Judge Anderson

Judge Anderson
Judge Anderson in "The Jesus Syndrome" (art by Arthur Ranson)
Publication information
Publisher	IPC Media/Rebellion
First appearance	2000 AD #150 (February 1980)
Created by	John Wagner Brian Bolland
In-story information
Full name	Cassandra Anderson

Judge Cassandra Anderson is a fictional law enforcer and psychic appearing in the British science fiction comics 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Brian Bolland, Anderson made her debut as a supporting character in the Judge Dredd story "Judge Death" (2000 AD #150, February 1980). The character's popularity with readers led to her starring in her own series, Anderson: Psi-Division, which (since 1988) has been written almost exclusively by Alan Grant, often working with artist Arthur Ranson. In 2012 the character appeared in the film Dredd, played by Olivia Thirlby.

John Wagner created both Judge Death and Judge Anderson for the Judge Dredd story "Judge Death," the latter helping introduce the Psi-Judges, which were seen as a natural progression. Artist Brian Bolland based the character on Debbie Harry, "having recently drawn the singer into an advertisement for Forbidden Planet."

Short afterwards, Alan Grant began to co-write Judge Dredd with Wagner. When Anderson got her own series, Wagner and Grant also co-authored those stories. This collaboration lasted until 1988, when their differences of opinion about how to develop Dredd's character came to a head while planning the last episode of the Judge Dredd story "Oz." After that, Grant wrote Anderson's stories on his own, while Wagner wrote Dredd's.

Grant later said: "A lot of Anderson counts among what I think of as my best work. The fact that I've had one of the best storytellers in the business, Arthur Ranson, along for most of the ride makes it even more memorable for me."