“Mr. Buzzz”
First print date: July 9 1977
Prog appearance: 22
Writer(s): John Wagner
Artist(s): Ian Gibson
Total episodes: 1
Taking down a gang suspected of several murders, Dredd gets a tip-off from one of the gang members as to where he can find their leader, Mr. Buzzz (anyone going to take a guess that he's a robot?) and when he finds him in the hotel as expected, he orders it burned down, much to the dismay of its owner. However Dredd reminds him that the owner could technically be accused of harbouring a fugitive from the law, so he is in fact getting off lightly! As Mr. Buzzz jumps from the burning building, it's clear he has no eyes and is in fact a mutant (damn! So much for my clever guess! I owe you a coke!) , however when Dredd pursues him into a store it becomes clear the mutant can see in total darkness. Dredd, as he ducks a knife thrown at him, wonders how this can be, when Mr. Buzzz has no eyes?
He quickly comes to the conclusion that the mutant is listening to the echoes of the buzzing sounds he makes as he speaks, and by calculating the time it takes for those echoes to drift back to him he can home in on any spot with precision. Endeavouring to overload his hearing and throw his calculations off, Dredd fires his Lawgiver on high explosive repeatedly. It works: the mutant cover his ears in confusion and Dredd is able to get the drop on him, punching him out and arresting him.
Quotes
Gang member: “I'll get forty years for this! Reduce my sentence, Dredd, and I'll tell you where you can find our leader, Mr. Buzzz. He's holed up in an cheap hotel in Oldtown.”
Dredd: “Many thanks. In recognition of your co-operation I sentence you to thirty-nine years, three hundred and sixty-four days in an isolation cube.”
(Dredd: he's all heart huh?)
Dredd: “Control, slap a demolition order on the fleapit at third and Grover.”
Control: “Why? Did something happen to it?”
Dredd: “Yeah: it just burned down!”
Hotel owner: “My hotel! My hotel!”
Dredd: “The city'll pay. Just thank your stars I don't arrest you for harbouring a fugitive.”
Driver: “My Dok! He – he hasn't got any eyes!”
Mr Buzzz: “So what? You haven't got any teeth!”
Dredd (thinking): “These muties adapt themselves to make up for their warped bodies. Those buzzing sounds Mr. Buzzz makes act like a bat's radar. By listening to the echoes he can tell exactly where objects are.”
I'll ask the questions, Creep!
Dredd tells himself he wants Buzzz alive. Why? What difference does it make to him if he kills the mutant?
Also, the other officers tell him they can't get Buzzz out. Why not? Have they tried? If you allow that maybe they don't want to try storming the building in case innocent civilians are hurt, then how does that tie in with Dredd's plan to burn the place down? Does he have it on good authority that there are no other residents or guests in there? Has he checked? Does he care? He's given us to understand that he does all he can to ensure innocents are not harmed: is this not totally opposite to his usual behaviour? And what about the adjacent buildings? Has he ensured they won't be caught up in the blaze? Very reckless I feel, from a man who is not know for this trait.
Parallels
There's a direct conflict here between how Wagner writes mutants in Judge Dredd and how he writes about them in Strontium Dog. In the latter, they're a put-upon, pitiable species who get reviled for something that is not their fault, and yet try to retain what remains of their humanity, whereas here Dredd sees them as sub-human, evil and to be feared and objects of contempt. He has of course run into mutants before, during the story “The Brotherhood of Darkness”, so he has some experience of them. He also notes that purely because of their appearance mutants have been banned from the city. This is perhaps harsh: many of these people have probably committed no crime, other than being caught in the nuclear blast that created the Cursed Earth, and yet they are outcasts, treated as pariahs and mere entry into Mega-City One is enough to get them killed.
Famous firsts
Finally, Dredd refers to his gun as a Lawgiver. Whether this remains the case or changes we shall see, though eventually this name was chosen as the standard.
Also here we hear the phrase “My dok!” which is an exclamation of horror or surprise, obviously taken from “My god!”
I AM THE LAW!
Dredd is obviously empowered to make deals on the spot, such as reducing a sentence if decent information is offered. However here the criminal makes a fatal mistake, giving up the info without securing any sort of agreement with the lawman, and thus only gets a single day shaved off his sentence! He has played his hand too soon, and has nothing left to gamble with.
Dredd is also not above twisting the law to suit his purposes, as he orders Control to register the hotel in which Mr. Buzzz is hiding out as demolished, before he sets about demolishing it himself. He has therefore covered himself, even if this is a case of placing the cart before the horse.
We can't be sure, but he might have been considering, as he tells the hotel owner, placing the man under arrest for harbouring the perp, though with the hotel burned down he is satisfied. Interesting that he assures the owner he will be compensated by the city. I guess once Dredd has followed protocol (even if in reverse) the guy's claim will be honoured.
Those clever little touches
Another mention of the street Third and Grover; this time it's where the hotel is located.