The Dead Man

Lore & Background

The story is told from the point of view of Yassa Povey, a young boy living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Yassa discovers the body of a man with appalling injuries caused by acid burns, leaving him so badly disfigured that he effectively has no face left. At first believing the man to be dead, Yassa is startled when the man regains consciousness. The townsfolk collect the injured man and take him back with them, fully expecting him to die during the night, but he survives. When he has finally recovered enough to talk, it transpires that the mental trauma caused by his injuries has caused him to lose his memory, and he has no idea of who he is. Therefore, Yassa nicknames him 'Dead Man', and for want of a better alternative the name sticks. Once the Dead Man has finished recuperating, he resolves to set out on his own and retrace his steps in an effort to find out who he was. Yassa's father gives him a rifle and some clothes: a brown overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat, giving him the appearance of a character from a Western. The Dead Man sets out alone, but is followed by Yassa and his dog. The rest of the story tells of their hazardous journey through the wasteland, during which they are attacked by various hostile inhabitants. Throughout the story the Dead Man is plagued by enigmatic nightmares and half-memories of the circumstances of his near-fatal injuries. During a kidnap attempt by mutants seeking food, it is established that the Dead Man is highly proficient with the rifle, and at tracking. During their journey they not only encounter mutants, but also are occasionally visited by a strange, supernatural presence: a woman dressed in black. At first beautiful, she later transforms into a terrifying monster before disappearing. Eventually the pair reach a river of acid, where the Dead Man finds traces of the clothing he was wearing when Yassa first found him. His memory slowly begins to return as he recalls running through the river, pursued by an unseen foe, and then losing his footing and falling into the acid. Soon after they reach a small town called Crowley, where they both sense the presence of some great evil and Yassa's dog refuses to go any further. Entering the town, they find the whole place has been burned down, and the streets littered with corpses. There are no survivors. The Dead Man discovers more artefacts which belonged to him and which

In Their Own Story

The alley in the city of Gate smells of rain and old iron. The Nameless One stops at the edge of a shallow puddle and looks down. In the reflection, the figure beside them is wrong: the jaw hangs a little too loose, the eyes are flat and lidless, the fingers are dark and stiff. The Dead Man tilts his head, a sound like dry leaves shifting in his throat.

"You are staring at me as though I am a riddle," he says, and his voice carries no breath behind it. "I am not. I am simply here. The living make a great drama of the boundary. I crossed it so long ago I have forgotten the shape of the other side."

He turns and continues walking, his feet making no sound on the wet stone. The Nameless One follows. The puddle's reflection ripples, and for a moment the Dead Man's reflection is not there at all.

Reader's Guide

The Dead Man was a major event in the history of the Judge Dredd strip, as it heralded the onset of the 26-episode epic 'Necropolis' in 1990. To preserve the mystery of the Dead Man story, writer John Wagner used a pseudonym, Keef Ripley, to disguise the fact that a high-profile creator strongly associated with Judge Dredd had written it. It was also not made explicit that the story was set in Dredd's universe until the eleventh episode, in which the revelation of the Dead Man's true identity occurred. The Dead Man was immediately followed in the regular Judge Dredd strip by a prequel, 'Tale of the Dead Man', told almost entirely in flashback, which recounted how and why Dredd resigned and took the Long Walk. This was then followed by the five-episode 'Countdown to Necropolis' which set the scene for 'Necropolis' proper. 'Necropolis' and its numerous prologues and epilogues brought together and resolved hitherto separate plot threads that had been running through the Judge Dredd strip for the preceding four years, and collectively had repercussions that were still being felt another four years later, ending at the conclusion of the 'Mechanismo' storyline. The Dead Man contained a rare depiction of Judge Dredd in which he is not wearing his features-obscuring helmet, although he is instead disfigured by his earlier falling into an acid river.

Did You Know?

• The Dead Man first appeared in 2000 AD #650-662.
• Writer John Wagner used the pseudonym Keef Ripley for this story to disguise his involvement.
• The story was not explicitly set in Dredd's universe until the eleventh episode.
• The Dead Man was followed by the prequel 'Tale of the Dead Man' in the same issue.