America

Where do I stand?

I'll tell you where I stand.

I stand four-square for [justice]. I stand for discipline, good order and the rigid application of the [law] - and [God|Grud] help any [limp-wristed liberal]s who say different.

The people, they know where I stand. They need [rules] to live by - I provide them. They [break the rules], I [break] them. That's the way it works.

The people like it that way. They need to know where they stand.

[Rights]?

Sure. I'm all for rights. But not at the expense of [order].

That's why I like to see that [Statue of Judgement] standing there, towering over [Statue of Liberty|Liberty].

Kind of a symbol.

[Judge Dredd]'s visor glares out from the opening page, mirroring the angry stare of the five hundred metre tall [Statue of Judgement] over his shoulder. His booted foot is planted on the centre of the [Stars and Stripes], which shrouds a bloody corpse. Scrawled in twenty-foot high white letters down [Lady Liberty]'s dress are the words [Total War|TOTAL WAR].

Justice has a price.

The price is [freedom].

So begins America, [Judge Dredd]'s finest story and [John Wagner] and [Colin MacNeil]'s finest hour. Published in October 1990 as the opening piece in the [Judge Dredd Megazine], America reads as a fiery denouncement of Dredd's [political] agenda. For all the weekly strips showing Dredd and the [Mega City One] judges as heroes, America rails against him and exposes his utter [ruthless]ness. Indeed, after reading it, it becomes difficult to ever again root for [2000 AD]'s most enduring character. It can't be stated too simply:

Judge Dredd is a [fascist].
Mega-City One is a [totalitarian] state.

America is as much a critique of the evils of totalitarianism as [1984] or [One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]. Recently reprinted in a collected edition by [Titan Books], it deserves to be recognised alongside such established comics "literature" as [Watchmen], [Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|The Dark Knight Returns] and [From Hell].

Synopsis

"This is a love story."

[America Jara]'s family moved to Mega-City One in pursuit of [the American Dream], the American ideal. Born in their first week in their new home, America is named by her immigrant father after [the land of the free and the home of the brave].

America grows up with her friend [Benny Beeny|Bennett (Benny) Beeny] in the [Frederick Nietzsche] city block. Benny is a musically talented young boy whose family live in the [apartment|apt] next to the Jaras. The pivotal moment in their young lives comes as they are playing one day in a vacant lot. A gang of young [kids|juves] calls Benny names and beats him up, breaking his [guitar|gitter]. As a [Megacity Judge|judge] pulls up, the juves make a run for it. The judge questions the bruised and bleeding Benny harshly as he finds America comforting the child. This cows Benny into tears, and he apologises and pleads not to be sent away. But America stands up to the judge, answering him back. Why shouldn't she? Her dad, [Puerto Rica]n immigrant he is, has told her that she lives in America - and [it's a free country].

While the judge that day sent them away with nothing more than a stern word, this episode sets a pattern - Benny the model (read: [fearful]) citizen, abiding by the law out of sheer [terror] of the judges; America the free spirit, politically aware and intrigued by [Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness|the rights] that only her history class teaches her about.

Despite these differences, Benny gradually falls in [love] with America as they grow up. But her increasingly [radical] views begin to get her into trouble. She picks up cautions for carrying [subversive literature], and she openly associates with democratic activists. She persuades Benny to come with her one night as she pastes anti-judge slogans around the city. He accepts, but when he is scared too much to ever join her again the pair begin to grow apart.

When America goes to [university] to study politics, Benny watches helplessly as she starts a relationship with another democrat. [Torment]ed by seeing her love for another, Benny cuts himself off from her, leaves Fred Nietzsche block and throws himself into his music. His career begins to take off as he records albums, gets his break singing [jingle]s for chicken-substitute and gradually becomes a city-wide [celebrity].

But his fame does not buy him happiness. Unable to commit to relationships, and believing America to be dead after [the Apocalypse War], Benny seeks to dull his pain with material possessions and meaningless encounters with [prostitute]s.

"That's where I found her."

Benny is shocked when he meets America dressed as a [hooker]. Equally surprised, she desperately pleads for him to leave. As he argues and she pushes him away, two judges appear in the distance on their [Lawmaster|motorbike]s. A [set-up] all along, America and hidden accomplices open fire on the officers, with America herself shooting down the leading judge. As the group make their getaway, Benny, the only witness, is shot through his throat.

A note reading TOTAL WAR is left pinned to the chest of one of the dead judges. Left on the sidewalk next to Benny, their slowly spreading pools of [blood] mingle in the dim artificial light.

