The Monthly Megazine Issue 484: Dredd Watches All, Dredd Sees All

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.

Once more into the monthly Judge Dredd Megazine then. Just as we were getting used to the new 100 page format of the comic with five+ original strips, articles, interviews, and the one reprint of the excellent John Wagner, Alan Grant, Dan Cornwell Rok Of The Reds, we had a rather distrubing change last issue, dropping the original strips down to four and adding in a Treasury of British Comics reprint, essentially an ad for the latest Treasury book reprinting, admittedly, some fine tales from the history of Brit comics. This issue, we’re back up to the five original strips though, always a good thing. Plus another Treasury reprint and more from Rok The God as reprints, and all the articles and interviews, including a lovely tribute to Dave Taylor, who we sadly lost to cancer this month.

All of this happens under another rather good Dredd cover from Jake Lynch, one of several excellent Dredd artists we have right now…

So, inside this latest Megazine, we’ve got two Judge Dredd tales, with art by, respectively, SK Moore and Jake Lynch, two truly great artists for Dredd. Then there’s the finale of the Cadet Dredd time-hopping series The Haunting of Iso-Block 8, plus a new Future Shock, and the finale of the two-part Judge Anderson strip, ‘Flowers of Evil’ – and you can find the first part of that in 2000 AD Prog 2450, on sale right now as well. Plus, the two reprints this time, first a Treasury reprint of Robot Archie, and then the latest in the excellent Rok The God, where Wagner, Grant, and Cornwell spin a quite marvellous tale mixing the beautiful game with epic sci-fi. And don’t forget, once this reprint of the second Rok series is done, we’re going to get the all-new third series in these very pages. Something to look forward to indeed – but it’s been an absolute pleasure seeing these first two series get reprinted here. Of course, if you’re coming upon them for the very first time, I can only envy you.

Megazine #484 was out on 17th September in the UK. If you’re in the Americas, take a wild guess as for when you’ll see it. It’s always been a patchy distribution, and the current distributor upheaval isn’t going to help things at all. But head into your local comic shop and ask them nicely to order it for you. If they can’t or won’t, find yourself another local comic shop that will. Seriously, you’ll be glad you did. Yes, late once more – my apologies. Frankly, given all the upheaval in Bruton Mansions, Nevada this past week, it’s something of a minor miracle it made it at all. Appliances deciding not to do what they’re meant to do and an HOA playing silly buggers has meant hours of time wasted on the phone and online to sort things, all of which eats into the whole writing about comics thing. I mean, my beloved Kraftwerk might have sung about Computer Love, but, after having to authenticate mysefl for a sixth time just to get a basic thing done, I’m just not feeling the same love.

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

JUDGE DREDD: THE UNREALISTS – BY KARL STOCK AND STEWART K MOORE, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Another done-in-one Dredd, and another rather bloody good one. This one comes definitely from the weirdos in Mega-City playbook and just runs with the idea of a cult of the Unrealists formed when one man has a particularly bad day and just decides that… well, let’s let him tell you himself…

That’s all it takes for a cult to form in the Mega-City, a place so packed full of the desperate and the lost that they’ll take anything that gives them even a little hope. And in this dystopian fascist world, the idea of everything they have to suffer daily just not being real is a tempting one.

But for me, Stock’s tale is made so much better by the art – SK Moore doing his thing on the inside again after a while of covers and pin-ups. And it’s always a delight to see his art in here. There’s just so much to praise – the line work is effortless, tight, controlled, the collours just pop at all the right moments, and there’s just this insane amount of detail in every single panel – just take your time and explore the backgrounds to find out all the incredible characters and tech that Moore populates this one with. Oh, and he does do a damn fine Dredd…

It’s a classic bit of weird Dredd, the sort of thing that’s been a mainstay of the strip right from the beginning. And in these weird strips, these one-offs, we learn so much about the world of Dredd. It’s these sort of tales that bring life to the world, and Stock’s done a great one here.

CADET DREDD: THE HAUNTING OF ISO-BLOCK 8 – PART 6 – FINAL PART – BY PAUL STARKEY AND NICK BROKENSHIRE, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL

So, the Cadets’ time caper concludes. And it’s been a hell of a lot of fun. The best bits of it have been how Starkey plays with the various characters of the quartet of baby Judges gathered together here, and seeing Brokenshire’s art, colourful and fresh, has been a high point. Sure, I stand by the fact that it’s lingered perhaps a little too long and could have done with a little trimming at points. But the basic structure of the tale worked really well, particularly the way Starkey sold us on a locked room Cadet Dredd mystery and then flipped the thing into a time travel caper. That was a great touch, and one that led us down plenty of fun avenues.

Here, after a little page one flashback to a childhood of a Judge, and a bloody, horrible childhood it is too. But after that, it’s a case of the Cadets proving themselves as they mop up the time travel perps and get back home and Iso Block 8…. no, wait…

Ooops. Time travel will do that to you. A nice little twist in the tale at the end.

Yep, it’s been a lot of fun. Again, for those who moan about having kiddie Dredd stories in the Megazine, shut up, read the thing, and you’ll most likely be surprised at how much you could actually enjoy the thing.

FUTURE SHOCKS: THE COLLECTION – BY ANDI EWINGTON AND NICOLO ASSIRELLI, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

The Future Shock, 2000 AD‘s classic short one-off tales, just five pages long, a slice of sci-fi with a twist in the end. Normally, they’re, by necessity, rather caption and dialogue-heavy, the writer needing to do a hell of a lot to establish things, tell the short tale, and spin out the twist.

