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 | This UK comics–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| Death Trap | |
|---|---|
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | 2000 A.D. |
| Release no. | 2 |
| Written by | David Bishop |
| Directed by | Nicholas Briggs |
| Release date | April 2002 |
Judge Dredd: Death Trap is a Big Finish Productions audio drama released in April 2002 and based on the character Judge Dredd in British comic 2000 AD . It stars Toby Longworth as Judge Dredd, Claire Buckfield as his ally and former mentee Judge Amy Steel (introduced in the March 2002 audio drama Judge Dredd: Wanted: Dredd or Alive ), and Mark Gatiss as the undead Judge Death.
The year is 2124. It is Necropolis Day, the 12th anniversary of when Mega-City One was finally freed from temporary rule by the Dark Judges, undead monsters from a parallel Earth they call Deadworld. With their power and the aid of their Sisters of Death, the Dark Judges had turned the city into their personal Necropolis, killing over 60 million people before Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson and others were able to defeat them. Now, a radical group known as Death's Release claims the powerful "alien superfiend" Judge Death and his Dark Judges were not responsible for the Necropolis and are unlawfully imprisoned. They claim the official history of Necropolis is a lie that must be removed from history books, saying the true villains behind any deaths were the Judges who rule and patrol the city.
Since his undead body was destroyed, Judge Death still exists only as a gaseous spirit. He is guarded by robo-judges (who cannot be possessed or influenced by him) and contained in isolation in Iso-Block 99, having been separated from the other Dark Judges three years before on Dredd's recommendation. Judge Dredd visits on the Necropolis Day anniversary, as he has done every year since Death's imprisonment after the Necropolis affair. Like the other Dark Judges, Death's spirit was held within a "glasseen crystal" but a flaw was discovered in its structure, so his spirit form is temporarily being held in a more conventional, sealed iso-cube cell while another crystal is prepared. Judge Death remarks that he and Dredd are two very similar people with similar goals, and adds that Death's Release will soon help him escape Iso-Block 99. Dredd learns that historian Nigella Gaiman has been allowed to interview Death, the Justice Department hoping the monster might become comfortable enough to reveal to her how he is able to sometimes hide from Psi-Judge scans and precognitive visions. So far, Gaiman has reported no such information being shared.
Judge Dredd's latest protégée Judge Amy Steel arrives at Sylvia Plath Block where twelve years before Judge Death had hidden by briefly renting a room under the name "Jay De'Ath." The partially deaf and nearly blind elderly landlady Mrs Gunderson thought he was simply an ordinary if soft-spoken tenant. Judge Steel finds the apartment now treated as a shrine by an illegal gathering of the Disciples of Death, a prohibited cult whose members worship Judge Death. Steel encounters Walter the Wobot, Dredd's former house robot who later went rogue and now serves a probation sentence as Gunderson's housekeeper and caretaker. Walter shares that he overheard the Disciples of Death saying members of Death Release plan to perform a terrorist action that same day at a debate hosted by reporter Enigma Smith. Steel and Dredd both head to Enigma Smith's filming at the Philip Larkin Convention Center.
On Enigma Smith's show, historian Dr. Nigella Gaiman disagrees with many of the claims of Death's Release and believes Judge Death's spirit form should be vaporized for his actions. The program is joined by Jake Black, spokesperson for the political wing of Death's Release who says Gaiman will be among Judge Death's next victims. Gaiman reveals she recognizes "Jake Black" as her former student Seymour Goldkind.
An armored vehicle drives into the convention center, releasing Death Release paramilitary agents. Dredd and Steel take them down, then wound Jake Black when he attempts to kill Dr. Gaiman. The second armored vehicle, operated by remote control and filled with high explosives, heads to Iso-Block 99 and crashes into its walls. The explosion destroys half the building and compromises Death's containment, allowing his escape. Dredd realizes that Death's Release is being funded and directed by someone outside the group. Judge Death possesses Judge Steel and uses her to shoot Nigella Gaiman, then leaves to go "home." Dredd finds Gaiman alive and concludes Steel resisted Death's control enough to wound rather than kill. Gaiman says she believes Death intends to return to his home on Deadworld, and Dredd goes to check the tech lab that deals with dimension-hopping technology, only to then realize this is a dead end.
