2000 AD #1309

Prog 1309 of 2000 AD puts a striking spin on the Judge's famous motto — the cover, pencilled and inked by Jim Baikie, shows a fully armoured Judge Dredd bursting through an explosion of debris while cradling a small infant in pink, his lawman's bearing intact even in the chaos. The tagline "To Serve and Protect — Dredd's Left Holding the Baby as Disaster Strikes" sets up the "An Everyday Disaster" story with a wry humanity that sits nicely against all that flying rubble and fire. A satisfying September 2002 prog that reminds you the Mega-City beat isn't always about firefights — sometimes it's about keeping one very small citizen safe.