The Monthly Megazine Issue #488: Anderson’s Trip To The Flicks Gets Nasty

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…

The Megazine‘s first issue of the new year, giving us rather a lot of damn good stuff, including the long-awaited third and final volume of John Wagner, Alan Grant and Dan Cornwell‘s sublime soccer sci-fi tale, Rok of the Reds. Plus, there’s more of that delving into the rich multiverse Dredd stuff Ken Niemand‘s been doing for quite a while now in a multi-part Dredd that starts here as well. That’s the incoming. On the other side of things, we have endings this issue for both the Anderson and Dreadnoughts strips. And of course, the art deco noir delight of Megatropolis and the adventures of Brit Cit’s grumpiest old tec, Armitage, continue.

That’s 100 pages of Megazine this month, with six original strips, and a whole raft of articles, including an insightful interview with Wagner where he discusses that, yes, this may well be the year he retires. Oh, say it’s not so (but it looks like it is.)

All of that kicks off under a new cover by Simon Harrison, an artist who’s been away from comics for quite the while, but came back last year to 2000 AD with the cover to Prog 2395.

Now, come on, that’s a damn fine cover right there. The work that’s gone into it is insane, all of it giving us what I reckon may well be the winner of the 2026 best Megazine covers. It’s Anderson from the Hell Night at the Cine-Pit strip that concludes this month. There’s so much there, so much to take in. From the ready-for-action pose, to the hair, to the detailing on the uniform, to the nasties in the background, all the way through to the reflection in the floor — this is just a great, great cover.

Megazine 488 was out on 21st December in the UK. Yes, I’m way, way late getting this preview out. It’s been a week full of, to be blunt, snot and a nightmare on the day job. Head colds in Vegas? Yes, they’re a thing. Who’d have thought? Anyway, for those of you further afield than the UK, it’s way, way more tricky right now to find a copy of the Megazine — although it seems that’s going to change very soon, as Lunar Distributors are picking up the Megazine next month. However, to get this month’s 100-pages of thrills, the best bet is to head to the 2000 AD web shop and pick it up digitally.

JUDGE DREDD: HALFWAY HOUSE – PART 1 – BY KEN NIEMAND AND JAKE LYNCH, COLOURS BY MATT SOFFE, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Well, we’re back in Ken Niemand’s thing for delving into all the multiversal things that Dreddworld offers. This one goes all the way back to his playing with the two movie Dredds (Stallone and Urban) meeting the real Dredd, first in Prog 2262’s Trinity, then in Lawmen of the Future in Megazine #473, where comic Dredd and Stallone Dredd meet once more. And at the end of that one, we got to see Old Man Dredd, another multiversal Dredd version who’s been dropped into this Dreddworld from a world where things didn’t go fascist in America for too long, where freedom of choice won and America went back to democracy, the Justice Department there swept aside, the Judges gone, and this version of Dredd went back to being a street cop. All of that we found out in The Survivor in Megazine 479.

So, we have Old Man Dredd in this Mega-City One, a Dredd clone from another world whose ideas on the Law are so far from this Dredd’s, one who retired, one who married, one who believes in a better world.

And now he’s back. Moving out of the secure Med-Facility he was kept in and moving into Chuck Buckowski Rehab Block. It’s somewhere the Justice Department (and Dredd) can keep an eye on this anomaly in the Fargo bloodline. He’s now Joe Argo, retired Auxiliary, regular guy. Just a regular Joe, doing regular things…

You just know he’s going to get himself into trouble, don’t you? Well, so it is. He might keep repeating that ‘Retired. Not his city. Not his job anymore’ mantra, but you just know he’s going to be getting deeper into things. After all, he’s a Dredd, and they don’t let things lie easily.

First, it’s the domestic, then it’s loan sharks. The keyword ‘Argo’ sends Dredd, this world’s Dredd, racing into trouble.

Well, it’s a great saga already, and this multi-parter just promises to be just as great. All of Niemand’s multiverse things have been a hell of a lot of fun, but here, you get the idea that it’s just getting started, Niemand diving deep into Old Man Dredd and what his presence in this Dredd’s world means. And of course, having Jake Lynch on art, one of the several great modern Dredd artists we have right now, is just a bonus.

MEGATROLOPIS 2 – PART 4 – BY KENNETH NIEMAND AND DAVE TAYLOR, LETTERS BY ROB STEEN

Okay then, seeing as I’m very late with this one, and seeing as I’ve spent way too many words telling you how great the Niemand and Lynch Dredd is, let’s run through the rest of this issue of the Megazine pretty fast.

First up, Megatropolis, another Niemand creation, this time with art by Dave Taylor, who we sadly lost last year. This is his swansong, his legacy, perhaps his finest work in a career replete with such wonderful art. In Megatropolis, Taylor’s just forever giving us everything you could want from an art deco, retro Dreddworld, Taylor’s art packed with period detail, full of beautiful imagery to bring Niemand’s world of the familiar given a twist to life.

