(Judge Dredd #3) - Judge Dredd and cadets Maclean and Stevenson responded when the Video Liberation Army held the board of the Cellular Videonet hostage, demanding free videos for all of Mega-City. Dredd tried negotiating, telling the cadets the public's trust in law enforcement was at an all-time low because of the corruption ring he uncovered. When one of the radicals tossed a board member to their death that gave Dredd all the excuse he needed to swarm the building and gun down the perps. The CVN board was thrilled at the ratings on their own network's coverage of the hostage situation. Cadet Lewis tried to keep the peace during the police shortage, making sure perps were judged and booked in a timely fashion. She told Dredd she was worried criminals wouldn't wait for them to get reorganized, and he reminded her they had to clean up their own house if they were to be effective peacekeepers. Dredd met with Fargo, telling him he was suffering hallucinations from his time in the VR world, and reported that post-perp Richard Magog was in the hospital after trying to jump the police wire at the hostage situation. Fargo said he'd pay Magog a visit, since Fargo's conviction of him as a young prosecutor led to his rise to power. Fargo said times were changing, and called a meeting of all the Judges, telling them they were all fired.

(Judge Dredd #4, 5) - Fargo called a press conference, going over the history of the Judges, which began in 2038 after President Frankowski dissolved the judiciary branch thanks to Fargo's influence. He blamed Judge corruption on police corruption, saying the President had to leave policing entirely to judges and disband the police. The first class of Institute Judges would bring a new era to street justice, but in the meantime he was installing Justice Machines around the county, where officers could deliver perps and have them judged. He admitted there would be no judiciary system for 48 hours, but he retained Dredd as a judge to keep an eye on things. Riots broke out in the streets, and Dredd arrested a crowd of 148 after he convinced them he meant business, throwing grenades and using flamethrowers against them. He called Cadet Lewis at the Hall of Justice, and she warned him the jail was already almost full of perps. Officer Rusk was gunned down by a biker gang wearing Judge uniforms, and Dredd rushed him to the infirmary, but couldn't save his life. He returned to the Hall of Justice to deal with the full house, and Lewis told him they couldn't find most of the arresting officers to figure out who was charged with what. Dredd got the sentencing rolling by putting a gun to each perp's head to force them to tell him what they were arrested for. Once everyone was processed Lewis looked out the window and saw the biker gang waiting for them. Sergeant Macgregor went to confront the gang and was gunned down. Maclean and Stevenson used the spy-eye to listen in on the gang, learning that they were called the Ministry of Fear and were systematically destroying Halls of Justice around the city. They wanted Dredd taken alive, so Dredd came up with a plan, dressing all the officers present as judges, but telling them they in no way had earned the honor. They attacked the Ministry en masse, and the Ministry refused to use lethal force because they weren't sure which judge was Dreddd, giving them a disadvantage. The Ministry fled, but Dredd subdued on of the members, who shot himself in the head rather than answer any questions about the Ministry.

