Judge Dredd: Oxygen Desert, Part 2 – Down And Out!

NAME
Judge Dredd: Oxygen Desert, Part 2 – Down And Out!

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 49

DATELINE
28 Jan 78

PAGES
7

REPRINTS
The Complete Judge Dredd 4, Judge Dredd: The Early Cases 5 and Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 01.

SYNOPSIS
Dredd survives the Oxygen Desert, but resigns as a Judge.

FIRSTS AND LASTS
First seven page Judge Dredd strip and the first time that an invidual part of a larger story has its own title.

INFORMATION
The Luna Module is a newspaper. Luna-City's streets are cleaned and its graves are dug by robots, but occasionally a human works with them.

JUDGE-MARSHAL DREDD
Starved of oxygen, he manages to shoot the controls on his hover bike to activate the audio circuit. He calls his bike to him. The next day, Dredd arrives back at the Luna-City Hall Of Justice and promptly resigns as a Judge. Days later, he joins a street cleaning squad, working with robots to clear litter, but he gets fired. Carmody confronts him and he uses his street cleaning equipment to disarm him. They fight and Dredd detains him. Dredd is reinstated as Judge-Marshall.

OTHER CHARACTERS
JUDGE TEX
He is in charge in Dredd's absence and following his resignation.

CARMODY
He told everyone he killed Dredd and when the Judge turned up alive he looked like a fool. He seeks Dredd out, they fight and the ex-Judge ties him up.

ARRESTS
Presumably one: Carmody. Dredd ties him up.

DEATHS
None.

BEST DIALOGUE
Dredd: "Please, Wild Butch, don't shoot me. I-I've the force."
Carmody: "But that ain't gonna save you, Dredd! I told everyone I killed you then you turned up and made me look a fool! Now I'm gonna finish the job!"

WORST DIALOGUE
Dredd: "I appreciate your concern, Tex. But this is where a failed Judge belongs, with the garbage...Say hello to the boys for me."

CATCHPHRASES
Tex's accent is made clear in phrases like "he dun", "y'all wus", "sure as shoot" and "ah want".

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
Dredd previously resigned and returned to duty in Robot Wars, Part 2.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
There is an article on the back of Tex's newspaper about Spiderman (1962).

MISTAKES
Carmody's two nicknames have been conbined into Wild Butch.

RETROSPECT
Dredd's last line, "I am still a Judge...and I will remain a Judge until the day I die!", makes you contemplate a last ever Judge Dredd strip...

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: John Howard
Artist: Ian Gibson
Letters: Tony Jacob

REVIEW
It's interesting to see the lengths that Dredd will go to in order to catch a Lawbreaker and I love that Dredd seems to have chosen his new career based on whether it comes with a helmet which still affords him anonymity. As with Part 1, the Oxygen Desert is really just for the cliffhanger and Dredd's fall from grace is much more interesting.

Next Prog: Lunar Olympics