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Blue Marble readers will recall the story of Tim DeChristopher, a Utah climate activist who posed as a bidder at a December 2008 Bureau of Land Management auction. DeChristopher was the highest bidder on thousands of acres of public land, much of which bordered national parks and monuments. The 27-year-old bid $1.79 million on more than 22,000 acres that he had no intention of actually buying. The government took a hard line on his act of protest, bringing him up on felony charges for mucking up the auction. DeChristopher ended up with a two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.

After serving 15 months in federal prison, DeChristopher is now living inthe story, with his smiley-face icon (years
before Watchmen) appearing on the symbol of a fascist law system in the dawn
light. And it became one of the first real classic stories in the Judge Dredd
canon, with the title character’s bullying nature highlighted in an interesting
new way that would yield rich results over the years.

It was surprising to see a boy’s-own comic
like Judge Dredd tackle these issues, and even a little subversive for its time
in its distrust of authority. But it was even more surprising when Chopper
returned to take another shot at the man in Midnight Surfer, and that this
sequel would end up being one of the strongest examples of great action comics I
would ever read.

Four years after Unamerican Graffiti,
Midnight Surfer – which ran in 2000ad progs 424-429 – was