Just as the 1980s predicted that all futures were most likely dystopian (Unless they were Star Trek), they also brought the idea that the sheriffs of the future would most likely take those "fascist pig" comments to heart and start modeling themselves as leather-wearing, faceless figures with a love for violence and a distaste for personal freedoms. Anti-authoritarian zeitgeist, or something more sinister? Consider the evidence:

Judge Dredd (1977)
Appears in... The comic strip that's appeared in 2000AD, his own series, and the we-only-wish-we-could-forget-it movie.
Would you describe him as personable? Not exactly. Cloned from a former high-ranking official of Mega-City One, Joe Dredd's life is focused on one thing and one thing only: The Law. And if you're unclear on what that may entail, Dredd - or any number of his fellow Judges - will be happy to help teach you. Preferably by arresting you for ignorance and letting you work it out yourself in jail.
Does he have special weapons or vehicles? Oh yes. Primarily, his suped-up ride the Lawmaker, and his multiple-bullet-firing (including heat-seeking and armor-piercing) Lawgiver gun.
What about a fascistic outfit?

Yes. Although we're not sure about the knee-pads.

Plexus Rangers (1983)
Appears in... Howard Chaykin's wonderful American Flagg comic.
Would you describe them as personable? Definitely - Almost all of Chaykin's corporate cops policing the United States while taking orders from the Mars-based Plex HQ are, in their own ways, charming. Corrupt, selfish and lacking in most redeeming values, yes, but definitely charming.
Does he have special weapons or vehicles? Nope. Use of subliminal advertising and robot cops aside, the Plexus Rangers are pretty old-school. There's a talking cat, though. Does that count?
What about a fascistic outfit?

Yup.

Justice Peace (1986)
Appears in... Various Marvel comics, whenever they need a time-traveling hard-ass from the future.
Would you describe him as personable? Yes - as long as you can prove that you're not a criminal. Coming from the World War VIII-era of Future Earth, Special Agent of the Federal Police Force Peace - regular beat Brooklynopolis - will stop at nothing to get his man. Not even time-travel to make sure that the crime doesn't even happen in the first place.
Does he have special weapons or vehicles? He's got a time-traveling flying bike called the Hopsikyl. That's got to count for something, right?
What about a fascistic outfit?

Um... No? But then again, it's was mid-1980s Marvel Comics.

Robocop (1987)
Appears in... The eponymous movies, comics and cartoon series.
Would you describe him as personable? If it was backwards day, sure. Poor Alex Murphy may have been gunned down in the course of duty on the streets of Detroit, but OCP - clearly fans of The Six Million Dollar Man - had the technology to rebuild him... except for that whole "personality" thing. But are you surprised, considering the four Directives he had, making decisions for him?
Does he have special weapons or vehicles? His whole body is a special weapon.
What about a fascistic outfit?

Not really. It was more functional than stylish, for one thing...

Marshal Law (1987)
Appears in... The comic book.
Would you describe him as personable? Depending on your taste for schizophrenic, sadistic, war-flashbacking psychopaths, potentially. When he's not the unstoppable, S&M-flavored superhero-killer Law, veteran supersoldier Joe Gilmore is almost an upstanding citizen of the wonderfully-named San Futuro. Problem is, he's normally the unstoppable, S&M-flavored superhero killer.
Does he have special weapons or vehicles? Given to carrying around (and using, of course) guns as big as Kevin O'Neill's imagination could make them, the better question may be "does he have any normal weapons?"...
What about a fascistic outfit?

Almost ridiculously so.

It wasn't all doom and gloom - After all, there were some cuddlier examples of future police forces based in older, more optimistic fantasies of tomorrow - but the storm trooper ideal that dominated more than a decade of SF policing remains a strong one (Consider the non-Tom Cruise cops of Minority Report), even if we're more likely to see robots taking over the world than police officers in mainstream SF these days. Here's hoping that those who try and imagine real futures of law enforcement are a bit more imaginative - and a little less enamored of the idea of living in Mega-City One.

Titan Books' new release Marshal Lew: Origins collects two novellas that has been written for defunct website Cool Beans at the start of the century by co-creator Pat Mills (The second is actually co-written by Mills and the character's other creator, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's Kevin O'Neill), and it's a book that will thrill old fans of the comic, while most likely leaving everyone else entirely cold.

