Rico Dredd

Rico Dredd
Rico Dredd (drawn by Mike McMahon)
Publication information
Publisher	Rebellion Developments
First appearance	2000 AD prog 30 (1977)
Created by	Pat Mills and Mike McMahon

Rico Dredd is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD magazine. He is the brother of Judge Joe Dredd, the strip's eponymous lead character. He appeared as the main antagonist in the 1995 film adaptation "Judge Dredd" and was portrayed by Armand Assante .

Rico first appeared in "The Return of Rico" in 2000 AD #30 (1977), written by Pat Mills and drawn by Mike McMahon. This story was retold in 1995, when Mills was asked to write an extended three-episode version of it to coincide with the release of the 1995 film, in which Rico appeared. As well as introducing the character of Rico Dredd, the 1977 story also revealed Joe Dredd's first name. (As the first editor of 2000 AD and the commissioning editor of the Judge Dredd strip, Mills had also given Dredd his surname, which originally had been going to be "Judge Dread.")

Although Rico was killed off in his debut story, he occasionally recurs in flashbacks, most extensively in the story "Origins" (2006–2007) by John Wagner. His term of imprisonment on Titan is also a major plot point in the audio play Judge Dredd: Trapped on Titan.

Alternative versions of Rico from parallel universes also appeared in the novel "Dread Dominion" (1994) by Stephen Marley, in which he played a major role, and in the comic strip story "Helter Skelter" (2001) by Garth Ennis (in which he appeared as part of an ensemble cast of villains).