(Judge Dredd #6, 7) - Fargo had a meeting with Clarence Suskind, head of the Institute for Incarceration, who assured Fargo he could handle the predicted huge influx of new prisoners that would arrive in the prison system once the Justice Machines began operation. Dredd reported to Fargo about the Ministry, and Fargo said he should let the police handle them, because he was too valuable to risk his life going after them. Cadet Lewis told Dredd she'd requisitioned advanced weaponry for their Hall of Justice so they'd be prepared if the Ministry struck again. Dredd took a phone call and was jolted with electricity, finding himself in the VR World again. Richard Magog and his new ally Emily were there, and Magog revealed that he'd created the World while in prison. Dredd tried to arrest them, but his gun shot only flowers. Magog told him the World was his tribute to nature that no longer existed, but someone had been writing malicious code making the World accessible with cybernarcs and turning the visitors into addicts, and asked for Dredd's help in restoring the World. Dredd was surprised to see Pam and Dougie, two perps he'd sentenced earlier, in the World and on the run from hunters, who lost interest in them once they saw Dredd. Judge Dredd battered the hunters bloody, and they disappeared from the World. They were guards serving under Warden Clarence, who dealt with the new influx of prisoners by plugging them into the World, making them sedate and harmless, and prey for his guards. Magog asked Dredd to see for himself, although Dredd promised nothing about what actions he'd take, saying he didn't make deals with criminals. Magog showed him the minimum security area, where terrified perps were alone in a vast open landscape. They begged Dredd to help them, but he replied that he had no sympathy for perps. In max security the prisoners were subjected to a landscape of Hell and torture, and Dredd said he was starting to enjoy the world. The prisoners that were able attacked Dredd, and Magog used the distraction to jump into a pit that contained the World's core code. Warden Clarence ordered his prisoners away from Dredd, who told him he was under arrest, not for the conditions of the World, but for using illegal software and pocketing public funds. Magog eliminated Clarence's virus, removing him, his prisoners and the guards from the World. The prisoners awoke from the World furious, caused a riot, and slaughtered Suskind and his guards. Magog released Dredd, who was reminding him he was still under arrest, from the World, starting a revival of the idyllic community he created. Dredd rounded up his cadets and they quelled the prison riot.

(Judge Dredd #8, 9) - Dredd expected the Ministry of Fear to attack his hall of justice again, and had Cadets Lewis and Stevenson monitor their movements. Judge Fargo arrived to inspect, and when the Ministry headed south Dredd wanted to go after them. Fargo reiterated that he wanted Dredd to leave them to the police, and asked for a tour of the hall. Fargo met officer Anderson, who admired him, but when they shook hands Anderson had a psychic vision of the Ministry storming Washington and killing the President. Over Fargo's objections, Dredd left the hall, using an experimental flying Justice Machine to fly to D.C. The Ministry had just massacred Congress and were attempting an assault on the White House. Dredd met President Frankowitz, who initially thought Fargo had sent Dredd to execute him. Dredd said he was following the Judiciary Responsibilities Act, which made the President's safety in a state of emergency a judge's number one priority. They fled to the Lincoln Memorial, with Minister Synn and underlings reluctant to shoot for fear of hitting Dredd. After cornering Dredd they overwhelmed him, beating him into submission, and aimed their weapons at the President. Frankowski recently acquired a psi-ballistic vaporizer from visiting aliens, and used it to incinerate members of the Ministry. Minister Synn had him in his sights, but Dredd jumped in front of the bullet, taking it in the arm. Synn realized he'd failed the Overseer by injuring Dredd and committed suicide, shooting himself in the head. Dredd and the President's public popularity soared after Mega-City saw their heroics, with fans calling for Dredd to replace VP Robert Booth. Dredd returned to the hall of justice, where Lewis told him Fargo had lost it after he left against orders, demoting her and the other cadets back to basic training as punishment. Dredd said he was following the law, and after saying a quick goodbye pondered that there was something wrong with Fargo, who'd just started training a new group of judges. Fargo was the Overseer of the Ministry, which he created to be the new law, and with their dissolution he needed new judges that would be loyal to only him.

(Judge Dredd #10) - The Justice Machines systematically processed thousands of new perps for prison, and VP Booth assassinated the President. Since he was under Fargo's thumb he agreed to hand control of federal police over to the judiciary, making Fargo a de facto ruler of Mega-City One. Judge Dredd learned that the Ministry had been using advanced weapons from the Institute of Ethical Violence, and pieced things together, realizing Fargo was behind the Ministry. He went to confront Fargo, and ran into his former Cadets, who were all pleased to see him except Lewis. Fargo told Dredd he'd done everything he did to gain full control over the law, displeased at Frankowski's interference, keeping him from destroying the criminal element with an iron fist. Dredd said he was going to arrest Fargo, even after Fargo said he ordered Dredd not to be hurt by the Ministry because he was his clone and proudest creation. Dredd gave him the option of an honorable suicide as a form of execution, and Fargo played along, raising the gun to his head before turning it on Dredd and gunning him down.

