2000 AD #1188
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeProg 1188 is the concluding chapter of 'Blood Cadets,' the three-part John Wagner story that introduced Judge Rico — a new clone of Dredd named in honour of the original, corrupt Rico Dredd — and saw Joe Dredd formally certify his young clone-brother as fit to serve as a Judge. By bringing a legacy character back into continuity through a fresh generation, Wagner deepened the Dredd mythology's long-running meditation on identity, genetics, and moral choice in a way that would echo through the strip for decades. The prog also closes the Missionary Man arc 'The Promised Land' and carries ongoing instalments of Nikolai Dante and Sláine, making it a dense anthology snapshot of 2000 AD at the transitional moment between Egmont Fleetway's stewardship and Rebellion's imminent takeover.
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Prog 1188 was published on 12 April 2000 under Egmont Fleetway Ltd, which held the title from Prog 1014 through Prog 1204. The 'Blood Cadets' Dredd story was scripted by John Wagner with art by Simon Fraser and Gary Caldwell — notably the same Simon Fraser who co-created Nikolai Dante with Robbie Morrison in 1997 and was the strip's primary artist through its first three years. Editor David Bishop is credited by contemporary fan commentary as having commissioned and substantially shaped the Nikolai Dante strip during this period, and the prog reflects the editorial confidence his tenure brought to the anthology's line-up.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Prog 1188 (dated 12 April 2000) contains the third and final episode of 'Blood Cadets,' written by John Wagner with art by Simon Fraser and Gary Caldwell.
- First appearance of the new Judge Rico — a clone of Dredd named after the original Rico Dredd — occurs in episode one of 'Blood Cadets' (Prog 1186); Prog 1188 concludes the arc with Dredd certifying Rico as a full Judge.
- The new Judge Rico (indexed here as 'Judge Rico') is a clone-brother of Joe Dredd and distinct from the original Rico Dredd (clone-brother from Prog 30, 1977), who died by Dredd's hand after serving 20 years on the Titan penal colony.
- Gordon Rennie's Missionary Man story arc 'The Promised Land' concludes in this issue (it ran from Prog 1174 to 1188).
- Nikolai Dante — created by Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser and first appearing in Prog 1035 (March 1997) — appears as an ongoing strip; from 2000, the majority of Dante stories transitioned to painted art by John Burns.
- Sláine, the long-running Celtic fantasy strip created by Pat Mills, also appears in this prog, drawn here by David Bircham.
- Pussyfoot 5, a story by writer John Smith set in the Dredd universe, also features in the issue.
- 'Blood Cadets' (Progs 1186–1188) was later reprinted as part of Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection #53 ('Brothers of the Blood') by Rebellion, alongside the original 'Return of Rico' (Prog 30) and other clone-related Dredd stories.
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