“When the pages came in they would be marvelled at – the whole office would come to a standstill,” recalled then 2000AD editor Steve MacManus. But the results were definitely worth it. “It’s not the sort of look that would have popped automatically out of my head.” Producing the art for the first story (which was scripted by Wagner using the pen name, John Howard) was a very slow process. “I think Judge Death’s got a very strong Kevin O’Neill influence,” he says of the Nemesis the Warlock artist. What really brought the concept to life, so to speak, however, were the inspired visuals by artist Brian Bolland.Īlthough it’s not obvious, Bolland credits another 2000AD artist’s work as crucial in inspiring the villain’s unique appearance. The notion of creating an antithesis to Judge Dredd (who had started his own adventures in 1977) had arisen from a conversation between Dredd writers John Wagner and Alan Grant during a stay in an Essex farmhouse. “The menace of Judge Death would never again be let loose upon the Mega-City.” His initial reign of terror is short-lived, however, ending after three episodes, a final caption reading: We soon learn Judge Death has crossed over from another dimension, where life itself is judged a crime. “My Grud, Dredd, what kind of monster is this?” exclaimed one alarmed judge as the terrifying figure proceeded to burn someone to death before apparently turning into a transparent ghost and escaping. “I have come to bring law to this city! My law – the law of Death!” “You cannot kill what does not live!” he continued with flawless logic, as he resisted the Judges attempts to shoot him. I have come to judge you,” he said to his victims, effortlessly clawing his way through victims’ bodies like they were “custard”. Death first stalked the streets of the city back in 1980 (that is, 2102 in Dredd’s world), making an immediate impact on both 2000AD readers and Mega-citizens alike. Of all the many adversaries Judge Dredd has faced during his years policing Mega City One, none has proven as memorable, persistent or as terrifying as the malevolent super-fiend, Judge Death.
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