As he recuperates in hospital, Benny is interrogated by Judge Dredd. Using painfully slow typing to communicate, Benny [lie]s to him through his [fear] and his flashbacks to his first encounter with the judges. He lies for America. After his return to his uptown [luxury apartment|lux-apt], America, by this time on the lam with the rest of her Total War [cell], goes to visit him. By now Benny has had an artificial voice box fitted and, still besotted with her, lets her in and feeds her without considering the possible consequences. After reminiscing about old times at Fred Nietzsche, America [seduce]s him. In the morning, she asks for a large sum of[ money] - obviously to further fund the cell. She explains how the judges killed her husband, forced her to [abort] her baby. Under [Mega-City One|MC1]'s strict genetic purity laws, any detected [abnormal]ities result in the termination of the child. Benny is reluctant to give her the cash, even when she promises it won't be used to harm anyone else. But when she says he'll never see her again, he relents.

When they meet to exchange the money, Benny teases out from America details of what is planned. Total War are preparing their most audacious act yet - they intend to blow up the [Statue of Liberty], as a symbol. As a sign of all the liberty lost to the judges.

But Benny, scared even then of breaking the law, betrays her. Informing the judges of the plan, he makes a bargain: the judges get the rest of the cell; he gets America, unhurt and uncharged. At the time of the planned attack, Benny watches [from a distance]. Watches as the judges bring down America's hoverpod on [Ellis Island]. Watches as the rest of America's cell are killed, brought down by the judges' overwhelming [firepower]. America, hurt, staggers towards the Statue of Liberty with the [Stars and Stripes|American flag] in her hand. And Benny watches as, after the order to cease fire is given, one judge fires one more shot ... and America falls.

With America's blood on his hands, Benny screams at Dredd asking why they killed them without trying to make [arrest]s. Dredd's response: "A little [demonstration] - to encourage the others. You're not the only one in [show business]."

Cut to a quiet hospital room, and the noise of a [ventilator] metronomically breathing for a body without a brain. With no next of kin, Benny is left as the sole executor of America's will. Unable to let go, he cannot bring himself to switch off the [life support] machine. Instead, he arranges a full body transplant and takes America's body as his own - knowing that every day, he will see her in the mirror and be reminded of what he did. And hoping, perhaps, that some of her spark, her [The American Dream|Dream], will live on in him.

But the story doesn't end there. Turn over one more page.

Close-up. Dredd's visor, reflective, [inscrutable] ... [menace|menacing]. His [sneer].

Freedom - [power to the people] - democracy ... the Great American Dream.

Don't kid yourself.

We tried it before. Believe me, it doesn't work. You can't trust the people.

So dream on, [creep]. But just remember - that's all it is, a dream.

America is dead.

This is the real world.

Review

Described by [David Bishop], a former editor of the [Judge Dredd Megazine], as "the best Judge Dredd story ever written," America won a [UK ComicArt] award in 1991. In spite of this, it seems to otherwise have been since largely overlooked in the general comics consciousness. This is a considerable oversight.

This story really does see its creators at their respective [peak]s. [John Wagner|Wagner]'s writing is brilliant and personal, never less than engaging, often genuinely moving. When asked for his favourite Dredd story, he said, "Obviously [America]. ... It exemplified things that I felt deeply about the [Judge]s. In a way it was a true [tragedy] - people were compelled by their own character into disasters." Bishop comments further, "John has a massive emotional stake in the story and you get the impression he had to put himself [through the wringer] to write it. There's a lot of personal stuff in there that John will never tell anyone about."

While adopting a more serious tone than many of his other Dredd strips, there are still some snippets of his signature [black humour], with the song of the judges - set to the tune of [Rawhide] - being one example. The longer monthly format accorded by the Megazine meant that in each episode he was able to spread out and expand on his characters. Nonetheless, the style is never [flab]by or padded, years of writing six page strips having honed his skill at making every single panel relevant to the story.

The storytelling itself is ably provided by [Colin MacNeil]. He too cites America as his personal favourite Dredd artwork. His fully painted art comes into its own depicting the [noir|dark mood]s of [mega-city nights], as well as being soft enough to impart [humanity] in emotional scenes. He uses his materials innovatively - for example in America's [confession] scene, where he paints her painful memories in full [oil paint] while suggesting details of her face as she tells the story with soft [pastel]s. A particularly striking page is that of the judge ambush, where the lower half is divided into long vertical panels which become narrower and narrower, illustrating smaller and smaller slivers of time, the final picture being of the fatal shot America fires. Stylistically, there are also a few nods to other works. [Watchmen] is echoed in the frequent use of [graffiti] as commentary, the phrase "[Who judges the judges?]" being a more overt reference as well as a pertinent observation in the context of the story.

And the final page. Utterly [chilling], this page by itself brings home like nothing else written just how much of a cold, [pitiless] bastard Dredd is. Bishop sums it up: "It's got that incredible twist in the final episode. Just when you think it's a [bitter-sweet], happy ending, you turn over the page, and ... it's Dredd effectively kicking you in the teeth."

Unparalleled in the Dredd [canon], America stands out not only as the best tale of [Mega City One]'s policemen but also by itself as simply one of the most superb [comic book]s there is.

References:
2000 AD Presents The Complete America
The Judge Dredd Mega History