Judge Dredd: The Judge Child, Part 17

NAME
Judge Dredd: The Judge Child, Part 17

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 172

DATELINE
9 Aug 80

This prog also contained Robo-Hunter, The Stainless Steel Rat, The V.C.'s and The Mind Of Wolfie Smith, a Judge Dredd Star Pin-Up and a Judge Dredd cover by Brian Bolland.

PAGE COUNT
6

REPRINTS
Judge Dredd In The Judge Child Quest 4, The Complete Judge Dredd 16, Judge Dredd Epics: The Judge Child 2, Judge Dredd Epics: The Complete Judge Child Quest, Judge Dredd Epics: The Judge Child Quest, Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 04 and The Judge Child.

SYNOPSIS
Lopez takes Oracle Spice and Prosser goes to pieces.

FIRSTS & LASTS
None.

INFORMATION
(The Dredd sequence of this strip begins 50 days after Part 7 and ends 72 days after)

Ab is a planet in the Warp system, also known as Bedlam. The natives speak Allspeak. The Police Headquarters are shaped like a cup, while illegal aliens are housed in the Foot Building, named for its shape. 3000 A.D. is a comic.

Jigsaw Disease is a fatal affliction which sees parts of the patient's body disappear in strangely regular patterns until they waste away altogether. Sufferers are not infectious. There is no cure, but there is a mercy drug which speeds up the symptoms.

Allspeak is a unique alien form of speech which is understood in any language.

Judges take personality profiles to indicates the susceptibility to hallucinogenic drugs.

JUDGE DREDD
He orders Lopez to take Oracle Spice and on his instructions assumes a course for Ab. He explores Ab and visits Police Headquarters where he learns about Prosser.

OTHER CHARACTERS
PROSSER
Human visitor to Ab. He entered the planet illegally some weeks before Dredd's visit. He is diagnosed with Jigsaw disease. Frustrated he steals what he believes to be medication for his condition, but is actually a form of euthanasia.

JUDGE LOPEZ
His personality profile indicates he would be most receptive to hallucinogenic drugs. Dredd orders him to take Oracle Spice to locate Owen Krysler. He hallucinates visions of Murd the Oppressor, Sagbelly and his own death. He falls into a coma and remains in that condition for at least 22 days.

ARRESTS
None.

DEATHS
None.

BEST LINES
Hershey: "We'll start with one drop. No telling what the proper dose is. Even this much could kill you!"
Lopez: "You know how to say all the right things, Hershey!"

WORST LINES
None.

CATCHPHRASES
A hallucinating Lopez screams an "Aieeee!"

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Lopez mentions Humpty Dumpty, a nursery rhyme the first recorded version of which date from late 18th century England.

MISTAKES
How does Allspeak work?

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: John Howard
Artist: Brian Bolland
Letters: Tom Frame

REVIEW
The search for the Judge Child becoming the search for Oracle Spice is worth it for Dredd forcing Lopez to take the stuff and his subsequent hilarious vision of Sagbelly with a moustache. Bolland's art is as excellent as ever and the symptoms of Jigsaw Disease provide an wonderful visual, but here it almost seems like one idea too many. It seems ungrateful to say so with so much on offer here, but after such a long search for Oracle Spice, I would have expected a week devoted to Lopez's hallucinations. Allspeak is another odd development, after making the effort to explain how the Judges were understood on Agros we have to lose a panel to clarify why they don't need to worry about that this time.

Next Prog: Prosser, The Puzzle....And Pa Angel!