History[]
Elmer 'Pa' Angel is a character from the 2000 AD strip Judge Dredd, and maybe the protagonist of the Judge Dredd Megazine strip Angelic.
One possible version of Angel's early life has it that his true name is unknown. According to this version, his family (including a son he called 'Junior') were apparently killed and the unknown man injured seriously enough to induce permanent, near total amnesia by a vicious Texas City lawman named Hess. The man, who could remember only the word 'Angel' in connection with himself, fought back and killed Hess and his men, in the process becoming the unofficial guardian of an orphan boy named Lincoln. Before the man killed him, Hess's associate, a psychic mutant, showed 'Angel' a vision of his own future, which included four adult sons and a boy with an eagle-shaped birthmark who could be "the end of everything." With Hess dead, 'Angel' and the boy set out to find their new family.
What is known for certain is that years later a man called Elmer 'Pa' Angel was the patriarch of the Angel Gang, a family of vicious criminals originally from Texas City who preyed on travellers in the Cursed Earth. Pa was enormously proud of his boys' evil and brutality, and actually kidnapped a surgeon and forced him to perform experimental surgery on his gentle and placid son Mean (whom he considered a disappointment) to turn him into a violent cyborg psychopath.
Eventually, on the run from the law, Pa hatched a plan to kidnap the mutant boy known as the Judge Child (the same boy he had seen in his vision) and trade him to the Grunwalder, ruler of a kingdom on the planet Xanadu, in exchange for sanctuary. Unfortunately, Pa and his boys were pursued by Judge Dredd, who apparently killed them all.
Years later, it was revealed that Pa and his youngest son Junior Angel had actually survived their apparently fatal fall into a volcano and been stuck in suspended animation. They were revived and challenged Dredd again, but have not been seen since.
Powers and abilities[]
Abilities
Designing and building the Pa Angel Mark One Super-Scream Torture Machine.
Strength level
Peak elderly human male.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment
Pa Angel Mark One Super-Scream Torture Machine.
Notes[]
- Pa Angel debuted in the classic Judge Dredd story The Judge Child Quest.
- Writer John Wagner later admitted that resurrecting Pa and Junior was a mistake which went against the usual 2000 AD practice of not bringing characters back from the dead (Mean Machine Angel and Johnny Alpha being the notable exceptions) and the story has been quietly ignored ever since.
- In January 2015, the story Angelic, exploring what may or may not be Elmer Angel's early life, began in Judge Dredd Megazine #356.
Trivia[]
Pa and his boys appeared on film in the 1995 Judge Dredd movie, in which they were portrayed as cannibal religious fanatics; in the novelisation of the film, Pa had actually sewn up his own eyes, ears and mouth to keep out "evil spirits" and communicated by muffled grunts. Pa was played by Scott Wilson.
Links[]
- Appearances of Elmer Angel
- Character Gallery: Elmer Angel
- Images that feature Elmer Angel
- Fan-Art Gallery: Elmer Angel
- Elmer Angel quotations
Discover and Discuss[]
- Search News for: Pa Angel · Elmer Angel