This includes the continued debate about a wall between the US and Mexico and tighter immigration policies in the US, France, post-Brexit Britain and Australia.
It’s unsurprising then, that media use the symbol of Dredd in discussions of countries where similar trends are becoming apparent. It also takes no responsibility for the brutality and injustice felt by those who have become collateral damage. The comics include harsher penalties and laws against outsiders, walls that encase cities and a system of rule that is so restrictive it denies people basic human rights. The world of Dredd emphasises authoritarianism in relation to the police and government. He believed they should be able to confiscate licenses and vehicles, and issue infractions for anti-social behaviour, circumventing the rules of law and moving towards a process of instant justice. In Western society, a perceived prevalence of shoot-to-kill responses, the militarising of the police, the invasive surveillance of people and the urbanisation in response to over-population mimics the fictive universe of Judge Dredd comics.įor instance, in 2005, a top ranking British police officer, metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, was accused of embracing the Judge Dredd ideology when he suggested that police officers should have more autonomy. But it seems that Dredd is increasingly becoming prophetic rather than fiction. It can also be invoked as a warning to avoid the dilution of civilian freedoms and ideals. When popular culture becomes realityĭrawing on the cultural capital of Dredd is a shortcut to justify his particular brand as a solution to rampant crime. In this world, the only course of action to maintain order and overcome lawlessness is through instant justice. A radical population spike coupled with a lack of liveable land (because it was all radioactive), sets the scene for a dystopian comic. The world of Dredd was to be an exaggerated depiction of Western society. It is interesting to note that today the riot uniforms of police, with their padding, shields and knee pads, put even Dredd’s uniform to shame. It further established that Dredd was to be received as extreme. The aesthetic of the character is reminiscent of the iconography of fascist Spain and with 70s punk-style overtones. They depicted “ the ultimate draconian cop”, who acts as judge, jury and executioner and polices the streets of Mega-City One, itself a hyper-constructed metropolis riddled with criminal activity. His creators envisioned the character as a no-nonsense cop - as writer John Wagner put it, “a psycho character with no feelings”.įrom the outset, the Dredd comics were designed to be satirical. The character of Judge Dredd was first introduced in the 1977 second issue of the comic 2000AD.
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