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Has Judge Dredd been soft Retconned?

Started by The dude, 08 January, 2017, 09:12:02 PM

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Leigh S

#15
Quote from: CalHab on 09 January, 2017, 03:06:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 09 January, 2017, 01:54:16 PM
Not sure what this talk of soft reboots after mega-epics is all about - having a long story doesn't mean everything has been rebooted, it means that the major events in the story had consequences.

I agree. "Soft reboot" sounds like a complete misunderstanding of what both the comic and character are.

I agree as well - that's the point I'm making.  Evven if we accept that the rejuve treatment is establishing some different dynamic regards Dredd's age, then the apocalypse War and DoC change up his world and Necropolis and the following democracy stories resolve the issues we only first saw in Question of Judgement, which again "soft rebooted" how we saw Dredd.  I'm not sure there is such a thing as a soft reboot so much as a new path for the character to walk along.  I'm assuming soft reboot means there is some inherent contradiction in the new "version" perhaps, but who knows, other than the Dude!

The Legendary Shark

IIRC, Dolly the cloned sheep aged/fell apart rather quickly.

It's not impossible, then, that by the time Fargo got cloned these problems might be not only solved but reversed. Dreddworld clones might be more robust and long-lasting than natural born people.
[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Frank

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 January, 2017, 08:08:49 PM
IIRC, Dolly the cloned sheep aged/fell apart rather quickly. It's not impossible, then, that by the time Fargo got cloned these problems might be not only solved but reversed. Dreddworld clones might be more robust and long-lasting than natural born people.

Dredd was given a rejuve in Carroll and Willsher's Carousel (Megazine 375). Dredd's physical condition isn't something that needs fixing or explaining, anymore*.


* Dredd's been moaning about his back since his forties and he developed cancer ten years ago, so there's no reason to suppose he's any more Superman than the human of whom he's a direct copy - Fargo went into some kind of suspended animation in his fifties, but he looks like a walnut's scrotum in Origins (set 107 years after his birth). We've also seen Dredd take a few medicals; they mention he's in okay shape for someone his age, but there's never been any suggestion he or any other clone's physiologically younger than expected.

The dude

Quote from: Leigh S on 09 January, 2017, 06:03:22 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 09 January, 2017, 03:06:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 09 January, 2017, 01:54:16 PM
Not sure what this talk of soft reboots after mega-epics is all about - having a long story doesn't mean everything has been rebooted, it means that the major events in the story had consequences.

I agree. "Soft reboot" sounds like a complete misunderstanding of what both the comic and character are.

I agree as well - that's the point I'm making.  Evven if we accept that the rejuve treatment is establishing some different dynamic regards Dredd's age, then the apocalypse War and DoC change up his world and Necropolis and the following democracy stories resolve the issues we only first saw in Question of Judgement, which again "soft rebooted" how we saw Dredd.  I'm not sure there is such a thing as a soft reboot so much as a new path for the character to walk along.  I'm assuming soft reboot means there is some inherent contradiction in the new "version" perhaps, but who knows, other than the Dude!
gee golly gosh I'm all a eyes a fluttter and cheeks a glow that you mentioned me.  Simple put I think for the less senile amongst us Dredd fans removing that ghost of decrepitude past means the owners of his craggy face can force through another ten years of stories whereby the majority of readers forget he is actually an OAP judge with rectal fissures and a bad back. 👍😜

TordelBack

"Force through another 10 years of stories..."? You say that like its's a bad thing.  I'm rather keen on reading Dredd's adventures until I'm old and decrepit myself.

Yet again we come to the key question: what's the alternative to keeping Dredd active on the streets? Dead and replaced? Chief Judge Dredd? Bio-chips? Pushed around in a bath-chair by Walter?  All crap. I don't care for the rather glib non-eventness of Carousel, but it's a better solution than ALL those.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: The dude on 09 January, 2017, 09:00:19 PM
Simple put I think for the less senile amongst us Dredd fans removing that ghost of decrepitude past means the owners of his craggy face can force through another ten years of stories whereby the majority of readers forget he is actually an OAP judge with rectal fissures and a bad back. 👍😜

Dredd is still drawn like an old scrote even after his "rejuve"; I guess having old innards means his new skin-job will rot a whole lot faster than normal.






