The Monthly Megazine – Issue #494: It’s A Monster Mash In Mega-City One

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.

Here we go, five brand-new strips and a Treasury of British Comics classic reprint for the new 100-page Judge Dredd Megazine.

We kick off with more Judge Rico in the Megazine‘s part of the huge mega epic Dredd tale running across both the Megazine and the Prog right now, and for quite a way into the future it seems.

Then there’s more from Rogue Trooper in An Iteration of Allies, and we get the finale of the wonderful alt-history art-deco noir version of Dreddworld that is Megatropolis, where the much-anticipated Mayoral election has rolled around. There’s also a new one-off Tales from the Black Museum this month by James Peaty and Stewart K Moore.

Finally, best of all, the start of a new Lawless series by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade. It’s a fabulous strip, has been since it first appeared in 2014. Since then, the intervening years have given us loads of ups and downs in the frontier township of Badrock, but they’ve consistently been one of the best things in the Megazine. Can’t see that changing any time soon.

Alongside the five original strips, we get another trip into the Treasury of British Comics archives with more from The Angry Planet, plus features on the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special (out this week), the Battler Britton collection by Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson, and a look at the new Hibernia published Doomlord photo strips collection.

And all that happens underneath yet another rather nice cover by John McCrea, with colours by Jack Davies, showing us the monstrous happenings we get to read about in the latest Tales From The Black Museum …

Judge Dredd Megazine #494 was out on 15th July in the UK — meaning I’m terribly late with this one. But, saving my bacon, deadline-wise, it’s also now available properly in the Americas, where it comes out on 12th August. Which, y’know, looking at it another way, means I’m actually early. Sort of. Still, I’ll take it. If you are in the Americas and you want to get your hands on the Judge Dredd Megazine, not to mention the 2000 AD weekly Prog (and you should), head down to your local comic shop and ask the nice folks there to order it in for you!

All right then, with all that out of the way, let’s dip into the new Magazine, shall we?

Judge Rico: The Black Tower — Part 3 — By Ken Niemand and Nick Percival, letters by Simon Bowland

Yes, it’s Judge Rico, the top cop of Mega-City One, and, according to pretty much everyone, has always been so. But a select few know the truth, a truth to which Rico keeps getting fractured glimpses of; he’s the imposter stepping into the collective memory in the wake of Judge Dredd’s vanishing into the Oubliette.

It’s month three of this latest of Dredd mega epics, with the saga of ‘The Black Tower’ here in the Megazine telling the tale on the ground in the big Meg, whilst we catch up with the missing Dredd in ‘The Oubliette’ over in the Prog. All of this is put together by Ken Niemand, marshalling everything, and bringing in threads and characters that he and various artists have been spinning over the past few years in Dredd tales. Chief amongst those artists is Nick Percival, whose art is just perfect for this sort of dark tale, and has been for quite a while now, with he and Niemand really bringing back the sense of horror to Dredd.

Judge Rico and Judge Inviata are in the Black Tower. Although whether she’s one to be trusted or not, that’s still up for debate. However, she is living up to her name — Inviata, Italian for envoy …

Anyway, we got a little of just what the Black Tower was, and where it had come from last issue, when Rico and Iviata went inside the Tower, only to find out it’s something from Justice Department past, full of the children of Judda, a prison, a laboratory …

Now we get more of that particular thread of this one. I’m not going to spoil it quite yet; we’ll leave that one hanging until next month, I think. But it does shift a few presumptions around, opens up a few more avenues for Niemand to send us down on this one.

Needless to say, without particularly spoiling anything, there’s, how shall we say, a little exploration of the Justice Department links to the Black Tower, not to mention a whole bit of violence as Rico and Inviata tackle the sons of Judd. All of them. Cue Percival doing his thing, all that luscious painted art, all those details, all that vileness that is just beautiful in its grotesquery. It’s the sort of thing that just cries out for a double-page spread …

Oh, boy, that’s just a bit special, don’t you think? And just wait till you see it at full size. It’s really something.

So yes, Percival’s art is just perfect for this one, all that darkness and foreboding, all the nastiness and … well, griminess of it all. It’s just all here on the page, and it’s done so incredibly well.

Here though — still no spoilers for this one — we get Rico and Inviata dealing with the Judda, with Rico’s faint memories of Dredd coming to the fore, plus more on Inviata’s talk of Rico being that ‘Favoured Son.’

Oh yes, all very mysterious, all very dark, all very foreboding indeed. It’s steeped in a lot of Dredd history is this one, but don’t be afraid if you’re not all-in on the history here. The stories are set up in such a way that you really don’t need to know all the ins-and-outs of Dredd lore. If you know the backstory to the Judda, all well and good; it’s an extra layer of backstory that gives those in the know that bit extra. If you don’t know, there’s no hindrance to the story here; you just take the Judda as something nasty in the past of the Justice Department and enjoy it for all it is — and believe me, there’s plenty to enjoy here.