(Judge Dredd #11) - Fargo had shot Dredd with simu-death bullets, putting him in a state of suspended animation, and Fargo intended to wake him after his own death. In 2099 Fargo reached mandatory retirement age and died, while Dredd was revived during Fargo's funeral and ushered to see interim Chief Judge Goodman, who led him to a room where a holovid was to play Fargo's will. Fargo appeared as a holovid and told Dredd he couldn't allow him to interfere with his plans for a new world order, and hoped he understood. After Dredd's "death" President Booth pushed the nuclear button, destroying all of America except for Mega-City One, Mega-City-Two and Texas City. The people revolted, leading to a massacre, but Fargo and his newly trained judges responded, battling Booth's mek army and executing the president, leaving the judiciary as the sole government, and achieving Fargo's life goal. Fargo made plans for Dredd to be appointed Chief Judge after his death, and revealed that he had his own consciousness stored in the Hall of Justice mainframe so he could offer Dredd continued guidance. Dredd rejected his plans, saying he was guilty of mass murder, and with Goodman's help erased Fargo's consciousness from the mainframe. Dredd told Goodman he would stay on as administrator because Dredd was a lawman, not a bureaucrat, and taking the position would make him complicit in Fargo's crimes after the fact. Dredd was ready to pick up where he left off.

(Judge Dredd #12) - Goodman told Judge Dredd he'd need time to acclimate himself to the new Mega-City One and the new laws, suggesting he take on Judge Morph, who was once a police officer who helped Dredd fight the Ministry of Fear, on as a partner. Dredd said standards must have fallen for Morph to be a judge, and said he didn't want special treatment, so since no other judge had a partner he'd wing it. Dredd responded to an emergency signal only to find three judges dressed as mimes battling a drug ring, who ran off. Marceau scolded him for responding to a Wally Code signal, saying he was deep undercover and Dredd messed up his bust. Morph was following Dredd, and again asked him to let him get Dredd up to speed. Dredd refused again, saying the law was immutable and unchanging. Dredd busted up what looked like a riot against judges with heavy artillery, and when the smoke cleared he learned that he was in an aggrocenter, where customers got to pretend to gun down judges. Dredd turned himself over to Morph, who told him Goodman anticipated Dredd getting carried away, and had his weaponry replaced with sleeping canisters. Dredd was assigned to temporal rehab, strapped into a machine, and had his brain shocked. Dredd told Goodman he didn't feel any different, and Goodman told him his personality hadn't been altered, he'd just been given new factual information about the last 50 years. Dredd left the Hall of Justice, arresting a little old lady for walking against traffic, and added on a charge of assaulting a police officer when she hit him with her cane, and Goodman was pleased.

