Judge Dredd: The Day The Law Died!, Part 11

NAME
Judge Dredd: The Day The Law Died!, Part 11

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. and Starlord Prog 99

DATELINE
10 Feb 79

PAGE COUNT
5

REPRINTS
Judge Dredd Epics: Judge Caligula 2, Judge Dredd Epics: The Complete Judge Caligula, The Complete Judge Dredd 9, Judge Dredd 11, Judge Dredd Epics: The Day The Law Died and Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 02.

SYNOPSIS
Dredd's road liner crashes, Cal celebrates and the Judges take a day off.

FIRSTS & LASTS
None.

INFORMATION
The old Ohio River flows underneath Mega-City One, it has been nicknamed The Big Smelly. It became so polluted that it was concreted over.

Cal allows a day of lawlessness, but the streets are deserted and crime is down.

Named Judges: Judge Atting, Judge Jennings.

JUDGE DREDD
His road liner crashes through city bottom and into the old Ohio river.

OTHER CHARACTERS
CHIEF JUDGE CAL
Believing Dredd dead, he declares that there will be no arrests for 24 hours regardless of the crime.

JUDGE COX
He claims to love Cal sufficiently to die for him. Cal allows Cox the use of his own gun for the purpose.

ARRESTS
None.

DEATHS
Unknown.

BEST LINES
Dredd: "Judges, Cal has won...I weep - I weep for my city."
Giant: "Suit yourself, J.D. - - But me, I'm weepin' for me!'

Cal: "Do you love me, Judge Cox? I mean really love me?"
Cox: "Yes, Chief Judge. I...I would die for you!"
Cal: "Would you? That's a very generous offer. You've made me feel a lot better, Judge Cox. Off you go and do it then. I'll let you use my gun."
Cox: "B-B-B-But-"
Cal: "No "buts", Judge Cox! Either you love me or you don't!"
Cox: Yes, sir...

WORST LINES
Cal: "The Big Smelly! A fitting end to that stinker Dredd!"

CATCHPHRASES
None.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
Giant mentions his Pappy again.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
Judge Jennings' badge is very difficult to read and I may have gotten it completely wrong.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
The Ohio River is indeed ranked as the most polluted river in the USA based on data from 2009 and 2010.

CREDITS
Script: T.B. Grover
Artist: M. McMahon
Letters: Thomas

REVIEW
It's interesting that Cal's madness is almost leading him into a series of diminishing returns. You might expect that in a narrative structure, Cal's activities would escalate, but here almost the opposite is true, as genocide gives way to incarceration and then to draconian laws before a removal of law and order altogether. It probably shouldn't work as well as it does and yet in defying that logic Cal is all the more unpredictable and gives this story its edge.

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