Judge Dredd: 'The Statue Of Judgement'

NAME
Judge Dredd: 'The Statue Of Judgement'
(according to The Dredd Files in Megazine 214, this strip is also known as 'Statue Of Liberty')

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Programme 7

DATELINE
09 Apr 77

The Prog also featured a Dan Dare cover by Massimo Belardinelli and Invasion, Dan Dare, Flesh, Harlem Heroes and M.A.C.H.1 strips. It was also the first labelled as "In orbit every Monday"

PAGE COUNT
4

REPRINTS
Judge Dredd Annual 1986, The Complete Judge Dredd 1 and Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01.


SYNOPSIS
A mugging at the unveiling of the Statue of Judgement turns into a bizarre protest against the Judges.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First appearance of the Statue of Judgement.

INFORMATION
The Statue of Justice, a mammoth statue of a Mega-City One Judge has been erected in honour of the Judges, next to the Statue of Liberty. The public can climb inside the statue and see a view over the city from the Judge's eyes.

Air taxis are (unsurprisingly) taxis that fly though the air.

In addition to their other weaponry, Judges are also armed with a rifle.

JUDGE DREDD
He is present at the unveiling of the Statue of Judgement. Possibly has a distinctive siren on his Lawmaster bike.

OTHER CHARACTERS
RINGO
He hates the Judges and everything they stand for. Ringo and two friends attempt to mug someone at the unveiling of the Statue of Judgement (which seems like some sort of daft protest). He steals an air taxi, but Dredd destroys it and he falls onto one of the spikes of the Statue of Liberty's coronet and is impaled.

ARRESTS
One. The surrendering lawbreaker (see BEST LINES).

DEATHS
Two. Dredd shoots one of Ringo's partners in crime and he's probably dead. He then shoots at Ringo himself who falls onto the Statue of Liberty's crown and is impaled.

BEST LINES
Surrendering Lawbreaker: "Please, Judge - let me go. They forced me to go along with them!"
Dredd: "And they'd have forced you to take your share of the loot too? Don't make me sick!"

WORST LINES
Dredd: "No one can take liberties with the law!"

CATCHPHRASES
None.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) features both a climactic confrontation at the Statue of Liberty and a fall from the torch.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
The Statue of Judgement will come to symbolise the Judges themselves, but will vary in size enormously.

NOTES
The Statue of Liberty is 93 metres tall (including the plinth).

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

Script: Malcolm Shaw
Artist: Mike McMahon
Letters: John Aldrich

REVIEW
The opening image of The Statue of Judgement looming over the Statue of Liberty is impressive, but the story is something and nothing.