Galen DeMarco

Galen DeMarco is a fictional character in the British science fiction comic strip Judge Dredd. She is a former street judge (final rank Sector Chief) who first appeared in the Judge Dredd story "The Pit" in 2000 AD #970.

Biography

DeMarco is the daughter of a billionaire, who had inducted into the Academy of Law as a cadet judge. When her father died, she inherited his immense wealth, but chose to forgo it in order to pursue her career; her fortune was held for her in a trust.

Considered one of the most capable judges of her generation, at age 23 she was in line to rise to the rank of Senior Judge, when she instead refused promotion and requested a transfer to – of all places – Sector 301, also known as "The Pit", a notorious crime blackspot and dumping ground for judges who fouled up. She served with distinction and was part of the small cadre of completely honest officers at the largely corrupt sector house. In 2117 the then sector chief was killed in suspicious circumstances. In response Chief Judge Volt ordered the legendary Joe Dredd to take over as Sector Chief with orders to clean up the place. Dredd's hatred for the administrative side of the job was well known (he personally turned down the chief judge's chair many times to avoid it), but he went to work in his usual style. Dredd took the sector by storm and worked regularly with DeMarco until the reason she had come to 301 was revealed: she was having an affair with another judge, Judge Warren. When this was revealed, Dredd reprimanded her and dismissed her lover from the force for dereliction of duty. DeMarco escaped that fate because she had responded to an emergency call even though it meant revealing her misconduct, while Warren had not. During the massive battle between the Judges and crime syndicate the Frendz Mob that ended the storyline, Warren kidnapped DeMarco with the intent of using her money to set up a new life for himself. Instead she ended up killing him.^[1]

Sometime later Dredd led a hotdog run (training mission) into the Cursed Earth and requested DeMarco to assist him.^[2] The two worked well together. Later still she rose to sector chief of Sector 303 and found Dredd reporting to her. To his astonishment he discovered that in the interim she had fallen in love with him. Dredd uncharacteristically let this breach of regulations slide and the two parted company once more.^[3]

However Judge Edgar of the Public Surveillance Unit, who vehemently disliked Dredd, uncovered the incident and attempted to use it to prove that Dredd and DeMarco had had an unjudicial liaison. Dredd was reprimanded by the chief judge, and DeMarco chose to resign from the Justice Department rather than undergo demotion and compulsory re-education.^[4]

Thankfully Galen is heir to the DeMarco fortune which, once she left the Judges, was turned over to her: a fortune that ran to about 17 billion credits. Dredd also arranged for Galen to have a gun permit and work as a private detective so she could continue to have something to do.^[5]

During the Second Robot War of 2121 DeMarco fought bravely even though she was now a civilian. Meeting Dredd again, her love for him finally died when he again spurned her advances.^[6]

As private detective, her company forced a bodyguard on her: urbane gorilla and former Wally Squad judge Travis, who became a partner and friend. She also formed a love-hate relationship with rival private eye (and active Wally Squad Judge) Jack Point, who had a severe crush on her. In 2127, shortly after meeting Point, she learnt that her father had been killed by Sector 13's criminal overlord; DeMarco tried to kill him but unknowingly failed when the Boss set up an underling as a fall guy.^[7]

In 2134, her association with Point saw her taken hostage by Sector Chief Daveez, a corrupt Judge and enemy of Point, and Travis was murdered in front of her. Point saved her and, to stop her murdering Daveez, told her that he would take the Judge in (and then murdered him himself).^[8] When Point tried to flee offworld during the events of Trifecta, she called him to convince him to stay and admitted she loved him.^[9] She later fought alongside Point and Dredd in the Grand Hall of Justice to prevent a coup by Judge Bachmann, who was trying to seize control of the city, and the two got together afterwards.^[10]

Appearances

Since appearing in Judge Dredd (1995–1999) DeMarco has also appeared in her own eponymous stories in the Judge Dredd Megazine (2000–2002 and 2013 to present), recounting her cases as a private detective. She is a recurring character in the Simping Detective strips, and has an Arcade level in the Dredd vs Death video game.

Appearances outside Judge Dredd stories include:

• DeMarco (written by Robbie Morrison):
  • "DeMarco PI" (art by Laurence Campbell (pencils) and Dylan Teague (inks), in Judge Dredd Megazine #3.70–3.71, 2000)
  • "Deep Blue Death" (art by Steve Yeowell, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.03–4.05, 2001)
  • "The Fierce and the Furious" (art by Steve Yeowell, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.06–4.08, 2002)
• The Simping Detective (written by Simon Spurrier, art by Frazer Irving):
  • "Innocence: A Broad" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #224–226, 2004)
  • "Fifteen" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #237, 2005)
  • "No Body, No How" (in Judge Dredd Megazine #253, 2007)
  • "Jokers to the Right" (in 2000 AD #1804–1811, 2012)
  • "Trifecta" (art by Carl Critchlow, in 2000 AD #1812, 2012)
• DeMarco, P.I. (written by Michael Carroll):
  • "The Whisper" (art by Steve Yeowell, in Judge Dredd Megazine #343–347, 2013–2014)
  • "Deja Vu" (art by Steve Yeowell, in Judge Dredd Megazine #355–357, 2014–2015)
  • "Damocles" (art by Steve Yeowell, in Judge Dredd Megazine #367–370, 2015–2016)

References

External links

• 2000 AD profile