This is a BIG Dredd, packed with everything that makes these mega-epic Dredds such a rare treat. Just relax and enjoy the darkness.

Lawless: An Exhibition — By Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade, letters by Simon Bowland

A new series of Lawless starts here. This, obviously, is a rather wonderful thing, as you should all know that Lawless is one of the best things the Megazine has ever done, Abnett and Winslade doing their own cowboy things out in the wilds of the Dreddverse. Way out on a barren planet, on the outskirts of Justice Department control, Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson, a woman with a past, brings law to the lawless frontier township of Badrock. Along the way, she’s made a shed-load of enemies, including Munce, Inc, the Mega-City Corp that funded Badrock in the first place.

Now, after a period of time undercover, Lawson’s returned to the role of Marshal, albeit with the SJS Judges also running things.

And so we dive into another long-running Abnett-written tale. And, just as with Brink over in the Prog, I have to recommend you take a little time out to go pick up all five previous Lawless collections to catch yourselves up on what has been a superb series.

Seriously, you’ll thank me for it. Oh, and while you’re at it, for a little of that past of Metta Lawson, go pick up Abnett and Colin MacNeill‘s Insurrection as well.

Anyway, back to this new series of Lawless. Again, you don’t need to read all that’s gone before to enjoy the series. The summary of the series will give you a lot of what you need to enjoy what is a very, very enjoyable series.

Here, we have The Exhibition, which I gather might be a series of individual tales building up to a bigger tale. After all, next issue’s Lawless has another title, Stray Bullets, so it could well be that this is just Abnett and Winslade telling tales of the world of Badrock, one single moment at a time.

In The Exhibition, it’s something of a cleverly done catch-up of a thing, opening with Lawson beating the crap out of some poor bastard, and then going back to how we got here, whilst introducing us to the cast of characters here in Lawless, all under the guise of a bit of prize fighting down in Badrock’s bar.

It’s clever, it’s fun, and it’s just so perfectly done, an (re)introduction to this great series, all wrapped up in one perfect little episode as Lawson idles her time taking on the prize fighters. Sure, there’s plenty for readers who know all that’s gone before, but it’s also a simple introductory thing for all you new readers as well.

And, of course, one thing that Lawless always has is Winslade’s artwork. Describing it as detailed just doesn’t do it justice. This is detailed+, where plus should really be described as an insane amount of work on every page. Perhaps best illustrated by the double-page spread (it seems this issue is having a double-page spread thing. First Nick Percival, now Phil Winslade.)

So, a Dreddworld cowboy tale, as Marshal Metta Lawson’s tale takes its next step. We don’t know where it’s going quite yet, but it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun journeying along with it.

Best thing in the Megazine for the past 12 years? Oh, absolutely.

Rogue Trooper: An Iteration Of Allies — Part 2 –By Andi Ewington and Sinu Senan, colours by Jim Boswell, letters by Simon Bowland

Again, you do know there’s a Rogue Trooper movie coming out? Helmed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft, and Mute), it’s the reason we’ve been seeing a hell of a lot of Rogue these past couple of years.

Rogue’s an absolutely iconic character, whose early adventures from 1981 completely defined the character. If anything, they did it too well, as those early storylines provided the perfect classic sci-fi war tale of a rogue gene-enhanced infantryman looking to avenge the murder of his comrades by the Traitor General. Everything after that has lived in the shadow of that perfect storyline, containing all the Rogue you could ever really need.

That’s not to say there aren’t stories to be told. After all, everything about Rogue’s world and the never-ending battle between the Norts and Southers is an incredibly fertile storytelling landscape. And that’s where things like Gordon Rennie and Simon Coleby’s excellent Jaegir series come from. And sure, there have been good Rogue tales, even great Rogue tales, including, just recently, Garth Ennis and Patrick Goddard’s stories, and the Alex De Campi and Neil Edwards Ghost Patrol story was good, great even, and well worth a read.

All of which brings us to An Iteration of Allies, which, despite being a fun read, keying in to all the essential bits of Rogue Trooper — the never-ending Nort-Souther war, the idea of Rogue being, well, rogue — doesn’t ever give us anything more to add to the legend. It is, pure and simply, a Rogue tale of Rogue being Rogue. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, just another tale of Rogue in between all the Traitor General stuff. But hey, sometimes stories can just be a fun action romp and nothing more.

In An Interation of Allies, we’re with Rogue on the ground, coming into contact with a strange new allegiance of Norts and Southers who’ve decided that, quite rightly, maybe there’s more to life than the eternal war, and who’ve formed an unlikely alliance at Fortress Itter, where all the grey areas of the war get a chance to be explored.

It’s 10 pages of Rogue that pass by pleasingly enough, enjoyable extras for those of us who’ve enjoyed Rogue’s tales for all these years.

