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Mutants are the subject of a number of stories in the ''Judge Dredd'' science-fiction series published in British comics ''2000 AD'' and the ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. Mutants are genetically-flawed, physically deformed people who are the subject of prejudice and apartheid in the 22nd century. Although they have appeared in ''Judge Dredd'' since the strip's earliest stories in 1977,〔''2000 AD'' #4: "The Brotherhood Of Darkness" and #22: "Mr Buzzz"〕 a major story arc beginning with "Mutants in Mega-City One" in June 2007 and ending with "Tour of Duty" in July 2010 dealt specifically with their struggle against apartheid in Dredd's city, Mega-City One. ==Background== Mutants are ''de novo'' mutations created by radiation or radioactive contamination following the Atomic Wars in 2070. Their genetic mutations (which are inherited by their children) cause them to exhibit bizarre physical deformities. They first appeared in ''2000 AD'' #4 (1977), described as raiders from outside the city, in the "wilderness from the Atomic Wars." Another early issue revealed that mutants have been banned from the city, on grounds that "() hate ordinary people because they themselves are warped".〔''2000 AD'' #22〕 However "The Cursed Earth" (1978)〔''2000 AD'' #61–85〕 explained that mutants were actually the victims of irrational prejudice by those fortunate enough to be unaffected by the disaster — normal people, or "norms." As a result, all mutants were deprived of citizenship and expelled from Mega-City One, Judge Dredd's city on the east coast of America, and forced to live in the radioactive wasteland outside the city, the inhospitable and lawless Cursed Earth. There they remained for sixty years. Due to the ban on citizenship, mutants are forced to live in the radioactive wasteland outside the city, the inhospitable and lawless Cursed Earth. Mutants were prohibited from entering the city, and those who attempted to enter by scaling the city walls would be arrested and expelled, or killed resisting arrest. They would usually feature in stories simply as hostile criminals for Dredd to fight, but some stories set in the Cursed Earth would also show them in a more sympathetic light, as victims of unjust oppression by future society (or sometimes more directly as victims of crime). Initially mutants were mainly used in fight sequences in action stories, but as the years went by, and the tone of ''Judge Dredd'' stories matured to appeal to a wider audience, stories featuring mutants increasingly emphasized the injustice of their plight, and the harsh, uncompromising enforcement of the anti-mutant laws by Judge Dredd and the Mega-City Justice Department (for example "The Gipper's Big Night," (1991)).〔''Megazine'' vol. 1 #10〕 As time went on, the Mutant Segregation Act (named in prog 603) was shown to cover people who had contracted a gene-altering virus,〔''2000 AD'' #603: "Curse of the Spider-Woman" part 1〕 dwarfs,〔Judge Dredd Annual 1987: "Judge Dredd and the Seven Dwarves"〕 and people who had even the slightest genetic abnormality, if they were screened by someone in a bad mood.〔''2000 AD'' #1542–1545: "Mutants in Mega-City One"〕 Psychics were exempt as they were forcibly drafted in Justice Department's Psi-Division. Under Mega-City law, any norm who harboured a mutant was himself guilty of a crime and liable to strict penalties. Since a normal woman could still give birth to a mutant child, the parents of mutated offspring would sometimes go to great lengths to conceal the birth (or, at least, its abnormality) and raise their child in secret.〔''2000 AD'' #485–488; ''Megazine'' vol. 3 #70: "Atlantis" and "Ten Years"〕 Detection of a mutant foetus in a routine pregnancy scan would result in mandatory abortion;〔''Megazine'' vol. 1 #5: "America"〕 detection of a mutant birth would result in the parents being forced to choose between exile to the Cursed Earth, the "euthanasia" of the child, or the mutant being deported to Cursed Earth farming camps.〔''2000 AD'' #1542-3: "Mutants in Mega-City One"〕 The other mega-cities of Earth are assumed to treat mutants in the same way, though they are rarely mentioned. In the first appearance of Texas City, however, the city was shown enacting "mutant clearances," indicating that mutants had been allowed to be citizens until 2102. A Texan judge said the reason for this was simply "Texas City will walk tall again without them uglies!" Unlike Mega-City One, they were specifically sent at gunpoint to "new homelands across Lake Louisiana". However, mutants could have permits to work in legal "danger parks" where they were exploited for the purposes of entertainment.〔''2000 AD'' #160-161: "The Judge Child"〕 Judge Dredd himself was prepared to treat mutants decently when he met them in the Cursed Earth, so long as they behaved themselves. In early issues Dredd believed mutants were inherently hostile to norms 〔''2000 AD'' #22〕 but would rather avoid conflict in the Cursed Earth, feeling that "those crazy devils" "deserve ''pity''... not vengeance".〔''2000 AD'' #65, first and last pages〕 He came to realise mutants weren't all "crazy and evil" early into ''The Cursed Earth''.〔''2000 AD'' #66〕 If able, Dredd would provide aid to any Cursed Earth mutant that called on the law for aid. However, any who entered his city were automatically criminals, and had to be dealt with accordingly and without compassion. In 2006, early episodes of the story "Origins" (2006–07) introduced Randy Fargo and his family, mutants who are distant cousins of Judge Dredd.〔''2000 AD'' #1505–1519 and 1529–1535 (2006-07)〕 Dredd was unaware of their existence until he met them in the Cursed Earth in 2129. After the Fargos helped Dredd in his mission, they parted on amicable terms. However they would soon return to the ''Judge Dredd'' strip in 2007. "Origins" heralded a turning-point in the treatment of mutants by writer John Wagner, and indeed by the character Dredd as well. Instead of making brief appearances in the strip to emphasize the science-fictional setting, mutants became the focus of a new storyline which explored Dredd's shifting attitude towards the issue of mutant rights, which began in 2007 with "Mutants in Mega-City One." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mutants (Judge Dredd storyline)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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