Judge Dredd: Otto Sump's Ugly Clinic, Part 3

NAME
Judge Dredd: Otto Sump's Ugly Clinic, Part 3

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 AD Featuring Judge Dredd Prog 188

DATELINE
29 Nov 80

This prog also featured Dash Decent, Meltdown Man, Return To Armageddon, Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tales and Strontium Dog strips and a Return To Armageddon cover by Ian Gibson.

PAGE COUNT
6

REPRINTS
The Best Of Judge Dredd, The Best Of 2000AD 11, Judge Dredd Classics 68, The Complete Judge Dredd 18, Judge Dredd Chronicles Book 3, Judge Dredd 25, Judge Dredd Paperbacks vs Otto Sump, Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 04.

SYNOPSIS
Dredd deals with the Mantis brothers and decides to finish what they started and bring down Sump's business empire using legal means.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First public protest.

INFORMATION
(This part takes place over three days)
Mega-City One's Weather Control can be programme rain with street-by-street accuracy.

Sump's products include: Otto Sump's Windy for the perfect belch, Veruca Paste and Dead Skunk aftershave.

The Justice Department has Standards Officers whose job it is to test the validity of advertising claims, a number of Sump's products do not comply to their standards. The Justice Department levies an Ugly Tax of 1,000 credits on each item purchased and the Ugly craze soon fades. Judges ricochet bullets are made from rubber-titanium. Named Judges: Judge Dawson (Standards Officer); Judge Owen (Standards Officer)

JUDGE DREDD
He kills Abe Mantis as he attempts to escape arrest. Dredd confronts Otto Sump and warns him that he plans to close him down. He arranges to have the products and advertising tested by Justice Department's standards officers, he arranges crime blitzes at the ugly clinics themselves, he rains off an illegal protest at his actions and imposes an Ugly Tax.

OTHER CHARACTERS
THE MANTIS BROTHERS
They run a protection syndicate. Bim Mantis dies at the hands of a malfunctioning Robo-Surgeon, while Dredd shoots Abe Mantis as he attempts to escape.

OTTO SUMP
Dredd warns him of his plans to close him down. Sump closes his clinics as the ugly craze fades, except one and remodels himself as Monsieur Le Sump serving a new and exclusive clientele made up of the very rich.

ARRESTS
At least sixteen. Dredd arrests a queue of people at one of Otto Sump's Ugly Clinics during a crime blitz.

DEATHS
Two. Bim Mantis is killed by the malfunctioning Robo-Surgeon, while Dredd kills Abe with a ricochet bullet.

BEST LINES
Robodoc (as the patient is knocked out of a window): "Nurse! Cancel the operation...Alert the mortuary instead!"

WORST LINES
None.

CATCHPHRASES
Dredd says "Drokk!"

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
Verruca is misspelt Verucca on the box of Otto Sump's Verucca Paste.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: T.B. Grover
Artist: Ron Smith
Letters: Tom Frame

REVIEW
The pacing here is a little odd as the first two pages are given over to very similar panels of Dredd versus the Robo-surgeon leaving only the remaining four to fit Dredd's actions to bring down a business empire. They get a little crowded, but the knock on effect of Dredd's actions provides the satirical edge as his Ugly Tax prices most citizens out of the craze, he unwittingly creates an exclusivity that Sump exploits. "Only the rich could afford to be ugly" is a fantastic ending.