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City Block

City Block

:For other uses of this term, see city block (disambiguation). City Blocks are a part of the fictional universe recounted in the Judge Dredd series that appears in the UK comic book 2000 AD.

Overview

Also known as "starscrapers" or "stratoscrapers" (compare skyscraper), they are the most common form of mass-housing in Mega-City One, averaging a population of 60,000. Most city blocks are between four to seven hundred storeys in height, though the very tallest ascend into the thousands. The larger city blocks are like a small nation unto themselves, almost completely self-reliant. Most are named after celebrities of past and present, reality and fiction, eg. Marlon Brando Block. Other blocks are 'in-jokes', named after people known to the creators, such as editorial staff or other creators. All modern city blocks have their own defense force, Citi-Def, reserves recruited from the residents supposedly to assist the Judges in times of citywide emergency. More and more Citi-Def units are seeing active service as Auxiliary Judges, to help make up for the lack of manpower available to the Justice Department.

Tensions

In an overcrowded city like Mega-City One, tensions and rivalry between neighbouring city blocks are inevitable and, very occasionally, these feelings spill over into full-scale wars. Because each city block is an independent unit in its own right, a sense of patriotism is often attached to them by their residents and wars can break out with "enemy Blocks" over the most trivial matters. For the Judges, a Block War is one of the toughest situations to police, simply because there are usually so many people involved and arrests generally have to be made in vast numbers before things can be properly cooled down and peace restored. Although Block Wars are common enough in Mega-City One, when three quarters of the city started fighting each other, the Judges knew that there must be some outside force inspiring the violence. Indeed the madness, which came to be known as "Block Mania", was caused by a Sov drug which had been put into Mega-City One's water supply by Orlock, the East-Meg One assassin. As the Western Judges were about to find out, Block Mania was just a prelude to the Apocalypse War, as the Sovs began their nuclear assualt on a weakened Mega-City One.

Storylines

A number of storylines have focused around the pressures of living in such high density housing, while others have featured threats to city blocks. One storyline, Total War was about the terrorist organisation of the same name setting off bombs in a number of city blocks, eventually killing around 4,000,000 citizens.

Spin-offs

The phenomenon of Block Warfare became a board game in 1987 when Games Workshop released Block Mania, one of several games based on the world of Judge Dredd.

Examples of block names


- Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman - featured in a story about a dispute between the two blocks, shortly after the couple separated.
- Rowdy Yates - where Joe Dredd himself lived for a period of twenty years or so. Category:Judge Dredd

City block (disambiguation)

The term "city block" can refer to either of the following:
- A city block as an area of a city surrounded by streets; or
- A City Block from the fictional world of Judge Dredd. In addition, in mathematics, the city block distance is a special case of the Minkowski distance.

2000 AD (comic)

2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction oriented comic. The publication, which serialises a number of separate stories each "prog" (see glossary, below) was established by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC, later Fleetway, continued to produce the title until 1999, when it was bought by Rebellion Developments. Due in part to its weekly publication schedule, it is one of only a few comics to surpass 1000 issues. It has been a successful launchpad for getting United Kingdom talent into the larger American comics market, and has also been the source of a number of film licences. Unlike earlier weekly titles, 2000 AD was based on a 6 page strip format. This gave the writers greater opportunity to develop character and meant that the artists had greater scope in designing the layout. A long-running joke is that the editor of 2000 AD is Tharg the Mighty, a green alien from Betelgeuse who terms his readers "Earthlets". Tharg uses other unique alien expressions and even appears in his own comic strips. Readers sometimes play along with this: for example, in prog 200 a pair of readers wrote to Tharg claiming that they preferred to be called "Terrans"; the resulting controversy ended in Tharg's accepting a challenge for a duel at a galactic location. Another running joke is Tharg's supposed use of robots to draw and write the strips — some of which bear a marked resemblance to actual writers and artists. A fictional reason for Tharg to use mechanical assistance was given when the robots "went on strike" (reflecting real-life industrial action that occasionally halted IPC's comics production during the 1970s and 1980s). Tharg wrote and drew a whole issue himself, but when he ran it through the quality-control "Thrill-meter", the device melted down on extreme overload. The offending issue had to be taken away, by blindfolded security guards, to a lead-lined vault where there was no danger of anyone seeing it accidentally. See: British comics

Popular characters

British comics Popular characters from the comic include:
- Judge Dredd
- ABC Warriors
- Ace Garp
- Dan Dare
- D.R. and Quinch
- Halo Jones
- Nemesis the Warlock
- Robo-Hunter
- Rogue Trooper
- Sinister Dexter
- Sláine
- Strontium Dog
- Durham Red

Famous creators

Well known creators who have worked for 2000 AD include:
- Dan Abnett
- Massimo Belardinelli
- Simon Bisley
- Brian Bolland
- Alan Davis
- Ian Edginton
- Garth Ennis
- Carlos Ezquerra
- Gerry Finley-Day
- Henry Flint
- Tom Frame
- Dave Gibbons
- Ian Gibson
- Alan Grant
- Trevor Hairsine
- Jamie Hewlett
- Frazer Irving
- Jock
- Cam Kennedy
- Mike McMahon
- Peter Milligan
- Pat Mills
- Alan Moore
- Grant Morrison
- Kevin O'Neill
- Arthur Ranson
- Gordon Rennie
- John Smith
- Simon Spurrier
- Greg Staples
- Bryan Talbot
- John Wagner
- Kev Walker
- Chris Weston Many of these have since moved on to work for American publishers such as DC Comics (especially the Vertigo and Wildstorm imprints) and Marvel Comics. For more creators, see: :Category:2000 AD Creators.

Glossary

2000 AD, like some other children's comics of the period, used invented words and phrases to tie in with the theme of the publication (in this case, to appear more futuristic or alien). Some of these words were the result of simple typing mistakes in the offices at IPC, while some are derived from other sources. ; Prog : short for programme — a term used by the comic in place of "issue" or "edition" ; Thrill-power : measurement of the quality inherent in 2000 AD. ; Borag Thungg : Betelgeusian greeting. ; Squaxx dek Thargo (shortened to Squaxx) : friend of Tharg (any reader of 2000 AD, consumer of thrill-power). ; Earthlets : term that Tharg used to refer to humans (whether they read 2000 AD or not). ; Earthlettes : similar to Earthlets, but applied to females only. This caused a furore on the letters page and eventually was deprecated in favour of the now gender-neutral term "earthlets", though now "Terrans" seems to be in vogue. ; Florix Grabundae : "Many thanks." ; Splundig vur thrigg : farewell, common sign-off. ; Kril Tro Thargo : honour bestowed on those who have performed services to thrill-power (typically by converting non-readers to the cause, or by buying and shipping copies of comics to readers who can't buy them for some reason, say because they're in a far-flung country that doesn't sell 2000 AD).

History

The 1970s

Pre-publication

In December 1975, Kelvin Gosnell, a sub-editor at IPC Magazines, read an article in the London Evening Standard about a wave of forthcoming science fiction films, and suggested that the company might get on the bandwagon by launching a science fiction comic. IPC asked Pat Mills, a freelance writer and editor who had created Battle Picture Weekly and Action, to develop it. Mills brought fellow freelancer John Wagner on board as script adviser and the pair began to develop characters. The then-futuristic name 2000 AD was chosen as no-one involved expected the comic to last that long. (Spoiler: It did.) Mills' experiences with Battle and Action had taught him that readers responded to his anti-authoritarian attitudes. Wagner, who had written a Dirty Harry-inspired tough cop called One Eyed Jack for Valiant, saw that readers also responded to authority figures, and developed a character that took the concept to its logical extreme, imagining an ultra-violent lawman patrolling a future New York with the power to arrest, sentence, and if required execute criminals on the spot. Meanwhile, Mills had developed a horror strip, inspired by the novels of Dennis Wheatley, about a hanging judge called Judge Dread (after the reggae artist of the same name). The idea was abandoned as unsuitable for the new comic, but the name, with a little modification, was adopted by Wagner for his ultimate lawman. same name for the first ever story]] The task of visualising the newly-named Judge Dredd was given to Carlos Ezquerra, a Spanish artist who had worked for Mills before on Battle. Wagner gave Ezquerra an advertisement for the film Death Race 2000, showing the character Frankenstein clad in black leather on a motorbike, as a suggestion for what the character should look like. Ezquerra elaborated on this greatly, adding body-armour, zips and chains, which Wagner originally thought over the top. Wagner's initial script was rewritten by Mills and drawn up by Ezquerra, but when the art came back a rethink was necessary. The hardware and cityscapes Ezquerra had drawn were far more futuristic than the near-future setting originally intended, and Mills decided to run with it and set the strip further into the future. By this stage, however, Wagner had quit. IPC owned the rights to Dan Dare, and Mills decided to revive the character to add immediate public recognition for the title. Paul DeSavery, who owned Dares film rights, offered to buy the new comic and give Mills and Wagner more creative control and a greater financial stake. The deal fell through, however, and Wagner walked. Mills was reluctant to lose Judge Dredd and farmed the strip out to a variety of freelance writers, hoping to develop it further. Their scripts were given to a variety of artists as Mills tried to find a strip which would make a good introduction to the character, all of which meant that Dredd would not be ready for the first issue. The story chosen was one written by Peter Harris, extensively rewritten by Mills and including an idea suggested by Kelvin Gosnell, and drawn by newcomer Mike McMahon. The strip debuted in prog 2, but Ezquerra, angry that another artist had drawn the first published strip, quit and returned to work for Battle.

