Who's Who in Judge Dredd, #1.

Four issues in, there are some recurring characters. Having trouble keeping track of who's who? About to write a 50,000-word screed on why the writers and artists should be hung up by their thumbs because you're having trouble telling one character from another because they all wear uniforms as if they're some kind of police-cum-military force and details like physical traits and character quirks are too subtle and name-badges are an insult to your intelligence? Annoyed by a paragraph that just consists of a series of increasingly hyperbolic questions? Irritated that the gag has now developed a kind of phony self-awareness and has now progressed beyond the point where it might be considered even remotely funny?

This list will be updated and reissued every few issues; basically whenever a major story has finished or is about to start. Because I care.

Judge Joseph Dredd

A senior judge in Mega-City One and legend among lawmen. The man after whom this comic is named.

First appearance:

'Ripe', Issue 1.

Distinguishing features:

The chin. You could use it as a set square, and if you tried to give him an uppercut, chances are you'd not only break all the bones in your hand but you'd probably end up trapping every single nerve below your elbow. And dislocating your shoulder. Also, he never takes his helmet off. This is one reason of many why Karl Urban's Dredd is so much better than Stallone's.

What's he like?

His expression encompasses an array of subtle variations based on grimacing, frowning and scowling: and that's on a good day. He's not a genius, but he has a blend of street smarts, cunning, experience and possibly even wisdom that could give geniuses a headache; and if that doesn't bring the migraines, a swift blow on the bonce with his daystick will. On the outside he's an unbending enforcer of the law. On the inside, he's much the same, but with a grasp of that most elusive of concepts: justice. On occasion this can put him at odds with the system, making him more likely to trust his own judgement and instincts rather than simply operate as another part of the machine.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

Classic Dredd is always 122 years in the future: it started in 2099, and it's now 2136. Dredd was cloned in 2066 and artificially aged by five years. He was effectively 41 at the start, and is now 78 and still kicking arse. By contrast, IDW's Dredd starts in the year 2100 because we like Big Round Numbers. Nothing's revealed about his origins yet: for all we know he might even have a mother. Assuming for the moment that his backstory is much the same, he's 42. Alternatively, we could say he's 41, same age as Karl Urban. Anyone got a problem with that? Yeah, me neither.

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Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson

A rising star in Justice Department's Psi-Division.

First appearance:

'Cover Me', Issue 2.

Distinguishing features:

Rarely seen wearing her helmet. Presumably a chunk of armour with Head-Up Display, communicator and padding isn't all that helpful if you want to concentrate on using your telepathic powers. Wears her hair long despite impracticality in combat. Psi-judges tend to enjoy a bit more licence when it comes to uniform regs – or to put it another way, psi-judges are often used by artists when for some reason they feel the female lead has to show a bit of cleavage. Presumably that enhances their telepathy or something. Fortunately, that's not happened in this run yet, but Anderson has two other distinguishing features, generally described in fanfic of dubious quality. The judge's uniform in the comics doesn't exactly disguise such features, know what I mean?

What's she done so far?

Anderson is a telepath of no mean ability. Slightly quirky (as is often the norm for Psis, and allowances are made for their peccadilloes), Anderson is still a tough and competent judge. Trusted enough by Dredd for him to include her in his investigation of Myers's apparent corruption, and the extraction of his personality and its removal into a robotic body. In 'The Good Parts' she learned how perps use memory pills to evade detection by Psi-Division. Later, in 'We've Got You Now', she provided remote assistance for Dredd, using her psionic powers to scope out hazards while he delivered ransom money, and tipped Dredd off to the fact that Tarjay was under the surgeons' control.

How is she different from her 2000AD incarnation?

Anderson first appeared in 'Judge Death' and was of indeterminate age but markedly younger than Dredd. Her age has never been explicitly stated: she was once described as 'almost thirty years old' years ago, and more recently she's said to be 'pushing fifty'. The numbers almost certainly don't add up, but then it's not polite to ask a lady her age. In IDW, we seem to have the same scenario. She's obviously young and in her twenties, but not so fresh out of the Academy that she'd rather follow strict judicial procedure than Dredd's hunches. Actually, you know what? I'm going to resort to headcanon and say she's 27, the same age as Olivia Thirlby, as she played Anderson in the film.

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Judge James Myers

A middle-aged judge, partnered on occasion with Dredd. An honest and straightforward judge, more concerned with day-to-day judging, with little time or patience for complications. Now in a robot body, working undercover.

First appearance:

'Ripe', Issue 1.

Distinguishing features:

Formerly, his moustache. Truly a thing of beauty and an international day of mourning should be held for its loss. While possessed by Judge Lou Thompson, he was heterochromatic (left eye blue, right eye green). Now he's a robot. He's been robbed of his tash. The best he can hope for is to get some kind of novelty fridge magnet and attach that to the space above his mouth slot.

There should be more robots with moustaches.

What's he done so far?

Myers responded to the incident at the Zuckerberg Block Pleasure Mall, along with Dredd and Tarjay. Following Myers's near death at a block war, Dredd followed him home to ensure he was still fit for duty, but found a severed nose that went missing from the Zuckerberg Block Pleasure Mall riot. Dredd felt the evidence against Myers was sufficiently doubtful to merit personal investigation. He found missing hours from Muyers's reports and records of misplaced evidence, and frankly things did not look good. Myers insisted he had no memory of performing such activities (in other words, the Reagan defence), but, confronted with the evidence, was about to turn himself over to the SJS anyway (okay, not the Reagan defence then). Still sceptical, Dredd had Psi-Judge Anderson scan his mind, and no evidence of unjudicial activity could be found. As far as Myers knew, he was clean!

