Judge Solomon
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Chief Judge Hollins Solomon is a fictional character from the Judge Dredd universe, in the comic 2000 AD. His first appearance in the comic was in a flashback in #68, in the 1978 story The Cursed Earth.
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[edit] Judgement of Solomon
Solomon is famous for his verdict in the war crimes trial of President Robert L. Booth, which became known as the "Judgement of Solomon." In 2070 Booth, the last president of the United States, initiated a global nuclear war which left much of the world in ruins. In the aftermath, the constitutional government was overthrown and power was seized by the Street Judges (formerly an elite police force within the Justice Department). Booth was found guilty, but the judges were unable to decide what to do with him. Ordinary life imprisonment seemed too good for him, but they could not bring themselves to execute America's last president. It was Solomon who hit on the solution: a sentence of "living death" - suspended animation in a cryogenic chamber. Booth was sentenced to 100 years in suspended animation, buried deep within the vaults of Fort Knox. This ingenious compromise sealed Judge Solomon's reputation for wisdom. (Writer Pat Mills named the character after the King Solomon of the Old Testament.)
[edit] Controversy: Chief Judge?
Since the adventures of Judge Dredd in the comic began with the year 2099, there has been some dispute and speculation among fans about earlier continuity. Until late 2006 one such question was whether or not Solomon had ever held the office of Chief Judge.
Solomon's actual rank was not given in the text of the episode in which he first appeared, although the artist (Mike McMahon) drew him sitting on an eagle throne, and flanked by two other, unnamed judges. All three were depicted wearing a caped version of the regular judge's uniform, not the unique uniform of the chief judge. Nevertheless some readers assumed that since he presided over Booth's trial, he must have been the chief judge. This view was substantially reinforced by a feature published in the 2000 AD Annual 1984, which gave an unoffical timeline of the history of future America, in which Solomon was said to have been a chief judge. According to this timeline, the first three chief judges were Chief Judge Fargo, who held office from 2031 to 2051, then Solomon (2051 to 2058), and then Judge Goodman (2058 to 2101). (The date given for Fargo's death in 2051 was taken from a picture of his sarcophagus published in prog 107, in 1979.) The 1984 feature stated that Solomon resigned as chief judge in 2058, stating that he wished to return to his original role in ordinary law enforcement on the streets. (The year 2058 was taken from a reference in prog 89 to Goodman having ruled for 43 years before dying in 2101.) This timeline was later adopted for the Judge Dredd Roleplaying Game.
Fans who held the contrary view pointed out that: 1) these dates contradicted the date of 2070 given in the Cursed Earth story, 2) the timeline was fan fiction and was not written by any of the writers whose stories were ever published in the comic (it was entitled "History of Mega-City One: Unofficial Version" and invited readers to submit their own versions), 3) a pin-up of Judge Silver published in the comic names him as the sixth chief judge (he would be the seventh if Solomon is counted), and 4) since 1984 the feature had been superseded by later stories written by John Wagner (the writer who created Judge Dredd and who has written most of the stories to date). One such story was Oz. In an episode of Oz first published in prog 559, another flashback contained the first ever appearance of Chief Judge Fargo in the strip. This scene was set shortly after the Atomic War of 2070 (this date was confirmed in a later episode of the same story), and showed Fargo as the absolute ruler of America. Former editors of 2000 AD have pointed out that in the 1970s nobody expected the Judge Dredd strip to last for more than a couple of years and so no concerted effort was made to establish a proper history or backstory for the character. Only later did Dredd continuity settle down. Consequently a lot of inconsistencies have appeared between the first couple of years of episodes and the later ones. The official 2000 AD website originally compromised by giving both timelines, but still including Solomon as chief judge between 2071 and 2072. These dates would however have meant that Solomon did not become chief judge until after Booth's trial (which helpfully explained the uniform discrepancy mentioned above).
A partial answer to the controversy was later to be found in two more flashbacks in subsequent stories, both written by Wagner and both set in 2079. An episode of the story Blood Cadets (first published in prog 1187) includes a casual reference to Judge Goodman, and implies that Goodman was not yet chief judge at that time. A comment by Judge Morphy in the earlier story Tale of the Dead Man suggests that Fargo was already dead by that time. Therefore there must have been a chief judge between Fargo and Goodman. Although not named in either story, that chief judge could possibly have been Solomon.
[edit] "Origins"
A new story by Wagner, Origins, currently being published in 2000 AD (2006–2007), finally settled the question once and for all. Wagner said in an interview:
"There were many unresolved questions about the origins of the Judge system and some apparent contradictions that required sorting out... It's a task I'd always shied away from because of the difficulty of making sense of it all while still telling a story that was worth reading - but I knew that sometime it had to be done, if for no other reason than my own satisfaction."[1]
In progs 1513 and 1514 it was revealed that Fargo's death had been faked in 2051 and that Solomon had indeed succeeded him as chief judge (having previously been deputy chief judge), but that Fargo in fact survived until after the Atomic Wars of 2070. Solomon resigned in 2057 (not 2058) and was then succeeded by Goodman (contradicting the reference to Goodman in Blood Cadets, above).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ SFX magazine #148, October 2006. Page 48
| Preceded by Eustace Fargo |
Chief Judge of the United States 2051–2052 |
Succeeded by Office abolished |
| Preceded by New office |
Chief Judge of Mega-City One 2052–2057 |
Succeeded by Clarence Goodman |
