Apocalypse War
Encyclopedia
The Apocalypse War is a storyline from the comic strip Judge Dredd
, first published in British comic 2000 AD
in 1982. A sequel to the story "Block Mania
", it was written by John Wagner
and Alan Grant and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra
. The Apocalypse War covered 25 episodes over 2000 AD progs 245–267 and 269–270.
by its Soviet counterpart, East-Meg One. While the city is still vulnerable, most of the population having been infected by the Block Mania drug, the East-Meg forces launch a surprise attack on all fronts, including nuking random sectors of the city. Soviet nuclear weapons are then detonated across Mega-City One's Eastern seaboard, creating a tidal wave
that destroys the Atlantic Wall and many sectors. With the wall's laser defences gone, the Sovs are able to launch nuclear saturation bombardment of the southern sectors, killing 150 million people in one swoop. Mega-City One's nuclear counterstrike is rendered ineffective by East-Meg One's "Apocalypse Warp", a forcefield which diverts the incoming missiles to a peaceful alternative Earth, destroying it in the process. Mega-City Two and Texas City refuse to aid their ally in order to give themselves time to develop their own forcefield. East Meg ground troops then swarm into the stricken city via the Northern sectors, occupying most of it in only four days while Dredd tries to lead a guerrilla resistance movement.
A decisive turning point was the Mega City Judges' use of the Stub Gun, an experimental two handed cutting weapon able to slice through almost any substance. However, while this weapon was very powerful, sustained use would lead to it overheating and exploding. Dredd leads a band of Mega City Judges who "stubbed" a Mega-City transport nexus forcing East-Meg forces through to the city bottom. Thermal charges were employed in a devastating ambush, temporarily holding the invading forces in the north.
In a few days the Sovs conquer ninety percent of the city, including the Grand Hall of Justice
. Chief Judge Griffin
is abducted and brainwashed into spreading pro-Sov propaganda, forcing Dredd to assassinate him. Devastating and random weather conditions sweep the city with the destruction of Weather Control, millions of citizens flee to the Cursed Earth
, and those deemed Sov collaborators are executed out of hand.
The war is eventually won when Dredd leads a commando unit to seize an East-Meg missile silo and uses it to obliterate East-Meg One, with the loss of 500 million lives. East Meg One could not use its force field to protect itself in time, due to the proximity of the silo. With no hope of victory the East Meg forces inside Mega-City one are defeated by a counter attack and forced to surrender.
The war left Mega-City One in ruins, with many highly radioactive areas and other hazards and half of its 800 million population dead. It fell to the new Chief Judge McGruder
to begin the long task of rebuilding.
The destruction of East-Meg One would have consequences in several further stories. In 2121, in the story The Doomsday Scenario
, Dredd was abducted and put on trial for war crimes by a group of East-Meg survivors at the New Kremlin, but he escaped and killed many of them before the kangaroo court
could return its verdict.
The result was a storyline designed to bring Mega City back to a more reasonable size. Most of the southern part of the city was nuked out and four hundred million citizens killed, resulting in a much smaller city centred on the North East. Since this story the population has hovered around 400 million, rising to 420 million in stories set in the early 2110's before losing another sixty million after "Necropolis."
The story was somewhat set up with one previous Dredd tale. Over a year earlier the story "Pirates of the Black Atlantic" ended with the revelation that a seemingly independent nuclear attack on MC-1 had been the work of the Sov block, and East Meg one is forced to destroy one of its own sectors to appease Mega City One. However at the end MC-1 looks to its defences and the Sovs reveal that their plan to attack the American megacity is not ready yet.
Fallout from the war dominated the strip for the next couple of years with the slow re-building of the city, occupying at least a background role in many stories. The post Apocalypse War status quo has remained in place ever since. Occasional stories have focused on Sov efforts at revenge (either from East Meg 2, or rogue groups), culminating in the events of "Satan's Island" in which nearly 900,000 citizens lost their lives at the hands of a bio-weapon released by Orlok.
" were reprinted in a graphic novel by Titan Books: "Judge Dredd: The Complete 'Apocalypse War' Including 'Block Mania'" as a paperback (1995-03-01) ISBN 1852864044, 224 pages.
There was also a hardback edition with a minimalist black cover.
More recently the story was re-printed in "Judge Dredd: The Complete Casefiles 05."
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
, first published in British comic 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
in 1982. A sequel to the story "Block Mania
Block Mania
Block Mania is a Judge Dredd story, which ran in British comic 2000 AD #236-244, in 1981. The story itself is a prologue for the longer storyline "The Apocalypse War", which immediately follows the conclusion of "Block Mania".-Story:...
", it was written by John Wagner
John Wagner
John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
and Alan Grant and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra
Carlos Ezquerra
Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
. The Apocalypse War covered 25 episodes over 2000 AD progs 245–267 and 269–270.