Realizing Death is actually going "home" to Sylvia Plath block, Dredd heads there. Arriving at Mrs. Gunderson's apartment, Judge Death (still possessing Steel's body) sees that more Disciples of Death have gathered. He instructs them to assemble machinery he arranged to be delivered to Gunderson's home, machinery designed to transform a dead body into a perfect, undead Dark Judge through use of the "Dead Fluids." Gaiman arrives with a gun, revealing to Steel that she is actually in league with Judge Death and loves him. Dredd arrives and realizes the truth, that Death didn't intend to kill her earlier and her interviews were actually a cover to study Iso-Block 99's security so she could later breach it. Gaiman hopes to be united with Death but then the Dark Judge forces her to commit suicide so he can take full possession of her body.
Holding Mrs. Gunderson hostage with Gaiman's gun, Death says he will release the woman if Judge Dredd becomes his next host. He intends to kill Dredd then and treated his body with the Dead Fluids so the Dark Judge can regain his true power and full form. He claims this will also allow Dredd to become immortal in his own way and deliver more justice than ever before. Dredd admits that in pursuit of justice he often has to kill, but argues it is evil to want to kill and enjoy killing. Signaling Steel to get ready, Dredd tells Mrs. Gunderson that her knitting is on the floor. As the landlady ducks out of the way to find her knitting, Dredd fires incendiary rounds, causing Gaiman's body to be engulfed in flame. Death's gaseous spirit is forced to leave the body and then, before the superfiend can possess anyone else, Steel uses Mrs. Gunderson's vacuum cleaner to trap him. His spirit form sealed inside the vacuum, Judge Death can now be returned to containment.
For his help, Dredd decides to cut Walter the Wobot's probation sentence as Mrs. Gunderson's house robot in half. Dredd asks if Mrs. Gunderson wouldn't prefer another apartment, as her own has now been the focus of repeated trouble. Mrs. Gunderson says no, since she actually enjoys how often her home has visitors.
| | This UK comics–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Judge Dredd is a comic book franchise based on the longest-running comic strip in 2000 AD (1977), a British weekly anthology comic.
Judge Cassandra Anderson is a fictional law enforcer and psychic appearing in the British science fiction comics 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Brian Bolland, Anderson made her debut as a supporting character in the Judge Dredd story "Judge Death". The character's popularity with readers led to her starring in her own series, Anderson: Psi-Division, which has been written almost exclusively by Alan Grant, often working with artist Arthur Ranson until 2005; Boo Cook drew a majority of the stories until 2012, since which a number of different artists have worked on the strip. In 2012 the character appeared in the film Dredd, played by Olivia Thirlby.
Mega-City One is a huge fictional post-nuclear megalopolis-size megacity city-state covering much of what is now the Eastern United States and some of Canada in the Judge Dredd comic book series and its spinoff series. The exact geography of the city depends on which writer and artist has done which story, but from its first appearance it has been associated with New York City's urban sprawl; originally it was presented as a future New York, which was retconned as the centre of a "Mega-City One" in the very next story.
Judge is a title held by several significant characters in Judge Dredd and other series which appear in the British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine. In the fictional future history of the series, the role of "Judge" combines those of judge, jury and police officer, thus avoiding long legal wrangles by allowing for criminals to be tried and sentenced on the spot. Since they overthrew the U.S. Constitution in 2070, Judges have also held supreme political power in Mega-City One. Collectively they are known as the Justice Department.
Vincent Locke is an American comic book artist known for his work on Deadworld and A History of Violence and for his ultraviolent album covers for death metal band Cannibal Corpse.
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death is a first-person shooter video game based on the Judge Dredd character from the 2000 AD comic series, developed by Rebellion Developments. It was released in 2003 in Europe, and was supposed to be released in March or April 2004 in the United States, but was held back until early 2005.
