The Monthly Megazine Issue #477: Are The Judges Coming For Goya In ‘Death Cap’?

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.

It’s another 132 pages of the Megazine now, with seven new strips and two reprints – with the new strips being a new multi-part Dredd from Ian Edginton and Paul McCaffrey, followed by continuations of Death Cap, Fargo & McBane, Devlin Waugh, Lawless, the final part of Cadet Rico, and Riley’s Rebels. The Treasury reprint is Adam Eterno and there’s the second, absolutely brilliant chapter of John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Dan Cornwell’s Rok of the Reds. They’re reprinting this and the sequel, Rok The God, and then publishing the all-new third series, provisionally titled Rok The World. Seriously, if you’ve not read it yet, this is the perfect time to get onboard with a really great series.

So, 132 pages of excellent 2000 AD stuff, all behind a typically rather great cover by Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague featuring a couple of creeps appearing in Death Cap…

Judge Dredd Megazine #477 is out on Wednesday 19th February in the UK and at some point in the future in the Americas. 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…

JUDGE DREDD: MESSIAH COMPLEX – PART 1 – BY IAN EDGINTON AND PAUL MCCAFFREY, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Great to see Edginton getting a longer run at Dredd. Well, hopefully a longer run – all I know right now is it’s longer than a single episode.

Anyway, there’s been an issue with a new mech, the M1:CL Mech that’s killed someone and is now on the run, with Dredd on his trail. It’s all tied in with Edginton’s inclusion of alien investors into Mega-City One and the creation of the free state of Cyberia. Which is exactly where that mech turns up, asking for sanctuary, now protected by embassy rules, much to Dredd’s disgust, especially when Chief Judge Logan pulls him up on things.

The Mech’s a joint project between the city and a consortium of off-world enterprises, and there’s a conspiracy afoot that wants to keep the story going that this Mech went rogue and went killer, even though that’s hardly the full story.

As it is, there’s powers here we haven’t seen yet, powers that don’t want anyone left alive to question the tale they’re trying to sell.

So far, so fascinating. What starts as a simple Dredd chasing down a Mech-perp gets a hell of a lot more depth as this one develops. One episode in and we’ve got a political element, the whole alien investors in the big Meg, the truth behind the Mech’s actions, and someone or something willing and able to control things to wipe out any evidence going against the truth they want to be told. Add to that a story encompassing what it means to be other, whether that’s Mech or alien, and you’ve got an opener that’s jam-packed with potential.

Yes, I’m hoping that ‘Messiah Complex’ runs long, as I reckon Edginton’s got plenty to tell. Art-wise, I’m not completely sold on McCaffrey’s stylings here, just seeming a little too clean and static to me. But it’s art that still serves the story well.

DEATH CAP: FRONTIER JUSTICE – PART 5 – BY by TC EGLINGTON AND BOO COOK, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

It’s still meandering a bit compared to the brilliant first series, but it’s meandering in a good way, mostly down to almost the great things Boo Cook’s doing with the art on this one. After all, when you want someone to do organic, nasty stuff, a Grubb’s infection walking around the Cursed Earth, Cook’s the artist you want.

It’s suffering in comparison to series one, which was pure revenge thriller with the ticking clock of the infection eating Goya alive. Here in Frontier Justice it’s more a case of Goya journeying through the Cursed Earth and us seeing what Eglington and Cook can throw at her.

Here, that’s the two delightful chaps on the cover, brilliantly done by Robinson and Teague outside and just as brilliantly done by Cook here. They’re the pipeline militia, patrolling the same oil pipeline smuggling route Goya and her companion have taken to find whatever sanctuary they can. An ex-Judge like Goya but one who’s given up his honour. Again, it’s that thing of a tale of monsters in the Cursed Earth often being the ones who look least like monsters.

There’s just so much of Cook’s absolutely gorgeously organic art in here, no one able to do this organic horror quite as well as he’s doing here. It’s all there in the infected greens and purples of his art, the strange, monstrous shapes brought to life in his art.

Okay, so it doesn’t have the single-minded driving purpose of the first series, but what it does give us is an exploration of the all the bizarre and downright nasty to be found in the Cursed Earth, a monster tale where the one with the most humanity is poor Goya, the monster just looking for a cure.