Given that the stories in this book are eight years old, it seems unfair to complain that the book seems dated, but that's the first thing that sprung to mind when I was racing through it the other night - Mills (who's one of the most important figures of the British comics scene, having co-created 2000AD and many of its characters, including Judge Dredd)'s prose may be almost comedically to the point, but it's also a quick read - that, and the fact that, since the stories were written, superhero culture has entirely passed the dull, ham-fisted satire of the character by. It's ironic to see Mark Millar's blurb on the back ("I love Watchmen, I love Dark Knight Returns and I worship Will Eisner, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but Marshall Law is still my favorite comic book of all time"), because he's made a career out've the the cynical take on superheroes as not just everyday people but flawed people that Mills brought to the table with the original Marshal Law series, and you can see what influenced Millar (and, to a lesser extent, Warren Ellis) all throughout this book. The problem is, of course, that the success of things like Nextwave, The Ultimates, Wanted and the like have completely mainstreamed - and, really, killed - the subversive edge that made Law interesting in the first place... and without that, there's very little to recommend it.
It doesn't help that Mills (and O'Neill, in the latter story) has a particularly adolescent take on the world - A superheroine gives Marshal a blowjob under the table at a party! Shocking! Or, really, not so much... Especially when Mills can't actually bring himself to write that sentence himself, and instead relies on innuendo that any self-respecting 13-year-old would decide is too childish ("Joe wriggled, red-faced, in his seat. 'Plums? Swollen... plums.'"). Plot and characters get the same treatment - There's no problem that can't be solved with some good old fashioned violence (Preferrably punctuated by catchphrases that get repeated over and over again; the serialized nature of the stories is really obvious when characters keep saying the same things multiple times. Apparently going through for one last edit wasn't on the cards for Mills), and characters are either psychopaths or perverts (if they're male, or superheroines) or comedically pure and chaste (if non-superpowered and female). It's a shorthand that worked in the comics, where O'Neill's over-the-top visuals drove the unreality of the world home, and also distracted the reader from the stereotypes Mills used in world-building, but given the space and format of prose, it's embarrassingly obvious how limited a writer Mills actually is.

In the end, it's almost a mystery why the book was published - Marshal Law hasn't appeared in comics for over a decade (aside from reprints), and there can't be enough die-hard fans to make something like this a sound business decision - until you revisit a comment that Mills makes in the introduction to the book:

There was a time when our Hero Hunter stood almost alone in his fight against the men-in-tights; but today he is one of a sub-genre of characters who take on super heroes, and that is a good thing as he no longer baffles some Hollywood film producers. They finally get it.

Is this book is less a book in its own right that a glorified pitch, then I wouldn't be surprised... but I wouldn't expect it to be that successful, either. There's nothing in Marshal Law: Origins that we've not seen before, and done better.

The character - co-created by Judge Dredd creator Pat Mills and io9 favorite and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen co-creator Kevin O'Neill - first made his appearance in a 1987 mini-series from Marvel Comics' Epic imprint, simultaneously riding the wave and bucking the trend of the concept of "adult superheroes" ushered in by the success of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns with its mix of sex, dark humor, over-the-top violence and superhero-murdering anti-hero. Now, after years in limbo, he's back in a new prose book by Mills (with spot illustrations by O'Neill), Marshal Law: Origins. Comic Book Resources has the scoop, and a preview:

Marshal Law: Origins (Titan Books) is a brand new volume collecting two scorching stories from the Law canon in illustrated novel format. In Cloak of Evil one of San Futuro's leading sex queen hostesses turn up dead in what appears to be a bizarre suicide, and it seems clear that there is more to this insidious situation than meets the eye. It's time for Marshal Law to once more don his black leather and barbed wire — and dish out the pain! Also featuring the classic Day of the Dead, collected with a new introduction from Pat Mills and previously unseen artwork by award-winning artist O'Neill, this is the perfect way to get to grips with the vigilante super-anti-hero!

And this is just the start of the return of the Law - indie publisher Top Shelf Comics is also reportedly working on a compendium of all of the character's comic appearances to date for release soon. That said, we're holding out for the inevitable movie. After all, what else would work as a palate cleanser after next year's Watchmen movie?

Marshall Law: Origins Preview [Comic Book Resources]