Some questions about the Judge Dredd universe

[Sandman1]

I ask these questions because I haven't read so many Dredd comics.

Does a person need some special equipment to contact the Dark Judges or can she/he just call out their names?

Would it be too... unlikely if PJ Maybe altered his appearance and managed to infiltrate the Justice Department?

Wouldn't it be better if Dredd sometimes took off his helmet? It could maybe give him some more personality with a less robotic impression.

Is the Grand Hall of Justice and the Statue of Justice located in the same sector?

Thanks in advance.   

 

[TordelBack]

Excellent questions, Sandman!

1. I think you'd need to be a powerful psi (telepath or empath) to remotely contact the DJs, or have some prior connection to them.
2.  Can totally see PJ passing himself off as a judge, assuming he's still alive... hell, his robot passed for a former Chief Judge!
3.  Dredd removes his helmet all the time - we only see the results rarely.  The helmet IS his personality. At least the visible part of it.
4. The Statue and the Grand Hall... depends on the story! And seeing as both have been destroyed and rebuilt at least twice each, any answer could be right.

[Dandontdare]

to add a little more to Tordelback's excellent answers:

1. There has never been an occasion of anyone "summoning" the Dark Judges - they discovered parallel Earths (and thus Mega City One) when some innocent dimension-hopping aliens arrived on their own world, where they had already purged all life. The closest I guess was Necropolis when the Sisters of Death used a psi-judge to form a link to Deadworld and take over the city. (If you like Death & Co, Necropolis is a must-read!)

2.Well he passed himself off as the mayor for a few years, so no reason why not, although it would be harder. He has used mind-control drugs to get his DNA/fingerprint records switched in the past too.

3. NOOOOOOOO!!!! His helmet is the face of justice - cold and impersonal. He represents Justice, not his own personality or desires so it's a good idea that it's stayed on all these years - besides, after 40 years, it would just be ... weird!

4. Where things are in MC1 does tend to vary! The Grand Hall is in Sector 1, and I've always kind of assumed the stature of judgement would be there too. We first saw it towering over the Statue of Liberty, but that had been moved from Ellis Island to it's spot further into the city. (in the same way that they had to explain why Mt Rushmore had been moved from South Dakota to just outside MC1 so that it would fit into the Cursed earth story.)

[Lobo Baggins]

1.  A character manages to psychically contact the Sisters of Death during Necropolis, but the effort pretty much kills her.  The other Dark Judges appear to have some sort of telepathic senses, but they're only going to respond to their names being called if they're physically in the same room (this is not recommended).

2.  It's not beyond PJ Maybe's abilities to do this, but he's generally a bit more cautious than that.  He's more likely to brainwash someone else into doing stuff like that.

3.  He does!  We just don't get to see it.

4.  They're usually both in Sector 44, the Core, which is above the New York Undercity.  The Grand Hall of Justice has foundations that extend through Manhattan, the Statue of Judgement overlooks the Statue of Liberty which was presumably moved into the City for tourism reasons (MC1 has the Empire State Building too).  Admittedly, the Statue of Judgement seems to be on the other side of the City during Inferno, but it's much bigger there so it might be a different one.

[Frank]

(PJ Maybe)  passed himself off as the mayor for a few years

He enjoyed wielding power as Mayor, but it's difficult to see why Maybe would want to get himself into a position where he couldn't have sex or live the good life. Those are pretty much what PJ lived (and killed) for, and judges can't do them at all.

Maybe had such easy access to Chief Judge Sinfield he was almost able to kill him. If Janet had craved the Chief Judge's chair, he could have murdered Sinfield there and then, swapped faces, and walked out the meeting as Martin Sinfield.

He lived as Don Pedro in Cuidad Barranquila, where his wealth would have bought him any position in their version of Justice Deapartment he wanted. Never showed any interest. I did think he was going to use his resemblance to Judge Corrigan* to dodge his date with Dredd, but that didn't turn out to be the case.


* See Ladykiller (1993-1998)

[Rogue Judge]

Hi Sandman, I've only been reading Dredd for about a year now - I highly recommend collecting the Complete Case Files if you are really hooked and want the complete story. As Dandontdare suggested, if you want to read more Dark Judges Necropolis is a must - it is collected in its entirety in the Complete Case Files #14 (I also recommend reading The Dead Man before reading Necropolis).

Also, I would never want to see Dredd without his helmet. I think if we saw him take off his Judge helmet, he would just be wearing another Judge helmet underneath! (like a Russian nesting doll...)

[Smith]

Like somebody mentioned,he does take off his helmet,its just that we never see his face.He even showers with his helmet.
We do see it once;when it was altered so he can infiltrate a criminal organization.And we do see Rico's face,but after Titan,so...not really.

[Rogue Judge]

You also get to see Dredd without his helmet in the Dead Man and Necropolis, but his face is badly disfigured so you really don't get an idea of what he really looks like. But you do get to see his eyes (at least his eye implants) are blue. (Also, for more dark Judges, see Case Files #2 as well).

[TordelBack]

He enjoyed wielding power as Mayor, but it's difficult to see why Maybe would want to get himself into a position where he couldn't have sex or live the good life. Those are pretty much what PJ lived (and killed) for...[/i].

Certainly major parts of his motivation, but I'd say pulling off audacious schemes and being recognised for his geenyus are just as important - in the short term at least.  I'm guessing he didn't make a play for Sinfield's chair because he was happy in his role as Mayor, and as Frank says, it comes with limitations.  If being a judge for a spell gave him the opportunity to cock an outrageous snook or cement his reputation as the mass-murderer's mass-murderer, he'd be squeezing into those regulation Emphatically Yess's in a flash. 

[ZenArcade]

No I doubt if anyone could easily summon the Dark Judges. It requires violation on their behalf to make the contact. The Sisters of Death are more attuned to the Psi communication, but again they work on their terms, to their agendas.  They'll get in touch....and you'll die.
Hmmmm, I'm not sold on even the charming young Maybe passing himself off as a Judge.  The 20 years indoctrination would be  a hard thing to feign over any amount if time. Attitude, physicality and adherence hy a real Judge to a huge multitude of procedural information and automatic actions in an almost reflex manner has given away a large amount of Jimps very quickly indeed. It is debatable in the extreme if even PJ would last more than a few hours.
The helmet is taken off regularly, its just a wee tradition in the prog that we never see old Joe's face.
The Grand Hall is situate in Sector 44, lower New York State. The Statue of Liberty is ste beside the Statue of Judgement, persumably near to hand. Z

[Sandman1]

Mister Maybe manage to infiltrate the SJS, abducts a powerful Psi-Judge and makes contact with the Dark Judges to make a deal. Does that sound too infeasible?

I'm looking for the paperback comic Judge Dredd: Complete PJ Maybe, but it's so damn expensive in the Amazon store. Can I find it somewhere for a more affordable price?

[Dash Decent]

I'm looking for the paperback comic Judge Dredd: Complete PJ Maybe, but it's so damn expensive in the Amazon store. Can I find it somewhere for a more affordable price?

Buy issue 36 of the "Judge Dredd Mega Collection" as a back issue from Hatchette.  It's only ten quid and it's hardback. Click here.

[Smith]

Btw,the celibacy rule seems to be taken more as a suggestion then a rule by a good deal of Judges.

[sheridan]

4.  They're usually both in Sector 44, the Core, which is above the New York Undercity.

Was that before or after Judge Barratt renamed all the sectors?

[sheridan]

Btw,the celibacy rule seems to be taken more as a suggestion then a rule by a good deal of Judges.

Until the SJS find out, that is...