FARGO & MCBANE: NEW YORK’S FINEST – PART 5 – BY KEN NIEMAND AND ANNA READMAN, COLOURS BY QUINTON WINTER, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Just as we’re getting used to dealing with one descendant of Judge Fargo (and consequently Dredd and all the other Fargo clones) being here in 1970’s New York, Niemand and Readman take us back to WWII and another one of the ancestors of the man responsible for the future world of Dredd. This one’s a cook I with the US troops in Belgium. Just the one page here, but nothing here gets put in for shits and giggles, there’s no doubt Niemand’s not going to circle back to this again.

After that, it’s back to the here and now of this strip, 1977, where there’s trouble for Eartha Fargo’s family down in Jaxville County, with some nasty men looking for the Fargo place with bad intent and far too many weapons.

Over in New York, you’ve got Hillman, the big shot powerful soon-to-be-elected rich kid, being pulled into an op run by McBane and using Fargo as bait, with Readman doing wonderful things all over these pages…

It’s a great strip, Niemand building on what he’s done previously with One-Eyed Jack McBane by Wagner and John Cooper, bringing him into Dredd-lore with the new partnership with earths Fargo. It’s all hard-boiled ’70s cop action, Dirty Harry with a Dreddworld twist, mixing political powerplays with that little hint of something supernatural and strange that we’ve had here.

All of this done with obvious glee by Niemand (isn’t it great when you can practically see the smile on the face of the writer when you’re reading something?) But there’s also Anna Readman’s art here, absolutely great stuff, a different look but no less perfect for this take. She’s delivering the grit and the action just so well here.

DEVLIN WAUGH: TWO MONTH’S OFF – PART 5 – BY ALES KOT AND PJ HOLDEN, COLOURS BY JACK DAVIES, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL

Oh, it was so simple, just a little R&R for Devlin, spending quality time with three boyfriends in a little polycule… but this is Devlin Waugh, and things are never that easy in this particular vamp’s life. Kids, really, don’t so drugs. In particular, don’t do the sort of weird drugs Delvin’s done here. Bad things happen. The polycule becomes a three-in-one bad thing, brought to horrible, horrible life here by Holden…

This is just the sort of thing that happens when Devlin tries to get in touch with his feelings, tries dealing with those pesky commitment issues.

Which is where we find him right now, drugged yo to the eyeballs with a root spike perilously close to his heart – yes, we and he do forget he’s a vampire sometimes.

His rescuers are a weird bunch, giving us plenty of that delicious Kot dialogue as the weirdness builds up, a conversation between the strange folks, whilst Delvin’s dealing with his comedown.

And then the three-in-one polycule boys come a calling, meaning Delvin’s got to dress for battle. Oh, speedos look so good on him…

What started as an introspective deep dive into Devlin’s head has become something way weirder, just as we’ve come to expect from Kot’s writing of the character. He’s bringing all the queer to this quintessentially queer character of Dreddworld, exploring things that we’ve never seen explored before with Devlin. Oh, it’s a glorious thing, classic Devlin with so much more, layers and layers brought to one of the Megazine’s finest characters.

And all the way through, PJ Holden’s matched every beat Kot adds to Devlin here. The mundane looked great, watching Devlin taking a little time off things perfectly done. But now it’s gotten all weird, Holden’s giving us all the strange we’ve come to expect from the character, just great art in synergy with great writing.

It’s a marmite strip for sure. Some out there are decrying this as not proper Devlin Waugh. But I think they’re wrong, I think this is exactly where the character’s always been headed. It’s just that Kot, and Holden, have come out and properly addressed all the queerness that lies at the heart of Devlin.

CADET RICO: THE CYCLE – PART 5 – FINAL PART – BY LIAM JOHNSON AND ROB RICHARDSON, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL

Five episodes of this and we’re done, following Cadet Rico as he has to deal with a powered-down experimental iso-cube and a whole load of very dangerous perps on the loose.

It’s been a real rush of great storytelling, Johnson managing to get into the head of Rico, always the outsider of the Fargo line, even her in his cadet days.

