Part 4 : Bweakup and Disillusionment
     As you can see Walter's disappearance from the pages of Judge Dredd was
rather abrupt.  During the Destiny's Angels storyline of Progs 280-286
quite a few things happened with significant impact on Dredd continuity.
Both Walter and Maria bowed out of the storyline making Dredd a loner.  If the 
loss of their humanizing influence made Dredd a harder man is debateable but
it marked a definite breaking point from the lighter touch of the earlier 
Dredd stories.  This story also brought back Mean Machine Angel who had died
during the Judge Child storyline.  Resurrected by the Judge Child the 
moronic Mean has become one of the most popular of Dredd's advisaries and one   
of the few to experience multiple encounters with the Judge and live to tell 
about it.  Besides his solo adventures he has also teamed up with Dredd on 
several occasions. Mean's combination of Cursed Earth savvy, brute force and 
being too stupid to know when he's beaten are sometimes invaluable to the Law. 
     As for the Judge Child Dredd's decision that the boy was too malicious to 
be the prophecized savior of Mega City One was vindicated as Owen Krysler's 
evil emerged full force.  Freeing Fink Angel he arranged for the two brothers  
to take his vengeance on Dredd.  Or so he thought but destiny wasn't as easy
to twist as he believed.  Executed for his crimes the question remained who 
would save Mega City One from the disaster forseen to strike in 2120 AD.  That
question was answered seven years later in City of the Damned with the 
fallout finished off in the January 1998 story, In the Year 2120.  
     But this is a Walter page so let's turn the clock back to 1982 (or 2104
by Mega City dating) and Prog 285 as the brothers Angel begin looking for
Dredd in part 5 of Destiny's Angels.  Art by Carlos Ezquerra.

     The end came on the splashpage of Prog 286 (Oct 16 1982) after which  
Walter got one panel.  Tharg mentioned in a Nerve Centre that Walter had been
repaired but there was no sign of him in the Dredd stories.


     Destiny's Angels concluded with Mean under arrest while Fink and Ratty were     
bound for Resyk.  Maria was taken to hospital vowing to have nothing more to 
do with Dredd.  She wouldn't reappear until Cardboard City (Progs 643-645)
much the worse for wear.  This story also marked Walter's last regular
appearance in 2000 AD.  His next appearance in a Dredd story was 12 years
later and with the exception of two noncontinuity appearances in this period
Walter vanished without a trace.
     The first of these unofficial appearances was in the 1986 Judge Dredd
Annual but the first panel made clear that it was a What If? story.  The
only thing it could be as at this point who could imagine Walter voluntarily
leaving Judge Dredd?  Anyway if this uncredited story was drawn by Brian
Bolland or just somebody imitating his style I've no idea.  Briefly Walter
winds up living on the street selling bits of himself to survive.  At last the
destitute robot sees a documentary on the Punk Movement and vows to webel in
his own way!
     Walter also showed up in one of the 1990 2000AD Winter Special's Where
Are They Now? posters, art by Simon Jacobs.  Either Walter's tax collector
career was terminated or the poster was apocryphal.  There's no way to say
without a ruling from Tharg.  All that is known for sure is that Walter's next
confirmed appearance in Mega City One wasn't until 1992's Judge Dredd Yearbook
where we finally found out that Dredd kicked him out shortly after he was
rebuilt.

On to Walter's nineties comeback attempt




Back to the main Walter Page


Comments on page to Mark Latus