The opening line-up

Mills had created Harlem Heroes, about the future sport of aeroball, a futuristic, violent version of basketball with jet-packs. Wanting to give the new comic a distinctive look, Mills wanted to use European artists, but the work turned in on Harlem Heroes by Trigo was disappointing. Veteran British artists Ron Turner and Barrie Mitchell were tried out, but a newcomer called Dave Gibbons won the editor over with his dynamic, American-influenced drawings and got the job. Mills wrote the first five episodes before handing the strip to Roy of the Rovers writer Tom Tully. Dan Dare was extensively revamped to make it more futuristic. In the new stories he had put into suspended animation and revived several centuries in the future. Several artists were tried out before Mills settled on Italian artist Massimo Belardinelli, whose imaginative, hallucinatory work was fantastic at visualising aliens, although perhaps less satisfying on the hero himself. The scripts were endlessly rewritten in an attempt to make the series work, but few Dan Dare fans remember this version of the character fondly. Belardinelli and Gibbons later switched strips, with Gibbons drawing Dare and Belardinelli drawing the Harlem Heroes sequel Inferno. When Gibbons took over Dare in Prog 28 the strip was refashioned as a 'Star Trek' style space opera. The other opening strips were M.A.C.H. 1, a super-powered secret agent inspired by The Six Million Dollar Man; Invasion!, about a "Volgan" (thinly disguised Russian) invasion of Britain opposed by tough London lorry driver turned guerrilla fighter Bill Savage; and Flesh, a particularly violent strip about time-travelling cowboys farming dinosaurs for their meat. Once the comic had been made ready to launch, Mills quit as editor and handed the reigns to Kelvin Gosnell, whose idea it was in the first place. Gosnell appeared as the fall guy in the Tharg photostrips that were a feature of the comic in its early years.

The early years

Wagner swallowed his pride and returned to write Judge Dredd, starting in prog 9. His "Robot Wars" storyline was drawn by a rotating team of artists, including McMahon, Ezquerra, Turner and Ian Gibson, and marked the point where Dredd became the most popular character in the comic, a position he has rarely relinquished. Dredd's city, which now covered most of the east coast of North America, became known as Mega-City One. A new story format was introduced - Tharg's Future Shocks, one-off twist-in-the-tail stories devised by writer Steve Moore. 2000 AD still uses this format as filler and to try out new talent. One early Future Shock was drawn by 2000 ADs then art assistant Kevin O'Neill. Wagner introduced a new character, Robo-Hunter, in 1978. The hero, Sam Slade, was a private detective-type character specialising in robot-related cases. José Ferrer was the original artist, but the editorial team were not happy with his work and quickly replaced him with Ian Gibson, who redrew parts of Ferrer's episodes before taking over himself. Gibson's imaginative, cartoony art helped drive the series' style from hard-boiled detective to surreal comedy. As the series continued Sam was joined by an idiot kit-built robot assistant, Hoagy, and even, after a crack-down on smoking in IPC comics, a Cuban robot cigar, Stogie, designed to help him cut down on nicotine. The hero started out based on Humphrey Bogart, but after a few years he looked more like Ted Danson. Other ongoing strips included The Visible Man, detailing the misfortunes of Frank Hart, a man whose skin had been made transparent due to exposure to nuclear waste, and Shako, the story of a polar bear pursued by the Army because it had swallowed a secret capsule. M.A.C.H. 1 was killed off in 1978 but a spin off, M.A.C.H. Zero, continued into the 1980s. Flesh had a sequel in 1978, set on the prehistoric oceans, and Bill Savage appeared again in a prequel, Disaster 1990, in which a nuclear explosion at the north pole had melted the polar ice-cap and flooded Britain. In 1978 2000 AD launched the annual 48 page Summer Special, including a full length M.A.C.H. Zero story drawn by O'Neill. Pat Mills took over writing Dredd for a six-month "epic" called "The Cursed Earth", inspired by Roger Zelazny's Damnation Alley, which took the future lawman out of the city on a humanitarian trek across the radioactive wasteland between the Mega-Cities. McMahon drew the bulk of the stories, with occasional episodes drawn by Brian Bolland. The story saw Dredd moved to the colour centre pages for the first time while Dan Dare was given the front page. Brian Bolland]] IPC had launched a second science fiction comic, Starlord, which was cancelled after only 22 issues and merged into 2000 AD. Two strips strengthened 2000 ADs line-up: Strontium Dog, a mutant bounty hunter created by Wagner and Ezquerra, and Ro-Busters, a robot disaster squad created by Mills. Ro-Busters gave O'Neill the chance to spread his artistic wings and led to the popular spin-off ABC Warriors. Dan Dare was suspended while "The Cursed Earth" was finished in time for the merger. Wagner returned to Dredd following the merger to write "The Day the Law Died", another six month epic in which Mega-City One was taken over by the insane Chief Judge Cal, based on the Roman emperor Caligula. Another cancelled title, Tornado, was merged with 2000 AD a few months later, but contributed nothing memorable to the line-up. 2000 AD featured an adaptation of Harry Harrison's novel The Stainless Steel Rat, written by Gosnell and drawn by Ezquerra. Adaptations of two of Harrison's sequels, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World and The Stainless Steel Rat for President, would follow later. The appearance of the main character, galactic thief "Slippery" Jim DiGriz, was based on James Coburn, evidently a favourite of Ezquerra's; Coburn was also the inspiration for Major Eazy, which Ezquerra drew in Battle, as well as Judge Koburn, a Dredd-universe reworking of the Major Eazy character, who first appeared in 2003. Gerry Finley-Day contributed The V.C.s, a future war story inspired by the Vietnam War, drawn by McMahon, Cam Kennedy, Garry Leach and John Richardson. An important feature of the early years of 2000 AD was the opportunities it gave to young British comic artists - by the time the title celebrated its 100th issue Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Ian Gibson, Mike McMahon and Kevin O'Neil were all established as regulars.

