Meg 204 - 8 April 2003
Cover by John Higgins

Synopsis and review by Leigh Shepherd
2nd Opinion by Gavin Hanly

LS: Despite being by the rather wonderful John Higgins, the cover isn't as dynamic as you might hope. There's a lot of dead, dull space around the central image of the child, which while good is a little static and murky. The bright orange blood stain is a bit out of place too. Still, theres a fun deliberate mistake to be discovered - answers on a postcard to the usual address!

GH: Not a great fan of the cover this month I have to admit, as I think Higgins' work inside the Megazine is far better, and the cover line of "Be Very Afraid" could have been replace with something a little more hard hitting. It is, however, an original layout and premise, which I'm always pleased to see.

Monkey on My Back - Part 1
Synopsis: It’s the 1st January 2099 - Chief Judge Clarence Goodman is still in charge and Judge Cal head of the SJS. Goodman has called a meeting of Senior Judges to announce proposals to reduce Judicial control and repeal the genetic laws that ban mutants from the City. A trial of Goodman’s plans for reducing Justice Department presence is to be carried out in Sector 149 - The Cauldron. Within moments of the announcement, the sector erupts into anarchy and Dredd instigates an operation to quell the violence, despite Chief Goodman’s express orders not to interfere. Cal suggests to Goodman that he could have Dredd arrested, but Goodman refuses, seemingly guided by sinister voices - "you don’t want to blow it too early, Clarence. Not with so much left to do"

Having restored order to the sector, the Chief Judge angrily confronts Dredd, but is forced to accept that the trial is a failure and suspend any further plans. However, Goodman refuses to rethink the repeal of the Genetic Laws - "that is set in stone".

Meanwhile, Judge Chambers, suspicious of the Chief Judges behaviour, has been carrying out an unauthorised databank search in order to uncover a reason for his actions. A week ago the Chief Judge had been involved on a H-wagon crash - the pilot had apparently killed himself, and Goodman had escaped by ejecting from the wagon. The pilot, Long Shot Lawson, had crashed in the Cursed Earth a year ago and Chambers request to investigate the site of the earlier crash is denied by order of the Chief Judge. Chambers decides to sneak out of the city and find out for herself what is going on. Dredd realises what she plans to do and intercepts her at the West Wall. Rather than arrest her, he decides to join her on her mission into the Cursed Earth. They escape the city, and Goodman orders them to be shot on site if they show up again. A strange tentacled creature sits on his shoulder - "Good boy, Clarence. Good boy."

LS: After a shaky return to Dredd from Garth Ennis with Helter Skelter, this was not a story I had high hopes for. However, so far the story is solid and enjoyable, if not particularly original. There’s intrigue built up around Goodman's "possession" and it should be interesting to see how Dredd gets back into the City. While Helter Skelter was a thin idea stretched over too way many progs, it’s hard to see how Garth will cram all the potential plot into just three episodes.

The retro setting has yet to provide anything more than the chance to see some old faces , but hopefully, the setting of this story in Dredd’s early days will have more bearing in the episodes to come. Higgins art remains a joy, though his Lawgivers are a little odd looking and his only concession to the retro setting appears to be rounder helmets! Higgins previous Cursed Earth stories have always been stunning (particularly "Last of the Bad Guys"), so I look forward to next months art with relish. Just don’t mention the wall!

GH: Garth Ennis appears to attract a certain amount of derision from a core group of 2000AD readers, and I've never been able to work out exactly why. He does seems a little too obsessed with the golden era of Dredd, as witnessed here and in his previous Dredd epic, Helter Skelter. And he could certainly do with letting loose on the character a bit more, and treating it with a a little less reverence. I'd love to see him approach a Dredd story with the same lack of respect he wields when writing the Punisher.

That said, he's very far indeed from being a bad writer, and is on top form in this new three parter. It's set in a time around the period just before "The Day the Law Died" (possibly my favourite Dredd epic) but adds a more serious tone to the story that 2000AD strips seemed capable of at the time. A very good opener indeed, with decent supporting cast, and an intriguing plot. My only complaint is the lack of signposting to indicate that this was a flashback story - the only real pointer to this being in the quick summary on the contents page, which I only came across after some puzzled search for an explanation, a caption saying that it's 2099 (which means next to nothing to most readers) and of course the art.

