The Fall of Deadworld is a comic series set in the Judge Dredd universe written by Kek-W and drawn by Dave Kendall. It was preceded by Dreams of Deadworld.
In the Mirror Universe that would one day become known as Deadworld, a coup in the capital puts mysterious beings known as Dark Judges in power. Things rapidly go from bad to worse for the denizens of this world as sinister Judges are sent out to every quarter to pass 'judgment' on the people. The young girl Jess Childs teams up with the renegade Judge Fairfax to escape this onslaught.
This comic provides examples of:
- Badass and Child Duo: Judge Fairfax takes it upon himself to protect Jess after her entire family has been murdered by the Dark Judges and their acolytes.
- Evil Mentor: In Law School, Fairfax was the favorite protegé of none other than Judge Death, the monster who is destroying that world. Death still wants Fairfax back in his inner circle as his fourth lieutenant.
- Eye Scream: In Part 2, a young Judge-Tutor Sidney De'ath (aka Judge Death) is shown "building morale" among a bunch of cadets (hinted to be the other three Dark Judges) by mutilating them, one by scooping out the kid's eye with a spoon.
- Foregone Conclusion: A dystopian future where the world is ruled by a totalitarian government run by Judges. Judges having total control over all aspects of the law as well as being judge, jury and executioner. Sound familiar? Well, one day a Judge, Sidney Death, comes to the conclusion that since all crime is committed by the living, life itself a crime—punishable by death. A supernatural force comes into play, allowing Judge Death to take control of the government and enforce his law. This leads to the creation of the Dark Judges. With their rise comes the eventual extinction of humanity. The story follows regular people trying to survive, rebels seeking to overthrow the government, and ex-Judges trying to stop Judge Death. Among other things. It's also frustrating because you get attached to some of the characters but you know how it will end.
- Just Before the End: It's already established that the Dark Judges exterminated their entire homeworld before their very first appearance in Judge Dredd, but this story arc shows the apocalypse slowly unfolding.
- A Love to Dismember: A variant in the second story, where the still-conscious head of a recently-zombified evil Judge is cut off by his female colleague, who then kisses him before putting it on a spare body.
- Orcus on His Throne: Chief Judge Death spends most of his time in this story holding court in Sector House 13 (at this point, the Hall of Injustice hadn't been built) and sends orders to his minions from there.
- Pet Rat: Judge Fairfax was the Chief Judge's "fixer" before the coup d'etat staged by the Dark Judges. This is why Judge Death is interested in turning Fairfax into his fourth main lieutenant.
- Prequel: Dreams of Deadworld and Fall of Deadworld are stories set on the homeworld of the Dark Judges before they travelled to Judge Dredd's dimension.
- President Evil: Inverted. There's a U.S. President leading La Résistance against the new Chief Judge, who is an Omnicidal Maniac. However, the President himself is just a stooge for that reality's East Meg One, and is disposed of as soon as he loses his usefullness to them.
- Psycho Serum:
- The Dark Judges use a version of their dead fluids to make people go kill crazy. The ones that best respond to the stuff become new recruits.
- In Part 2, it's shown that even the regular Judges were injected with aggressors and deinhibitors from their training as cadets onwards to make them compliant thugs. It didn't work on the future Judge Death because he was already a psychopath.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: A graphic example when a recently turned-evil psionic Judge uses a foot soldier's ripped-out eyeball to see what's happening elsewhere.
- Villain Takes an Interest: Judge Fairfax was once an acolyte of Judge Death, who still wants to recruit him as one of his lieutenants after they had a falling out. Fairfax just wants to ride out the apocalypse.
