| By Private Contract | |
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Vital statistics
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| Author | John Wagner |
| Illustrator | Carlos Ezquerra |
| Published by | 2000AD |
By Private Contract was published in Prog. 2000 of 2000AD. It features a crossover between Dredd and several members of the Strontium Dog supporting cast.
History[]
After getting a mysterious tip off, Judge Dredd meets his former enemy turned ally Johnny Alpha in a small Cursed Earth diner. Alpha and his two companions Middenface McNulty and Kid Knee Jr. inform Dredd on a large bounty that had been placed on his head. Alpha suggests to pretend that Dredd had been captured by him, in order to learn who had placed the bounty. Taking Dredd with them to the future, they rendezvous with two Stixes who quickly betray the group and take Dredd as their own quarry. Dredd is taken to Calcorp HQ and, much to his surprise, is taken to trial before a large number of clones based of the insane Chief Judge Cal. A biased trial takes place as Alpha and Kid Knee Jr. inveigle their way into Calcorp (by claiming that Dredd is, in fact, a walking bomb whom only they can neutralise). As the Cal clones come to the unanimous decision to execute Dredd, the Judge knocks down one of the Stix brothers before snatching his weapon and ducking out of the way as a hail of bullets kills both brothers. Dredd begins shooting the clones as Alpha and his men arrive to help finish them off. Shortly after Kid Knee and McNulty find the Calcorp gold reserves and Alpha sends Dredd home after a rather humourless goodbye.
Characters[]
- Judge Dredd
- Johnny Alpha
- Middenface McNulty
- Kid Knee Jr.
- Bovus Stix
- Pikey Stix
- Cal Clones
Trivia[]
- A goldfish could be seen in the Clones courtroom, a reference to Deputy Chief Judge Fish.