Sketch Sunday: Satanus

Born of pre-Atomic War genetic meddling, devil dinosaur Satanus survived the apocalypse to become a God figure to a community of pit-fight hicks. When not hurtling subordinates into volcanoes, Satanus could be found indulging in the plentiful human sacrifice generated by his Appalachian cult. Debuting during Judge Dredd's first mega-epic The Cursed Earth, Satanus, and his offspring, have continued to be a recurring hassle for Ol' Stoney Face, and a couple of other UK sci-fi perennials. Satanus is the son of Old One Eye, a hag Rex antagonist from 2000 AD's earlier strip Flesh. Swaggering Tyrannosaur arrogance in full-swing, he attempted to succeed his terrible mother. He was not successful. Reborn millions of years hence to naive futuristic scientists, Satanus was finally able to realise his pack-lead ambitions.



Created by Pat Mills, and given alarming, slathering life by artist Mike McMahon, Satanus is my favourite 70s Dredd villain.