Judge Dredd: 'New Year Is Cancelled'

NAME
Judge Dredd: 'New Year Is Cancelled'

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. and Tornado Prog 146

DATELINE
5 Jan 80

The first prog of 1980, also contained Blackhawk, Captain Klep, The Stainless Steel Rat, Tharg The Mighty and The V.C.'s strips, another postergraph featuring The V.C.'s and a Judge Dredd cover by Brian Bolland.

PAGE COUNT
5

REPRINTS
The Complete Judge Dredd 14, Judge Dredd 29, Judge Dredd: Rough Justice and Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 03.

SYNOPSIS
The King of Mega-City One decrees that new year is cancelled.

FIRSTS & LASTS
Last strip of 2101, first strip of 2102.

INFORMATION
(This strip begins on December 31st, 2101 and runs into January 1st, 2102)

Mega-City One's Andy Stewart Block is within sight of Bosanquet Block, neither these nor Wilkes Warehouse are in Sector 7.

Auto-teach machines educate automatically. Megasynthe, Mega-Trust, Mutiebran and Sunshine Synthi-Foods are companies floated on the stock market. Monotany is a game for 2 to 4 players.

The Justice Department has technology that can read minds to some degree. Named Judges: Judge Frost, Judge Hellman, Judge Ono.

JUDGE DREDD
He ensures that new year goes uncelebrated in Mega-City One, while he locates the H-bombs that Albert Sherman has planted. He takes Albert into custody just after the boy has punched in the safety code, which gives them fifty minutes to diffuse the first bomb. He uses a device to read Albert's mind and deduces which bomb will go off first and takes the boy to its location on top on Andy Stewart Block. Dredd handcuffs Albert to the roof and smashes the controls leaving Albert to diffuse the bomb to save his own life.

OTHER CHARACTERS
KING ALBERT
Born Albert Sherman four years ago to Frank and Betty Sherman. His parents bought him an auto-teach machine as a newborn. At six months he could speak and in 37 different languages on subjects as varied as atomic physics and the history of the universe. By the age of four he was an expert in the stock market and had made his parents a fortune. Bored, he declares himself King of Mega-City One. He explodes an H-Bomb in the Cursed Earth beyond the North Wall of Mega-City One. He holds the city to ransom claiming there are five more bombs and that they will detonate one per hour unless he types in a safety code. His first decree as king is to cancel new year. Having located the bombs, Dredd takes Albert to the site of the first bomb due to explode and handcuffs him next to it, giving him 41 minutes to diffuse it. Albert diffuses all the bombs and Dredd enrols him in the Academy of Law.

ARRESTS
There are some arrests for those celebrating new year under the reign of King Albert, but they are all released after his abdication.

DEATHS
None.

BEST LINES
Dredd: "New Year Is Cancelled! Get off the streets!"

WORST LINES
Betty: "A Judge? But I thought he was going to be a King!"

CATCHPHRASES
The Chief Judge lets out a "Dok!"

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
Dredd previously enrolled a wayweard child in the Academy Of Law in the second instalment from A Tale From Walters Scwapbook .

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Albert Sherman's parents, Frank and Betty share their first names with the couple from Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em (1973-1978). Andy Stewart Block is named after Andy Stewart (1933-1993), the singer of 'Donald Where's Your Troosers?' which was a hit in both 1960 and 1989. Bosanquet Block could refer to Bernard Bosanquet (1848–1923) a philosopher, Bernard Bosanquet (1877–1936) cricketer credited with inventing the googly, Charles Bosanquet (1769-1850) a writer, Lancelot Stephen Bosanquet (1903-1984) mathematician, Reginald Bosanquet (1932–1984) a newsreader
Robert Carr Bosanquet (1871–1935) a archaeologist, Robert Holford Macdowell Bosanquet (1841–1913) a scientist and music theorist, Admiral Sir Day Hort Bosanquet (1843–1923) a 16th Governor of South Australia or someone else entirely.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
Bombs hidden around Mega-City One is an idea that John Wagner will return to and there are comparisons to be made between Albert Sherman and PJ Maybe.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: John Howard
Artist: Brendan McCarthy
Letters: Tom Frame

REVIEW
Albert Sherman's blackmail of Mega-City One is wonderfully convoluted and Dredd's ruthless manipulation of a child is excellent.