2000 AD and Tornado #149

History

The 'Judge Death' three-parter (Progs 149–151) was written by John Wagner and drawn by Brian Bolland, with lettering by Tom Frame — the same creative pairing that had been defining the look of Judge Dredd throughout the late 1970s. Wagner conceived the character as a direct answer to the recurring-villain problem, and according to the book Thrill-Power Overload the initial concept of Judge Death was suggested by Alan Grant, who was Wagner's flatmate at the time though not yet his writing partner. Prog 149 appeared during the period when 2000 AD carried the 'and Tornado' banner, a holdover from the August 1979 merger with the short-lived IPC action comic Tornado, which had folded after 22 issues; that combined branding would persist until September 1980, meaning this landmark issue is technically published under the merged title.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Judge Death (debuting in episode 1, Prog 149), created by writer John Wagner and artist Brian Bolland, published 26 January 1980 by IPC.
• Judge Death is the leader of the Dark Judges, undead law-enforcers from the parallel dimension of Deadworld, operating on the philosophy that all crime is committed by the living — therefore life itself is the punishable offence.
• The story 'Judge Death' ran across three episodes (Progs 149–151); all interior art was by Brian Bolland with lettering by Tom Frame.
• The initial concept for Judge Death was reportedly proposed by Alan Grant, who was John Wagner's flatmate at the time, though Grant was not yet co-writing the strip.
• Judge Anderson (Cassandra Anderson, Psi-Division) makes her first appearance in episode 2 of the story, Prog 150 — not Prog 149; her character design by Bolland is widely reported to have been inspired by a photograph of 2000 AD assistant editor Deirdre Vine, though an alternate attribution to singer Debbie Harry is also circulated.
• The cover of Prog 149 is a Blackhawk illustration by Massimo Belardinelli — Judge Death received no cover feature or interior blurb flagging his debut, an unusually low-key entrance for such an enduring character.
• A preview of Judge Death appeared as a half-page feature in Prog 148, the issue immediately preceding his full debut.
• The 'Judge Death' story arc has been reprinted extensively, including in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 03, the Eagle Comics US reprints (with colour by John Burns), Titan Books' Classic Judge Dredd series, and the Hachette Partworks Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection.

Cast · 2 characters

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