Here, though, Ewington is doing things differently, giving us a tale very light on words, letting Assirelli’s gorgeous black and white art here do all the heavy lifting. But make no mistake, even when a writer goes light with captions and dialogue, there’s perhaps even more work that has to go into the tale to make it work. And that’s just the case here.

Two figures in the rain, one human, one robot, both depositing previous things into a hole in the wall, both of them getting rewarded well for it. She’s a doctor stealing organs to keep her head above water. The robot’s grabbing parts from other junked robots. Both of them using them to get cash. They’ve no idea why. We’ve no idea how this all started, how they found out about it, but that’s all part of how well it’s written, you’re so into the little tale that you start wondering about these two very different characters and want to know more and more of them.

As for the twist, well, it all comes about when the money starts getting less, despite them bringing the same high quality parts, which leads them, two disgruntled donor thieves, to look for the same answers we’re looking for. Except what they find is horrific, a perfect little nasty end to a perfect little clever Future Shock.

JUDGE DREDD: PUBLIC RELATIONS – BY JOE RATCLIFFE AND JAKE LYNCH, COLOURS BY EMILY ROACH, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

So, two Dredd one-offs in this latest Megazine. I’m hardly going to complain when this extra Dredd is drawn by Jake Lynch, one of my favourite Dredd artists and surely one of a handful of regular Dredd artists who can lay claim to being part of a group of excellent new Dredd artists who’re regularly bringing us brilliance in Mega-City One.

This one’s another simple one, this time with Dredd front and centre, doing what Dredd does best, stamping down with his big old boots on anyone not respecting the law. Young punks out in an old block on the anniversary of Chaos Day, chips on their shoulder that they’re willing to put up against the eagle on Dredd’s shoulder. They’ve got a lot to learn – and they’re going to learn; first in the med-wagons and then the cubes.

Plenty of action, Lynch doing his thing, all those great angular moments, limbs stretching out just enough to make things visually impress, but also an artist who can do the quiet moments so well when it’s needed, as it is in the tale end of this one, where Ratcliffe does another classic bit of Dredd trope storytelling and reveals the reason Dredd’s out this way in the first place.

It’s another great one-off, another tale that feeds into the legend of both the city and the man. Lynch, of course, is a great addition to any Dredd strip, but Ratcliffe, as a new writer in these parts, with just the one-off Dredd in last month’s Megazine to his name before this, is certainly proving he’s one to watch.

ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION: FLOWERS OF EVIL – PART 2 – FINAL PART – BY ALEX DE CAMPI AND ROB RICHARDSON, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

This special two-parter began in the pages of the latest jumping-on Prog – 20000 AD #2450, and it was rather damn good, a well-crafted little Anderson that shows that De Campi does a rather great Anderson right off the bat.

‘The Flowers of Evil’ are a parasite that’s infected Dredd, and it’s down to Anderson to figure out a way to save him. As the flowers do their thing, we get taken on a sentimental journey into Anderson’s past, with Anderson following PJ Maybe’s cast aside sex droid on her own mission to find love once more.

Like I say, short, but ever so good. Now, how about De Campi getting a longer shot at Anderson – from what’s gone down here, I’d love to see that. And if Richardson could do the art, that would be even better. I’ve really enjoyed seeing his style develop in everything he’s done, and it’s just a beautiful example of an artist whose style is great but whose storytelling is just as good. Yep, Anderson, a full series, De Campi and Richardson, that would be one I’d definitely enjoy.

So, that’s all the original stories done. Now it’s into the reprints.

First off, we get a Tresury of British Comics reprint with Robot Archie in the world of the future. I haven’t had the time to preview this one yet, but for a taste of what to expect, do have a look at the preview of the last Robot Archie reprint – ‘The Time Machine’ – here.

Frankly, it’s your classic slightly strange British hero comic sort of thing. We never did the clean-cut, square-of-jaw hero back in the sixties and seventies, and Robot Archie is just a perfect example of how strange things could get.

ROBOT ARCHIE IN THE WORLD OF THE FUTURE – BY E GEORGE COWAN AND EARNEST KEARON

As for the other reprint, well, surely by now, you’re tired of me telling you how damn good all things Rok of the Reds is?

Rok of the Reds by John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Dan Cornwell, on his first professional comics job, was quite the thing. A bit of epic sci-fi mixed with the joy of football (soccer to you North American folks) that you may well have missed the first time round. Thankfully, the reprint in the Megazine of Rok of the Reds, swiftly followed by this reprint of the second series, Rok The God, should be either reminding those who read it before just how great it was or introducing those of you who did miss it to the wonders to be found here. Oh, and the best news is that the all-new third Rok series will be following on from Rok the God. Something for all of us to cheer about.

It’s just a wonderfully executed thing, where both the sci-fi and the football are beautifully well done, all tied up with that signature humour of Wagner and Grant’s finest works.

In Rok the God, our alien hero, Rok of the Arkady, has been pulled back to his home planet for the death of his mother and his ascent to Godhood – a new role that involves a hell of a lot of political manoeuvring from the factions on Arkady, all keen to take advantage of these new, unsettled times. However, Rok is back to Earth, back to the beautiful game that he’s fallen in love with ever since taking the form of the Radford Reds bad boy star striker, Kyle Dixon.

But just as things aren’t all rosy for Rok the God on his homeworld, getting back to the pitch proves fraught with problems, not least of which is the new Radford owner, who’s determined to sell Kyle to Real Madrid, whether Kyle/Rok wants it or not. Plus, the latest on the adventures of the miniaturised original Kyle. Oh, it’s all coming to a head in such a fabulous fashion.

I shall leave you before the preview with a glorious bit of Wagner/Grant wordplay… ‘Real Madrid. I’m told the fake Madrid sucks.’ Perfection.