The 1980s

In 1980 Judge Dredd gained a new enemy. Writer John Wagner realised that Dredd's habit of shooting just about everybody he came up against meant that it was difficult to create a recurring villain. The solution was Judge Death, an undead judge from another dimension where, since all crime was committed by the living, life itself was outlawed. The law had been thoroughly enforced on his own world, and now he had come to Mega-City One to continue his work. Judge Death first appeared in an atmospheric three-parter drawn by Brian Bolland which also introduced Judge Anderson of Psi Division, a squad of judges with psychic powers. Dredd soon began another epic journey in "The Judge Child". A dying Psi Division Judge had predicted disaster for Mega-City One unless it was ruled by a boy with a birthmark shaped like an eagle, so Dredd set off into the Cursed Earth, to Texas City, and into deep space in search of the boy, Owen Chrysler, and his kidnappers, the Angel Gang. The Angels were some of the most memorable villains Wagner had yet devised, but suffered the same mortality problem that had plagued the strip so far. All of them were killed during the course of the story, but one, the Mean Machine, was later resurrected by a convenient bit of magic. "The Judge Child" was drawn by Bolland, Ron Smith and Mike McMahon in rotation, and the later episodes marked the beginning of Wagner's long-running writing partnership with Alan Grant. The pair would go on to write Strontium Dog, Robo-Hunter and many other stories for 2000 AD, as well as for Roy of the Rovers, Battle and the relaunched Eagle in Britain, and a number of comics in America. Pat Mills introduced Comic Rock, which was meant to be a format for short stories inspired by popular music. The first story, inspired by The Jam's Going Underground, was drawn by Kevin O'Neill and featured an insane underground travel network on a planet called "Termight", in which a freedom fighter called Nemesis battles the despotic Torquemada, chief of the Tube Police. All that was seen of Nemesis was the outside of his car, the Blitzspear. The story was a reaction to an earlier tube chase sequence Mills and O'Neill had done in Ro-Busters, which management took objection to. The only other Comic Rock story was a follow-up called "Killer Watt", in which Nemesis and Torquemada fought on a teleport system. This led to a series, Nemesis the Warlock, in which it was revealed that Termight was Earth in the far future, Torquemada was a despotic demagogue leading a campaign of genocide against all aliens, and Nemesis was the leader of the alien resistance. Mills and O'Neill were on a roll and produced a stream of bizarre and imaginative ideas, but ultimately O'Neill was unable to continue the level of work he was putting into it on 2000 AD pay. He left to work for DC Comics in America, and was replaced on Nemesis by Bryan Talbot. During Talbot's run the ABC Warriors were reunited. 2000 AD would occasionally take a gamble on non-science fiction material. For example Fiends of the Eastern Front was a World War II vampire story by Gerry Finley-Day and Carlos Ezquerra which was probably originally intended for Battle. Its hero was a German soldier who discovered that some of his Romanian allies were vampires. Later in the war, when Romania changed sides, he was the only one who knew their secret. A readers' poll revealed that future war was a popular topic, so Gerry Finley-Day was asked to come up with a new war story. He, editor Steve McManus and artists Dave Gibbons devised Rogue Trooper, a "genetic infantryman" engineered to be immune to chemical warfare hunting down the traitor general who had betrayed his regiment, who debuted in 1981. He was supported by bio-chips of the personalities of three dead comrades, which, slotted into his equipment, could talk to him. Gibbons left the strip early on and was replaced by Colin Wilson, Brett Ewins, and most notably Cam Kennedy. Another new strip in 1981, inspired by the brief CB radio craze, was Ace Trucking Co., a comedy about pointy-headed alien space trucker Ace Garp and his crew by Wagner, Grant and Belardinelli. Wagner and Grant also had big plans for Judge Dredd. Mega-City One had grown too large and unwieldy, and they planned to cut it down to size. "Block Mania", in which wars broke out between rival city-blocks, turned out to be a plot orchestrated by the Russian city East-Meg One, and led directly to "The Apocalypse War", another six-month epic and a hard-hitting satire on the concept of Mutually assured destruction. East-Meg One, protected by a warp-shield, softened up Mega-City One with nuclear warheads before invading. Dredd spearheaded the resistance, leading a small team to East-Meg territory, hijacking their nuclear bunkers and blowing East-Meg One off the face of the earth. "Block Mania" saw the final contributions of Mike McMahon and Brian Bolland to the Dredd series. "The Apocalypse War" was drawn in its entirety by Carlos Ezquerra, making a triumphant return to the character he created. A new writer, Alan Moore, had started contributing Future Shocks in 1980. He wrote more than fifty one-off strips over the next three years, while also contributing to various Marvel UK titles and the independent magazine Warrior. In 1982 he got his first series, Skizz, a re-write of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, set in Birmingham and influenced by Alan Bleasdale's Boys from the Blackstuff. Moore wrote Skizz without having seen E.T. The series was drawn by Jim Baikie. Jim Baikie]] Moore wrote another series, D.R. and Quinch, spun off from a one-off Time Twister. Drawn by Alan Davis, the strip featured a pair of alien juvenile delinquents with a penchant for mindless thermonuclear destruction. He went on to create The Ballad of Halo Jones with artist Ian Gibson, the first strip in 2000 AD to be based around a female protagonist. Halo was an everywoman in the far future, born into mass unemployment on a floating housing estate, who escaped the earth and got involved in a terrible galactic war. Three books were published, and more were planned, but Moore's demands for creator's rights and his increasing commitments to American publishers meant they never materialised. A new character, Sláine, debuted in 1983, but had been in development since 1981. Created by Pat Mills and his then wife Angela Kincaid, Sláine was a barbarian fantasy strip based on Celtic mythology. Kincaid was a children's book illustrator who had never worked in comics before, and her opening episode was drawn and redrawn several times before the editors were satisfied. Other stories were written for artists Massimo Belardinelli and Mike McMahon, but these could not see print until Kincaid's episode was ready. Celtic mythology]] In 1985, after appearing as a supporting character in Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson finally got her own series, written by Wagner and Grant and initially drawn by Brett Ewins. New artist Glenn Fabry debuted on Sláine, but due to his notorious slowness was rotated with David Pugh. In the Judge Dredd story "Letter from a Democrat", Wagner and Grant introduced a pro-democracy movement in Mega-City One, which is after all a police state. This would provide plotlines for years to come. In 1986 the comic reached its 500th issue. A new Sláine story, Sláine the King, began, entirely drawn by Fabry. Peter Milligan, a writer who had been contributing Future Shocks, began two series, the bleak future war story Bad Company, and a strange, psychedelic series called The Dead. In 1987 IPC's comics divison was hived off and sold to publishing magnate Robert Maxwell as Fleetway. 2000 AD was revamped, with a larger page size and full process colour on the covers and centre pages. Kevin O'Neill returned for a short Nemesis series called "Torquemada the God". Not long after came the debut of Zenith, 2000 ADs first superhero strip, by new writer Grant Morrison and artist Steve Yeowell. The title character was a shallow pop singer with superhuman powers, caught up in the intrigues of a 1960s generation of superhumans and the machinations of some Lovecraftian elder gods. Wagner and Grant began a new Dredd Epic, "Oz", featuring Chopper, a popular supporting character. Chopper was a skysurfer who had been imprisoned for competing in an illegal surfing competition a few years previously. A legal "Supersurf" race was being held in Oz, the future Australia, and Chopper escaped to compete. Dredd also went to Oz, partly to deal with Chopper, but mostly to investigate the Judda, a clone army created by Mega-City One's former chief genetic engineer. The Judda were defeated, and Chopper narrowly lost the race to Jug McKenzie. Dredd was waiting at the finish line, but McKenzie distracted him and allowed Chopper to escape into the outback. This ending was apparently the cause of some dispute between Wagner and Grant, and marked the end of their regular writing partnership. Wagner kept Dredd, while Grant continued Strontium Dog and Judge Anderson. The "Oz" storyline had some lasting implications. Kraken, a Judda cloned from the same genetic material as Dredd, was captured by Justice Department, who had plans for him. Chopper also spun off into his own series, written by Wagner and drawn by Colin MacNeill. The ABC Warriors finally got their own series again in 1987 as a spin-off from Nemesis. This was written, as ever, by Pat Mills, and drawn by two artists in rotation, newcomer Simon Bisley and science fiction artist S.M.S.. In 1988 Grant and artist Simon Harrison began a new Strontium Dog story, "The Final Solution". It took nearly two years to complete, and ended with the death of Johnny Alpha, who sacrificed his life to save mutants from extermination. Original artist Carlos Ezquerra didn't agree with the decision to kill the character off, and refused to draw it. The number of colour pages was increased, allowing for one complete strip per issue to be painted. Initially the colour pages were reserved for Judge Dredd, but were later given over to a new Sláine story, "The Horned God", fully painted by Simon Bisley. The series was collected as a series of three graphic novels, then as a single volume, and has remained in print ever since. In 1989 the colour pages were increased again, allowing for three colour stories and two black and white in every issue. One of the colour series was Rogue Trooper: the War Machine, written by Dave Gibbons and painted by Will Simpson. The original Rogue Trooper series had run out of steam after the Traitor General had been dealt with, so Gibbons revamped the concept, creating a different genetic infantryman in a different war. As a standalone story it was superb, but 2000 AD unwisely decided to continue it with other creators, resulting in a string of poorly received stories. One of the black and white stories , The Dead Man, was a low-key beginning for a major event. In the Cursed Earth, villagers come across a man, burnt from head to toe, with no memory of who he is or what happened to him. As he tries to piece his memories back together, he is being hunted by the evil beings who left him in that state. A creepy, atmospheric horror-western, it was drawn by John Ridgway and written by "Keef Ripley", a pseudonym for John Wagner. By the end of the series the Dead Man had discovered his identity. He was Judge Dredd.

