Judge Dredd: 'Robot Wars', Part 6

NAME
Judge Dredd: 'Robot Wars', Part 6

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 15

DATELINE
4 June 77

This prog also featured a M.A.C.H.1 cover by Brian Bolland and Invasion, Dan Dare, Flesh, Harlem Heroes and M.A.C.H.1 strips.

PAGE COUNT
5

REPRINTS
Judge Dredd: The Early Cases 2, The Best Of 2000AD, The Complete Judge Dredd 1 and Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 01.


SYNOPSIS
Dredd and a small group of robots turn the tide of the war. The robot war becomes a robot civil war.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First time that a story has lasted to six parts.

INFORMATION
There are at least 372 overseer robots. Some of the robot rank and file have begun to dissent. When the original law of robotics is reinstated into newly constructed robots, the two factions clash almost immediately.

Synthi-Caff is a coffee substitute.

JUDGE DREDD
He swaps the robot computer programming circuit so that the original law of robotics is installed into every new robot made on the assembly line. These robots attack Call-Me-Kenneth's forces.

WALTER THE WOBOT
He has located three other dissenting robots: Stewart, Howard and J70 Stroke 13. The phrase 'No Charge Try Me' is written across Walter's casing.

OTHER CHARACTERS
CALL-ME-KENNETH
He takes a squad of Heavy Metal Kids (at least three) to the steps of the Grand Hall of Justice. He wants all the judges dead and to kill the Grand Judge himself.

THE GRAND JUDGE
He is presumably trapped inside the Grand Hall of Justice by Call-Me-Kenneth's Heavy Metal Kids.

HOWARD
A robot who is disenfranchised with Call-Me-Kenneth's rule. Howard found the robot computer programming circuit containing the original law of robotics on the shop floor.

ARRESTS
None.

DEATHS
Hundreds of robots are destroyed. Stewart and J70 Stroke 13 throw an overseer robot into the melting vat. Dredd shoots two more. Call-Me-Kenneth's Heavy Metal Kids crush at least six judges in just one panel.

BEST LINES
J70 Stroke 12: "Corrode Call-Me-Kenneth! Robots were better off when humans were the masters-"

J70 Stroke 12 says corrode almost as if it is a robot swear word. I hope this catches on.

WORST LINES
Dredd (whilst shooting a robot in the face): "Heads you lose, Tin-Ribs!"

CATCHPHRASES
Both "Fleshy ones" and "Hail Call-Me-Kenneth!" are heard three times each.

Walter says angwy, bwave, cwiminals, Dwedd x2, fwesh, gwab, gweat, stwong and wobots, but has no trouble with control, destroy, factory or stroke. Even Dredd says wobots at one point.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
The panel of "Hail Call-Me-Kenneth!" being replaced on the assembly line by "I am the slave of humans!" is very like a sequence in Futurama's Obsoletely Fabulous (2003).

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
There are no credits printed in the strip itself and so the following are taken from Barney.

Script: John Wagner
Artist: Mike McMahon
Letters: John Aldrich

REVIEW
The artwork has varied enormously across 'Robot Wars' and it's nice to have McMahon back. His Call-Me-Kenneth on the first page is very imposing, his page layouts are dynamic and the pile of robot bodies that forms a backdrop to the Grand Judge's plight on the last page is very nice indeed. It's good to see the return of the multi-limbed style robot as well.

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