Mega City Justice Department: Judge Cal

Chief Judge Cal & Deputy Chief Judge Fish

Judge Cal became Chief Judge via questionable means and subsequently reigned over Mega City One for one hundred days in “The Day the Law Died!”.  Unsurprisingly, Dredd led the resistance that eventually toppled Cal.

Loosely based on the Roman Emperor Caligula (and in particular the seventies BBC mini-series starring John Hurt it appears) Judge Cal was insane, to the extent that he appointed a goldfish as his Deputy Chief Judge.  The abode of Judge Fish is also pictured above.

Robes of Office

Cal comes from a early stage of development for both Dredd and and his environment.  The story told in The Day the Law Died is very old school, very seventies boys comics.  As such its pretty goofy and tough to read over thirty years later.

Nonetheless Cal is a classic Dredd villain.  The character also presented an opportunity to paint an entertainingly screwy model.

Cal doing his thing

I painted Cal using the same palette as the rest of my Judges.  I added a beauty spot to Cals face as I thought that it fit the narcissistic character well, but I dont think that he was ever depicted with one in the strip.

Although I was tempted to add the suggestion of Judge Fish swimming around in the fishbowl, I decided not to.  It would have been far too easy to screw it up.