The 1990s

As The Dead Man ended, a new Judge Dredd story, "Tale of the Dead Man", explained how Dredd had ended up in that position. Dredd was getting older and the democratic movement was causing him to doubt his role, so Justice Department had groomed Kraken, the former Judda cloned from his bloodline, to replace him. Kraken was now ready for his final assessment, and Dredd himself was chosen to assess him. Although Kraken performed faultlessly, Dredd thought he perceived a hint of his former allegiance to the Judda in him, and failed him. He then resigned as a judge and took the "Long Walk" into the Cursed Earth. There he met the Sisters of Death, and only barely survived the encounter. This could mean only one thing: Judge Death was back. This set up the latest six month epic, "Necropolis". After Dredd had left, Justice Department had put Kraken through one final test, and given him Dredd's badge. But the Sisters of Death, spirit beings from Judge Death's dimension, were able to use Kraken's inner conflict to take control of him and use him to bring Judge Death and the other Dark Judges back from the limbo dimension Dredd had exiled them to. The Sisters possessed all the city's judges and began to enforce Death's twisted law. Out in the Cursed Earth, Dredd had recovered his memory and returned to defeat the Dark Judges. He then tried to lance the democratic boil by holding a referendum on whether the Judges should continue to govern the city. The judges won, by a small margin on a derisory turnout, and Dredd was satisfied. 2000 AD gained an influx of talent from other comics. Garth Ennis and John Smith had come to prominence writing for Crisis, a 2000 AD spin-off for older readers, while artists Jamie Hewlett and Philip Bond were the stars of Deadline, an independent comics and popular culture magazine founded by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins. Smith created Indigo Prime, an multi-dimensional organisation that polices reality, whose most memorable story was "Killing Time", a time travel story featuring Jack the Ripper. Ennis and Bond contributed Time Flies, a time-travel comedy, and Hewlett was paired with writer Peter Milligan for the surreal Hewligan's Haircut. Writer John Tomlinson and artist Simon Jacob created Armoured Gideon, an action-comedy series about a giant killer robot charged with keeping demons from invading earth. The Judge Dredd Megazine, a monthly title set in the world of Dredd, was launched in 1990. With John Wagner focusing his attentions there, Garth Ennis became the regular writer of Dredd in the weekly. American writer Michael Fleischer, who had written The Spectre and Jonah Hex in the 1970s, was recruited to write the continuing adventures of the new Rogue Trooper, along with several other strips, none of which went down very well. Another new writer who failed to set 2000 AD on fire was Mark Millar, whose revival of Robo-Hunter was particularly unpopular. Millar has since gone on to become a successful writer of American superhero comics, but he seems unsuited to the style of 2000 AD. 2000 AD went all-colour about this time (prog 723, dated 23 March 1991), in response to a short-lived new colour weekly, Toxic!, launched by Pat Mills. Button Man, a contemporary thriller by John Wagner and Arthur Ranson, was originally intended for Toxic! but ended up in 2000 AD. A new ABC Warriors series, written by Mills and Tony Skinner and painted by Kevin Walker, began, in which Deadlock took over the warriors with his "Khaos" philosophy. The series is beautifully painted and often very funny, but some readers disliked the new direction and the regular humiliation of Hammerstein. Robert Maxwell died in late 1991, and Fleetway was merged with London Editions, a Danish-owned company which owned rights to Disney characters, to become Fleetway Editions. In 1992, 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine ran their first crossover story, "Judgement Day", in which zombies overran Mega-City One. Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, Peter Doherty, Dean Ormston and Chris Halls, the story teamed Judge Dredd with Johnny Alpha through the medium of time travel. John Smith and artist Paul Marshall created Firekind, a slow-paced story about dragons and alien societies, which was accidentally published out of order. The "Summer Offensive" was an eight-week experiment in 1993, when the comic was handed over to writers Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and John Smith, to a mixed reception. Morrison wrote an unmemorable Dredd story, "Inferno", and a drug-influenced comedy adventure, Really and Truly. Smith contributed Slaughterbowl, in which convicted criminals on dinosaurs are pitted against each other in a deadly sport, with the survivor being granted his freedom. Millar wrote Maniac 5, an action-packed series about a remote controlled war-robot. By far the most controversial story of this run, though, was Big Dave, a satire of British tabloid attitudes starring "Manchester's hardest man". In Big Dave's world, the German national football team really are Nazis, single mothers really do get a fortune in state handouts, Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York are portrayed as gold-digging tarts making fools of the Royal family, and Saddam Hussein, who rides an ostrich, is in league with aliens who want to turn earthlings into "poofs". Written by Morrison and Millar and drawn by Steve Parkhouse, Big Dave divided readers like nothing else the comic had ever published. A second crossover between 2000 AD and the Megazine, "Wilderlands", began in 1994. Written by Wagner and drawn by Ezquerra, Mick Austin and Trevor Hairsine, it followed on from "Mechanismo", a series of stories in the Megazine in which Justice Department, opposed by Dredd, tried to introduce robot judges. Dredd falsified evidence to get the robots scrapped, and was arrested, but the spaceship flying him to the prison colony on Titan was sabotaged and crashed on the newly discovered planet of Hestia. Dredd took charge of the survivors and discovered the Mechanismo robot judges and their creators were behind the crash in an attempt to depose the Chief Judge. With Wagner writing, Judge Dredd was again the flagship strip. A long-running storyline, "The Pit", was an ensemble-based police procedural which had Dredd take a desk job as chief of a particularly crime-ridden sector of the city. But 2000 ADs quality had dropped throughout the early 1990s, with a corresponding drop in readership. The long awaited Judge Dredd movie was released in 1995, but was poorly received and failed to provide any boost to circulation. Former Megazine editor David Bishop became editor of the weekly in late 1995 and gradually began to slow the decline. Unsuccessful series were dropped, and a number of new series were tried out, some more successful than others. Writer Dan Abnett introduced Sinister Dexter in 1996, a strip about two hitmen influenced by the film Pulp Fiction, which became a regular feature. In 1997, writer Robbie Morrison and artist Simon Fraser, who had worked with Bishop on the Megazine, created Nikolai Dante, a swashbuckling series set in future Russia starring a thief and ladies' man who discovers he's the illegitimate scion of an aristocratic dynasty. There were also gimmicks, like the "sex issue", sold in a clear plastic wrapper, The Space Girls, a series attempting to cash in on the popularity of the Spice Girls, B.L.A.I.R. 1, a parody of Tony Blair based on M.A.C.H. 1, and an adaptation of the Danny Boyle film A Life Less Ordinary. A new Dredd epic, "Doomsday", appeared in 1999 and again ran in both 2000 AD and the Megazine. Wagner had been laying the foundations for this story for several years, introducing the main villain, semi-robotic gang lord Nero Narcos, and supporting characters like Judge Jura Edgar of the Public Surveillance Unit, and Galen DeMarco, a former judge who had quit after falling in love with Dredd and become a private eye. "Doomsday" began with the return of Orlok, the East-Meg agent responsible for Block Mania, who abducted Dredd and Judge Anderson to put them on trial for the destruction of East-Meg One. In Dredd's absence, Nero Narcos staged a takeover of Mega-City One using robots he had been secretly putting in place for some time. Dredd and Anderson managed to escape their captors, and with the assistance of Brit-Cit were able to retake the city. 1999 also saw the return of an old favourite, Nemesis the Warlock. After a break of ten years, writer Pat Mills decided to bring the story to an end with "The Final Conflict". The series was drawn by Henry Flint in a style that recalled Kevin O'Neill's early work on the series, as well as Simon Bisley's ABC Warriors work. The decade ended with a special 100-page issue called "Prog 2000". Behind a cover by Brian Bolland, Nemesis wrapped up for good in a final episode drawn by Kevin O'Neill. War broke out in Nikolai Dante, and writer Gordon Rennie and artist Mark Harrison introduced future war story Glimmer Rats. Another old favourite, Strontium Dog, was revived by Wagner and Ezquerra, telling new stories of Johnny Alpha set before his death, with the conceit that previous stories had been "folklore" and the new stories were "what really happened", allowing Wagner to revise continuity. The story was in fact an adaptation of a treatment Wagner had written for a TV pilot that was never made.

