The Monthly Megazine #475: Santa’s Going To The Iso-Cubes

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.

This month, it’s the final Meg of the year, with a wonderfully sentimental little Dredd thing where you’ll feel all soft and cosy inside – or maybe not. Aside from Dredd, you get more Death Cap, Fargo & McBane, Devlin Waugh, Lawless, Riley’s Rebels, and Cadet Rico. Plus the usual mix of features and a couple of reprints, including the great Stainless Steel Rat from way back in 2000 AD history.

132 pages of great stuff, and all underneath a rather festive Christian Ward cover…

Judge Dredd Megazine #475 is out on 18 December in the UK and at some point in the future in the Americas – inevitably way past the festive season. Do yourselves a favour and ask your local comic shop to order it in for you.

So, with all that over with, shall we take a little look-see inside…

Even off on his holidays, Devlin Waugh manages to wander into trouble – art by PJ Holden

JUDGE DREDD: COMING TO TOWN – by Ken Niemand and Paul Marshall, colours by Dylan Teague, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Christmas time in Mega-City One, about as insane as you’d expect. And here the insane comes from a psych-cube, where one of the patient’s made a list and passed it on to something nasty. That something nasty is checking it twice and knows who’s naughty and who’s nice.

Anyhow, there’s a weird list written in blood on the walls, and one of those names happens to be Dredd’s.

Meanwhile, out in the city, there’s something rather nasty doing rather nasty and naughty things…

So, what you get from ‘Coming To Town’ is a damn fine one-off, on the surface something lightweight and silly for the season, with some really funny moments – the reformed violent perps anonymous being a particularly fun little thing – all set against the backdrop of the latest crazy monster out there on the streets. But the backstory to all that turns out to be dark as hell.

Turns out it’s yet another thing that’s all part of a cycle of violence, more innocent victims chewed up and spat out by the system. There’s so many of them, too many of them. And Niemand’s turned out to be really good at bringing out all of their stories.

DEATH CAP: FRONTIER JUSTICE – PART 3 – by TC Eglington and Boo Cook, letters by Simon Bowland

Death Cap’s first series was all about slow death and retribution, following former Texas City Judge Goya trying to stay alive long enough as the Grubb’s fungus slowly kills her, seeking those who killed her family.

That gave that first series an incredible tension, something that’s, thus far, been lacking in. This second series, the unexpected second series has an almost unrecognisable Goya, monstrously mutated by now, the Grubbs still killing her, as she unknowingly infects all those around her. But all she’s done is wander, picking up a few acquaintances along the way, kind souls out here in the Cursed Earth willing to welcome all into their world.

But let’s just think of the first couple of episodes as scene setters, and what gorgeous scene setters they are. Boo Cook’s artwork is just perfect for this, that organic, rounded style, the fungal load leaking out, the grotesque creature shapes, and all that beautiful scenery, it’s just perfectly done.

And now we get this third episode and the dangling idea of a healer that the group goes looking for, only to find a sanctuary isn’t what they were expecting, and giving the chance for Cook to do this…

Yep, that’s an A.B.C. Warrior, just thrown in so that Cook gets to do that stunning full page.

But the sanctuary doesn’t last, with Goya and her newfound friends leaving, only to come crashing in the other story thread of this second series, where Texas Judge Reece is on the trail of the Grubb’s, looking to track down and eradicate the source of the infection before it becomes a superspreader that could infect the Mega-Cities.

Oh yes, you can see where this is going – Goya, Reece, a collision course.

And when it happens, it’s quick and brutal, setting us off on something different, something that launches this into another story entirely, the thing this one needed, a hook to run off.

Yep, looking gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, incredible art, and a fascinating monster tale here in the Cursed Earth.

FARGO & MCBANE: NEW YORK’S FINEST – PART 3 – by Ken Niemand and Anna Readman. Colours by Quinton Winter, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Back in 1970’s New York, with hard as nails cop Jack McBane on the outs, fitted up by the corrupt cops, trying to clear his name, and calling in Eartha Fargo to help. And yes, that’s Fargo, as in the ancestor of Chief Judge Fargo and thus Judge Dredd’s grand, grand, grandma.

It’s Niemand doing a classic cop thing, all corruption and action, bringing some of that classic 70s Brit comics style of Valiant and Battle Action into the world of Dredd. But the big star here is Readman, bringing her style so perfectly to this, giving us a New York and its people that’s so damn grubby, so lived-in, so great.

It’s Fargo doing the legwork and chasing down the leads, breaking heads trying to get the downlow on what they’ve got on McBane.

And in the background, there’s that garbage stink all around Fargo, and suddenly there’s something different here, something extra to the gritty New York cop thing. Suddenly this ain’t your standard Dirty Harry thing…

So this cop procedural becomes something different, a whiff of the strange coming into things. What, you thought this was going to be your regular thing? Nope, we’re in a different place here.

Add to that the prospect of McBane’s nemesis being very, very connected, politically connected, and we’re going deep into both your cops on their own kicking against the man, and something that’s got strange darkness sort of stuff all over it.

A load of fun, heading off into different places, with some really great looking art. Plenty to love here.

DEVLIN WAUGH: TWO MONTH’S OFF – PART 3 – by Ales Kot and PJ Holden. Colours by Jack Davies, letters by Jim Campbell

Two months off, everyone’s favourite metrosexual, bon viveur vamp exorcist Vatican investigator having a little relaxing holiday, just him and three boyfriends. Simple, eh? Just Devlin having a relaxing little getaway, him and three boyfriends, the perfect little polycule.

