Galen DeMarco

Galen DeMarco
DeMarco (painted by Carlos Ezquerra)
Publication information
Publisher	IPC Media (Fleetway) to 1999, thereafter Rebellion Developments
First appearance	2000 AD #970 (1997)
Created by	John Wagner Carlos Ezquerra

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.

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.

Sometime later Dredd led a hotdog run (training mission) into the Cursed Earth and requested DeMarco to assist him. 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.