The 2000s

2000 AD bounced back under the ownership of Rebellion, with editors Andy Diggle and Matt Smith at the helm. Rebellion continues to develop stories based on classic characters such as Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd, and has also introduced a roster of new series including Shakara and Caballistics, Inc. The comic continues to uncover new British talents, including Boo Cook, Dom Reardon and Al Ewing. It has also benefited from an improved dollar-pound exchange rate that has meant the comic can now afford to re-employ some of the talent thought lost to America.

Awards

Best comic (2004), Diamond Comics Awards

Related publications

Starlord was a weekly title launched in 1978 following much the same format as 2000 AD and included Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters which introduced characters from the ABC Warriors. The two titles were merged later the same year. Tornado was a weekly title launched in 1979. There was less emphasis on Science Fiction series and when it was merged with 2000 AD a year later only one story Black Hawk made the transfer, though other stories Wolfie Smith and Captain Klep later made appearances in 2000 AD, largely due to IPC editorial policies against 'wasting' stories that had already been paid for. Crisis was a sister publication that didn't follow the format of 2000 AD, but did share many editorial staff and creative teams. Early issues featured two SF-themed stories aimed at a slightly older age group than 2000 AD and soon became a magnet for British creators who wanted to create comics for the adult market. Revolver joined Crisis though didn't last as long. Dan Dare was in the original lineup, and this transferred to Crisis when Revolver finished. Current sister publications to 2000 AD include the monthly Judge Dredd Megazine, focusing on expanding the world of Judge Dredd, and the bimonthly 2000 AD Extreme Edition focusing on reprints. In the past 2000 AD has been accompanied by a variety of reprint publications.

Fanzines

2000AD has an extremely lively and thriving fanbase, which has produced a number of independent fanzines. In 1998 W.R. Logan, frustrated at the lack of activity from the comic's publishers both in promoting the title and also in making best use of new talents, decided to create an independent title using 2000AD copyrighted characters and situations. This was titled Class of '79, marking the coming of age of the generation that had bought 2000AD on its original release. The first couple of issues contained work from now-professional comics creators Rufus Dayglo, Henry Flint and PJ Holden. In 2001, Andrew Lewis created Zarjaz comic, a fanzine featuring characters mainly from the Judge Dredd universe. Another long-running fanzine, dedicated to the world of Johnny Alpha, is Dogbreath, run by the pseudonymous Dr Bob. In 2003, Arthur Wyatt created Futurequake, a fanzine devoted to the Future Shocks format. Although Class of '79 now appears to be on hiatus, all three of the other titles are in continuous publication, Zarjaz having started up again with a new issue 1. In addition, a number of small press comics have emerged from the 2000AD fanbase, including Solar Wind, Pony School, Omnivistascope and The End Is Nigh.

References


- David Bishop (2002-2003), "Thrill Power Overload!", Judge Dredd Megazine vol 4 issues 9-18, issues 201-209
- [http://www.2000ad.nu/termight/references.html Termight fan web site]

External links


- [http://www.2000adonline.com/ Official 2000 AD Web site]
- [http://www.2000adreview.co.uk 2000 AD Review fan site]
- [http://groups.google.com/groups?group=alt.comics.2000ad alt.comics.2000ad newsgroup]
- [http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpitcher/ Alec Trench's Thrill Pitcher]
- [http://www.2000ad.org/artwork/ 2000 AD Artwork Gallery]
- [http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpower/ Touched by the Hand of Tharg] Category:British comics
- Category:Fleetway and IPC Comics titles Category:Science fiction comics

Skyscraper

::"What is the chief characteristics of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line." :::—Louis Sullivan's The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896) A skyscraper is a very tall, continuously habitable building. The word skyscraper was first applied to such buildings in the late 19th century, reflecting public amazement at the tall buildings being built in New York City. The structural definition of the word skyscraper was refined later by architectural historians, based on engineering developments of the 1880s that had enabled construction of tall multistory buildings. This definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicago's Monadnock Building. The steel frame developed in stages of increasing self-sufficiency, with several buildings in New York and Chicago advancing the technology that allowed the steel frame to carry a building on its own. It should be noted, however, that many of today's tallest skyscrapers are built more or less entirely in reinforced concrete. In the United States today, it is a loose convention to draw the lower limit on what is a skyscraper at 500 feet (153 meters). Elsewere, though, a shorter building will sometimes be referred to as a skyscraper, especially if it is said to "dominate" its surroundings. Thus, calling a building a skyscraper will usually, but not always, imply pride and achievement. meter.]] Originally, skyscraper was a nautical term for a tall mast or sail on a sailing ship. A skyscraper taller than 1,000 feet (305 meters) may sometimes be referred to as a supertall. supertall]] The somewhat arbitrary term skyscraper should not be confused with the slightly less arbitrary term highrise, defined by the Emporis Data Committee as "a building which is 35 meters [115 feet] or greater in height, and is divided at regular intervals into occupiable floors" [http://www.emporis.com/en/ab/ds/sg/ra/bu/de/hi/]. All skyscrapers are highrises, but only the tallest highrises are skyscrapers. Habitability separates skyscrapers from towers and masts. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a more significant load factor than weight is. Note that this criterion fits not only highrises but some other tall structures, such as towers. The crucial developments for skyscrapers were steel, reinforced concrete, water pumps, and elevators. Until the 19th century, buildings of over six stories were rare. So many flights of stairs were impractical for inhabitants, and water pressure was usually insufficient to supply running water above about 50 feet (15 meters). The weight-bearing components of skyscrapers differ substantially from those of other buildings. Buildings up to about four stories can be supported by their walls, while skyscrapers are larger buildings that must be supported by a skeletal frame. The walls hang from this frame like curtains—hence the architectural term curtain wall for tall systems of glass that are laterally supported by these skeletal frames. Special consideration must also be made for wind loads. While the first skyscraper is usually considered the ten-story Home Insurance Building, in Chicago, built in 1884–1885; its height is not considered unusual or very impressive today, so that, if the building were newly constructed today, it would not be called a skyscraper. Another candidate for the title is the 1890 twenty-story New York World Building, in New York City. Surprisingly for some, the U.K also had its share of very early skyscrapers. The first building to fit the engineering definition meanwhile was the then largest hotel in the world, the Grand Midland Hotel, now known as St Pancras Chambers in London completed in 1873 and 269 feet (82 metres) tall. The 12 floor Shell Mex House in London at 12 floors and 190 feet (58 metres) was completed a year after the Home Insurance Building and also managed to beat it in both height and floor count. By more modern standards, the first may be New York City's Woolworth Building. Woolworth Building.]] Most early skyscrapers emerged in the land-strapped areas of New York, London and Chicago toward the end of the 19th century. London builders soon found their height limited due to complaint from Queen Victoria, rules that continued to exist with few exceptions until the 1950s whilst Chicago developers soon found themselves hampered by strict laws limiting height, New York quickly gained the title as skyscraper city alone. Today, no city has more buildings of over 492 feet (150 meters) than New York, home of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the former twin towers of the World Trade Center. Chicago's skyline was not allowed to grow until the height limits were relaxed in 1960; over in the next fifteen years, many towers were built, including the massive 1,451-foot (442-meter) Sears Tower. Since the 1980s, Hong Kong has gained several very tall skyscrapers, including the Bank of China Tower and Two International Finance Centre. Together, Chicago, Hong Kong, and New York are considered by some to be the "great three" skylines of the world. Today, skyscrapers are an increasingly common sight where land is scarce, as in the centres of big cities, because of the high ratio of rentable floor space per area of land.

History of tallest skyscrapers

For current rankings of skyscrapers by height, see List of skyscrapers. This list measures height of the roof. The more common gauge is the highest architectural detail; such ranking would have included Petronas Towers, built in 1998. See list of skyscrapers for details. Source: [http://www.emporis.com]. list of skyscrapers, which will be the tallest building in the U.S. when completed in 2010.]] At the moment construction of the Burj Dubai is taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is expected to become the tallest building in the world, and estimates of the height range from 700 to 950 m.

Skycraper Communities

United Arab Emirates Skyscrapercity.com is the internet's largest skyscraper enthusiast comunity. There are pictures, discussions, and critics. SkyscraperPage.com is also one of the internet's largest skyscraper community. Both fun and educational, it contains many illustrations of skyscrapers all over the World drawn by various illustrators. Also holds a forum and an image gallery.

