Not to be confused with Rico Dredd.
Judge Rico is a Judge cloned directly from the DNA of Joseph Dredd, and shares the same bloodline as Eustace T. Fargo, Rico Dredd, and others. At the time of his initial appearance, there were known to be at least four other clones of the Fargo bloodline produced by the Mega-City One Justice Department. At the time of his graduation, Cadet Dredd, as he was known back then, took up the surname Rico (with no first name) to avoid complications at dispatch, along with honouring the late Rico Dredd, in hopes of redeeming the name.[1]
Character biography[]
During the Dredd Angel story arc, Mega-City One had sent Texas City a number of babies of high genetic stock as a goodwill gesture. Rico, unnamed at the time, was one of these babies. The transport hover-freighter transporting the babies was shot down mid-fight, and its cargo held to ransom by mutants.
Judge Dredd and a lobotomized Mean "Mean Machine" Angel, with the latter's knowledge of the area being a requirement to hunt the area, were sent to find the cargo, and met with success, until Mean's surgery became undone as the criminal started to regain his memories and turned on Dredd. Incapacitating Mean, Dredd brought the babies to Texas City.
After the events of Necropolis, the grown up clone, now known as Dredd, would be sent back to Mega-City One to replenish low stocks due to the number of dead Judges. At the Academy of Law, Cadet Dredd would help mentor fellow clone Cadet Dolman, who like him, shared the bloodline of Judge Fargo.
Eventually he would graduate, his final Judge test with Judge Dredd himself being the tester. As they dispense the law around the city, they talk on a number of topics Cadet Dredd has worries about, such as Rico Dredd, and Judge Kraken, how corrupted both of them became, and if there is something in their genes which makes them susceptible to becoming so. Judge Dredd would set the younger clone's mind at ease after telling him the story of his past growing up with Rico, and Cadet Dredd proves himself worthy of becoming a Judge. He would decide to give himself the surname Rico, to avoid any dispatch complications as well as honouring Rico Dredd.
References[]
- ↑ 2000 AD #1186