Judge Dredd: The Mega-Rackets, Crime File: 5 - The Psycos, Part 2

NAME
Judge Dredd: The Mega-Rackets, Crime File: 5 - The Psycos, Part 2

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 AD Featuring Judge Dredd Prog 217

DATELINE
20 June 81

This prog featured Tharg's Future Shocks, Meltdown Man, Return To Armageddon and Strontium Dog strips, a Judge Dredd Star Pin-Up and a Tharg's Future Shocks cover by Mike McMahon.

PAGE COUNT
6

REPRINTS
The Best of 2000AD 28, The Complete Judge Dredd 21, Judge Dredd's Crime Files 5, Judge Dredd Mega City Vice Book 1 and Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 05.

SYNOPSIS
Dredd goes after Squeers, Squeers goes after Dredd.

FIRSTS & LASTS
Last Judge Dredd art by Barry Mitchell.

INFORMATION
Mega City One's has a Ray Milland Block and the Third Eye Insurance Company has its own building. The city's Mega-Docks Area has at least three Atlantic Gates.

Judges are trained to resist Psi influence. Psi Division can undertake a brain search of an individual in their 'Psyke Tank'. The process requires a warrant and can legally only take twelve hours. Named Judges: Judge Grant.

Psykers can convince an individual of something untrue.

JUDGE DREDD
A Hover'porter crash narrowly avoids him and he stops a woman from climbing into the burning wreckage to rescue a baby she doesn't have. Assuming Squeers' involvement Dredd gets a warrant for a brain search

OTHER CHARACTERS
HODGE JONMAN
Hover'Porter driver affected by Psyker related hallucinations of a colossal monster.

REX SQUEERS
He lives at Ray Milland Block. Psi Division are struggling to get through his scramble shields, so they put him through a brain search and he lasts the full twelve hours without cracking. He returns home and uses his Psi powers to influence two Third Eye 'salesmen' to kill Dredd, they fail and end up in the Black Atlantic. He later turns up dead in the same waters.

JEREMY SOLL
Chief executive of Third Eye Insurance Company.

ARRESTS
None.

DEATHS
Three. Dredd shoots one of Squeers' two 'blitzers' dead, who then drives off the road and into the Black Atlantic drowning the other one. Squeers' corpse turns up later.

BEST LINES
Woman: "You - you saved my life, Judge Dredd! I - I don't know what came over me! I don't even have a baby!"

WORST LINES
Dredd (seeing sign of a car): "Headlights! Could be them!"

Bit jumpy, Dredd?

CATCHPHRASES
Dredd says "Drokk!", Soll thinks a "Rot",

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Ray Milland Block is named after actor Ray Milland (1905-1986) who starred in Dial M For Murder (1954), X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes (1963) and Aces High (1976).

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: T.B. Grover
Artist: Barry Mitchell
Letters: Tom Frame

REVIEW
As with Part 1, the opening page and a half are good, but the strip does not sustain the story.

The End