In the early years of "Judge Dredd", Mega-City One had not been established as a dictatorship – "The Purple People Breeder" ("2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1978") mentioned "presidential candidate Howard Surb", while "Ryan's Revenge" ("Dan Dare Annual 1979") had the Mayor giving orders to Justice Department. The Luna-One story arc briefly mentioned the governing body "the Grand Council of Judges" and "the Triumvirate", part of a unified state called the United Cities of North America, but this was dropped by prog 61.