It's John Higgins who really shines here. Being only a recent re-convert to the Megazine, it's been absolutely ages since I've seen his work, but it's been worth the wait. The amount of detail and effort put into both the costumes, with the old style badges and fastenings and the city itself is breathtaking. Plus Higgins's style seems to be continually evolving every time I see his work, and the combination of colour and linework here combines for some tremendously impressive art. Some of the best depictions of Dredd's world and its inhabitants reside here - and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the remaining parts.

Phoenix Falling - Part 3
Synopsis: Deezl realises that November has a Justice Department pager and the hostage takers turn on her. In an effort to protect Juliet, Tonio tells them that the pager is his, and they attack him instead, culminating in one of the criminals shooting him in the head. November starts to lose control. At the same time as Dredd arrives at the Theatre, November’s PK abilities flow though her and she incinerates the criminals. Having witnessed her powers, the crowd start to hurl abuse and objects at her. She turns her abilities on them, just before Dredd incapacitates her with a stun shot. Left with a burned and scarred hand, November finds herself imprisoned in a Maximum security PSI-facility, until she's needed.

LS: Wow, what a downer! This episode seems to have come from a different story to the other two parts. Very downbeat, though with Alan Grant's usual portrayal of Judges as hard nosed fascists I suppose the ending isn't that unexpected. His recent McNulty story was also a weird and unlikely combination of Dennis the Menace and Trainspotting, but where the disparate elements worked for that strip, the sudden change of pace here seems forced and unnatural. I think it’s also a shame to have taken a character that was quite quirky and light hearted and close that whole avenue off in order for Grant to cover the same ground as many of his other Dredd and Anderson tales. The art’s competent enough, but quite dated looking.

The art has also continued to improve, and while I still have some misgivings about the way Manley handles the less action-orientated scenes, his work here is much better.

Hopefully we'll see more of November in the future.

Part 3
Synopsis: At the funeral of Christopher Odysseus, his Father Gio refuses to shake hands with Cane and Stone. As they drive away from the graveyard, Gio’s son Richie accuses Stone of being behind his brother’s death. However, Gio seems convinced some other force is at work - "The past‘s catching up with us". Talia has driven off with Kurt, who had been watching the funeral from afar.

Meanwhile, Cane and Stone are plotting to send Gio to the grave to join his son. Stone returns home, followed by Silver. When confronted by Silver, Stone recognises him, but Silver causes him to explode while in his stone form, shattering his body into rubble, leaving him alive but mute and unable to transform back into his ‘human‘ guise.

LS: Strips about super powered individuals rarely interest me, with this being no exception. Maybe I’m just allergic to capes, but I can’t shake the feeling this might have worked a lot better with a slightly more believable explanation of the Gangsters’ powers. The most solid elements of the strip are the least original parts - the feuding gangsters and family rivalries could have been lifted from just about any Gangster movie. For me, this means that the super powered twist has to add something new and interesting to this familiar tale, but unfortunately it seems that the superpowers angle has been tacked on without much thought. Dante has a similarly super powered Mafia family, but the far future setting and weapons crest technology help suspend your disbelief a lot more than the vague genetic explanation offered here.

Despite the characters colourful abilities, it's a chore trying to tell them apart from one another. Trying to write the synopses was a nightmare! Maybe a reread through in one go might benefit the strip, but the fact I’m not that inclined to do so isn’t a good sign.

There are perhaps too many supporting characters for a strip that only gives you 6 pages a month - and while many of them are indeed being killed off - those that remain aren't given enough page time to gain our sympathy. At heart it's a good series, but a bit of judicious editing should have cut down the players and presented us with a much leaner tale.

