Top Five: Rob Williams’ Favorite Judge Hershey Moments

Top 5 by Rob Williams

Interview by Troy-Jeffrey Allen

While the very mention of lawman Judge Dredd is enough to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, it’s Chief Judge Barbara Hershey and her gavel that has been the higher authority of Mega-City One.

For those unfamiliar, Hershey has been a favorite of 2000 AD fans for years. Now, she’s back from the dead (more on that later) and feels no need to take any prisoners! It all happens in the pages of Hershey: Disease (JUN211732), a new graphic novel by writer Rob Williams and artist Simon Fraser that puts Hershey in the post-apocalyptic spotlight.

If you happened to pick up 2000 AD’s Free Comic Book Day sneak peek over the weekend, then you’ve already received a glimpse of what Hershey: Disease has in store. To compliment that appetizer and the release of the Hershey graphic novel, we’ve asked writer Rob Williams (Suicide Squad, Judge Dredd: Small House) to break down his favorite Judge Hershey moments from her 41 years of enacting justice. Keep reading…

The Judge Child Quest

Rob Williams: I think I’m right in saying that this was Hershey’s first appearance. [This story is about] one of the crew introduced to Dredd onboard the Justice 1 spacecraft before heading out into space. [This is all in an] attempt to find Owen Kryzler, The Judge Child. It’s a fun Dredd epic featuring Mean Machine and The Angel Gang, and several of the stories — including Hershey’s intro — are drawn by Brian Bolland. That certainly contributed to her making an impact on certain teenage readers, I’m sure.

The Revenge Of Fink Angel, 2000 AD #193–196

Rob Williams: Mick McMahon — an absolute iconoclast in terms of Dredd art — drew the return of the most terrifying of all The Angel Gang — Fink (who preferred living below ground with a pet rat). Revenge for the fate of his brothers was on Fink’s mind, so he kidnaps Hershey to bring Dredd into play. Not Hershey’s finest moment in terms of character agency, but it’s a great little tale and the McMahon art is just stellar.

Chief Judge, 2000AD 1167

Rob Williams: Hershey would grow in seniority within Justice Department as the years passed. You definitely want to read her roles in The Apocalypse War as one of Dredd’s Death Squad and Judgement Day which had her in similar roles (and Apocalypse War is not just one of the best Dredds, it’s one of the best comics you’ll ever read). But John Wagner had seeded her ambition for some time so, following the second Robot Wars, she was finally elected to Chief Judge — becoming Dredd’s superior. Initially idealistic about changes she could make to the system, she’d find herself dragged down by the office over time.

Tension with Dredd, 2000AD 1803

Rob Williams: Al Ewing, prior to his work on Immortal Hulk, brought a tension to the Dredd and Hershey dynamic that had been building for some time under Wagner, following disagreements over Mutie Laws. Hershey had started out as Dredd’s rather green accomplice, now she’d chastise him in her office with the memorable line: “If you want to be Chief Judge, the chair is yours… But if you don’t want the responsibility — if you don’t even want the burdens of Council membership — if you’d rather just barge into my office at regular intervals to blackmail me with a badge you’ll never hand in, over issues whose complexity you refuse to engage with — then the door is that way.”

The Small House

Rob Williams: The Dredd and Hershey tension had been building for some time. When Dredd was running his own covert team (without Hershey’s knowledge) to try and hunt down the ‘Judge without portfolio’ Smiley and his stealth assassin unit, it finally broke irrevocably. Furious and grieving the murder of one of his team, Hershey calls Dredd out in front of many Judges within the Great Hall and Dredd cuts her down, publicly. “I no longer recognise your authority.” Already assailed by her own doubts, this proves the final straw. Hershey would leave the role of Chief Judge soon after.

Machine Law

Rob Williams: Infected with a deadly alien pathogen, Hershey makes her peace with Dredd from a hospital bed before, as far as he was concerned, dying. But, it would transpire, she had faked this in order to go on her own ‘Long Walk’ across international cities, hunting down the remnants of Smiley’s internal organisation. Putting right the decay in Justice Department that she felt had grown under her watch. But the alien pathogen is inside her, still. She knows she doesn’t have long left. And a life outside of the Judge’s life is one she does not know how to cope with.

About Hershey: Disease (JUN211732): You think you know her story. Chief Judge of Mega-City One, Barbara Hershey had been a powerful ally to Judge Dredd, until she became infected with an alien pathogen and — supposedly — died. But little do the citizens and judges of Mega-City One suspect that Hershey’s death was faked. Now, join fan-favorite character Judge Hershey as she embarks on a new adventure beyond the grave and beyond the walls of Mega-City One, to right the wrongs of her past and dispense justice!

Hershey: Disease is available now at your local comic shop. The trade paperback edition is available to pre-order now using PREVIEWSworld Pullbox.

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