Dredd and Anderson discovered that he was unwittingly playing host to the personality of Psi-Judge Lou Thompson, who, following the death of his own body, was using Myers instead; with Thompson officially dead and his file sealed, the bent judge could go on committing violent crimes, leaving Myers to take the rap. This presented Anderson and Dredd with a dilemma: they could turn Myers in to ensure Thompson's death, but that would result in Myers's death too! Worse, all physical evidence pointed at Myers being responsible. In the end, Myers was sentenced to death by the SJS, but Anderson moved his personality into a robotic body, forcing the true culprit to face justice while in Myers's body. Myers is now undercover, investigating who's been tampering with the droids, as seen in 'Ripe'.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

He exists in this timeline but has not appeared in 2000AD. Myers is one of Swierczynski's original characters. Something of a relief, actually: if all we saw was characters from the Dredd cast that's built up in 2000AD, what would be the point? Playing with other people's toys is all well and good, but there's something immeasurably satisfying about bringing your own along.

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Nick Tarjay

A former judge whose career went so far south it's just hit Antarctica. Also the first streaker in this comic.

First appearance:

'Ripe', Issue 1.

Distinguishing features:

A tattoo on his left hand saying "WANTED FOR ATTEMPD MURDER OF A JUDGE". Burns on right hand obscuring other tattoo saying "YOU ARE A JUDGE WHO WAS FRAMED. PROVE YOUR INNOCENCE! TAKE MEMORY PILLS TO AVD PSI-D". Yet another tattoo on his forearm saying "IF CORNERED PRESS BUTTON ON WATCH". A tattoo of a swallow on his ankle. A tramp stamp of a butterfly. Chinese pictograms on his arm that were meant to be Mandarin for "Son of the Phoenix" to, like, symbolise how he'll, like, rise again, yeah? but they said "Special Fried Rice with Prawns". A tattoo on his stomach reading "JUDGE 4 LYFE". One on his other thigh reading "OKAY I TOOK THE MEMORY PILLS NOW WHA OW HEY THIS TATTOO NEEDLE RLY HURTS WHY AM I DOING THIS" n.b. He might not actually have some of these tattoos. See if you can work out which ones he doesn't have.

What's he done so far?

While partnered with Dredd and Myers during 'Ripe', Tarjay was shot in the throat. While in hospital, the Surgeon arranged for him to be abducted and cloned. That clone accompanied Dredd on the mission to deliver ransom money ('We've Got You Now, part 1' and was used to attack Dredd. Tarjay was then charged with attempted murder of a judge. The original Tarjay went on the run, using memory pills to evade detection by Psi-Division while trying to clear his name. When Dredd was sent to recover him, Tarjay engineered an explosion to cover his escape. This caused minor injuries, and the partial destruction of his tattoos.

Between that and his memory drugs, he now believes that he has genuinely attempted to murder a judge, and has resolved to pursue that goal with greater zeal. In short, be more worried about what he's going to do.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

No sign of him in 2000AD. Another of Swierczynski's original characters. A bit of a relief, frankly; the first rogue judge to appear in 2000AD was Mutie the Pig (Judge Gibson), who came and went within five pages and made little impression other than introducing the unsurprising notion of a bent judge.

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Chief Justice Morgan

The guy in charge of the judges. Apparently on first-name terms with Dredd, and trusts him enough to deliver a hovercraft full of creds through a gauntlet of opportunistic thugs, take out the kidnappers and return the money and abductees intact.

First appearance:

'We've Got You Now, part 1', Issue 3.

Distinguishing features:

60something, African-American, clean-shaven with close-cropped grey hair. In the 22nd century, ethnicity shouldn't really be much of a feature -- racism's never really been a major issue in Judge Dredd. Xenophobia towards residents of other blocks, other mega-cities or other planets, sure; anti-mutant prejudice, robophobia, absolutely; but judges and citizens, come in all colours. Wears a variant uniform indicative of his rank, including two identical shoulderpads and an oversized Chief Judge's badge.

What's he done so far?

Not a lot yet, but he is the head of Justice Department this will surely change. As we'll see later, though, like all leaders he's reliant on his lieutenants to help him manage the task of pass and enforce laws over a city of 800 million people.

How is he different from his 2000AD incarnation?

Another original character. First, a quick note on race: in some regards 2000AD has done pretty well in terms of giving minorities major parts in Judge Dredd. There have been five major black characters: Judge Giant and his son, Thomas Silver, Guthrie, and Dan Francisco; Silver and Francisco both being chief judges. Judge Beeny is half-Latina. On other occasions (Our Man in Hondo in particular) the narration has been a significant step backward. Lately, though, especially since 'America', the strip's handling of this issue has improved vastly.

In this run, we get to see a minority in the big chair right from an early point in the story. Fortunate, really, as all the other named judges have been white, and three quarters of them male. One would hope that by 2100 society might have progressed a little further; but it's only four issues in and world-building is still very much an ongoing process.

Considering Morgan's name, I can't help thinking of Morgan Freeman, so I hope this character doesn't turn out to be another version of the Magical Negro trope. Given this character's relative age and position of seniority he could very easily fall into that rôle. Fortunately at present he comes across more as a man in charge content to simply count on Dredd to do the job. And as we find out later on (hooray for being a year behind!) we find he's far from infallible. So far Morgan balances quite nimbly on the brink of that trope but has yet to fall in — although at present that is mainly due to the relative scarcity of his appearances.

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