See also


- List of tallest buildings and structures by country
- Architecture, Construction
- World's tallest structures - List of the world's tallest structures - World's biggest and largest buildings
- List of buildings - List of skyscrapers - List of towers - List of masts - List of tallest churches
- Tallest structures in the United States - Tallest buildings in the U.S. - Tallest buildings by states
- Skyscrapers in film

External links


-
- http://www.allaboutskyscrapers.com
- http://www.skyscraperpage.com
- http://www.skyscraper-central.com
- http://www.urbanheaven.co.nr
- http://www.cincyimages.com
- http://www.skyscrapercity.com
- http://www.skyscrapers.com (subscription required to view all information)
- http://www.skyscrapernews.com
- http://www.skyscraper.org
- http://www.urbanity.es
- http://www.zacharz.com/warszawa/highrise.htm (Tallest skyscrapers in Warsaw, Poland)
- Category:Architecture ja:超高層ビル th:ตึกระฟ้า

Mega-City One

Mega-City One is a huge fictional city 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.

Description

Mega-City One has a far greater population density than anywhere in the present-day world, with a total population of over 400 million people. Most city dwellers (citizens) live in huge apartment blocks (50,000+), though many citizens live a perpetually nomadic existence in mo-pads (mobile homes) due to inadequate housing provisions. Some mo-pads are quite luxurious, complete with swimming pools.

City Blocks

:Main article City Block Blocks are huge and can be considered to be a small town in themselves and a citizen can quite literally live their whole lives without leaving their block. Due to the high unemployment rate boredom is rife among citizens thus leading to many "Block Wars". Blocks are often named with current events in mind. A typical example — shortly after the Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise separation there was a program with a block war breaking out between the "Kidman" and "Cruise" Blocks.

Law

Mega-City One's laws are harsh, with many crimes not found in present-day law. Possession of sugar, for example, is illegal, as is possession of tobacco. The laws are enforced by the Judges, who are a combination of judge and police officer. The Judges themselves are not above the law. A violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso-Cube would get a Judge a twenty-year sentence. It would be served as hard labor on Saturn's moon, Titan, after modification to enable the convict to survive outside there without needing an expensive space suit. see also: Judge (2000 AD)

Judges

Chief Judges


- Judge Solomon
- Judge Goodman
- Judge Cal
- Judge Griffin
- Judge McGruder
- Judge Silver
- Judge McGruder (again)
- Judge Volt
- Judge Hershey

Other Notable Judges


- Judge Dredd
- Judge Anderson PSI
- Judge DeMarco
- Judge Giant Snr
- Judge Giant
- Judge Guthrie
- Judge Rico
- Judge Castillo
- Judge Edgar
- Judge Griffin

Divisions/Bodies


- Council of Five
- Academy of Law
- PSI Division
- Tech Division
- Wally Squad
- The Corpse

Criminal influences

Many crimes in Mega-City One are controlled by flamboyant mob bosses:
- Slik Ike Kolorado is in charge of perp running (transporting felons off-world) and chump-dumping (conning aliens into believing Earth is a paradise, taking their money, and then dumping them in hard vacuum).
- The Jong family are umpty-baggers (pushers of umpty, a candy that tastes so good it forms an instant psychological addiction).
- Remington Ratner is a body-shark (someone who loans money to people willing to put a loved one into cryogenic storage for collateral).
- Shanklin Franks and Jeremy Soll run the psycos (telepathic protection rackets).
- Lumpy Lepke runs the numbers racket (buying computer passcodes for industrial theft).
- Councillor Rudd runs the stookie glanders (men who raise and butcher stookies, an intelligent race, for the anti-aging drug they produce).
- Elmo Hammer is just one of many thugs who oversees packs of hitmen, or blitzers.

Leisure

Most work in Mega-City One is carried out by robots; this has led to problems with boredom and underemployment. Boredom has fostered many problems in the city, with weird fads including Block Wars (wars between neighboring apartment blocks, waged by each block's defense militia), "ugliness clinics", and odd fashions. Leisure in Mega-City One consists of a number of weird and wonderful futuristic hobbies and attractions:
- The Aggro Dome was conceived as a way for frustrated citizens to let off steam without endangering their fellow Meggers. Within the domes, citizens can vent their anger on robots, mock storefronts, and parked vehicles. Aggro Limited, the owners of the Aggro Dome franchise, petitioned for Judge replicoids to be added to a number of their buildings as a target for client retaliation. The request was promptly refused.
- The Alien Zoos are ever-popular attractions, featuring the most bizarre creatures from the Milky Way galaxy and beyond.
- The Central Mega-City Library is open free of charge to the public and is the storehouse of information on Mega-City One and beyond, past and present.
- The Dream Palace is a popular leisure activity -- for some, a growing necessity -- and the ultimate in escapism. Customers are plugged into dream machines where their dreams are made real. Morpheus, Inc. own the original chain of dream palaces, but were unsuccessful in blocking the expansion of rival Dream Parlours, back street services utilizing reconditioned dream machines. Some parlours offer other "diversions" to supplement their income.
- The Mega-City Chamber of Horrors features robot replicas of history's most infamous miscreants.
- The Mega-City Museum is one of the tallest buildings in Mega-City One. It specializes in the history of Mega-City One. Home to the most complete records of pre-atomic American civilization in North America. A transceiver beacon is sited atop the museum's roof, for use by the Justice Department.
- The Museum of Death focuses on murderers, warfare that resulted in mass death, and historical instruments of torture.
- The Palais-De-Boing® is a chain of purpose-built structures designed for Boingers. Boinging is illegal outside of the Palais-De-Boing®.
- The Smokatoriams are the only locations within Mega-City One limits where it is legal to smoke tobacco and nicotine-related products.
- The White Cliffs of Dover were imported from a cash-starved Brit-Cit in the aftermath of the Atomic War. It remains a popular attraction despite the fact that it is nothing more a crumbling pile of rock, chalk, and sand.
- Stookie is an illegal drug made from the glands of an intelligents alien species that stops its users' aging. Withdrawal from Stookie causes users to rapidly reach their 'real' ages.

Transit systems

Pedestrian


- Back street: Two-way passages, located in Old Town and City Bottom.
- Broad-Way: A large pedestrian plaza.
- Crossway: Any pedway intersection (AKA Crosslink).
- Eeziglide: One-way pedestrian conveyance that functions as a human conveyor-belt.
- Pedway: Pedestrian-only walkway found right across the City at all levels. Subpeds are enclosed pedways that run under Pedways.
- Zipstrip: One or two-way pedestrian walkway that links blocks and smaller interchanges. Enclosed zipstrips are called Pipeways.

Vehicular


- Boomway: One or two-way multi-level Mega-Way (between four to ten lanes width, two to four levels height).
- Filter: One-way exit or entrance to and from parking areas.
- Flyover: Skedway that passes over a city block (AKA Overzoom).
- Inter-Block Zoom: Maglev train-system which replaced the old Sky-Rail network in the late Twenty-first Century. Provides a link between all the city blocks in any given sector.
- Intersection: Road junction.
- Judge's Lane: Two-way road that runs parallel to major roadways, reserved for Justice Department usage.
- Median Strip: Protective barrier which prevents accidents in one half of a road from spreading to the other half.
- Mega Circular: Two-way, six-lane Meg-Way which bypasses through-sector traffic to benefit long-distance drivers.
- Meg-Way: Largest road design in Mega-City One. Two-way, between four to twenty lanes, amd central reservation (AKA Megaway, Speedway, Throughway, X-Pressway).
- Parkarama: Ground vehicle park.
- Podport: Hover vehicle park.
- Skedway: One-way highway, between one to five lanes. Interskeds connect one skedway to another (AKA Feedway). Underskeds are single-lane roads, often reserved for public service traffic only, that pass underneath skeds. Overskeds are the same, but pass over skeds.
- Sky-Rail: Obsolete monorail public transit-system introduced in the early 21st century. One-third of Mega-City One still actively uses the Sky-Rail network while it awaits upgrading to the zoom-system. The largest Sky-Rail intersection in the City is Hell's Junction.
- Slipzoom: One-way, between one to four lanes, used for larger interchanges. An Underzoom (AKA Flyunder) is a single-lane road often reserved for public service traffic only that passes under a Slipzoom.
- Superslab: The longest Meg-Way in Mega-City One, bisecting the City from north to south. Twenty-four lanes, 1,220 kilometers in length (AKA Mega-City 500).
- Wayby: Small zones set aside Meg-Ways and Skedways in regular intervals where drivers can pull-off and temporarily park their vehicles.
- Zoomtube: The most recent traffic innovation in Mega-City One. An enclosed road-system where all traffic is platooned and computer-controlled for optimum speed and driver-safety.

