DeMarco awakes to discover that Dredd is missing and that the Judges are losing the war. Everywhere Assassinator droids are killing judges and seizing Justice Department buildings. Most of the surviving judges are in hiding or waging a guerilla war against the robots, rather than risk open combat, and Narcos has appeared on television to offer rewards to civilians who inform on the whereabouts of judges, and promises to execute anyone found harbouring a judge. DeMarco teams up with Judge Roffman, who works for Judge Edgar, and Judge White, who is badly wounded. Despite DeMarco's exasperation with Roffman's cowardice and inexperience, they manage to find refuge in the secret underground base where Chief Judge VoltJudge Volt
Chief Judge Hadrian Volt is a fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He was chief judge of Mega-City One between 2116 and 2121 .-Fictional character biography:...
is attempting to organise the resistance. However the war is going badly for the judges, since Narcos appears to have an inexhaustible supply of robots to take the place of those destroyed, and the judges are dying in droves. Already Narcos's robots have seized Mega-City One's military satellites which contain the city's nuclear arsenal. Narcos also has control of the Grand Hall of Justice
Grand Hall of Justice
The Grand Hall of Justice of Mega-City One is a fictional building in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. It actually refers to three different buildings which existed at different times...
and the Public Surveillance Unit
Public Surveillance Unit
The Public Surveillance Unit or PSU is a fictional institution in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. It was introduced in progs 954 and 959 . Notable PSU characters in the comic strip are Judge Niles, its chief, and Judge Roffman, who frequently assists Judge Dredd in surveillance, espionage...
, enabling him to monitor the whole city and deploy his forces more effectively.
Dredd arrives in Brit-Cit, where ostensibly the British judges refuse to help him. However this is a ruse, and they offer Dredd all possible assistance short of outright military assault on Narcos's forces. Dredd recruits a squad of American judges from Mega-City One's embassy in Brit-Cit, and they fly in a Brit-Cit Justice Department airship to the 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:...
desert outside Mega-City One. Brit-Cit has discovered that Narcos has four spaceships landed in the Cursed Earth, each containing thousands of Assassinator droids. Dredd's squad infiltrates one of them, seizes it and reprograms the robots on board to fight for them. Brit-Cit then destroys the other three ships, ending Narcos's supply of reinforcements at a stroke.
Without reinforcements, and under attack by Dredd's converted Assassinators, Narcos begins to suffer heavy casualties. The Judges take heart and fight back with renewed vigour, led by Deputy Chief Judge Hershey, and the tide begins to turn. Dredd and his squad return to the city to join the fight, and by the time Narcos recognises he is defeated, Dredd's robots have regained control of the city's nuclear weapons, and Narcos's Doomsday option is no longer open to him. Narcos is gunned down in the street by a dozen judges, and the Judges regain control of the city.
Conclusion
Dredd visits the chief judge's underground bunker, where Chief Judge Volt is still brooding over his own perceived shortcomings as a leader, blaming himself for failing to prevent the outbreak of war in the first place, and contemplating resignation or suicide. On his way to the chief judge's office, Dredd meets DeMarco in the bunker's medical wing, where he invites her to apply to rejoin Justice Department, as there will never be a better time. However she refuses, as she does not agree with the Department's mandatory code of celibacy. Dredd again tells her that there is no prospect of any romantic relationship between them, and with this further rejection of her, DeMarco's love for him finally dies.Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a gunshot from the chief judge's office. Racing to the scene, they discover that Volt has shot himself dead.
Epilogues
The Doomsday Scenario ended with the deaths of Narcos (in 2000 AD) and Volt (in the Megazine). However the story had important consequences in two short stories which followed closely afterwards (one of which was included in the trade paperback). In Volt Face, Hershey became acting chief judge and ordered that Volt's suicide should be covered up, to present the public with a more heroic death which was fabricated for him by doctoring video footage. This episode foreshadowed a plot device used in the story OriginsOrigins (Judge Dredd story)
Origins is one of the longest Judge Dredd storylines to run in the pages of British comic 2000 AD. Making extensive use of flashbacks, it tells the story of how the Judges of Mega-City One rose to power. It was written by John Wagner and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra, who between them created...
seven years later, in which 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....
's suicide was also covered up and a heroic death in the line of duty was invented for him.
In The Cal Legacy, Hershey was elected permanent chief judge, and asked Judge Shenker
Judge Shenker
Judge Shenker is a fictional supporting character in the Judge Dredd and Anderson, Psi Division comic strips in British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine. He is the head of Psi Division...
to step down from 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 ....
as a result of his division's failure to give sufficient warning of the impending Second Robot War. The new chief judge also demoted Judge Edgar
Judge Edgar
Judge Jura Edgar is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. Although in most of her stories she is not evil or a murderer in the manner of most villains in the Judge Dredd series , she is nevertheless one of Dredd's adversaries...
, effectively ending her ability to threaten Dredd and his associates.
The events of the war would also lead to the Banzai Battalion
Banzai Battalion
Banzai Battalion are a group of recurring characters, created by John Wagner, that appears in 2000 AD. They are tiny gardening robots designed as a bug-fighting military outfit that have been deployed in a garden in Mega-City One where their adventures initially involved Judge Dredd, although in...
robots, their owners killed in the fighting, joining the Justice Department; later still, the spectre of another robot war would lead to the Department trying to shut them down, and the Banzais fleeing.
Stories
All stories written by 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...
.
All references to 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:...
are to volume 3.
