Judgement Day #5 is Judge Joseph Dredds clone brother, ex-Judge Rico Dredd.
Many characters of melodramatic persuasion have evil twins. Captain Kirk has Captain Kirk, Optimus Prime has Nemesis Prime, Superman has Bizarro, Spider-man has Venom (sort of), Venom has Carnage (sort of) Luigi has Waluigi and Joe has Rico.
The short version of the Dredd twins story is: Joe and Rico grow up in the academy and graduate with flying colours, Rico becomes corrupt, Joe puts him away for twenty years on Titan where Rico undergoes the obligatory cybernetic modifications required for hard labour in the Titan atmosphere, Rico does his time, Rico comes back to Mega City One for revenge and Joe kills Rico in a shoot out.
The figure is from Mongoose/Warlord. The interpretation of the character visually is nice, slightly different here and there from the classic illustrations of Rico, but immediately identifiable to anyone interested in Judge Dredd comics.
I chose to paint Rico to look slightly different in colour and outfit from the coloured illustrations shown here (which incidentally were coloured years after the original black and white strip was published, so there isnt really an “accurate” scheme anyway AFAIK). Like the minor style changes to the design made by the sculptor, the finished figure still looks pretty definitive I think.
Rico only appeared in a single Dredd strip before he was killed off. Other than flashbacks or hallucinations/dreams etc, the character hasnt appeared in the strip very much as a result.
While I will certainly aim to get Rico into a gun battle with Joe in a game or two, I may indulge in divergent stories using the miniature. A disgraced ex Adeptus Arbite who has served hard time on a distant moon attempts to redeem himself by serving as part of an Inquisitors retinue in some games in the 40k universe perhaps.
Mr Saturday will present Judgement Day #6 next week.
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2000AD, 2015, Dredd, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Judgement Day, Perp, Sci-fi |
sho3box 
Nice work!
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Thanks Warburton. Rico is a bit more earthy than most models that I would paint for the Dredd setting, but it works I think.
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I did notice that, but I agree – it works well and is evocative of his back-story as a miner on Titan (not that I have any idea what colour the mines on Titan would be!).
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Funnily enough I hadnt really though about whether Ricos outfit was the one that he wore in/around the prison/mine – a cant-see-the-wood-for-the-trees sort of thing due to having read that strip many times over the last thirty something years – but that does make a certain sort of comic book sense. Im now looking at the model in another new light 🙂
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I’m not familiar enough with the Judge Dredd universe to have heard of this guy, but I like that a) the made a figure of him and b) you painted him just as well as any A-list figure. Another solid Judgment Day entry!
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Armand Assante played a version of Rico in the rather awful and not very faithful to the vibe 1995 Stallone “Judge Dredd” movie. Although if you havent seen that film then I couldnt recommend that you watch it (although much of the production design is nice).
I do plan to use the figure in other games, riffing on what the character represents rather than using his as exactly that particular guy.
Thanks for the feedback No Such Agency!
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Lovely as usual! Liked the “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” line in the comic as well.
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The “He ain’t heavy” bit made me cringe as a kid. It still does a bit, so much so that I hesitated before I added that image to the post.
I decided to embrace it, for all its faults and Im glad that you got something out of it Mikko. Its notable for being a rare showing of grief from Joe.
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In all honesty, it mainly resonated with me due to your recent protester poster with the song quote, as it’s also a song by The Hollies. Just a lovely nod to another media in Dredd. I think it was a bit too soft for Dredd himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si7gu9yGz64
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I suppose that I just felt that Dredd using the song lyric burst my suspension of disbelief a bit.
The sentiment of the song is appropriate and the moment in the comic is potentially a touching one, it just didnt come together as that for me. Rather than tapping in to the established emotions from the music, it instead felt like a cheesy attempt at a laugh.
That said, rereading so much Dredd over the last few years has brought home how I view so much of it differently now, as might be expected thirty years later – elements of the simple stories have taken on parable like qualities. While wary of disappearing up my own arse in a cloud of pretentious guff about comics, I will say that I see different truths in some of the stories now. Maybe I just havent distanced myself entirely from my original feelings on that particular aspect of that particular tale just yet.
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Seeing as I research games, disappearing up one’s own arse with pretentious ideas about popular culture is right up my alley. I do tend to dislike things breaking suspension of disbelief. I definitely felt like it was mostly a cheap laugh, and not having read the full comic got my cheap laugh too.
I’ve been thinking of getting back into Dredd for years now, to the point of twice almost buying the collected volumes when visiting Forbidden Planet in London. The sheer size and weight have stopped it so far. I think I might get more and different fun out of them than when I was reading them in Finnish at age 10 or so.
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If you feel an urge to be a completist, then the Case Files are the way to go. The early Case Files have lots of pretty dodgy, potentially offputting eras in them though. Correspondingly there are definite sweet spots too. Just be wary of starting right at the beginning unless you really are in the mood for some kitsch old style stories.
If you dont want to read everything there are specific stories and volumes that would supply the core of the concepts and characters.
Dredds character development is glacial – thats sort of the point – but there are many paybacks for those in for the long haul. Bear in mind that Dredds timeline moves in real time: Dredd and Mega City One are both thirty-eight years older than when the strip started. Thats unique. It also gives additional payback for the obsessive.
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I like this mini a lot. The earthy colour palette for his clothing appeals greatly. Solid work!
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The palette is almost Star Wars in its colouring, which was a slightly unexpected turn. Its still recognisably Rico, which is important.
It is a nice clean design and other than a couple of technical hiccups in the process, it was pleasant to paint. The model isnt terribly flamboyant, but thats ok. Some slightly more grounded designs are needed to keep the others in check (and he does has a face full of plumbing fittings after all) 🙂
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Yep another masterpiece.
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You are too kind Frank. Thanks.
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