Jim

Tuesday 14 February 2006

Judge's paranoid phase, which lasted well into the 1990s, was a time of great uncertainty, but also a very lucrative period for the Squadron. Heavily affected by a mixture of urban legend and Saturday morning cartoons, the increasingly house-bound star turned his unstable mind on to the sewers in the city. Judge's fear was centred on a theory that a crocodile/man hybrid called Jim had his number and was responsible for the numerous crank calls that were becoming a concern at Ranch Reinhold.

Judge commissioned 38 underground expeditions and funded the development of the Power Van from a Motor home with a swish lightning bolt paint-job to a fully functional Tactical Operations Unit.

We trawled the sewers for this beast and spent months chasing leads and shady characters that eventually turned out to be burns victims. I won't deny that the search was long and fruitless, although I believe that the Squadron benefited from the quest. I wonder now whether such a creature could ever exist, but Judge's conviction at the time, and the vast amounts of money I was invoicing him for, were all the motivation I needed. It could well be that "Jim" was actually Chuck finding new ways to get his kicks. That might explain the length and consistency of the crank call campaign. In Chuck's mind, repetition never seemed to affect a joke.