Plot
Set in 2104, it tells of the invasion of Dredd's city, Mega-City OneMega-City One
Mega-City One is a huge fictional city-state covering much of what is now the Eastern United States in the Judge Dredd comic book series. The exact boundaries of the city depend on which artist has drawn the story...
by its Soviet counterpart, East-Meg One. While the city is still vulnerable, most of the population having been infected by the Block Mania drug, the East-Meg forces launch a surprise attack on all fronts, including nuking random sectors of the city. Soviet nuclear weapons are then detonated across Mega-City One's Eastern seaboard, creating a tidal wave
Megatsunami
Megatsunami is an informal term to describe a tsunami that has initial wave heights that are much larger than normal tsunamis...
that destroys the Atlantic Wall and many sectors. With the wall's laser defences gone, the Sovs are able to launch nuclear saturation bombardment of the southern sectors, killing 150 million people in one swoop. Mega-City One's nuclear counterstrike is rendered ineffective by East-Meg One's "Apocalypse Warp", a forcefield which diverts the incoming missiles to a peaceful alternative Earth, destroying it in the process. Mega-City Two and Texas City refuse to aid their ally in order to give themselves time to develop their own forcefield. East Meg ground troops then swarm into the stricken city via the Northern sectors, occupying most of it in only four days while Dredd tries to lead a guerrilla resistance movement.
A decisive turning point was the Mega City Judges' use of the Stub Gun, an experimental two handed cutting weapon able to slice through almost any substance. However, while this weapon was very powerful, sustained use would lead to it overheating and exploding. Dredd leads a band of Mega City Judges who "stubbed" a Mega-City transport nexus forcing East-Meg forces through to the city bottom. Thermal charges were employed in a devastating ambush, temporarily holding the invading forces in the north.
In a few days the Sovs conquer ninety percent of the city, including the Grand Hall of Justice
Grand Hall of Justice
The Grand Hall of Justice of Mega-City One is a fictional building in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. It actually refers to three different buildings which existed at different times...
. Chief Judge Griffin
Judge Griffin
Chief Judge Griffin is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He was chief judge of Mega-City One between 2101 and 2104.-Fictional character biography :...
is abducted and brainwashed into spreading pro-Sov propaganda, forcing Dredd to assassinate him. Devastating and random weather conditions sweep the city with the destruction of Weather Control, millions of citizens flee to the Cursed Earth
Cursed Earth
The Cursed Earth is a part of the fictional universe from the Judge Dredd series that appears in the UK comic book 2000 AD.-Background:...
, and those deemed Sov collaborators are executed out of hand.
The war is eventually won when Dredd leads a commando unit to seize an East-Meg missile silo and uses it to obliterate East-Meg One, with the loss of 500 million lives. East Meg One could not use its force field to protect itself in time, due to the proximity of the silo. With no hope of victory the East Meg forces inside Mega-City one are defeated by a counter attack and forced to surrender.
The war left Mega-City One in ruins, with many highly radioactive areas and other hazards and half of its 800 million population dead. It fell to the new Chief Judge McGruder
Judge McGruder
Chief Judge Hilda Margaret McGruder is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd stories published in the British comic 2000 AD. She was the first female Chief Judge of Mega-City One, and the first Judge of Mega-City One to become Chief Judge twice...
to begin the long task of rebuilding.
The destruction of East-Meg One would have consequences in several further stories. In 2121, in the story The Doomsday Scenario
The Doomsday Scenario
The Doomsday Scenario is the collective name of a series of Judge Dredd comic stories published in 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine in 1999...
, Dredd was abducted and put on trial for war crimes by a group of East-Meg survivors at the New Kremlin, but he escaped and killed many of them before the kangaroo court
Kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted".The outcome of a trial by kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or...
could return its verdict.
Background
As mentioned in the collected "Block Mania" and "Apocalypse War" Titan reprints, the writers felt that Mega-City One had essentially grown too big. When Judge Dredd started, the Mega-Cities boundaries were not exactly set in stone. Eventually it became established that MC-1 spanned the entire Eastern Seaboard, from the Canadian Border in the north, to the tip of Florida in the south.The result was a storyline designed to bring Mega City back to a more reasonable size. Most of the southern part of the city was nuked out and four hundred million citizens killed, resulting in a much smaller city centred on the North East. Since this story the population has hovered around 400 million, rising to 420 million in stories set in the early 2110's before losing another sixty million after "Necropolis."
The story was somewhat set up with one previous Dredd tale. Over a year earlier the story "Pirates of the Black Atlantic" ended with the revelation that a seemingly independent nuclear attack on MC-1 had been the work of the Sov block, and East Meg one is forced to destroy one of its own sectors to appease Mega City One. However at the end MC-1 looks to its defences and the Sovs reveal that their plan to attack the American megacity is not ready yet.
Fallout from the war dominated the strip for the next couple of years with the slow re-building of the city, occupying at least a background role in many stories. The post Apocalypse War status quo has remained in place ever since. Occasional stories have focused on Sov efforts at revenge (either from East Meg 2, or rogue groups), culminating in the events of "Satan's Island" in which nearly 900,000 citizens lost their lives at the hands of a bio-weapon released by Orlok.
Reprints
The storylines for Apocalypse War and the lead-up story "Block ManiaBlock Mania
Block Mania is a Judge Dredd story, which ran in British comic 2000 AD #236-244, in 1981. The story itself is a prologue for the longer storyline "The Apocalypse War", which immediately follows the conclusion of "Block Mania".-Story:...
" were reprinted in a graphic novel by Titan Books: "Judge Dredd: The Complete 'Apocalypse War' Including 'Block Mania'" as a paperback (1995-03-01) ISBN 1852864044, 224 pages.
There was also a hardback edition with a minimalist black cover.
More recently the story was re-printed in "Judge Dredd: The Complete Casefiles 05."
External links
- Timeline precis of the story, by Paul ScottPaul Scott (comics)Paul Scott, sometimes known as Paul von Scott, is a British comics writer who is very active in the British small press comics scene.-Biography:Paul attended the University of Birmingham, where he studied geology....