'Official' Judge Uniform - Planet Replicas

It's only taken just short of 35 years folks but finally 2000 AD have allowed a company to make official items from their stories. First up from Planet Replicas is the Mega City One Judge uniform, which will probably end up being called the Judge Dredd outfit by everyone!

The people who run this company also did the uniforms and props for the Judge Minty film and as I am an extra in that I knew it was coming. I managed to obtain the No1 uniform, sorry Rob but I was wearing mine first.

Now I'm not going to go into what all the materials are, as I don't really care, I'm a buyer and not a builder! Also I may add the cost and alter the blog slightly when the prices are revealed officialy which is quite soon, then this bit will vanish and you won't know this was here anyway!

Here are all the accessories laid out minus the day stick!

HELMET

This is very comfortable and give a surprising amount of vision through the visor, especially the tinted part. The balance is spot on and the internal lining just finishes off the professional feel that it has. There are different sizes and I opted for the large one. You can also use a headband to give extra stability and also to help with the sweat.

The Eagle

This is attached to the shoulder via velcro moulded around the top and sides of the shoulder. The top is a solid construct but the wings are pliable, so you can easily move your arms into various positions, within reason. Again this is surprisingly light to wear and is perfectly moulded to fit nicely around the shoulder. Extra details like the justice eagle on the top just add to the realism. To make sure it stays attached I have glued and stitched the velcro to the leathers.

Shoulder Pad

Again this is attached by velcro but it also has a pad built in so that it sits slightly proud of your shoulder, thus making it move easily when your arm moves. This is quite a solid build but doesn't hinder the movement of your arm, mainly because of the built in pad.

Badge of Office

This you can have as Dredd or a personalised one. I went for my own name, as I never really wanted to be Dredd. For a start I would be much harder than him upholding the law and since being written into Dredd history (prog 1716) I can use my own name with Justice seal of approval! Look at the number of links as well, details! This is also fixed to the uniform by velcro and is so light it is no problem at all hanging off your chest.

Belt

The snap buckle has velcro on it to hold the badge in place. The pouches are all velcro sealable and I will be putting some foam in each one just to pad them out in the future. The eagle on each pouch is another lovely detail, that just adds to the whole uniform.

Gloves

These are ultra comfortable and very smooth on the skin. Again the eagle is on the pouches and I shall fill those with foam as well, just to pad them out. Very easy to put on and take off, which is what you need when getting dressed up.

Pads

These are held in place with velcro but I would say depending on your size, some people may not even use it. The knee pads are right above the boot, so the gap is negligible and the elbow pads are so light that the leathers seem to keep them in place easily enough. Again these are surprisingly comfortable, especially the elbow pads and that's good due to the amount of times people will be asking you to hit them at conventions and such events! 

Boots

These are a size larger than my actual feet as that is the way you order them through the shop. They are very tight around the calf at first but you soon get used to it and when you eventually take them off you can still feel them. These round off the feel of the whole uniform due to the fact that when you wear the correct boots for the job you feel you can achieve said job with ease. Just imagine smashing in doors and perps alike with these, you'd feel nothing at all, physically or mentally!

Leathers

This is a bespoke one piece suit and when you contact Planet Replicas they will ask for numerous measurements for it to be made, so don't mess up. I went down my local tailors and had myself measured up by a pro, better to be safe than sorry! I'm not going to show a pic of just the leathers as that would show nothing, it's the whole ensemble that show that off the best.

By the way it is lined and is a lot cooler than the Judge Minty two piece outfit.

To end with I'll post a few poses so you can see how it looks when you begin to uphold the law. By the way, the material behind me is the Judge Dredd quilt cover and it's the reverse side!

Now off you go and buy yours from PLANET REPLICAS

The 2000AD Panel at Hi-Ex! 2010

I'm sure most of you will know the story of the Hi-Ex! Hell-Trek that was organised in 2010, to get to this superb comic convention held in Inverness. Well, during this convention I decided to film the 2000AD talk featuring five of Tharg's droids.

It followed on from the Cam Kennedy interview by Colin MacNeil and so I had to make a decision, which one to tape, as I couldn't risk the battery dying on me. I went for the 2000AD talk. I still wish I did both but that's life!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these five clips that make up the whole talk. During this you will here some very distinctive laughing from certain members of the 2000AD fan community and also, please excuse my wobbly arm near the end!

I hope you enjoyed those, I may try and do some more videos like these in the future. Well that's if I don't get too carried away at the cons that I go to.

Mark Wilkinson Posters

I can't remember when these came out but seeing as it uses the blurb 'Mark Wilkinson voted best Judge Dredd artist 1994' on the poster, it must be after then! I didn't buy them at the time, I wasn't as ill as I am now with my madness. I actually bought them in 2010 from Ian Senior, via ebay. I didn't pay the price on the advert , which is good news for me! 

Up next are pics of the posters that I cropped from the advert, followed by a short film showing them in the flesh, as best I could. The two Dredd's are signed by 20 artists including Mark but the Anderson only has Marks signature on it.

Here's the short video, which gives you an idea of the size as well.



Demoncon 2

I'd been to the first one earlier in the year and thoroughly enjoyed myself and so had to be at this one as well (it would be rude not to, seeing as it takes 7 minutes from my front door to the con). It's not a big convention, in fact it's quite small really but don't let that put you off as the atmosphere is very friendly. Also a con this size gives you a chance to have some decent time with each creator in the room, something that would never happen at the massive cons!

I was there just after 10:00 and stayed till about 16:30 as I had a Sunday Dinner to get back for. Never turn down a meal that is cooked for you and that you don't have to wash up after, thanks Mother in Law!

