Meg 210
23 September 2003
Cover by Fraser Irving

Synopsis and review by
Gavin Hanly

2nd Opinion by
Leigh Shepherd

Synopses and reviews contain spoilers for this issue

GH: Two very good covers this month and subscribers get both (a much better, and no doubt cheaper solution than sending out 2 issues as with the recent Aliens covers of the weekly). Both are fantastic works by Frazer Irving, and although Irving says inside that he prefers the "painted" one (above left), I have to say I prefer the "Killing Joke" Bolland pastiche myself. It's a fantastic image, and extremely striking. My only complaint about this issues cover is the lack of anything advertising Charlie's War - but more of that later.

LS: Two covers for the price of one this month (if you’re a subscriber), so where to start? I'm going to go with the flow and plump for the "Killing Joke" cover as my favourite - the simplicity wins out over the more "busy" cover. Even so, the psychedelic feel of the second cover fits in perfectly with the story, so both are winners.

Sturm and Dang - Part 1

Synopsis: In the Cursed Earth, a group of Mutie Marauders attack the settlement of Hope Rising - using what appears to be ancient Nazi weaponry, and wearing Nazi regalia. They destroy the town, uttering garbled translations of wartime German propaganda.

2 days later, Dredd and a group of Hot Dog Run cadets arrive at a bar, and Dredd goes inside. He's here to meet Koburn, a, ex-judge out working in the Cursed Earth - Koburn is has a relaxed, gruff demeanor and has the opposite of Dredd's "by the book" attitude. Dredd asks him to help take down Barzan Holt, who has destroyed 6 settlements. Dredd's back up senior judge had rad-sickness, so now he needs help - even though he disapproves of Koburn.

Meanwhile Holt is calling himself the "Foo-Rewr" and is using Mein Kampf as his guidebook in his quest to rid the cursed Earth of Norms.

That night, Dredd and the cadets camp out while they discuss rumours about Koburn. He tells them he volunteered for Cursed Earth duty after he punched a Deputy Sector Chief for reprimanding him on his uniform. Dredd arrives, and moves the cadets on - still showing his dislike of Koburn.

The next day, they come up against a column of Holt's men. They ride out to attack, while Koburn stays back to finish his coffee. The attack begins, with Koburn actually providing sniper fire from his position. The column is destroyed, but Koburn tells them it was a "forward reconnaissance force" - and true enough, the main force, a huge column of tanks, appears over the ridge...

GH: The Megazine is gradually being taken over by war stories! however, when they're an entertaining parody as this one - it's worth it. Reading previous "Blazing Battle Action"s it seem obvious that the character of Koburn is a close cousin of Major Eazy - right down to the name Koburn (since James Coburn was an influence on the design of Eazy). Certainly, the laconic ex judge is a welcome addition to the canon, especially with his casual sniper action towards the end of this part. Dredd seems a tad over-zealous in his dislike of Koburn, who looks like he'll be running (or perhaps ambling) rings around Dredd for the remainder of this story. Not sure about the Nazi parodies, but everything else about this works well. Cursed Earth stories are always highly entertaining, and Rennie once again shows he knows how to write a damned good Dredd story.

As for the art - there's little more that can be said other than it's well up to Ezquerra's usual excellence, who looks like he's enjoying being re-teamed with Eazy. A very good Dredd story indeed.

LS: More from Gordon Rennie this month, and while not up to the standard of his "Meet the Flooks" story over in the weekly, this is enjoyable stuff, that could only be marred by some of the most nit pickery nit picking the human mind can conjure up - so here goes!

Ezquerra’s art is always a joy, and with the Major Eazy pastiche going on, there really was no other choice. However, his mutants aren't that weird looking (compare them to the scary freaks of the Brotherhood of Darkness for example, or the similar imitating muties in Kev O‘Neills "the real Judge Dredd" tale). This means that Barzan Holts mutant army resemble caricature comedy Nazis rather than truly bizarre mutant weirdo Nazis - it's a small point, but I do feel it robs the story's villains of that extra edge.

Koburn works well outside of his obvious origins, though his habit of discussing his morning habits incessantly to himself paints him as more mental than cool. The idea of a Judge who was great at his job, just not at the regulations works well as a counterpoint to Dredd's self professed "stickler" nature, though you can’t help but feel that the story will end with a mutual respect society forming between Dredd and Koburn. Hopefully, a writer of Rennie's calibre can avoid such clichés.

The Wilderness Days - Part 3
Synopsis: Morty and his dad witness more of Death's destruction, and his dad leaves Morty with the nuns tending to the dead while he goes after Death.

Death's bike has broken, so he flags down a car driven by crazed juves Slide and Nirvana - "drugged to the eyeballs" and are therefore not bothered by Death's appearance. They casually blow away a mutie and head for a diner to cause more trouble. Inside the diner they shoot someone trying to leave, while Death kills the proprietor, impressing the two Juves, who start taking snaphots of the following chaos, as they leave a trail of death and destruction.

