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Should Dredd ever be killed off?

Started by Syne, 08 April, 2012, 11:38:27 PM

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Spikes

I'll go for the sci-fi option for Dredd, whether its brain/essence transplant or some kind of stookie/elixir of life type of thing (maybe by now they can synthesise a version in the lab, as opposed to killing loads of stookies!).
Would hate to see Rico become Dredd, and the Dredd strip replaced by Tales of Mega City 1.
If they did go down that route, it would run for a while but, fan boredom/dwindling figures/writers lack of interest, would mean theyd eventually bring back Joe somehow. Its happened before in comics.

Mark Taylor

With judges dropping like flies in the current saga, somehow I can see Dredd eventually being forced into the Chief Judge's seat, if only through sheer lack of any other suitable candidate.

I also, however, do not particularly see the problem with brain transplants / body swaps etc. as a solution to the problem. If it were inconsistent with Dredd's world as we already know it then of course it would be a massive cop out. The thing is, though, it isn't. We've already seen all manner of tech in Dredd's world which is leading up to that level even if it isn't fully there yet. It's hardly a leap to take it all the way, more of a baby step, a completely plausible advancement in technology given what we've already seen so far. Remember "Lips" Lazarus? It was clear the tech was nearly there even then, and that was over 30 years ago in Dredd's continuity.

vzzbux

I think we are diliberately not seeing much of Rico for the fact that he will eventually replace Dredd. When we first encountered Dredd he was already an established Judge with a plethora of experience. The same must go for Rico, He will have years of experience on the streets with a hardened reputation which is unknown to us, as it should be. The writers haven't really delved into Dredds first decades on the streets. Keep the enigma.




V
Drokking since 1972

Peace is a lie, there's only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.

Danbo

#33
Always thought that he would be ordered by special decree from the Chief Judge to take stookie legaly because hes such an asset or he would get a brain transplant into a clone of himself or something and thus live forever...

Edit  I see its already been mentioned,I really should read more posts before I do.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Mark Taylor on 09 April, 2012, 11:43:27 AM
I also, however, do not particularly see the problem with brain transplants / body swaps etc. as a solution to the problem. If it were inconsistent with Dredd's world as we already know it then of course it would be a massive cop out.


It may be consistent witht the mechanics of Dredd's world but it wouldn't be consistent with the mechanics of Dredd's character. Despite the odd adjustment like bionic eyes it wouldn't be Dredd's thing to linger and his progressive aging has shown us that he's willing to let things go a lot more and allow responsibility fall on those whom he has overseen like Beeny & Rico. After his closure with Rico, with Beeny it's like he's doing penance for how her life turned out, atoning for the manner in which her parents died and taking the qualities he'd admired in her mother and putting them to practical use. He is her surrogate father and I suspect much like Fargo was glad when his time came, Joe will too.


None of this needs to happen for years if need be and it would be pretty special if Wagner was the one to do it and proper order. Following that if there was a reboot or a re-setting of the clock to Joe's early years as he graduates, hangs around with Morphy and Rico, that'd be fine.



Mark Taylor

#35
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 09 April, 2012, 12:21:09 PMIt may be consistent witht the mechanics of Dredd's world but it wouldn't be consistent with the mechanics of Dredd's character.

I appreciate that, but if it were to happen I actually never envisioned it as being Dredd's choice. More like Justice Department secretly having a back-up plan waiting in the wings in case Joe ever cops the big one in the field of duty, and when it finally does happen, 'bringing him back' whether he likes it or not.

It would no doubt mark another 'crisis of faith' in Joe's career, but like other such events the outcome would be inevitable, though the path taken to reach that outcome could be a journey in itself. Ultimately Dredd's personal belief that 'duty comes first' would win out and he would have to accept it, with whatever reservations he might nonetheless hold

Spikes

Dear Grud please no re-boots, or early tales of Dredd. Least not in the Prog, maybe IDW's line will go down that route?
But lets face it, theyll never kill Dredd off - its not gonna happen. If it does ill eat my, and everyone else's hat (except for SBT's ).
Sorry to rain on peoples parades, but Dredd is very much a sci-fi character living in a very sci-fi world, theyll think of summat to keep him going for a few more decades yet. Whether by some kind of re-juve or whatever, theyll do it.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Judge Jack on 09 April, 2012, 12:46:17 PM
Sorry to rain on peoples parades, but Dredd is very much a sci-fi character living in a very sci-fi world, theyll think of summat to keep him going for a few more decades yet. Whether by some kind of re-juve or whatever, theyll do it.


