Judge Death
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Judge Death is a character from the fictional Judge Dredd universe recounted in the UK comic 2000 AD.
He is the leader of the Dark Judges, a sinister group of undead law enforcers from the alternative dimension of Deadworld, where all life has been declared a crime.
The full story of his journey from being Sidney D'eath, the son of a sadistic travelling dentist, to his incarnation as a creature of pure evil is recounted in the Judge Dredd Megazine series Young Death - Boyhood of a Superfiend.
The representation of Judge Death in the Judge Dredd and related comic strips has changed somewhat in character over the years. In his first appearances his image was extremely dark and sinister, with a real air of menace. However post-Necropolis stories have tended to present him in a much more humourous light. For instance in the Judge Dredd/Batman crossover graphic novel Judgement on Gotham Death was used as a practically comical figure.
Following the release of Judge Dredd: The Movie, a comic set in its continuity, entitled Judge Dredd: Lawman of the Future, was published, and soon featured a story introducing this continuity's version of Judge Death. He remains a death-dispensing monster from another dimension, but in this storyline, he is actually an alternate-dimension incarnation of Dredd himself, who died in the line of duty, but was supernaturally resurrected through his undying desire to dispense law. As all crime was committed by the living, Death reasoned, then living itself was a crime. Hence the monster's catchphrase: "The crime is life, the sentence is death!"
See also Judge Anderson, Sisters of Death, Necropolis