It’s all about Judge Rico, the ‘choirboy,’ one of the few cops in the city not in the pockets of the bad guys. He’s on a mission to clean up the city, assisted by Officer Jara. And all of it’s against the spectre of the corruption that’s rife in the city.

We get to watch Rico’s case load grow and grow, with the Orlok problem still there, the assasin in the city threatening the election of DA McGruder against Mayor Bob Booth, the Dredd vigilante still causing problems, and now Aimee Nixon, ex-cop and now PI, a very well connected PI, who shot Officer Jara and sits in the interview room knowing she’s going to walk in a minute…

That’s not even counting the investigations of Hershey, a reporter here, on the trail of Morton Judd, uncovering evidence of human cloning, or Chopper, a kid with a connection to Rico.

Oh, there’s so much going on in Megatropolis, loads of plates spinning, all of it coming back to Rico.

Niemand and Taylor have created this world of imagining what the world of Dredd would be like if things were different. It could have been just a simple What-If sort of thing, but it’s so much more than that, a fully imagined world where there’s so many tales that need telling. And between Niemand and Taylor, those tales will be told, and told with such fine style.

ARMITAGE: DROKK THE RIPPER – PART 4 – BY LIAM JOHNSON and STAZ JOHNSON, COLOURS BY QUINTON WINTER, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Okay then, so much for keeping it brief. Megatropolis was meant to be a few lines and then move on. Well, that didn’t happen, and I’m now even further behind. Dammit. Let’s try to keep this one short and sweet.

So, Armitage, Brit Cit Detective Judge, a mardy old bastard who’s never been one to stick strictly to the rules and regs, is having a bit of time off. Except his idea of time off is just an excuse to run his own investigation into why ex-Undercover Division officer Victoria Shanks is in the frame for the serial killer murders on the streets of Brit Cit. Why? Well, it’s personal to Armitage…

Whether he acted on the thoughts years back, or whether he kept things chaste, we don’t know. We do know Armitage is still thinking of Lora (or Liora, as I thought it was, his murdered girlfriend many years past), he’s just involved himself intimately in this one. Sure, it looks like Victoria’s just part of a bigger conspiracy involving a weird cult sending out brainwashed converts into the city to spread the murders, but that’s not going to wash with Treasure, Armitage’s boss, who just happens to pop by, leaving with an idea that Armitage is doing things she really doesn’t like — but she’s got history with Armitage, and that history runs deep.

It’s a damn fine little procedural thing, playing well into Armitage’s age and the sense that he’s a cop well past his sell-by date, ignoring the signs of age, pushing through things he shouldn’t ignore, and uncovering something rotten in the heart of Brit Cit.

ANDERSON: PSI DIVISION: HELL NIGHT AT THE CINE PIT – PART 4 – FINAL PART – BY ALEC WORLEY AND BEN WILLSHER, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

Well, after the rather stunning Anderson cover by Simon Harrison, this one’s off to a flying conclusion — it’s all been about Anderson dealing with a very weird demonic incursion through the means of cinema. She’s currently trapped in a protective sphere whilst the thoroughly entertaining and delightfully strange Exorcist Judges hold the fort outside of the sphere — ‘Apologies if your exorcism left you with a few extra pinkies. But, Hey! At least you get to go home with a story to tell he grandkids,’ and all that, delivered by Worley in a droll sense of the strange that’s given me a fair few laughs all the way through this one.

Things inside the sphere, not so funny for Anderson, as she realises this one’s all to do with a nasty she dealt with way back in Progs 468-478, a hell of a long time ago now. No, you don’t need to know anything about that to enjoy Cine-Pit, but it’s always cool seeing writers reference thrills gone by.

So, to deal with the demonic incursion, Anderson takes herself into the mind of the director all this is coming through, meaning plenty of cinematic imagery to play with – we’ve got Anderson in Western action, a dash of noir, a little kung-fu, a panel of Anime, a little Jane Austen (with added flying kick), werewolf horror, a great bit of Kaiju, all with Anderson and the demon Gargarax kicking seven shades of what-not out of each other.

And full credit to Willsher for switching styles all the way through every single little movie reference here, perfect art each time.

Another good little Anderson, handled real well by Worley and Willsher, just another one of Anderson’s cases, but a lot of fun along the way.

DREADNOUGHTS: QUALIFIED IMMUNITY – PART 4 – FINAL PART – BY MIKE CARROLL AND JOHN HIGGINS, COLOURS BY SALLY HURST, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

The only thing I have to complain about with Dreadnoughts is that Carroll and Higgins are short-changing us. Dammit, four parts and then out? Too short, way too short.

Yes, it’s four parts and then out with this one, another glimpse, and a gorgeous, fascinating, intriguing glimpse at that, into the world of the Judges just as the whole system changed, just as democracy was falling, Carroll capturing the moment when things shifted, choosing, very cleverly, to concentrate on the boots on the ground rather than the seismic shift at a country wide level. Because we know that democracy was surrendered to the Judges and the Justice Department, we know that fascism came to this America not with a sudden rush but with a creep, the politics of the time giving up all those freedoms over the course of a few years, so, instead of a grand thing covering the big events, Dreadnoughts sees Carroll and Higgins going close-up, each series concentrating on a single Judge, where we see what they had to face in these days when they were the few, resisted by the people and the existing law enforcement. It’s always been a perfect way of doing this, and this way too short series is no exception.