We’ve already had the hint of the magical, as one fourth of this polycule does bad things. And then the real mistake was made, as something hallucinogenic and very powerful comes into play, which is why Devlin’s seeing all this right now…

Previously, PJ Holden’s been doing a fantastic thing of the interplay between everyone involved, and now he’s really getting to let loose, hitting the bizarre hard, Jack Davies bring all the psychedelic colours to Holden’s drug-induced images.

Suddenly, this little break has gotten a whole lot more (weirdly and wonderfully) strange. The trio of boyfriends become one, and Devlin’s having a really bad trip. And they really don’t want to hear about his connection with Titivilus – drug-induced jealousy from a possibly magically merged trio of boyfriends just isn’t going to end well, don’t you think?

There’s never really been this much of a deep dive into Devlin’s head, and it’s just everything you’d want it to be, seeing the layers stripped back and the hero opened up for us this way. The drugs are bringing out the depths of his psyche, and it’s not good, not good at all. More deep, deep diving into Devlin…

And then, as Devlin’s about to find out, when you’re tripping your balls off, running off into the night can give you some very serious problems.

I am loving Ales Kot’s version of Devlin, going deeper and deeper into the very complex world of a character who’s never been less than intriguing. Added to the fact that it’s dialling up the gayness just so perfectly, giving us the queerest of strips you’ll see for a long, long time.

CADET RICO: THE CYCLE – PART 3 – by Liam Johnson and Rob Richardson. Letters by Jim Campbell

Dammit, Rob Richardson’s art really is something. We’ve seen it before on the last couple of DeMarco strips, but here on this extended Cadet Rico he’s really leaning into everything he obviously loves to do, giving us page after page of these fabulously noir and dark pages making the best of the story here, so much to love in every page.

And there’s plenty of opportunity to really take in the art here, as Johnson and Richardson do a completely silent episode as Rico and his tag-along female perp having to deal with the last of the perps on the loose in this powered down experimental iso-cube facility.

It’s just designed to show off Richardson’s art, the darkness of the iso-cube, the shadows letting him go wild with the blues and purples. It looks just great and reads real well, the silence letting you dwell on every single moment.

Plenty of little plot moments that Johnson and Richardson have to work really tightly together to execute the plot without leaning on words. It’s a fascinating little episode in which what’s become a really good series.

RILEY’S REBELS – PART 2 – by Honor Vincent and Stewart K Moore, letters by Simon Bowland

It started off with episode 1 throwing us right into things, dragging us along with young orphan Riley and her baby brother, Clint, headed out for the edge of the Morass, a very different Cursed Earth environment. Alongside them, on babysitting duties, is Elder George, whose exo-suit they need to get fixed. There you go, simple set-up, limited cast, young kids in trouble, so far so easy, right?

Well, obviously things go south very, very quickly, as first a panther and now an alligator sends them scattering, Elder George one way, Riley and Clint another, ending up a tree – a perfect little pause in the action to let us into a little background to the kids’ stories, really pushing the idea of Riley being her brother’s keeper, and more of the idea that things aren’t all rosy back home – especially when Elder George lets the settlement know he’s lost the kids and reinforcement comes along…

Yes, whilst Elder George seemed okay, Elder Sarah seems a very different proposition. Is it any wonder that Riley’s contemplating making a break for it and going it alone, just her and Clint?

Again, simple, effective, some really great artwork from Moore – as you’d expect. But it’s the detailing that goes on through his work that always amazes me. Oh yes, this one’s running along real well.

LAWLESS: A TOWN CALLED BADROCK – PART 3 – by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade. Letters by Simon Bowland

Now that things have somewhat settled down in Badrock, what with Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson being back as the law in the town now that she’s finished with the undercover work and given the mob the boot, there’s time for Lawson and Nerys to be dealing with the problem of young Archie Ames. Or rather, the fact that young Archie Ames’s body and mind have been taken over by Hetch. That’s ex-Psi-Judge Hetch, the Colonial Marshal of Badrock before Lawson came along. Bad man, very bad man. And not the sort you want taking over kids’ bodies at all.

Lawson gets the job done, but the more interesting stuff happening is between Lawson and Deputy Nerys. Their relationship was blossoming as their trust grew, the marshal and the deputy making a great team. And now, it’s all washed away, first by the fact Nerys wasn’t dialled in on Lawson’s undercover work, and now by what Nerys sees as a change in Lawson, something that’s come out as she’s stood over Hetch’s bed with a gun to his temple.

Sure, it might be Dreddworld cowboys, but it’s in how Abnett’s developed the characters here that means it’s both such a long-running series and a beloved series. It’s cowboy soap opera, full of characters that are fully fleshed-out, characters you care about deeply.

And of course, all the way through, there’s that incredible Winslade artwork. I mean, how many different ways can you praise the strip for the incredible details Winslade throws into every page, the tightness of the (many, many) lines, the way it all just looks so effortless? Damn fine indeed.

Okay, that’s the originals sorted, now for the reprints…

The reprints this month gives us the final part of the latest IDW Dredd series, ‘False Witness’, alongside the classic reprint of the Harry Harrison, Kevin Gosnell, and Carlos Ezquerra Stainless Steel Rat, a genuinely brilliant bit of early 2000 AD…

THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT – by Harry Harrison, Kevin Gosnell, and Carlos Ezquerra. Colours by Janet Landau, letters by Jack Potter