In the Judge Dredd universe, the massive metropolis, Mega-City One, has proven to be as tough as the legendary street judge himself. The city has survived countless catastrophes and disruptive events over the decades, including one nuclear holocaust that laid waste to most of America. It managed to do so only because it was testing a new laser defense technology at the onset of the Atomic War.
Judge Dredd first appeared in 2000 AD, a weekly sci-fi comic book anthology magazine published in the United Kingdom by IPC Magazines. Ever since, Dredd stories have been primarily set in Mega-City One, with the fictional American city becoming an essential part of the Dredd mythos.
While not as popular as Gotham or Metropolis, Mega-City One nevertheless deserves its place alongside other iconic comic book cities.
Surviving The Atomic Wars Was Only The Beginning For Mega-City One
As told in Judge Dredd’s “Origins” storyline – a 2006-2007 arc by the creative team of writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra – Robert Lius Booth, governor of Mega-City Three, won a rigged election to become President of the United States in 2068. Several years into his term, President Booth would start the Atomic War by waging a nuclear war against the rest of the world. Booth was confident that his administration’s so-called “nuclear screens” would be enough to protect America against nuclear strikes by its enemies. That overconfidence would have devastating consequences for the whole country, creating the bleak future seen in Judge Dredd.
Post-War Mega-City One Gave Birth To The Judge System
The nuclear holocaust that followed would turn the majority of the United States mainland into a radioactive wasteland, except for only three Mega-Cities: the east coast’s Mega-City One, the west coast’s Mega-City Two, and Booth’s home turf, Mega-City Three, formerly part of Texas. As for the rest of the country, the other irradiated cities would soon become a vast desert, populated only by the mutated and the lawless. In time, the open wasteland would become known as the Cursed Earth, a gruesome and lasting reminder of the Atomic War, waged by an American President whose insatiable greed for power turned most of the world into ashes.
Judge Dredd’s Mega-City One was spared the same fate as the rest of the United States due to its experimental missile defense system. At the time of the Atomic War, Mega-Cities One, Two, and Three deployed anti-nuclear laser defense systems. These were successful in deflecting the retaliatory strikes that wiped out the rest of the country, once President Booth had unleashed the conflagration. Subsequently, the ensuing post-war chaos would shape how society and its governance functioned within Mega-City One. Beset by worsening crime, Mega-City One’s Justice Department was forced to overthrow Booth’s administration and become the sole enforcer of the law, leading to the eventual rise of Judge Dredd.