Frank

Quote from: TordelBack on 09 January, 2017, 10:17:09 PM
Dead and replaced? Chief Judge Dredd? Bio-chips? Pushed around in a bath-chair by Walter?  All crap.

True. I was fine with 70 is the new 40, but I accept a significant percentage of readers weren't.

Our pal, The dude, appears to be proposing that Wagner should write the character's final story. I'd like to read that, but Rebellion have made it clear that's not something that interests them.

Even if that happened, Rebellion would still want to publish new Dredd stories every week. That means an actual reboot, or a do-over, or a Mulligan, or whatever we're calling it this week. That's crap too.



The Enigmatic Dr X

I can't help but think that this thread is a whole debate over nothing. Is the Dude's point really that he's miffed that Rebellion are keeping Dredd alive? If so, fundamentally, why?

I like reading Judge Dredd and am happy with the stories and it feels like a gripe without basis. Still, The Internet.
Lock up your spoons!

The Adventurer

#23
Personally I don't like hand waving Dredd's age, if you want to have a 'real time' aspect to your action/adventure sci-fi comic. Own it. Otherwise it cheapens your hero and his 40 years of exploits.

But I'm not going to make a thread about it. Because its patently obvious WHY Rebellion will never go that route. Dredd isn't creator owned, he's a brand. He's not going anywhere.

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JOE SOAP

Quote from: The Adventurer on 09 January, 2017, 11:31:44 PM
Personally I don't like hand waving Dredd's age, if you want to have a 'real time' aspect to your action/adventure sci-fi comic. Own it. Otherwise it cheapens your hero and his 40 years of exploits.


Carousel proved they are owning the issue; they're just not owning it in the way some would prefer. Even though it's still within the internal bounds of the strip.






The Adventurer

Carousel was fine, but ultimately just kicks the football down the road again. You can only band-aid the age issue so long, until it raises more questions then it answers. Lest we forget 50 Year Man addressed the issue too. But that wasn't enough.

Like, why would Justice Department let any Judge retire to teach at the academy/take the long walk, when they can just deage them? Cost and because Dredd's a special case? Okay. But we've seen Cits use this kind of tech before too. So it can't be that rare/expensive. World inconsistency for plot armor, that's a big pet peeve of mine.

What I'm saying is, there's an interesting story somewhere to solve the problem. One that doesn't involve deaging tech, replacing him, or killing the guy off. I minor epic that leads to a near death Dredd having to have his brain transplanted into a brain dead Rico or something. That'll give the old man another 40 years before its a problem again, easy.

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JOE SOAP

#26
Quote from: The Adventurer on 10 January, 2017, 12:08:54 AM
Carousel was fine, but ultimately just kicks the football down the road again. You can only band-aid the age issue so long, until it raises more questions then it answers. Lest we forget 50 Year Man addressed the issue too. But that wasn't enough.

Citizens can live well into their hundreds - why not Judges?

Quote from: The Adventurer on 10 January, 2017, 12:08:54 AMLike, why would Justice Department let any Judge retire to teach at the academy/take the long walk, when they can just deage them? Cost and because Dredd's a special case? Okay.

Because they grant Judges at least the choice?

It's not the easiest job and an unwilling street Judge who has reached the end of the line is a useless Judge, no matter the age. Dredd seems happy to break heads while he can and while the city is in such a shit state, but then again, he was made for it.


Quote from: The Adventurer on 10 January, 2017, 12:08:54 AMWhat I'm saying is, there's an interesting story somewhere to solve the problem. One that doesn't involve deaging tech, replacing him, or killing the guy off. I minor epic that leads to a near death Dredd having to have his brain transplanted into a brain dead Rico or something. That'll give the old man another 40 years before its a problem again, easy.

Personally, I think that's worse. Not the wrapping it up in a story bit but the transplant - and you've still got a very old brain in a younger body.



sheridan

Quote from: The Adventurer on 09 January, 2017, 11:31:44 PM
But I'm not going to make a thread about it.

Try three threads.  That I've noticed...

rogue69

the way I've looked at it that Dredd's a clone, surely when they were creating them the Judges would have found a way to slow the aging of the clones or improved their health & life span along with all the different changes they would have made otherwise why bother with creating clones in the first place

The Adventurer


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