Dean Ormston is a British born comic book artist. His most notable work has been for the British comic 2000 AD and for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.
"Necropolis" is a 26-part story featuring British comics science fiction character Judge Dredd. Written by John Wagner and painted by Carlos Ezquerra, it was published in 1990 in 2000 AD progs 674–699. The story was the subject of extensive foreshadowing in the comic, beginning with The Dead Man, followed by "Tale of the Dead Man", and finally three stories collectively known as "Countdown to Necropolis". It pulled together various story threads going back four years (see also Democracy ). "Necropolis" was also followed by a number of epilogues and other follow-up stories, and had repercussions within the Judge Dredd strip which lasted for years.
"Judgement Day" is a story of British science fiction character Judge Dredd. It was first published with alternating episodes in both 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine in 1992. It was the first crossover between the two publications; three more have since followed. It was also a crossover with another 2000 AD series, Strontium Dog, as it featured the second occasion on which Judge Dredd confronted Johnny Alpha. It was written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra, Peter Doherty, Dean Ormston and Chris Halls.
The Dead Man was a science fiction strip in the British comic 2000 AD by writer John Wagner and artist John Ridgway, published in black and white in 1989–90. Although it was not billed as a Judge Dredd story, it featured Dredd as the amnesiac protagonist known only as the Dead Man. It was part of a series of stories that set the scene for the main Judge Dredd story of 1990, "Necropolis".
City of the Damned is a Judge Dredd story which was published in British comic 2000 AD in issues 393–406 (1984–1985). It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant and illustrated by Steve Dillon, Ian Gibson, Ron Smith and Kim Raymond. It was the first Judge Dredd story to feature time travel. Originally planned to last for at least twenty episodes, like earlier stories "The Judge Child" and "The Apocalypse War", the writers got bored of writing it and wrapped it up early at only 14 episodes because they did not like time travel stories.
Democracy in the fictional future city of Mega-City One has been a significant recurring theme in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. In particular, a number of stories published since 1986 have addressed the issue of the Judges' dictatorial system of government, and efforts by the citizens to re-establish democracy. Besides being a notable story arc in itself, the "Democracy" stories also had wider repercussions which led directly to the events depicted in the story "Necropolis".
Dredd is a 2012 science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland. It is based on the 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd and its eponymous character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd, a law enforcer given the power of judge, jury and executioner in a vast, dystopic metropolis called Mega-City One that lies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Dredd and his apprentice partner, Judge Anderson, are forced to bring order to a 200-storey high-rise block of flats and deal with its resident drug lord, Ma-Ma.
Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham is the first of four Batman and Judge Dredd crossover comic books, published by DC Comics and Fleetway in 1991. It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with art by Simon Bisley.
Day of Chaos is a story featuring science fiction character Judge Dredd, which was published in British comic 2000 AD in 2011–2012. It has the greatest number of episodes (48) and pages (289) of any Judge Dredd story. It features amongst other things Russian revenge plots, the "Chaos Bug" after which the series is named, the Dark Judges and the destruction of most of Dredd's city.
Judge Dredd: Wanted: Dredd or Alive is the first audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions based on the character Judge Dredd created in 1977 in British comic 2000 AD. Released in March 2002, it introduces Amy Steel, a BritCit-born Judge living in Mega-City One who teams up with Dredd in several more audio dramas and becomes a respected ally. It stars Toby Longworth as Judge Dredd and Claire Buckfield as Amy Steel.
Judge Dredd: The Big Shot! is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the character Judge Dredd in British comic 2000 AD.
Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of 2000 AD (1977), which is a British weekly anthology comic. He is the magazine's longest-running character. He also appears in a number of film and video game adaptations.
As a fictional character and enemy of Batman, the Riddler has been represented in a variety of different stories that redefine elements of the characters appearance and personality. Each work typically establishes its own continuity, and sometimes introduces parallel universes, to the point where distinct differences in the portrayal of the character can be identified. This article details various versions of Riddler depicted in works including various alternative universe stories.