Yassa Povey
Encyclopedia
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...
. His first and main appearance was in 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...
spin-off The Dead Man
The Dead Man
The Dead Man was a science fiction strip in the British comic 2000 AD by writer John Wagner and artist John Ridgway, published in black and white in 1989–90. Although it was not billed as a Judge Dredd story, it was set in Judge Dredd's world in 2112, and featured a new character called the Dead Man...
(1989). He later briefly appeared in the Judge Dredd series itself (1990).
Yassa was a young black teenage boy, although if still alive he would be an adult by now (since a year passes in the comic strip with each year in the real world). He lived in a small settlement called Bubbletown in the radioactive 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 many miles west of 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...
. He owned a dog (unimaginatively named simply "Dog") with abnormally high intelligence, which apparently could understand English, although lacking the ability to speak.
Yassa was instrumental in saving Mega-City One from complete destruction at the hands of the Dark Judges
Dark Judges
The Dark Judges are recurring villains in the fictional Judge Dredd universe recounted in the UK comic 2000 AD. They are Judge Death, Judge Fire, Judge Fear and Judge Mortis. Later storylines added the "Sisters of Death" , to their ranks...
during Necropolis
Necropolis (Judge Dredd story)
Necropolis is a 26-part Judge Dredd epic by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, published in 1990 in 2000 AD progs 674–699. The story was the subject of extensive foreshadowing in the comic, beginning with The Dead Man , followed by "Tale of the Dead Man" , and finally three stories collectively...
in 2112, since he saved Judge Dredd's life by finding him dying in the desert and arranging for his rescue. However he was subsequently blinded in an attack by the Sisters of Death and left with severe post-traumatic stress
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
. (For the full story see The Dead Man
The Dead Man
The Dead Man was a science fiction strip in the British comic 2000 AD by writer John Wagner and artist John Ridgway, published in black and white in 1989–90. Although it was not billed as a Judge Dredd story, it was set in Judge Dredd's world in 2112, and featured a new character called the Dead Man...
.) After Dredd saved the city, he remembered his debt to Yassa and had him brought to the city for treatment. On arrival Yassa was hailed as a hero for his role in saving the city. Dr Zilton Northgate, the city's best eye surgeon, fitted him with bionic eyes, while 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...
used her telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
abilities to ease his mental trauma.
Having made a full recovery, Yassa was almost assassinated by a sniper as he boarded his flight home. He survived when Dr Northgate intercepted the bullet (which killed him). The sniper was arrested by Dredd, and died in custody during interrogation.