Prequels and prologues
The Doomsday Scenario was preceded by several stories which set up the back-story described above and introduced Narcos. See also The PitThe Pit (Judge Dredd story)
The Pit is a Judge Dredd story which appeared in British comic 2000 AD in 1995–1996 . With 30 episodes, it had the greatest number of episodes of any single Judge Dredd story until "The Doomsday Scenario" in 1999...
, which introduced DeMarco and also featured the Frendz Mob.
- "Bad Frendz" (art by Carlos EzquerraCarlos EzquerraCarlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
, 2000 AD2000 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...
#955-959, 1995)- Introduced the Frendz Mob and Nero Narcos.
- "Beyond the Call of Duty" (art by Carlos Ezquerra, 2000 AD #1101-1110, 1998)
- Beginning of DeMarco's infatuation with Dredd. She kisses Dredd, for which she is later caught by Judge Edgar.
- "Worst of Frendz" (art by Steve TappinSteve TappinSteve Tappin is a CEO confidant for the leaders of some of the worlds leading companies, the CEO of Xinfu and author of The Secrets of CEOs- Early career :Initially he joined the chemical giant ICI...
, in Judge Dredd Megazine #46, 1998)- Beginning of Doomsday Scenario build-up. Narcos moves his brain from a nutrient tank into a robot body.
- "Gun Play" (art by Paolo Parente, in 2000 AD #1122, 1998)
- First hint that Lawgiver handguns are being sabotaged by the Frendz Mob.
- "The Scorpion Dance" (art by John BurnsJohn Burns (comics)John M. Burns is an English comics artist, with a career stretching back to the mid-1960s.- Biography :His initial work was as an illustrator for Junior Express and School Friend...
, in 2000 AD #1125-1132, 1998-1999)- DeMarco resigns from the force as a result of Edgar's machinations.
- "The Contract" (art by Cam KennedyCam KennedyCampbell Kennedy is a Scottish comics artist. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, especially the flagship titles Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper.-Biography:...
, in Judge Dredd MegazineJudge Dredd MegazineJudge 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:...
#50, 1999)- Introduces Assassinator droids, being field-tested by Narcos.
In 2000 AD
- "Return of the Assassin" (art by Cam Kennedy, #1141-1147)
- "The Trial" (art by Simon DavisSimon Davis (comics)Simon Davis a British comics artist best known for his fully painted art work on Sinister Dexter, Black Siddha and Stone Island...
, #1148-1150)
- "Trial of Strength" (art by Neil GoogeNeil Googe-Biography:Googe's early comics work include a Shotgun Mary mini-series and work on 2000 AD, including a number of Judge Dredd stories....
and Stephen Baskerville (collaboration), #1151-1152)
- "War Games" (art by Neil Googe, Mike McMahonMike McMahon (comics)Michael McMahon is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Sláine and ABC Warriors, and the mini-series The Last American....
, Charlie AdlardCharlie AdlardCharles "Charlie" Adlard is a British comic book artist and penciller.He is best known for providing art on The Walking Dead and Savage.-Biography:...
, Andy ClarkeAndy Clarke (comics)Andy Clarke is a British comics artist who came to prominence working at 2000 AD and became known to a wider audience at DC Comics.-Biography:...
and Stephen Baskerville (collaboration), and Colin WilsonColin Wilson (comics)Colin Wilson is a comic book artist, born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 31 October 1949.He is known for his detailed artwork which he uses in 2000 AD stories like Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd. According to Andy Diggle, the 2000 AD editor who got him back to the title in the late nineties and has...
, #1153-1159)
- "Endgame" (art by Charlie Adlard, # 1160-1164)
In the Megazine
- "The Narcos Connection" (art by Andrew Currie, #52-55)
- "Doomsday" (art by Colin Wilson and Mike Collins, #56-59)
Epilogues
- "Volt Face" (art by Colin Wilson, 2000 AD #1167, 1999)
- Circumstances of Volt's death fabricated. This was DeMarco's last appearance in any Judge Dredd strip (although she has since appeared in The Simping DetectiveJack Point (the Simping Detective)Jack Point aka "the Simping Detective" is a character in the comic Judge Dredd Megazine, a spin-off from 2000 AD. He was created by Simon Spurrier and Frazer Irving....
and in her own series).
- Circumstances of Volt's death fabricated. This was DeMarco's last appearance in any Judge Dredd strip (although she has since appeared in The Simping Detective
- "Short Circuit" (art by Colin Wilson, Megazine #61, 2000)
- Judge White, suffering from post-traumatic stress, has a psychotic breakdown and goes on a rampage.
- "The Cal Legacy" (art by Colin Wilson, 2000 AD #1178-1179, 2000)
- Hershey becomes chief judge and demotes Edgar.
Collection
"The Doomsday Scenario" has been collected into two 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...
:
- Judge Dredd: Doomsday for Dredd (HamlynHamlyn (publishers)Hamlyn is a UK publishing company founded by Paul Hamlyn in 1950 with an initial investment of £350. His desire was to create "fine books with the common touch" which remains the foundation of its commercial success...
, 2001, ISBN 0600603075)- Collecting 2000 AD stories (#1141-1164)
- Judge Dredd: Doomsday for Mega-City One (HamlynHamlyn (publishers)Hamlyn is a UK publishing company founded by Paul Hamlyn in 1950 with an initial investment of £350. His desire was to create "fine books with the common touch" which remains the foundation of its commercial success...
, 2001, ISBN 0600603067)- Collecting Megazine stories (#52-59), plus "Volt Face" (2000 AD #1167)