Here, it’s Judge Kahn and Officer Mackinnon, two good cops, just seeing things differently. One a Judge, all in on the new regime, one a good old-fashioned street cop, resisting all that the Judges mean for the law. One will win. One will lose. Justice prevails, and heaven help us.

We’ve had a lot in this one, all around the basic plot of Kahn and McKinnon dealing with the crooks. We’ve got the shadowy agency trying to turn McKinnon, an agency running up against the Judges, corrupt yes, but holding out for the old rule of law. We’ve had the temptation of McKinnon, the death of Judge Kahn, and now we get the fallout. Damn, Carroll plays it so well, never going for the obvious, always playing hard into the unrelenting march of progress, or, more to the point, the inevitable descent into fascism that the Judges bring.

And of course, throughout all this, we have Higgins doing such grand things with the artwork, aided so well by Hurst on colours. Whilst Carroll’s story gives us pause for thought, makes us consider the implications of all that goes on, Higgins and Hurst assault us with the action, the choreography of the violence balletic at times, beautiful in its intensity.

Damn. It’s all done. Four and out. More, more, more. And soon? Please?

ROK THE WORLD: CHAPTER 1: MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH – BY JOHN WAGNER AND DAN CORNWELL, COLOURS BY JIM BOSWELL, LETTERS BY ROB STEEN

Well, we’ve had the pleasure of revisiting the adventures of Rok in Rok Of The Reds and Rok The God through the last year and a bit, reprinting the adventures of the extra-terrestrial who finds falling hard for the beautiful game, a glorious mix of sci-fi high adventure and the best soccer action worthy of Roy of the Rovers at its best.

And now, at long last, albeit, sadly, without the much missed co-creator Alan Grant, we get the third series — where John Wagner and Dan Cornwell give us all the sci-fi and all the soccer in Rok The World, brand-new, never seen before, and every bit as brilliant as what’s gone before.

Frankly, it’s an easy thing to get into — although, of course, you should have been loving the adventures of Rok these past months, as I’ve kept telling you. But, just to give you an intro…

Rok is an alien, Rok of the Arkady, who lands on Earth after finding himself needing a sanctuary, cast out from his homeland. When he does land on Earth, he takes on the form of one Kyle Dixon, bad boy striker for local football (soccer, if you must) team, the Radford Reds, a struggling English league side. He didn’t mean to fall in love with the beautiful game, but he did, soon becoming the talisman for the Reds, the player who gives them success and promotion. The on-pitch action is perfect — to coin an oft-used phrase over here in Britain, one that describes the pure joy of all that football can give us, it’s all just pure Roy of the Rovers stuff. Those on-pitch moments perfectly capturing allhat’s great and exciting about soccer.

Of course, Rok’s adventures on the pitch are but one aspect of Rok of the Reds. He’s also got to deal with threats from his home world, as hunters from Arkady come for him in series one, or as he has to venture home in series two to take on the mantle of a God from his mother. And back on Earth, there’s also the comedy threat of the original Kyle, shrunk to miniature, as is a corrupt ref, who continue to make things difficult for Rok as he attempts to keep his secret identity known just to the few humans he trusts.

So, now we’re into series 3, Rok The World, which opens with the original Kyle Dixon back onthe pitch, and, frankly, he’s an arsehole, the worst sort of player, all ego and ignorance, totally different from the Rok-Kyle the Radford Reds fans have gotten to know over the past couple of seasons. All this is happening because Rok’s been busy dealing with the sci-fi side of things here. But now he’s back, ready to take over as Kyle once more, meaning old Kyle gets to be the mini-Kyle once more, and Rok gets to be the so much better version of Kyle again.

Of course, there’s plenty of things that are here to muddy the waters — the pikeys who know the secret of mini-Kyle for a start, watching as two Kyles appear in the same place, surely going to be causing trouble in the future. But right now, the proper Kyle’s back, back to the human family who know his secret, who’ve grown to love and accept him for what he is. Sure, there’s a little glitch as the new lodger, Stacey, walks in on things as Rok is in his true form, but that’s soon taken care of as Rok does the whole manipulating minds thing.

So, as we end this first episode, Radford are facing relegation, and Rok’s being called back to Arkady, where the various factions there have been taking note of their ruler’s interest in Earth, leading to their assessment that humanity are an existential threat to the health of the planet. Which is really throwing a spanner into the works — after all, if Rok’s fighting against the designation of humanity as a species sentenced to extinction, he’s going to find it hard to carve out the time to represent the Reds on the pitch and stave off relegation, isn’t he?

And there we have it, the set-up for this possibly final Rok saga. Humanity faces extinction, the Reds face relegation. How’s Rok going to fight both of those?

Oh, it’s such a joyous thing, it really is, pure fun all the way through, just an absolute blast to read.