The Monthly Megazine Issue 457: Cross Time Capers Conclude In One-Eyed Jacks

by Richard Bruton

Welcome once more to The Monthly Megazine – doing just what it says, taking you through the latest goings-on in the sister monthly to 2000 AD.

**(Kieran McKeown absolutely owning the cover there)**

Another month, another Judge Dredd Megazine, full of 130+ pages of great 2000 AD action. There’s five new strips that include the conclusion to the brilliant One-Eyed Jacks, more from Spector, the Dark Judges, and Dreadnoughts. And meanwhile, we’re getting used to Metta Lawson, vigilante outlaw in the second episode of Lawless: Most Wanted. All that and then three reprints plus interviews with Rob Davis and One-Eyed Jacks artist Kieran McKeown and looks at the Kevin O’Neill Apex Edition and the new Bogie Man collection from John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Robin Smith – this is a great monthly Meg.

Megazine #457 comes out on Wednesday 21st June. Last month’s Monthly Meg might have been way late and just the briefest of summaries due to last-minute flights and medical issues with family but now we have a front- row seat on the workings of the NHS (still Britain’s finest accomplishment despite what decades of underfunding is seeking to do to it) and I’ve established a new routine of trying to drink the hospital coffee bar short of coffee… so, not only on time but in full.

JUDGE DREDD: ONE-EYED JACKS – PART 6 – FINAL PART Ken Niemand and Kieran McKeown, colours by Quinton Winter, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Two era’s toughest cops come together to thwart the plot to rewrite history and attempt to keep the Fargo bloodline intact. It’s the end of the time travel tale of One-Eyed Jacks and it’s a fine, fine end to it all.

Although it all seemed to be wrapped up already, both Dredd and Rico have a nagging doubt about it all – questioning whether Molak did manage to get his consciousness back to ’70s NYC and is still attempting to wipe out the Justice system before it began. But stuck in the future, neither Dredd or Rico can do much about it… that’s all down to McBane, who’s busy trying to forget about what he’s just been through. And by busy, I mean drinking…

… and drinking some more…

And seriously, I know McKeown was a replacement artist here for Ian Richardson, but surely he’s catapulted himself up there to another great Dredd artist with the panels and pages on show through his five episodes on One-Eyed Jacks.

So, with McBane sobered up by the news that Fargo may well still be in danger, he’s back on the case. But he needs to be getting on it a bit sharpish…

I won’t give you any more than that. Won’t spoil the fun. But damn, it’s been six episodes of absolute top-notch quality comics storytelling here from Niemand and McKeown. Sure, I might have thought the ‘let’s bring back Jack McBane’ idea might have been a bit of a novelty idea when I first heard it, but for it to end up as one of the Dredd tales of the year… that’s all thanks to a writer and artist on absolute top form.

SPECTOR: INCORRUPTIBLE – PART 3 – John Wagner and Dan Cornwell, colours by Dylan Teague, letters by Jim Campbell. Spector created by Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra

You know, I have the horrible feeling that… yep, the last two months I’ve been calling this one “Specter”. Idiot me. Why would it be Specter… short for a misspelling of the word for Inspector? No, no, no, no. Sorry John, sorry Carlos.

Okay, so here we are at the third part of Spector. With an O. And also with Dan Cornwell on art. And no disrespect to Dan at all here, in fact I’m sure Dan would heartily agree, but I’d give so much to not have Dan’s art here and have more from Carlos Ezquerra instead. Sadly, this was King Carlos’ last project, and those two episodes are all that was completed before his untimely death.

Anyway, despite the lack of Carlos’ artwork, the concept that he and Wagner came up with works a treat for an out-and-out fun ride with the incorruptible robot detective deep in police corruption and currently investigating the death of the housing chair with a bullet from his own gun. The corrupt cops and officials are circling, aiming to remove the incorruptible Spector for good.

He makes pretty short work of that particular problem, even managing to work a promotion out of it, but Spector’s job at anti-corruption is far from over, with the rot going all the way to the top.

A hell of a lot to enjoy here, with Wagner on fine form and Cornwell stepping in admirably to play back-up to Carlos.

DARK JUDGES: DEATH METAL PLANET – PART 9 – by David Hine and Nick Percival, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Roscoe’s Dark Judge transformation went awry, or maybe it just went completely right? Whatever, right now she’s coursing with power, a Judge of the Light who’s already taken down Judge Fire and has little trouble dealing with Fear – after all, she faced down all her own fears on Dominion and now that she’s accepted what’s happened to her she’s not even fearful of herself.

