Judge Dredd Chronicles #18: Muggers’ Moon

Night time crime with not a werewolf in sight

"Muggers’ Moon”

Mega City One Year: 2099

Published 2nd July 1977, 2000ad Prog: 19 (The Complete Judge Dredd 1 and Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 01.)

Parts: 1

Script: Gerry Finley-Day
Artist: John Cooper
Letters: Jack Potter

Synopsis

It’s a full moon in Mega City One, and Dredd expects a busy night as a result. Sure enough, he immediately has to combat three muggers. As the victim pleads with a passing driver for help, the driver prefers to avoid the situation. The victim, in desperation, grabs onto the escaping car’s exhaust pipe, burning their hand but also pulling off the exhaust’s filter in the process.

Dredd quickly dispatches the mugging trio with a single heat-seeking bullet from his Lawgiver, but also apprehends the aforementioned driver for fleeing the scene. Unable to arrest the driver due to his clean record, instead Dredd gets his man due to the removed exhaust filter leading to polluting the Mega City air with its fumes.

Review

A straightforward yet fun one and done, Mugger’s Moon plays on the consistently disproved notion that a full moon results in more crime. Here, it serves as perf3ct comic book storyline fodder. The overall narrative is pollution - both environmental and criminal, and both are executed with ease across these five pages.

John Cooper’s art is reminiscent of Fraser Irving, drawing not only a more defined Dredd we are more accustomed to, but the most defined rendition of the Lawgiver yet. The proclamation of the “Hot-Shot” bullet of choice immediately evoked memories of the excellent Karl Urban Dredd movie. Time to go watch that again I think. Excellent stuff.

Line of the strip - Dredd: “it’s your choice, and you have chosen THE HEAT-SEEKER!”

Be back next time citizens for “The Comic Pusher”