Tales From The Black Museum: Bad Idea — By James Peaty and Stewart K. Moore, letters by Annie Parkhouse

So good to see Stewart’s art back in the Megazine here, an artist we don’t see all that often, but who always gives it his all in whatever thing he’s doing. Packed with detail, such expressive moments, where everything is just all so wonderfully done.

Here, he’s on a really neat little Tales from the Black Museum thing, the Megazine‘s version of a Future Shock, a done-in-one thing, where your host, undead guide Henry Dubble, unveils yet another story behind one of the exhibits amongst the notorious exhibits in the Black Museum.

And it’s a damn fine Black Museum tale, all around that always perplexing idea of just where do writer’s get their ideas from. The writer in question is Rikki Jourdain, out of ideas, out of luck, and out on his ear from the Tri-D writing stable. He’s also in deep to a local loan shark, with a week to pay back what he owes and no way to make this particular deadline. Which is where his friendly bar owner comes in, with the offer of something called ‘Idea.’ Well, what’s Rikki got to lose?

Well, the ideas come thick and fast, but you know there’s going to be trouble round the corner, and trouble comes looking for poor Rikki, in the very real, very dangerous shape of his greatest characters …

Oh yes, poor Rikki, he should have known there was going to be a downside to such an easy solution to all his problems. But just how it all works itself out is a neat little twist in the tale, one that Rikki only begins to realise when he heads back to the bar and another chat with that particular bar owner …

After that, Rikki’s fate was sealed. Never take the easy way out kids, especially not in Mega-City One, you just know it’s going to come back and bite you in the ass.

A great little Black Museum tale, elevated so much by Moore’s artwork, packed with all that usual detail and wonderful character works.

Megatropolis Book II — Part 10 — Final Part — By Kenneth Niemand and Chris Weston, Colours by Antonietta Saulino, Letters by Rob Steen

Here we go, the finale to Megatropolis Book II, the wonderful alt-history version of Dredd’s world of Mega-City One history, all filtered through an art deco lens and brought to life, originally by Ken Niemand and Dave Taylor, and now concluded with Chris Weston‘s great artwork.

As is usual by now, let’s take a moment to talk about the art. This was Taylor’s creation, and it’s his spirit that runs all the way through every page of this, his designs, his tone, his visual style. That he’s not able to finish it is just another cruel twist of fate and proof that cancer, as ever, is a complete bastard.

[Yet again, if you’re reading this and you’re a man of a certain age, follow Dave’s sadly too late for himself advice and go to the doctor and get your prostate checked. So, a quick health message — if you’re a bloke over a certain age, go get yourself checked out. Embarrassment is not an excuse. That check-up could save your life. Tell the doc Dave sent you.]

Sadly, Dave wasn’t around to finish this series. And for that we’re all, Weston included, wishing it wasn’t the case. But Weston stepped up and stepped in, perhaps the only artist today who can match Taylor’s detailed design sense and make it work, giving life to Niemand’s ideas of putting all those familiar names of Dreddworld into new and unexpected roles.

So, here in the finale, we’re on the ground at the long-promised Mayoral elections, as sitting Mayor Bob Booth is about to lose to challengers McGruder and Griffin, promising a new Megatropolis free of the citywide corruption of Booth’s regime.

Except it was never going to go down that easily. Psychic Madame Cassandra has been foretelling of a ‘bomb plot,’ ‘girl with flowers’ and ‘the four.’ Well, we’re about to find out all about the ‘girl with flowers’ in a perfectly constructed few panels where the assassination plot plays out, hidden enemies revealed, all done with exquisite timing by Niemand and Weston …

Meanwhile, various other strands play out — we see Rico in a life-threatening state after the explosion last issue, revealing long-held secrets to his partner Jara, and then there’s the debut of a new Chopper taking to the skies. Plus, we have Madame Cassandra’s warning of ‘the four.’ That’s left dangling, deliciously, at the end of this one. But come on, ‘the four,’ in an alt-universe version of Dreddworld where we’ve met so many of the main players already. I’m not spoiling it any, but if you’re looking to bring in the ultimate threat to Megatropolis, who else could ‘the four’ be?

Oh yes, a quite perfect ending to Megatropolis Book II. On one hand, it’s just a real fan thing, where all the fun exists because of what you already know of the long history of Dredd, enjoying all those familiar names being thrust into new positions. On the other hand, if you’re coming to this fresh, Niemand’s done more than enough to flesh out this gorgeously-crafted art deco retro-futurist sci-fi world to make it work real well.

So, it’s the end of Book II. Roll on Book III.

The Angry Planet — By Alan Hebdon and Massimo Belardinelli

Now for the reprint from the archives of the Treasury of British Comics, The Angry Planet, from back in 1979.

Well, we had part one of this last month, and it seems we’re getting an extended run of it in the next couple of months. There were 22 episodes of it when it was published in the 2000 AD adjacent title, Tornado.

Again, old-school sci-fi stuff, a chance to enjoy Belardinelli’s artwork, taking in those rebellious Martian colonists and the big bad Mars Incorporated corporation out to do them wrong.