Trollheart

First print date: February 20 1982
Prog appearance: 252
Writer(s): John Wagner
Artist(s): Carlos Ezquerra
Total episodes: 25

The Apocalypse War, Episode VIII

As the Tactical Command Bunker is breached by Sov sentenoids, Dredd orders the upper levels be sealed, and they move deeper into the bunker, sealing off each level as they descend. In a last desperate effort, as they evacuate the Chief Judge and prepare to abandon the bunker, Dredd makes an announcement to the citizens, advising them that the city is now under attack by East-Meg forces, and that they should resist, as the Judges are doing their best to resist, the invader. Needless to say his words go unnoticed, as Block Fever continues to rage, removing, as the Sovs had planned all along, a large part of the resistance that might have risen against them. Blockers love their blocks, but when faced with a common enemy they might have been persuaded to have put their differences aside and taken on the invaders; that will not happen now. Those few who even half-understand the words of Dredd up on the various huge screens around the city don't care, and the rest are too far gone to even realise what's happening.

Back at his own apartment, Dredd's robot Walter encounters Maria, his landlady, who is herself deep in the throes of Block Mania. As the robot tries to explain to her that the Sovs are invading, she shrugs off his protestations and attempts to reason with her, so he decides the only thing he can do is truss her up and take her to Dredd. Meanwhile, Dredd has set the bunker to self-destruct, taking as many Sov soldiers with it as possible, while he and the other Judges convey Griffin to a secret Justice Department spacecraft. Loading him in, they launch it into orbit, desperate to preserve this figurehead behind which people can rally – if they ever shake off Block Mania.

Quotes

Dredd (speaking to the city): “I don't know how many of you are out there listening, I don't know how many of you even care, but hear this: East-Meg forces now occupy the northern sectors and are sweeping south. Our city faces its blackest hour. Judges are under orders to carry on their resistance whenever and however possible. This order extends to all citizens.”
Bugs Bunny Blocker: “What's he on about?”
Billy Smart Blocker: “Who cares? Eat Smart boot, Bunny boy!”

Maria: “You still-a here, Walter? Why you no a-fighting? There's a block-a war a-going on, you know? I only came-a back for my cooking laser. I'm-a fighting for Mario Lanza Rough-a-necks. We're gonna fry some-a Van Cleef Blockers.”
Walter: “Maria, this is cwazy! Don't you know the East-Meggers are ovewunning the city?”
Maria: “No, but you a-hum it and I'll sing along. I just a-gotta time.”

Griffin: “I could stay here, Dredd. Fight ...”
Dredd: “You're in no condition for it. The city needs a figurehead, a symbol of hope. Whatever else happens, our Chief Judge must survive.”

Laughing in the face of death
Although I hate his diodes, the exchange between Maria and Walter, while a prehistoric joke transferred to the future, does help to slightly leaven the sense of doom and foreboding and hopelessness this episode drips with.

I AM THE LAW!
It isn't of course the case, but the unkind reader might think that Dredd is getting rid of Griffin so as to be in absolute command. Were the Chief Judge to recover now, perhaps he might go against Dredd's “no surrender no retreat” policy, so shooting him into space could be seen as a way of ensuring that there is nobody to question Dredd's orders. I don't think that of course, but someone might.

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