Later, Slide goes to sleep, and Nirvana comes on to Death, who kills her - "I fffear I'm well passt that ssstagge, my dear..." Slide comes out looking for his pills, but Death has finished them off. As Slide's drugs wear off, he starts to see the real Death, who then kills him, and takes their car. "I'm a natural born killer. Cool. "

GH: The Judge Death story continues to impress with the Natural Born Killers references this month. It's not quite as good as previous months' as this just feels like a killing spree, with no further development of Death's quest (although Morty's pa could become an interesting development.)

However, it's still well written and extremely well drawn - with only the odd questionable panel (I still can't work out what is supposed to have happened to Slide in the second to last panel). Overall, Irving was made to draw Judge Death, and seems to have a clear understanding of how to illustrate the character, so that he retains the ability to scare, while telling the odd dark joke. This is getting more like a road trip every issue, and I do hope we've got a good few episodes left for Death to "find himself".

LS: Free from Death's usual grand schemes for the slow decimation of Mega-City One, Wagner is able to add a lot of depth and humour to the character, this time without undermining him (as had been the case in the 90s, with a string of slapstick capers reducing Death to a comedy stooge). This months "On the Road" mix of driving, drugs and death continues to show the Dark Judge's discovery of the other side of killing. Having realised that his own brand of Justice has so far failed him, this twisted soul searching for a better way to kill is hilarious and chilling at the same time. I hope Wagner continues to explore Death's trip through these All-American ways to die; it's a great opportunity to make some good points about America's love affair with violence, while at the same time doing something new with the character and the setting (it's rare to see the Cursed Earth painted as such a bizarre and downright trippy place these days: contrast this vision with the more traditional "big desert" look of "Sturm and Dang").

Frazer's art is utterly perfect, conjuring up a dream-like vision of the Cursed Earth that can capture the wide open frontier spaces, the American dream gone sour, and the madness of the Cursed Earth, all in the one panel. It's uncertain whether another artist could have pulled off such a tricky balancing act as Irving does here, creating a hallucinatory mood that sells the story completely, despite the potential pitfalls of scenes of Death on a pedal bike, and burning up the interstate in a groovy open top sports car.

Red Tide: Part 10
Synopsis: Just before the explosion, Devlin escapes through the window, into the swamp, where he discovers some vehicle bays. Landis escaped the explosion, but is horribly disfigured ("in 30 minutes, I'll be better than new"). Back at the institute, Hannah kills the nurse, while her disembodied hand attacks the other orderly.

In the garden, the group are getting restless, and Helsing is starting to turn, as Landis bite is more potent than normal vampires'. They decide to run, and head down the waste chute, going deep into the swamp towards the institute. Devlin makes contact, and tells them to wait, as he'll track them down by their signal. The group tries to hold vampires at bay that have adapted to the swamp when Helsing is caught in a man trap - the pain starts to make him turn faster, while Lilith tries to pull him back. The swamp vampires are almost upon them when Devlin finally arrives in a huge armoured vehicle...

GH: There has been some concern over recent months that this series has started to drag its feet a little - and those concerns are well founded. However, after a couple of fairly samey issues, the plot and our heroes get moving again, and a resolution appears to be nigh. Helsing's turning is clearly going to be a problem, as is Hannah's escape, so there's a heavy feeling of "out of the frying pan..." The idea that daybreak is near is also something that is starting to move things along a bit.

But while the series hasn't delivered quite as much as it had in previous months, it's still good fun. But the main problem is that it clearly should have appeared in the weekly comic. It's simply too much to wait for a month for something that can be read in less than 2 minutes. It'll read great as a graphic novel, but as it's been going for 11 months now you can't but wish we could have got to the end by now.

So still enjoyable - just in the wrong place.

LS: Was it my imagination or did something actually happen this month, just as the story limps to its conclusion? Maybe it's purely because disembodied hands are always fun, or maybe its because we are reaching the end of the road, but there at least seemed to be a few more ideas thrown at this weeks plot. I'm at pains to go on, because whatever this stories true merits are, they'll only likely reveal themselves to me when I reread the whole thing in two months time. I'm sure as a one off read, this will be a lot more palatable - it may well even be a hidden gem, but at this distance from the beginning, it's just too far back to see.

Part 3

Synopsis: Raptor has encouraged a herd of rhinos and other animals to chase him. Some time earlier, Raptor and the others are in the Antarctic, now a forestland overgrown with trees who communicate by the birds fused into them - and that they are "saving the world over 1000's of years". Raptor is bored and wants to kill the humans now. the others are unimpressed and head off to find food and a resting place. As the others sleep, they tell Raptor that the trees will do their job, and the mission is over. Three weeks later, Raptor rips through a herd, and decides that his friends are brainwashed, and must be saved. He insults the Rhinos and starts a stampede. He leads the animals into a ravine, destroying the forest as he goes. The forest begins to burn - "Rptr svs th dy!"

GH: This story is a much better example of how to get the most out of the Megazine - and carries it off in a way that's similar to the approach in Judge Death. Simply treat every part as a self contained episode, with little elements of each part gradually adding to the overall plot. Reading Xtnct is much more satisfying, and repeated reads are also rewarding. While I have little idea about what the overall story is about, this is a welcome and very cleverly written diversion into the crazed and confused mind of Raptor, especially with his skewed interpretation of his friends conversations. This intelligent writing combined with the slightly insane drawings of D'israeli make this strip a surprising winner in the Megazine. D'israeli does seem to know how to pick his stories, and is on a winning streak with this and Leviathan in the Megazine.