Other cities mentioned in Judge Dredd


- Mega-City Two - located in Southern California.
- Texas City - also called Mega-City Three, home of the Angel Gang and notable for its Western motifs.
- Brit-Cit - in the British Isles.
- Andean Conglom.
- Ciudad Baranquilla.
- East Meg One - Soviet Mega City equivalent.
- East Meg Two.
- Megagrad - On the ruins of East Meg One.
- Ciudad Espana.
- Euro City.
- Emerald Isle.
- Hondo City.
- Sino Cit.
- Oz.

External Links


- [http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/sputnik/53/megacity.htm Mega City One]

See also


- History of Mega-City One
- Judge (2000 AD) Category:Fictional towns and cities Category:Judge Dredd category:Megastructures

Judge (2000 AD)

:Not to be confused with the real-world office of judge. Judge is a title held by several significant characters in the Judge Dredd series, which appears in the British comic book 2000 AD. In the fictional future history of the series, the role of "Judge" combines those of judge and police officer, thus avoiding long legal wrangles by allowing for criminals to be tried and sentenced on the spot. The Judges themselves are not above the law -- a violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso-Cube would get a Judge a twenty-year sentence, to be served at hard labor on Saturn's moon, Titan, after modification to enable the convict to survive outside there without needing an expensive space suit. In the Judge Dredd future history, the Judge system originated in the United States (see History of Mega-City One and Mega-City One), but spread to other countries around the world. Notable Judges appearing in the series include Judge Anderson, Judge Hershey, Judge Kraken, Judge Giant and the eponymous Judge Dredd. Category:Judge Dredd characters Category:Fictional titles and ranks

East Meg One

East Meg One is a fictional city in the world of Judge Dredd, the figurehead character of British weekly comic 2000 AD (comic). East Meg One was intended to represent the remnants of the Soviet Union, and was centered on what had originally been Moscow. During the 1980s the city was often portrayed as hostile to Dredd's home city Mega-City One. It's peak population was said to be one half billion people. Eventually war broke out between East Meg 1 and Mega City 1 when the East Meggers invaded the Megacity and quickly subjugated it. Judge Dredd lead a covert commando team into East Meg 1 at the climax of the war, disabling it's defences, and then personally pushed the button to launch the nuclear missiles that destroyed it. Numerous survivors and East Meggers who happened to be away from the city at the time of it's destruction, sought refuge in East Meg Two, another sovietesque megacity to the east. Category:Judge Dredd

Board game

A board game is any game played with a premarked surface, with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. Simple board games are often seen as ideal "family entertainment" as they can provide entertainment for all ages. Some board games, such as chess or Go, have intense strategic value and have become lasting classics. There are many different types and classifications of board games. Some games are simplified simulations of real life. These are popular for they can intermingle make-believe and role playing along with the game. Popular games of this type include Monopoly, which is a rough simulation of the real estate market, Clue (in Canada and the U.S.) or Cluedo (internationally), which is based upon a murder mystery, and Risk which is one of the most well known of thousands of games attempting to simulate warfare and geo-politics. Other games only loosely, or do not at all, attempt to imitate reality. These include abstract strategy games like chess and checkers, word games, such as Scrabble, and trivia games, such as Trivial Pursuit. right

History

Board games have a long history and have been played in most cultures and societies; some even pre-date literacy skill development in the earliest civilizations. A number of important historical sites, artifacts and documents exist which shed light on early board games. The most of important of these include:
- Senet has been found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, c. 3500 BC and 3100 BC respectively [http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html]. Senet is the oldest board game known to have existed. Also see [http://www.hrejsi.cz/clanky/dama1.html Okno do svita deskovych her] for a photo of the actual fresco found in Merknera's tomb (3300-2700 BC).
- Mehen is another ancient board game from Predynastic Egypt.
- The Royal Tombs of Ur contained, among others, the Royal Game of Ur. They were excavated by C. Leonard Woolley, but his books document little on the games found. Most of the games he excavated are now housed in the British Museum in London.
- Buddha games list is the earliest known list of games.

Timeline


- 3500 BC - Senet found in Predynastic Egyptian burials [http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html]; also depicted in the tomb of Merknera.
- 3000 BC - Mehen, board game from Predynastic Egypt, played with lion-shaped game pieces and marbles.
- 2560 BC - Board of the Royal Game of Ur (found at Ur Tombs)
- 2500 BC - Paintings of Senet and Han being played made in the tomb of Rashepes
- 2000 BC - Drawing in a tomb at Benihassan depicting two unknown board games being played (depicted in Falkner). It has been suggested that the second of these is Tau.
- 1500 BC - Liubo carved on slab of blue stone. Also painting of [http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Brumbaugh/index.html Board Game] of Knossos.
- 1400 BC - Game boards including Alquerque, Three Men's Morris, Nine Men's Morris, and a possible Mancala board etched on the roof of the Kurna Temple. (Source: Fiske, and Bell)
- 200 BC - A Go board pre-dating 200 BC was found in 1954 in Wangdu County. This board is now in Beijing Historical Museum. (Source: John Fairbairn's [http://gobase.org/history/china.html Go in Ancient China]).
- 116 - 27 BC - Marcus Terentius Varro's [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/varro.ll10.html Lingua Latina X] (II, par. 20) contains earliest known reference to latrunculi (often confused with Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, Ovid's game mentioned below).
- 79 - 8 BC - Liu Xiang's (劉向) Shuo yuan, contains earliest known reference to Xiangqi.
- 1 BC-8 AD Ovid's Ars Amatoria contains earliest known reference to Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum and the smaller merels.
- 220-265 Nard enters China under the name t'shu-p'u (Source: Hun Tsun Sii) Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the 20th century when the rise of the middle class with disposable income and leisure time made them a receptive audience to such games. This popularity expanded after the Second World War, a period from which many classic board games date. Computer games are closely related to board games, and many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization are based upon board games. Many board games are now available as computer games, including the option to have the computer act as an opponent. The rise of computers has also led to a relative decline in the most complicated board games, as they require less space, and are easier to set up and clear away. With the Internet, many board games can now be played online against computer or other players in real time (like to classics board games available on Yahoo, Lycos and other big Internet sites) or during your spare time, every time it's your turn (see the links at the end of this article). The modern board game industry is rife with corporate mergers and acquisitions, with large companies such as Hasbro owning many subsidiaries and selling products under a variety of brand names. It is difficult to successfully market a new board game to the mass market. Retailers tend to be conservative about stocking games of untested popularity, and most large board game companies have established criteria that a game must meet in order to be produced. If, for instance, Monopoly were introduced as a new game today, it would not meet the criteria for production.

Luck, strategy and diplomacy

One way of defining board games are between those based upon luck and strategy. Some games, such as chess, have no luck involved. Children's games tend to be very luck based with games such as Sorry! having virtually no decisions to be made. Most board games have both luck and strategy. A player may be hampered by a few poor rolls of the dice in Risk or Monopoly, but over many games a player with a superior strategy will win more often. While some purists consider luck to not be a desirable component of a game, others counter that elements of luck can make for far more complex and multi-faceted strategies as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered. Still most adult game players prefer to make some decisions during play, and find purely luck based games such as Top Trumps quite boring. The third important factor in a game is diplomacy, or players making deals with each other. A game of solitaire, for obvious reasons, has no player interaction. Two player games usually don't have diplomacy, as cooporation between the two players does not occur. Thus, this generally applies only to games played with three or more people. An important facet of Settlers of Catan, for example, is convincing people to trade with you rather than with other players. In Risk, one example of diplomacy's effectiveness is when two or more players team up against another. Easy diplomacy consists of convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Difficult diplomacy (such as in the aptly named game Diplomacy) consists of making elaborate plans together, with possibility of betrayal. Luck is introduced to a game by a number of methods. The most popular is using dice, generally six sided. These can determine everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, how their forces fare in battle, such as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, such as in Settlers of Catan. Other games such as Sorry! use a deck of special cards that when shuffled create randomness. Scrabble does something similar with randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. Trivia games have a great deal of randomness based on which question a person gets. German-style board games are notable for often having rather less luck factor than in many North American board games.