The bottom-line is the bean-counter but 2000AD is infamous for bucking the trend and it may be the case that they give Wagner something like Whatever happened to the Lawman of Tomorrow? as they did with Superman.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Mark Taylor on 09 April, 2012, 12:34:16 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 09 April, 2012, 12:21:09 PMIt may be consistent witht the mechanics of Dredd's world but it wouldn't be consistent with the mechanics of Dredd's character.

I appreciate that, but if it were to happen I actually never envisioned it as being Dredd's choice. More like Justice Department secretly having a back-up plan waiting in the wings in case Joe ever cops the big one in the field of duty, and when it finally does happen, 'bringing him back' whether he likes it or not.

It would no doubt mark another 'crisis of faith' in Joe's career, but like other such events the outcome would be inevitable, though the path taken to reach that outcome could be a journey in itself. Ultimately Dredd's personal belief that 'duty comes first' would win out and he would have to accept it, with whatever reservations he might nonetheless hold


That sounds like treading water and would ultimately hurt and weaken the character, if anything Dredd has been somewhat independent in his strength of character willing to throw a spanner in the works if he feels something's not right.

Spikes

I hear what your saying Joe, and i dont disagree with your take on what Dredd is, but would even 2000ad have the nerve to kill off Dredd completely? Just cant see it. And of course 2000ad has flirted, fudged about and back peddled on this premise before.
If a character is to have an end, then thats what it should be. Full stop. Im not against, or at least can understand, Dredd coming to an ending - logically it must at some point, but how does real world logic really fit into any comic, especially a sci-fi one?
Just really dont like the idea of re-boots, re-inventions or early years setups etc. Think its tired, and been done to death, and very seldom - if ever works for long. Eventually, for whatever reason, Dredd would return.


IndigoPrime

Imagine The Beano without Dennis the Menace, or, for that matter, DC without Superman or Marvel without Spider-Man. Those are the closest equivalents. Scrapping Dredd would be insane. And while the city itself is a character, it's explored in other stripes (notably the excellent Low Life), but having that as a replacement for the Judge Dredd strip sounds bonkers to me. It would be marketing and commercial suicide.

Mark Taylor

#41
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 09 April, 2012, 12:55:16 PMThat sounds like treading water and would ultimately hurt and weaken the character, if anything Dredd has been somewhat independent in his strength of character willing to throw a spanner in the works if he feels something's not right.

I'm not really convinced by that argument, I must say. Dredd threatened to resign over the mutant issue, but that was about the rights of a whole class of individuals. Even then he eventually settled on a compromise. I can't see him putting his own personal 'rights' over duty in the same way.

Not only that - even in recent stories, with Joe's influence in the ascendant, it's been made clear that when it comes right down to it he's still a tool of the justice department. His influence in certain areas is distinctly limited, his own precise place in the scheme of things being one of those areas.

Ultimately what would weaken Dredd's character would be to have him stubbornly resist the inevitable, regardless whether that's his death or the unnatural extension of his life.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Dredd's real strength of character has always been about how he's reacted when choice has been taken away from him, whether by the powers that be in the Justice Department as in Tour of Duty or by an event like the return of the Dark Judges in Necropolis.

Colin YNWA

But Judge Dredd as a strip could well continue without Joe Dredd the character as the led. The vast majority of the public wouldn't give too hoots, or even know the specifics and longer term fans would hopefully buy into a replacement if done well, after the fuss has died down?

Look at the Barry Allen, Wally West thing. Not characters as significant as Dredd but still a model that it can work and work well.

Having thought about it some more the main danger for me is the fact that at some point after this has happened a future editor (while Tharg's not looking) might look to reverse things to cash in on a quick bit of publicity and then things might get messy?

SmallBlueThing

If they're going to reboot or kill him off and replace him with rico/ a robot/ a n other, then best do it now- before dredd has chance to really take off in the massive market that is the states. A million new readers neednt know nor care if the dredd they read about in their first ish is 'the' dredd from 2000AD, if the stories hit the same high marks and are a compelling as our dredd can be from time to time. Otherwise i'd say ignore all the ageing stuff and keep him active on the streets for the next thirty-five years and worry about it then. Move him away from his dramatic center, the mean streets of mega-city one, and you geld him. At that point you may as well be reading another strip- which as Low Life and Anderson have shown can be brilliant, but still not have that appeal that dredd has. I vote keep as is.

SBT
.

Large48

Yes immediately and then replace him with another clone...........











Hang on! haven't they done that a few times already?!?!?!?!?!?
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