It was once for children, now it's much loved by adults but the authors of legendary British comic 2000AD are shocked how many of their predictions have come to pass.
Imagine a society where cities blend into each other to form massive conurbations. Imagine a society where obesity is rife, mass unemployment is a fact of life and downtrodden citizens will do anything to become rich or famous.
Imagine a society in the grip of such chaos and crime that it is necessary to give law enforcers the power to punish offenders on the spot without a trial and where everyone is constantly surveyed by video cameras.
Like so much of science fiction, the comic 2000AD, celebrating its 30th birthday, has to cope with its "predictions" coming to pass rather more quickly than expected.
The comic's most famous character, the unblinking dispenser of justice, Judge Dredd, has become a byword for excessive authoritarian powers.
It's the column and headline writers' first port of call in this time of concern over both anti-social behaviour, and the powers used to combat it.
As Britain has toyed with the idea of giving police officers more and more authority, the papers have talked of "an army of Judge Dredds" and "Judge Dredd powers".
It might only be on-the-spot fines for vandals and burglars being suggested now, but the newspapers seem to think it's a slippery slope to Mega City One, the massive urban nightmare that provides the backdrop to Judge Dredd
READ MORE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6390731.stm