Common terminology

German-style board game Although many board games have a jargon all their own, there is a generalized terminology to describe concepts applicable to basic game mechanics and attributes common to nearly all board games.
- Gameboard (or board) — the (usually quadrilateral) surface on which one plays a board game; the namesake of the board game, gameboards are a necessary and sufficient condition of the genre
- Game Piece (or token) — a player's representative on the game board. Each player may control one or more game pieces. In some games that involve commanding multiple game pieces, such as chess, certain pieces have unique designations and capabilities within the parameters of the game; in others, such as Go, all pieces controlled by a player have the same essential capabilities.
- Jump — to bypass one or more game pieces and/or spaces. Depending on the context, jumping may also involve capturing or conquering an opponent's game piece. (See also: Game mechanic: Capture)
- Space (or square) — a physical unit of progress on a gameboard delimited by a distinct border (See also: Game mechanic: Movement)

References


- Fiske, Willard. Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic Literature—with historical notes on other table-games). Florentine Typographical Society, 1905.
- Falkener, Edward. Games Ancient and Oriental, and How To Play Them. Longmans, Green and Co., 1892.
- Austin, Roland G. "Greek Board Games." Antiquity 14. September 1940: 257–271
- Murray, Harold James Ruthven. A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess. Gardners Books, 1969.
- Bell, Robert Charles. The Boardgame Book. London: Bookthrift Company, 1979.
- Bell, Robert Charles. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1980. ISBN 0486238555
  - Reprint: New York: Exeter Books, 1983.
- Sackson, Sid. A Gamut of Games. Arrow Books, 1983. ISBN 0091533406
  - Reprint: Dover Publications, 1992. ISBN 0-486-27347-4
- Schmittberger, R. Wayne. New Rules for Classic Games. John Wiley & Sons, 1992. ISBN 0-471-53621-0
  - Reprint: Random House Value Publishing, 1994. ISBN 0517129558
- Parlett, David. Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0192129988 Note that some these works may suffer from cultural bias—especially Murray's work which, despite being the standard reference, tends to assume Western cultural superiority.

See also


- List of board games
- List of board game publishers
- List of Japanese board games
- Card game
- Computer Olympiad
- Game classification
- Game mechanic
- Game theory
- Gameplay
- Games table desk
- German-style board game
- Mind Sports Olympiad
- Paper and pencil games
- Parlour game
- Party game
- Solved board games

External links

General


- [http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~jpn/gv/ The World of Abstract Games] - list of abstract board games with detailed rules
- [http://www.boardgamegeek.com BoardGameGeek] - BoardGameGeek is a board gaming database, including user reviews and rankings, photos, rules, translations, faqs strategies, and session reports. It contains over 20,000 individual boardgame entries.
- [http://www.games-db.com/Traditional/ Games-db] - features a board game database
- [http://www.thelittlewoodshop.co.uk/board-games-history.php The Little Woodshop] - A brief history of board games, from past to present
- [http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/Top100/ Internet Top 100 Games List] - The Internet Top 100 Games List compiles overall rankings from player ratings of board games sent in by email.
- [news://rec.games.board rec.games.board] - Usenet newsgroup

Specialist information


- [http://www.tradgames.org.uk/ Traditional Games] - includes information on classical games.
- [http://ricardobugsy.tripod.com/boardgames/boardgames.htm 1970s Vintage Boardgames] - UK 1970s rare vintage board games.
- [http://www.carromshop.com Carrom] - Traditional Asian board game played by 2 or 4 players.

Game design


- [http://www.bgdf.com/ The Board Game Designers Forum] - a forum for amateur and published board game designers with chats, workshops, competitions, news, game reviews and, of course, forums on design, prototyping, publishing and many other subjects.

Magazines


- [http://www.thegamesjournal.com/ The Games Journal] - a boardgaming monthly; good source for in-depth articles about boardgaming.
- [http://www.boardgamesstudies.org/ International Journal for the Study of Board Games]

Gaming organizations


- [http://www.boardgamers.org/ Boardgame Players Association] - World Boardgaming Championships
- [http://www.gencon.com/ GenCon]
- [http://www.originsgames.com/ Origins Game Fair]
- [http://www.gama.org/ Game Manufacturer's Association (GAMA)] - Non-profit formed in 1977 to promote hobby gaming.

Online play


- [http://www.brettspielwelt.de/ World of Board Games] - BrettspielWelt. About 50 board games to play online for free. A big community of active board gamers gather around this site.
- [http://GamesByEmail.com/ GamesByEmail.com] - correspondence gaming site.
- [http://www.kurnik.org/ Kurnik Online Games] - hassle-free online gaming site with lots of board and card games.
- [http://www.youplay.it/ You Play It] - play online many famous board games. Free site without advertising.
- [http://citadellesjavagame.free.fr/phpBB2 Citadels] - Play Bruno Faidutti's game online, alone versus bots or against human players Category:Board games ko:보드 게임 ja:ボードゲーム simple:Board game

Block Mania

Block Mania is a Judge Dredd story that appeared in the British comic 2000 AD.

Story

The story opens with what seems to be a typical Block War, as seen in the previous Dredd stories. However, it soon becomes apparent that it isn't an isolated incident, but that conflagrations are breaking out amongst hundreds of City Blocks in Mega-City One. Eventually the conflict spread city-wide, where millions of citizens are involved in fighting. During the last episode of the series it becomes apparent that the outbreak has been engineered by East Meg One agent, Sov Judge Orlock. The story thus acts as a prologue to the next major storyline, Apocalypse War.

Game

In 1987 Games Workshop produced a board game based on the above story, and other stories that had featured Block Wars. The game simulated a Block War between two City Blocks, with each player trying to do unto the other player's Block before it was done unto them. A supplement, Mega Mania was released, which increased the number of Blocks (and thus players) to four. Category:Board games Category:Judge Dredd

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Mary Kidman (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning American-born Australian actress, producer and singer. singer]]

Biography

Early life and career

Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Dr. Anthony David Kidman and Janelle Ann (nee MacNeille), who were of Scottish and Irish descent, and were both born in Australia. At the time, her father was a cancer research specialist in Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Nicole was four years old, when Tony Kidman took on a lectureship at the University of Technology, Sydney. Kidman started taking ballet lessons when she was four, and this led to studies at St. Martin's Youth Theatre in Melbourne, the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, and then at the Philip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and theatre history. She studied at North Sydney Girls High School, but dropped out when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother's recovery. North Sydney Girls High School Her first appearance on film came in 1983 when, as a 15 year-old, she appeared in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of the year she had secured a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek, and four film roles, including BMX Bandits and Bush Christmas. During the 1980s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the soap opera A Country Practice, the mini-series Vietnam (1986), Emerald City (1988), and Bangkok Hilton (1989). In 1989 she appeared in the successful thriller Dead Calm as Rae, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). The role gained her considerable notice in the United States.

Marriage to Tom Cruise

Her American debut was in Days of Thunder (1990), a stock-car racing movie, in which she played opposite Tom Cruise. Although Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers at the time, he and Kidman began an affair. Cruise divorced Rogers and the couple married on Christmas Eve of 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. They adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, and lived in Los Angeles, California, Australia, Colorado, and New York. After ten years, the marriage was dissolved in 2001: there was much media speculation about the reasons for this, but both celebrities maintained their privacy and were guarded in their public comments. One persistent rumour claims however that Kidman's desire to bring up their children Catholic, and her critical views on Scientology caused problems in her marriage with Tom Cruise, who is an outspoken follower of the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. After her divorce to Tom Cruise, Kidman began to appear in more films. Nicole Kidman then became known for her successful career and celebrity, whereas during her marriage to Tom Cruise, she was merely known as his wife.

Hollywood career

After Days of Thunder, Kidman starred with Cruise in Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992). 1995 was to bring much success. Kidman featured in the all-star cast of Batman Forever and later that same year starred in To Die For, a satirical comedy that earned her high praise from critics, and talk of an Academy Award nomination for her performance, although this did not materialize. She did, however, win a Golden Globe award, and five other best actress awards for her comic portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto. Golden Globe depicting Nicole Kidman as Suzanne Stone Maretto]] Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, Stanley Kubrick's final film. It was the third time she had co-starred with Tom Cruise. Kidman's most professionally successful year thus far is 2001, with her Oscar-nominated performance in Moulin Rouge! and a well-received starring role in the horror film The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her knee, so that Jodie Foster had to replace her in the Panic Room. The following year Kidman came back to win the same praise from critics for her portrayal of Virginia