(Judge Dredd #13-15) - Judge Dredd responded to a mobile-home hobo, or Caravani traffic incident where they lost control of their Mo-Pedder. Dredd grabbed the wheel, avoided an attack by the NRA, or Nun Rifle Association, and crashed the car as safely as he could. He sentenced the parents to 70 years in the iso-cubes for reckless driving, and when they begged for him to consider their children he told them there were many fine Mega-City orphanages, and added 10 years to their sentences for questioning a judge. He responded to a scavenger hunt craze where people fought with weapons to have the honor of collecting pieces of dead bureaucrats. He gunned down the aggressors and had the rest arrested. Trendsetter Mr. Scam organized the game, and told Dredd he couldn't be charged because his trend fulfilled a city ordinance requiring citizens to assist in locating the missing and dead. Dredd altered the wording of the law, and warned Scam to clean up his mess or face capital punishment. Scam's next scheme was chosen from a list of laws hard-coded into the system, and he chose the civil reward program for blocks that showed economic initiative. He pitted the Stargazers and their interest in alien tech against the Rodenti Inventus, rat-men who made service machines who he convinced to build entertaining yet dangerous devices. Their feud escalated, thrilling the very citizens put in danger, and Dredd recognized there was a new craze to deal with. The Stargazers, under Scam's direction, hosted a convention on extraterrestrials, demonstrating cattle mutilation, mindwipes, and other possible things speculative aliens could subject humans to once they landed on Earth. Scam noticed the crowd getting bored during a probing exhibition, so he caused the probes to malfunction and attack the crowd, exciting them. Dredd broke up the convention and was ready to arrest Professor Fortean before he told Dredd that what he was doing was legal under civic economic improvement laws. Dredd knew Scam was behind the stunt, but couldn't prove it. Scam gave Dredd and Technician Silikon a tour of the Rodenti Inventus themepark, and Dredd kept finding safety violations and arresting Rodenti. Walt Steambot said he had no right because the themepark brought so much happiness to Mega-City One, and Dredd responded that happiness was not a right under the law. Steambot showed him Penitentiary Land, a tribute to the law populated by animatronic lawmen, including a robot udge Dredd. The animatronic lawmen malfunctioned and turned on Dredd. Dredd destroyed most of the units, and Scam broadcast the chaos on Scam-TV, garnering massive ratings. The jealous Stargazers attacked the Rodenti in full force until Dredd told both groups they were under arrest. He made them come to their senses, realizing they were destroying each other, and when he commanded it Xavier and Steambot told their men to stand down, giving a speech about mutual incarceration and cooperation. The nearly destroyed Dredd animatronic caught up to Mr. Scam and gunned him down. The Caravani children, using a stolen Mo-Pedder, careened into the themepark, and berated Dredd for taking away their family. He sentenced them to 50 years in the iso-cubes, but in a rare display of gentility allowed them to serve their sentence in the same cell as their parents.

(Judge Dredd #16, 17) - After Cadet Lewis washed out of the academy she found herself unable to get anby real law-enforcement job, and eventually became a mall-judge. Lewis kept writing notes to Dredd, trying to say she was happy he was alive and viewing their time together as the best time in her life, but she kept crumpling up her notes when words failed her. Lewis lost her patience with a bird outside her window that woke her every morning and went after it guns blazing, but the disturbance she caused ended up in her getting netted and taken down to the hall of justice for a psychological exam. Dredd saw her in holding and tersely acknowledged her, causing Lewis to admit to herself that it was the worst day of her life. Escaped Brit-City convict Nova Scosha killed a number of judges, and demanded Dredd confront him. Dredd went to his last known location at the Atlantic Tunnel, but Nova arrived at the hall looking for Dredd. Lewis, formulating a plan to get in Dredd's good graces freed herself, and convinced Nova she could lead him to Dredd, taking him back to her apartment. Nova realized he'd been duped when he saw no sign of Dredd, but Lewis convinced him the bird outside her window belonged to Dredd and he opened fire. Lewis lured him to the mall where she worked, convincing him Dredd was surveilling there, and after a brief rampage and shouting match he fell asleep. Dredd located them, and after a terrific struggle with Nova he killed the perp by plunging a jagged metal bar into his chest. Lewis was under the delusion that Judge Dredd was ready to admit his love for her and she kissed him, resulting in a six-month sentence for inappropriate contact with a judge. Dredd told her she washed out because the only love a judge should have is a love of the law.

(Judge Dredd #18) - The Boho Blocks were inhabited by artists, and tensions were simmering, eventually breaking out in a multiple block riot after the Jackson Pollack Block attacked the Andy Warhol Block. Dredd and a number of other judges tried to quell the chaos, made worse by the schism causing a revolt on the Post-Impressionist Block and attacks by the Simon Bisley Block and a Situationist Death-Squad. The Salvador Dali Block threw a fish at Dredd, declaring their victory over him, and he sent them to the hall of justice for a psych eval. When the riots finally ended 37 judges were dead, and Dredd said the Boho residents were a danger to themselves and others, so the Boho Blocks would have to be torn down.

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