In fact, the only thing holding her back from properly unleashing all that power within her is her friends, Aunt Helga, even Whisper. But once they’re away, it’s going to be hell to pay for the Dark Judges.

Obviously, this is Roscoe’s tale, it always was, of growth, acceptance, change, and now sacrifice. Because, even with all that power, possibly because of it, there’s little chance of Roscoe getting out alive surely? Although, if anyone can it would be Roscoe.

With nine parts in – and I’m guessing this one’s a 10-parter – I’m not quite sure whether this really will be the finale of Hine and Percival’s Roscoe saga that’s masqueraded as several Dark Judges storylines, but it could very easily be. One thing’s for sure, it’s been a damn good series, continues to be a damn good series, with Hine rejuvenating and rehabilitating the Dark Judges, transforming them from comedy sidekicks to Dredd into genuinely fearsome forces of darkness. And of course, a big part of that was having Percival on board, an artist who could make the Dark Judges terrifying again, in all that horrific detailing.

LAWLESS: MOST WANTED – PART 2 – Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade, letters by Simon Bowland

Episode 1 saw Colonial Marshall Metta Lawson having a really tough time – it’s now “The Notorious Metta Lawson” and there’s a 20,000 credits reward out for her. Yep, the now ex-Marshall is a wanted woman in Badrock, seemingly throwing her hat in with Rondo and his mob/gang enforcers.

Meanwhile, Deputy Nerys has lost the badge and is under SJS investigation. That leaves the law in Badrock to the SJS and, as is pointed out, with SJS McClure running the town Badrock’s in a bad, bad place… “SJS is a law unto itself and McClure is a law unto herself.”

Okay then, that’s the story so far. Here in episode 2, it’s Nerys really on her heels, sat in front of Brotherley looking for work. But she’s stuck in Badrock and needs a job.

Thing is, Nerys had a good teacher and the law runs deep in her…

Oh yes, we’re off and running on another excellent Lawless, with the roles changed, the status quo shifted, and things getting interesting.

So is it, as Rondo et al might think, that the Law’s burned Lawson and she’s hitting back – she’s ‘gone hard the other way’? Or is it something else? Right now, the way Abnett throws his curve balls, I have no idea – I’m just enjoying the ride, and a wonderfully written and beautifully drawn ride it is.

DREADNOUGHTS: THE MARCH OF PROGRESS – PART 3 – Michael Carroll and John Higgins, colours by Sally Hurst, letters by Simon Bowland

Judge Veranda Glover’s making her presence felt in Boulder, Colorado. It started with a crime blitz and is now getting deep into the mob. But this episode opens with a kid holding a gun on Glover and a cop holding a gun on Glover.

After that, it’s the fallout, the ‘post-blitz chaos,’ Judge’s are attacked, Judges are killed, and then this…

Things will sure be hotting up in Boulder soon.

As before with the first series, this one just has slow-burn excellence running all the way through it. Carroll and Higgins are creating a real, boots-on-the-ground, story of how the Justice Department came to rule all in the 21st Century. Doing it through Glover’s own view of the times keeps us grounded, watching as the bigger issues go on in the background. It’s just pure class.

And now for the reprinted material for this month’s Megazine.

First up there’s some great pages from The Spider’s Syndicate of Crime Vs The Crook From Space, the latest reprint volume of Jerry Siegel and Reg Bunn‘s work on the classic megalomaniac villain.

Then there’s the third issue of the IDW Comics US-originated but reading and looking for all the world as a UK 2000 AD strip Anderson: Psi-Division, The King Of The Six Sectors. Because of it being written by Matt Smith and drawn, most gorgeously, by Carl Critchlow, it’s pretty much a what-if 2000 AD did episodic 22-page monthly comics instead of 5-page weekly ones.

And finally for the reprints, the second part of the Garth Ennis and Keith Burns‘ Johnny Red, bringing the wonders of the Hurricane back with some great artwork. And of course, there’s more of Garth Ennis’ war stories in the new Battle Action series, which this could easily be part of.

THE SPIDER’S SYNDICATE OF CRIME VS. THE CROOK FROM SPACE – Jerry Siegel and Reg Bunn