Oh, and I loved the "sudden realisation that this may have been a bad idea" from the herd stampeding off the ravine's edge, and was kind of surprised by the very strong swearing Cornell manages to disguise in Raptor's language.

LS: Now here's an example of how best to fill 6 pages of a monthly mag - a great little self contained tale that reads well on its own, but (hopefully) adds to the overall storyline of the series. So far, this is a strip that has lived up to the promise of both the artwork and its bizarre concepts. It's not ashamed to throw ideas thick and fast at the reader, and to take some fairly dark notions and just have fun with them.

Raptor is a great character, a scaly yet strangely cuddly and "innocent" psychopath. Raptors translation of the others dialogue is hilarious, especially his interpretation of their "joy" at Raptors destruction of their dreams for a peaceful existence. This months episode also muddies the morality of their mission to eliminate all human life - after all, the reason they found themselves at war with their creator is because of Raptor, and he proves himself to be just as destructive as Man ever was. We are only half way through this series, and there's still no guessing where this will end - the fact it has you wondering (and perhaps more importantly, caring ) where it's going is always a good sign.

Blooded - Part 3

Synopsis: Vic wakes up in the Costa Del Sol, and throws a woman he met the night before out. He rings his wife, looking for his bodyguard, but he lies dead in the pool. Faulkner appears, holding a gun at Vic's head. He tells him that Vic pulled a job in Richmond that resulted in a high speed chase with the police, that ended when the police car ploughed into a civilian car - containing Faulkner - an off duty armed response unit officer, and his family. They died, he survived, but was mistakenly reported dead by the papers. Vic, A prize bare-knuckle fighter, goads Faulkner into attacking him with his hands, as Jean Paul (the old man from last month) and Michelle watch from afar. A fight ensues, but Faulkner eventually beats Vic down. Jean Paul hands him a gun to kill Vic - "time to make your choice" - kill Vic or commit suicide. Vic refuses the gun, which turns out to be empty.

GH: The problem I've had with the Bendatti Vendetta from the very beginning is that I feel I've come in half way through something, and that I'm missing loads. In addition - the last three episodes seem to be separate snapshots of a much bigger storyline, and I can't help but feel that I've missed a few issues. I get the feeling that there's a good story in here somewhere, but that the medium of the Megazine isn't right to tell it. This kind of story really needs more room to develop over a matter of weeks, and a good deal of exposition is also needed. Given the short run here, and the relative brevity of the strips, it could be years before we reach any satisfying conclusions. So I can't help but feel this would either be better suited to a weekly dose, or an increase in page count (a problem with many of the stories in the Megazine).

The art is great, especially during the fight scene, and John Burns is clearly the perfect artist for this series. But I just don't think this is working within it's current jarringly episodic nature.

LS: Cor Blimey, even a stereotypical cock-er-ney gangster can't lift my spirits when reading this story. It's competent enough, but it's just too dull and predictable. It probably doesn't do it any favours to follow a story that takes you somewhere you've never been before. We've seen the hackneyed heroes and villains on show here in a dozen dodgy dramas over the years, and I'll be damned if I can see why I should care about this strip, beyond the fair art job that John Burns puts in.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• Blazing Battle Action
• Charley's War
• Harry 20
• Frazer Irving Interview
• Apocalypse Soon
  

GH: So after much fanfare, Charley's war begins. Is it any good? Well I'm new to the strip, but so far it's managed to impress me, albeit in a slightly retro manner. It's much more enjoyable than Darkie's mob, which I never really warmed to and I've always found the trench warfare of the First World War fascinating. The juxtaposing of Charley's banal letters to his parents with what he's really facing up to in the trenches, also hammers home the point that no-one back home would ever understand what they had to go through. There are apparently 300 episodes of this - is the Megazine going to reprint them all? If so, we've got several years worth to get through from here. Pity Mills gives away the ending in his introduction, though. Bah.

There is one thing which bothers me, as I hinted earlier. In the blazing Battle Action piece, everyone puts this down as one of the greatest comics ever produced. As far as I am aware, it's been pretty hard to find this anywhere, but many people have an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia for it. So why the hell wasn't it advertised heavily on the cover?? It seems insane that this long awaited reprint wasn't given much more of a fanfare.

Onto "Blazing Battle action", then. This is still an OK read, but to an outsider - i.e. one who hasn't read the comics before, this is a little impenetrable at times. Perhaps the comic's history wasn't quite as turbulent as 2000AD's but this still feels a little too much like going through the strips one by one. It's not a terrible read by any stretch, it's just that it could have done with some judicious editing, and more smaller features within the larger one to break things up more.

I still love Harry 20, and this re-reading is cementing it as one of my all-time favourite 2000AD stories. I definitely won't be able to say that about Apocalypse Soon - so I won't say anything about it at all.