"Antique Car Heist"
Mega City One Year: 2099
Published 16th April 1977, 2000ad Prog: 8 (The Complete Judge Dredd 1, Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 01)
Parts: 1
Written by Charles Herring
Illustrated by Massimo Bellardinelli
Letters by Tony Jacob
Synopsis
The cars of 1977 have become collectible Mega-City One antiques. When a Morris Minor is stolen, Dredd is alerted to follow. With his bike lights off and helmet infra-red night sight activated, Dredd successfully follows the lawbreaker to a car garage and interrupts the attempt to disguise the vehicle. The perps fire at Dredd’s helmet, forcing him to remove it and reveal his face. Although not revealed to the reader, the perps are horrified at what they see and Dredd takes them down before they can refocus. Garage owner Krilz makes his escape via a high-speed mechanical walkway, known as a walk-eezee, but Dredd instructs Justice Department Control to put the walk-eezee in reverse to catch Krilz and end the operation.
Review
Antique Car Heist is the worst Dredd tale so far, but still contains key elements to both Mega-City One and Justice Department. This is the first mention of the public transport system, the walk-eezee, which is also revealed to be controlled by Justice Department. The worth of the stolen car is stated as 500,000 credits, a first mention of Mega-City currency. It’s safe to assume that the infra-red feature of Dredd’s helmet is standard Justice Department issue, as is the capability of firing high explosive bullets from his issued weapon.
Dredd’s face “reveal” is as ridiculous as it is pointless. The implication that his wears a helmet purely because he is disfigured in some way raises a little intrigue, but its use as a plot device is very silly. And that sums up Antique Car Heist, a silly yet simple tale that achieves much more with its introduction to the Mega-City One way of life than it is an entertaining crime tale. It would be one of just two strips that Charles Herring would write for 2000ad.
Line of the strip: “Argh! What’s happened to Dredd’s face!? It’s HORRIBLE!"
Be back next time citizens for the very first John Wagner strip “Robots”, the prelude to Dredd’s first multi-part saga!
