Episode V: “Frankenstein 2”
First print date: April 2 1977
Prog appearance: 6
Writer(s): Malcolm Shaw
Artist(s): Mike McMahon
Total episodes: 1
We're told at the opening of the story that body transplant science advanced so far in the twnty-first century that it meant people could basically keep replacing worn-out parts and essentially live forever. With an already dangerous population explosion and only three cities in the USA to hold all this heaving humanity, a decision was taken to outlaw the practice. That of course does not stop those who have no fear of the law, and so it is at the start of this episode that we see an ambulance being hijacked and the body stolen. Dredd has been watching but wishes to bust the whole operation, and so has let the perps go, hoping they'll lead him to the mastermind, the titular doctor.
Control relays the information that the stolen ambulance went into a tunnel but never emerged, and Dredd guesses that there is a hidden entrance in the tunnel wall, behind which is the ghoulish doctor's hideout. He shoots his way in, and finds he is right. His Lawmaster's cannons bark blazing laser death as five of Frankenstein 2's henchmen attack him. After a short fight, and trying to blind Dredd with an overhead light (which doesn't work, as his helmet is fitted with an anti-glare visor) Frankenstein 2 surrenders. But Dredd is not finished yet.
He approaches the rich citizen on the operating table, and declares he is under arrest. When asked what for, Dredd tells him “Receiving stolen goods!”
Welcome to the world of tomorrow!
Where for a very exorbitant fee you can circumvent the law and have your body augmented with stolen spare parts so that you can continue living. The problem with this is that, if everyone were to do it, the population would expand to the stage where it would be unsustainable and place far too much of a strain on an already overstretched planet's resources. Add to that the fact that, if you could technically live forever, a lot more people might get braver and bolder, with many of them turning to crime. As a result of this fear, and the innate belief that man is not meant to be immortal, body surgery was outlawed and is now a crime.
But there are of course those who have the money and the connections to flout the law, thinking themselves immune due to their wealth or their position. The Judges, however, make no exceptions or excuses, and the rich pay the same price as the poor when they break the law.
QUOTES
Frankenstein 2: “Don't be hasty Judge. With my help you can live forever. Every time a part runs out I can replace it.”
Dredd: “You can't bribe a Judge.”
(Correction: you can't bribe most Judges. But although some are clones (maybe all, I really don't know) they are still human, with human failings and occasionally human greed. In a position of power like this, with the opportunity to make fast cash in return for their services, we will see much later that some Judges do “go over to the dark side”. There are, of course, severe penalties for any Judge caught accepting a bribe or using his or her position to profit.)
Citizen: “You can't arrest me, Judge. Sure, I got a transplant, but what crime did I commit?”
Dredd: “Receiving stolen goods!”
(Dredd often looks beyond the crime, to the causes and those who foster it. Were it not for all those rich people wanting to live beyond their natural lifespan, this illegal trade in body parts would not flourish as it does, so just like a stolen car ring can be facilitated by those who rob the cars, so too those who help this enterprise by patronising it --- in the full knowledge they are breaking the law --- must pay. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but here, these people are not ignorant of the law, just contemptuous of it.)
Kid: “Why does the Judge never smile, ma?”
Mother: “It's his job, child. It's tough upholding the law in Mega-City One.”
(Indeed. There's little to smile about, when all around him is robbery, violence, murder and all sorts of crime. Not only that, but in order to present the toughest, strictest face of the law to the citizens it's likely many Judges (not all: some do smile) keep their emotions in check, at least in public. It's also possible that many have hardened their hearts in order to keep them from letting off a citizen for some minor offence or other. You don't flutter your eyelashes at a Judge, and hope to get out of your sentence! In fact, some Judges --- Dredd probably included --- might take that in itself as an attempt at bribery and add time to your sentence!)
PCRs
You would expect that with a series that prides itself on dark hunour and also looking back to the present (?), Judge Dredd (indeed, much of 2000AD) would have a lot of PCRs (Pop Culture References, for those of you who have not been reading The Couch Potato). And you'd be right. As they come up I'll log them here.
The most obvious one of course is the use of the Frankenstein name, but Dredd also growls, “Frankenstein 2, I presume”, as Baxter did when he finally met Dr. Livingstone in Africa.