Anyway, I did my normal thing, I wandered round and saw what was on offer and then started collecting my sketches. I always enjoy seeing everyone's take on all things Justice Department after I ask for a Dredd but this time I went for a few female Judges, as you will see later on. I also bought a few books but left that to near my departure time, so as not to have to carry them around with me, always plan ahead!

Meeting some old faces was great fun, especially the double hitting team of Chris Phillips and Phillip M Jackson. We had a good laugh about certain parts of their last sketches that they did at Demoncon 1, only slight mistakes but it all added to the fun of the art. I still have to get a commission from Chris but a big item that I will be buying up Thought Bubble has put that on the back burner for this year. Anyway here are the lads busy at work!

Their task was to draw Judge Hershey and Judge Anderson and out sex each other and boy they didn't let me down.

Judge Anderson by Chris Phillips

Judge Hershey by Phillip M Jackson

I also added a few more Candleman books to my growing collection. I've now read these and great fun they are on two levels. Firstly the adult level, you can really get into the character as he clumsily goes about his heroic deeds, like some insane cosplayer. Also due to the fact that he has no powers, it's interesting to see how the writer concludes each tale without him being killed off.

On the childrens level, the pages are full with vivid artwork and each story rattles along at a fair old pace. On the whole there is nothing in these that would upset any child who decided to read them.

Next up was the Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood table.

I had a really interesting chat with Tony about Necrophim and Stalag #666 for 2000AD as I'd enjoyed both stories but prefered the former, mainly because I love an ending on a downer. 

Dan was missing for this shot but I did manage to catch him eventually and he did the sketch below for me!

Judge Anderson by Daniel Boultwood

I also bought the TPB Harker by Tony and finished it last night and was mightily impressed at how he has continued the story. It's the only official sequel to Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and everything is cannon.

Next up was Marc Laming and I managed to obtain my favourite sketch of the day from him. I still have two more to be finished, more of that later but at the moment Marc is King!

I had seen one of Marc's sketches inside the sketch pad of one of the son's of the organiser of the con and was impressed. I found Marc at the rear of the con and asked for a Dredd in the rain and every so often I would pop back to him and have a chat as he took ages doing this beauty.

He mentioned that he did a strip for the Revolver Romance Special, so I'll have to get that up from the cellar and check it out sometime soon. He aslo had some pages from a Korea War story that he was doing and the detail was amazing, I couldn't pick him up on anything and look forward to seeing this when it's finished.

Judge Dredd by Marc Laming

Next up was Grant Perkins and his delightful wife.

I was looking at his art with a mate and his son who are both into wrestling and commented on how much his style looked like a piece I had seen on the 2000AD forum (the massive wrestling poster). He then showed me a pic on his phone and it was that poster and he was that artist. It's always great to see another forum member in the flesh and a highly talented one at that.

He showed me the artwork he had done for the subscription copy of Future Shocks for 2000 AD and pointed out the small difference. They replaced Devlin Waugh with Mongrol in the painting on the wall.

Future Shocks by Grant Perkins

I then asked him to do a Dredd and include my blog title and he didn't disappoint. I love the way the fist is punching into the foreground.

Judge Dredd by Grant Perkins



Up next it was a visit to Ian Sharman's table and we had a chat about what I should buy from his stock, especially as I've bought most of his stuff now, We settled on FTL in the end and I shall read it over the coming days. One thing I've just realised is that I didn't get a sketch from his sidekick David Wynne, I'll correct that next time.

I also went out of my way to make sure I obtained two sketches from two girls who flew the flag for Manga art at the con, Sonia Leong and Morag Lewis.

At the moment I have only one sketch with me (Morag's), the reason is as follows! I had also asked Jack Lawrence and Dean Beattie for a sketch each and left my sketch pad (containing Sonia's Dredd) with Dean, as he wanted to take his time on the sketch he was going to do. Jack's sketch won't appear on here as well just yet, as he's doing his sketch at home as well, I love these dedicated  artists.

Judge Dredd by Morag Lewis

Next up was a visit to the Cancer Town table and I had a few chats with Cy Dethan, Nic Wilkinson and Peter Mason. They mentioned Ricmond and Vicky (the Hi-Ex! promoters) as they had worked with them before and so we chatted about Hi-Ex. I also managed to include a push for Peter to get in touch with the FutureQuake team and show them some of his stuff. The three of them are in the middle of the photo below, behind Jack Lawrence.

Anyway I asked them to do the hard sell on their books and after a great effort, I opted for Cancer Town. Good job I bought it, as they quickly sold out of this!

Luckily for me, Peter gave me a couple of his prints as well.

Next up was the extremely friendly Jack Lawrence, half obscured by his own artwork as he sorts out some amazing pages for some fans, just out of shot!

I asked for one of the female Judges from Jack but I can't remember who and obviously due to the fact he is doing that sketch at home, I have nothing to show you yet but I will when I collect it in the near future! I had a great laugh with Jack and managed to buy a page from his story that appeared in the Megazine, Field Trip. I chose this page due to the female Judge on show and the head shots.

Field Trip by Jack Lawrence

All in all another productive sketch collecting day for me, with many a laugh thrown in for good measure. Obviously the 3 missing sketches will be added once they are in my possession and then you will see how Sonia has drawn Dredd. Never really knew that you have to always show the eyes in Manga!

This is definately a fun con and many thanks go to Graham who runs The Grinning Demon comic emporium in Maidstone for putting the show on. With it moving to a larger location for the next one more things can be included and obviously more guests.