Bad Karma - Part 4
Synopsis: The Priestess presents the council with evidence that Black Siddha acted with a sense of chivalry and never killed women or children, showing them a time when the Siddha used his whip sword to disarm an Asuran Princess rather than kill her. Despite being spared, the Princess prays that Black Siddha will in some future life pay for his crimes, and prays that she will be the one to make him suffer. Rohan learns that this Princess is a previous incarnation of his girlfriend Mirabai.

The council reach their verdict - Guilty! Rohan’s sentence is to become the Black Siddha once again, and this time to truly protect the righteous and destroy the wicked.

LS: Its difficult to know what to make of this so far. The first three parts seem to have been little more than the set up for Rohan’s new role as the Black Siddha as "destroyer of the wicked", with a lot of exposition from the Priestess filling in the back story. Whether we are in for another Millsian rant about the evil of Capitalism, Religion and Government is yet to be seen, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this, despite some attempts at humour and a potentially interesting premise.

I’m not sure how many times this has to be said but story with message: good - story as message: bad. Still the art is nice enough, even if Simon Davis does seem more comfortable with talking heads than action scenes.

GH: Mills' work on Black Siddha has been streets ahead of his efforts on Sláine, mainly due to one element: he's remembered to add a sense of humour. Many comic book situations are hard to take all that seriously, a fact that's highlighted every time a Hollywood adaptation is attempted, and trying to treat some of this nonsense with a straight face can be too much to bear. So that's perhaps why I'm enjoying Black Siddha so much more than Slaine?

It still hasn't got very far though - and I don't quite understand how Rohan fits into the whole Black Siddha mythos, but I'm willing to wait around and find out.

As usual, Simon Davis contributes some fantastic painted artwork to accompany the series, and he helps to elevate the strip above the average.

Red Tide: Part 3
Synopsis: The life raft containing Devlin, Helsing and Karnstein comes under attack from more vampires. Helsing desperately searches for the UV flare gun, but Devlin warns him not to use it - as a vampire himself, Devlin would be destroyed along with the creatures attacking the raft. As the vampires threaten to overwhelm the raft, the boat is caught in the UV spotlight of Tyler’s safari boat.

The safari party are shocked when they realise they have rescued "a bunch of vampires", but luckily the Mr Thorson’s son Marv recognises Devlin as "the good vampire". As the ship burns, they head off towards the Helsing Institute, with Devlin at the helm. However, they receive radio reports that Andros has been quarantined - the vampires are swarming. A shoal of vampires close in on the Safari boat and despite the UV spotlights, a vampire manages to get on board, grabbing the already bitten and delirious Mr Thorson….

LS: Waugh definitely ensures that the Megazine finishes on a high, with exquisite art from MacNeil perfectly complementing the script. The fact that Devlin is more hindrance than help to their efforts to escape merely adds to the tension in this episode. As Gavin said in his review of Meg 203, the only gripe here is the fast pace and short installments would have suited the weekly much better. Still, that’s a minor complaint - "Thank heavens for comic books" indeed!

Miscellaneous Material

• Slaine: Time Killer
• Hall of Heroes: Bill Savage
• Darkie’s Mob
• Tharg’s future Shock: Solo Flip
• Sinister Dexter: Gag Reflex
• TPO
• The Interrogation cube: John Smith
• Apocalypse Soon
  

LS: Time Killer is a real showcase for Pat Mills ability to seize a theme and run with it in extraordinarily imaginative ways.

Darkies Mob is a revelation - sure, certain elements date it to a mid 70s war comic, but who would have thought that such brutal stuff would have go past the evil censors of Kings Reach Tower?

Thrill Power Overload continues to be informative and compelling. While some people might find these chapters covering the later periods of less interest than the "Golden" era, I have been struck by just how well this series has put 2000ADs troubled 90s into perspective and explained the pressures and pitfalls that the comic had to face up to. An extended Collected version of this series soon I hope, and more of these kind of articles for the Megazine, please!

The Hall of Heroes feature on Bill Savage and ‘Apocalypse Soon’ strip seem a little light weight, and I cant help but feel that it would have been better to extend the popular TPO article by a few pages rather than run these.