Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth, Chapter Five – The Mutie Mountains
FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 65
DATELINE
20 May 78
PAGE COUNT
8 (or 7 and a 1/2)
REPRINTS
Judge Dredd 5, Judge Dredd Epics: The Cursed Earth, Judge Dredd Epics: The Cursed Earth 1, Judge Dredd Epics: The Cursed Earth, Judge Dredd Epics: The Collected Cursed Earth, The Complete Judge Dredd 6 and Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 02.
SYNOPSIS
Dredd encounters Mutants at Mount Rushmore.
FIRSTS & LASTS
First appearance of Brothers Morgar, Gomorrah, Obee and Jobee, as well as the first instance of product placement albeit a less controversial example than those that would follow.
INFORMATION
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial was moved to a new site just outside Mega-City One. In the 21st century, president Jimmy Carter was added using a la-saw, a device like a flying saucer with spinning laser blades. More recently, the face of Brother Morgar, the leader of the mutant Brotherhood of Darkness has been included. During Judge Dredd's visit, he killed a la-saw pilot who scarred George Washington's left cheek and the resulting crash smashed Carter's teeth.
JUDGE DREDD
He orders the Land-Raider through the Mutants Sacred Mountains around Mount Rushmore. When the separated raider car is captured by the Brotherhood of Darkness, he orders the Killdozer over Abraham Lincoln's face and threatens to destroy Morgar's sculpture unless he releases it.
OTHER CHARACTERS
BROTHER MORGAR
Leader of the Brotherhood of Darkness. His face is carved into the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
BROTHER GOMORRAH
He acts as look-out and reports sighting Dredd's land-raider to Brother Morgar.
ARRESTS
None.
DEATHS
One. Dredd shoots the la-saw pilot dead.
BEST LINES
Ka-Saw Pilot (crashing into Jimmy Carter's mouth): "No! No! Not...the teeth!"
WORST LINES
Spikes: "Keep rooting for us, Abe baby!"
CATCHPHRASES
The la-saw pilot gives us an "Aieeee!", while Dredd says "By Stomm!"
CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
The Brotherhood of Darkness were previously seen in Judge Dredd: 'The Brotherhood Of Darkness'.
INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture constructed between 1927 and 1941 carved into the granite of Mount Rushmore itself, near Keystone, South Dakota. It depicts four US Presidents, namely, from left to right, George Washington (1732-1799) the first president who was in office from 1789 to 1797, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) who served as the third president from 1801 to 1809, twenty-sixth president Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919) who served from 1901 to 1909 and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) who was the sixteenth President of the United States from 1861 to 1865. By 2100 it will apparently include contemporary incumbent Jimmy Carter, the 39th President from 1977 to 1981, to the left of Washington as well as a Mutie leader to the right of Lincoln.
Brothers Obee and Jobee recall Boby, Koby, Loby, Roby and Toby from Der Besuch Der Alten Dame (or The Visit), a 1956 tragicomic play by Friedrich Durrenmatt
One of the mutants is wearing a vest bearing the Superman shield logo, first seen in the first issue of Action Comics (1938).
The heights of Abraham is a reference to land outside Quebec City owned by Abraham Martin (1589-1664), which was the site of a 1759 battle between Britain and France.
MISTAKES
The first speech bubble makes it appear as though Dredd is finishing Spikes' sentences.
RETROSPECT
None.
NOTES
The nearest town to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in its current location is also called Keystone, so either it was also relocated or a new town was named after it.
CREDITS
Script: Pat Mills
Artist: Brian Bolland
Letters: Tom Frame
REVIEW
A nice, almost self-contained, part with Brian Bolland's excellent likenesses of the US Presidents on Mount Rushmore a definite highlight.
Next Prog: Dark Autumn!
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