This last chapter sees Rico being Rico, always the black sheep, part full-on Judge, part something more human, flawed and imperfect. He deals with the last escapees with typical Dredd-like efficiency, but it’s the things around this that makes this Cadet Rico special.

Johnson gets in that more human character of Rico here, particularly in his dealings with the girl perp who’s been helping him. It’s a great little closed-in story of course, but Richardson’s artwork’s the star here. It’s stylish and full of great moments, the calling card for an artist we’re going to be seeing so much more of in the future.

RILEY’S REBELS – PART 4 – BY HONOR VINCENT AND STEWART K MOORE, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

So far in Riley’s Rebels, we’ve met young Riley and her kid brother Clint, just two of a group of kids taken in, kidnapped, by a group of elders in New Naples out here in the Cursed Earth. The elders have taken these kids in as slaves, working them tirelessly to upgrade the elder’s mech suits.

But Riley’s got a rebellious head on her, knowing just how she and the rest of them got here, knowing the elders don’t have their best interests at heart. And so she’s hatched a plan, a way for them all to be free of the evil that’s kept them trapped.

So, Riley’s started her rebellion, working with the boy in the village with so many parts that the elders want to get their hands on. There’s a talking possum helping them all out as the action really gets going, all detailed so well, as you’d only expect, from Moore.

The lines are drawn, the elders are closing in, and Riley’s rebellion is really getting going.

LAWLESS: A TOWN CALLED BADROCK – PART 5 – BY DAN ABNETT AND PHIL WINSLADE, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

Lawless has been consistently the best thing in the Megazine for many years, right since we started on the adventures of Marshal Metta Lawson. It’s a world in isolation, way, way out on the outskirts of the world of Dredd, a place where things are different, a frontier world, the Wild West of Dreddworld.

We’ve been through so much in Lawless, seeing the frontier town of Badrock go from being the arse end of nowhere to somewhere way more important, now home to so many developers and powerful folks that Lawson’s going to have to deal with.

There’s a powerful, cult-leading pastor out there, not to mention the radtus monster still on the loose. But here we get Lawson back dealing with the everyday problems of the growing Badrock, where development brings in all sorts of bad folks. It’s your classic Wild West thing, Lawson being the sheriff, facing down the rich and powerful coming into Badrock, knowing that it’s going to be causing her and Badrock a whole load of problems down the line.

Abnett and Winslade have created this whole world here, isolated from the outside, a real Wild West adventure with all the cliches and predictable storylines you’d expect.

But the brilliance of Lawless is how Abnett’s able to turn things around, mining original ideas from the concept, with Winslade’s art just fabulous every step of the way.

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

The first reprint is one I’ve already shown you in full — the Treasury of British Comics reprint of more of Adam Eterno’s strangely British adventures.

 

ADAM ETERNO VOLUME 2 – GRUNN THE GRIM – BY TOM TULLY, E GEORGE COWAN, & CHRIS LOWDER, ART BY SOLANO LOPEZ – ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LION & THUNDER

But it’s the second reprint that’s way more exciting, as we get the whole second issue of Wagner, Grant, and Cornwell’s Roy of the Rovers meets sci-fi Rok of the Reds. The Megazine is reprinting both this first series and the sequel, Rok the God, before publishing the third, all-new series, provisionally titled Rok the World.

Oh, it’s a great series, one I’ve told you about before, a mash-up of great soccer comics with something alien. Rol’s landed on Earth now, looking for somewhere to hide from the intergalactic threat to life out to get him. He’s taken on the body Kyle Dixon, asshole footballer, the epitome of all that’s wrong with the beautiful game. Here, Rok gains a first glimpse of all that’s great with football/soccer, drawn into the joy of the game.

It’s such a great story, mixing football and sci-fi so well, an alien walking amongst us, trying his best to fit in whilst preparing for what he knows is coming for him. Wagner and Grant write this sort of thing so well, the ridiculous done sublimely, with Cornwell getting his first major series. And what a series it is. If you’ve never read it before, strap yourselves in for something special. If you’ve been onboard all along as I have, it’s great to revisit something so good.

ROK OF THE REDS: CHAPTER 2 – BY JOHN WAGNER AND ALAN GRANT, ART BY DAN CORNWELL, COLOURS BY ABIGAIL BULMER, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL