Synopsis and 1st review
by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Leigh Shepherd

Synopses and reviews contain spoilers for this issue

GH: What can you say? A very fine cover indeed by the master, Ezquerra. In fact, this is much better than his 2000AD covers have been, which have been lacking something. The laconic Koburn works incredibly well as the focus of the cover, and just looks so damned cool that you'd have to open the comic...

LS: When you need a cover to be mean, moody and full of Western grit, there's no one to touch Ezquerra. Having picked up a load of old Battles it's interesting to compare Carlos' work here and (whisper it!) 28 years ago on Major Eazy. Despite the odd hiccough, I can't think of a more consistently reliable artist. Just think of all his achievements since Major Eazy debuted in January 1976: visualising Dredd in '77, Strontium Dog in '78, Stainless Steel Rat, the Apocalypse War, Portrait of a Mutant, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Rage, Necropolis - the list goes on. You may not rate the artist, but you can't knock the work rate! No wonder Eazy, erm Koburn, is looking so damned cool on the cover; he's drawn by the coolest artist ever to grace the coolest comic.

Six - Part 1

Floris goes into an eating frenzy...

Synopsis: Don Pedro is returning to the Mega City 1, as a guest of the judges. He’s given a judicial guard, Judge Stalin, while he embarks on his business of investing in the ruined parts of the city. His internal monologue seems to indicate that he has something to hide, but it’s not clear what, although he refers to spending time in a psycho cube. Back at the hotel, he uses his house robot to create a distraction for Judge Stalin, while he and his cyborg assistant, Inga, go out on an errand. They visit a fatty named “Floris” who he clearly knows, but who doesn’t recognise him. They empty a large pile of mock chocs (6 brands) onto the floor, which Floris tucks into. But it’s laced with appetite stimulant – and Floris goes into an eating frenzy, while Pedro sings her a “Mock choc fairy” ditty. They return to the hotel and Don Pedro retires to his bedroom with Inga. Floris is found dead the next morning. The team of Judges investigating, led by Dredd, believe it to be "suicide by mock choc”.

The next evening, they go on another errand, picking up Deek Stubbs. Pedro tells him that he wants revenge for 20 years of torment, and takes him to a closed dental college. They start pulling his teeth, and Pedro sings him a “tooth fairy” song. He was found 36 hours later with all but 6 of his teeth pulled, during which time Pedro’s killed again, leaving that body dressed in a fairy costume with 6 decorations around her neck. The body is impaled on the top of a building – like a Christmas fairy – easily found by the judges. They have also discovered DNA on the body of Floris – that of PJ Maybe… the child criminal genius who had evaded Dredd many times, and who Dredd believed to be dead. They discover that all 3 cases are linked as former residents of the Berger block, and Dredd realises that the 6 motif is designed to send a message…

GH: Another brilliant tale from Wagner, made all the more exciting when you realise that it's showcasing the return of PJ Maybe. Indeed, the tale is written in such a way that you only really discover this just before the judges do. I only spotted the very subtle spelling mistakes, a trademark of Maybe, late on. Kudos to the editors for keeping this one a secret, as the surprise return of one of Dredd's best adversaries was one well worth keeping. With the Extreme edition earlier in the year priming us with Maybe's backstory, this couldn't have come at a better time, and looks like being another classic Maybe tale.

Of course, it's raised up more than a peg or two by some truly outstanding art by Chris Weston. Weston has always been an impressive artist, although his return to 2000AD with the recent Megazine cover and Tweak tale haven't really hit the mark with me. But the work he's put in here is amazingly good. He uses computer artwork to enhance rather than overwhelm his line art, and his character work, especially on Don Pedro and Stalin show a stunning attention to detail and fluidity. And as for Floris the fatty, it's fair to say I didn't think I've ever seen a more disgusting end in the comic. And that's saying something...

LS: Now the internet is a wonderful thing. It allows opinionated oiks like myself a chance to sound off about their favourite obsession, as well as feeding us more news than ever about the comic's upcoming delights. Personally, a spoiler warning means little to me - I'm hungry for any news, no matter how small. If there's a story to stop my obsession with spoiling the surprises Tharg has in store for me, then it's this one. When it dawned on me that a big favourite had returned under the radar I could only applaud the editorial droids for doing the decent thing and returning me to a time when the future was completely unknown.

Of course, the surprise is great, but what's more, the story more than lives up to the shock of PJs return. Wagner's crafted a lovely little opener here. Dredd's universe aging at the same rate as ours is a stroke of genius that really comes into effect here - you could argue that Maybe is a bit of a one note character (psychopathic killer of people who cross him/ get in his way), but Heaven help us, we've grown up with the lovable little scamp, and who could begrudge him a few more victims? Besides that, "Iron Ron" is worth the price of admission this week alone!

The art just adds another layer of goodliness. Chris Weston puts as much effort into a single panel or expression as some artists seem to put into an entire series. Even his (presumably) computer generated city backdrops have an attention to detail that is second to none.

With Terror over in 2000AD, received wisdom might suggest we'd be getting something a little less thrillpowered in the Meg to balance things out - not the case!

Koburn enjoys some RnR

Later, Koburn appears and she introduces herself, giving him mission orders from Mega City 1. He asks her what she did to get this assignment – but she refuses to answer. They are to look for the Kuss brothers, an organ legging gang, who killed an entire helltrekker party and bring them in. They hear an explosion, and realise that Bonventura’s Lawmaster has been destroyed by the people she attacked in the bar. Koburn tells her to let it go – as she shouldn’t have parked it there anyway. They head off on Koburn’s machine – for a place called the Hoosegow…

Elsewhere, Mama Kuss is disciplining her boys for doing a job that gets Mega City judges on their tail. But she says that she has plans for the judges…

GH: After a stellar introduction in the recent Megazine Dredd tale (back in Megazine 212) bringing back Rennie and Ezquerra's update of Major Eazy was a no brainer. So far, so entertaining, with the major breaking quite a few more regs than he did the last time we saw him. Bonaventura should work as a good foil for Koburn (let's face it, you need a stuck up judge to go against him or Koburn's just going to get annoyingly smug) and the whole plot brings to mind some of Wagner's Cursed Earth tales - although the ones that are more like a farcical romp. A promising start, and ever enhanced by the wonderful art of Ezquerra, who clearly can do no wrong...

WMD - Part 1 - The Extispicist

King loses it early on in the game...

Synopsis: Psi Judge Gistane is making a sacrifice of a sheep to read its entrails, and discovers that “there will be great success” but also that “there will be failure – even death – before the end is achieved” He heads off with Judge Fauster to the halls of justice where Gistane waits for the Chief Judge to make a decision. There are a number of other Psi judges who resent the presence of a “witch”. Inside, Shenker, Hershey and Fauster discover Anderson’s condition – revealing that they have identified that she contains a Psi virus within her mind. Gistaine and the other judges are going into her mind to try and rescue her and stop the virus. They are: George King: Empath, Wain: Telepath, Behr: Telekine, PSi Judge Shakta as well as Gistane, the Extispicist.

Inside her mind, they see a wasteland covered in skulls. King reads them and says there was a great battle, where Anderson resisted as long as she could, but he jumps back seeing a monster, and gets overwhelmed. Wain slaps him to snap him out of it, and they head off to a light in the distance.

In the real world, Fauster reveals to a shocked Shenker that it was “Extispicy. The use of guts to prophesy” that gave them the information they needed to go in, while inside Anderson’s mind, the judges find Anderson impaled on a spike by Judge Death, while a crowd around her jeers…

GH: I was more than pleasantly surprised with the last series of Anderson. The character had seemed to be standing still for a while (when she wasn't in a coma) and when the new Ranson/Grant tale was announced, I was intrigued, but not terribly excited. However, the surprisingly high quality of that tale, managing to breathe "life" back into the character of Death in a way that the Judge Death series ultimately failed to do, changed my opinion. The ending was confusing, but once I heard it was the 1st of a 3 part arc, I couldn't wait to see the next part.

This starts out very well indeed. The confusion of the ending of the first series is wiped away in the introductory scenes, and this thankfully looks like being a very different beast to its predecessor, already managing to introduce a number of intriguing characters. With Shakta being the only recognisable face, I'm not betting that many of the others are going to be around by the end. So with the series going off on a total tangent to the last one, yet building on the idea of Anderson stuck in her own mind, this should be a must read. Grant's Dredd stories have been somewhat below par of late, but it's gratifying to see that he can still turn in an excellent tale when he really wants to.

As for Ranson? I've always enjoyed his work, but he's clearly feeling the same enthusiasm for this that Grant is, turning in another stellar job. Long may he be the sole Anderson artist, in the same way Ezquerra is linked with Johnny Alpha.

The idea of the "Witches Division" makes more sense upon reflection - after all, they know that these powers are out there and actively working against them (most notably through Judge Death and the threat he and his buddies pose), so researching "magic" would probably be high on the Justice Dept's list of sensible things to do.

Ranson's art continues at the high standard he set in the previous Anderson run, and on the whole I like the understated costumes he's come up with for the Witches - more akin to researchers than street Judges and all the more believable for it.

Never trust a nun...

Synopsis: Jack Point is on a street corner, when a juve tries to sell him Crystal Blue. But the Juve hightails it when the judges arrive. They bring him into meet Judge Daveez, who wants to meet all the Wally Squad members.

Daveez tells him to stop investigating a case about missing Tramps, because of “special circumstances” and warns there will be consequences involving the SJS if he doesn’t. Point realises that Daveez is on the take, but does not know who to – but being told to stay off the case makes him more intrigued.

Looking at the list of crime scenes, he sees that all the last known locations of the missing tramps are in a circle – so he decides to go to the center point – the Church of Grud School for he Socially Unstable. He is taken round by a disapproving nun, but ends up falling down a trap door, into the basement. He’s told that Daveez had warned them he would be appearing, and down there he sees a body hooked up to machines. It’s Dartington Treymayne – shot by judges, and kept alive by machines. But Treymayne had a monster pet who will do anything they want it to, as long as they don’t harm Treymayne.

They leave Point to die, as the monster starts to come out of the shadows – but Point holds his gun to Treymayne’s head – and it backs off. He waits like that for 10 hours until a group of scientists come in to milk one of the beasts. Point takes the opportunity and kills Treymayne – and the no longer controlled beasts go after the scientists while Point runs for it.

GH: It's fast becoming apparent that the Simping Detective is one of the best Mega City One story ideas anyone's had for a long time. Mixing the ridiculous with black humour is something that works so well in Dredd's world, and Spurrier's easily pulling it off here. While characters like Daveez serve to make Mega City One a little less totalitarian than it usually appears, the character of Point is genius. It's hard to believe that two Wally Squad tales were commissioned (including Low Life) so close together, but when they both offer a unique take on the city, what the hell.

Irving, in the meantime, seems to be improving every time I see his work, with this new "noir" style being particularly impressive. It's rare that an artist can vary his style so often and so successfully, but Irving still manages to surprise.

LS: Starting with the art, this really is a flawless job from Frazer, perfectly pitched to play up the Noir angle while not throwing out the essential "Mega-Cityness" along the way.

The story's enjoyable enough too, with some good one-liners and the potential to do something interesting with the Aliens-lite Raptaurs. Having another corrupt Wally Squad controller as part of the storyline at the same time as Low Life probably doesn't help me overcome my desire to see Jack Point cut adrift from the Department and concentrate on being a detective with only his gun and pithy one-liners as back-up. Over in the prog, Low Life has just completed a quite successful little strip with a more comedic edge, and I hope that the Simping Detective will be able to fulfill its potential and branch out into similarly varied tales.

Kali Yuga - Part 4

Rak had trouble with his temper...

Synopsis: The Rakshasas close in on Rohan, but his power comes back and he fights back. As he does, Mirabia rings, telling him that she wants to take a break. Rohan hangs up and destroys the Rakshasas.

Elsewhere, in Raks’ “Debaucherie”club, one of the punters, isn’t taking "no" for an answer, and is harassing the girls. He goes on to insult Rak, finishing up with “I’m American, why don’t you just shoot me ?” – so Rak does…

Now back at home, Rohan is tending to his bruises as Lakshmi appears, and tells him to investigate the special hostel where alien came from. She says she’ll give him “female inside information” on how to win Mirabai back if he helps – so he agrees.

At the hostel, the doctors are interviewing an alien, who is told that he was reincarnated on earth o pay for his sins on Mars. The drug they give makes them revert to their original form, and they experiment on Drug addicts because they’re easier to hide, and more likely to become dimensionally unstable. He doctors talk of another patient, Olivia, who has reverted to an earlier human reincarnation – an Indian priestess from the middle ages. Then Black Siddha bursts in …

GH: I still find myself in two minds about Black Siddha. While it thankfully takes itself far less seriously than something like the rather similar Finn (also from Mills) there is an element that just doesn't work for me. Perhaps it's the overly talkative nature of the script, with characters too willing to explain their actions with every move. This is an unfortunate trait of Mills which was highly apparent in Slaine, but thankfully dropped from Savage. It's very much on show here, especially with Rak's "confrontation" with the American. And while we're on the subject - what was that all about? Is this Mill's rabid Anti Americanism? Is he trying to make a point here? It all seemed highly bizarre and strangely out of place in the strip.

But it does have its saving graces. Number one - the art by Simon Davis always makes it worth a read every month. Indeed, it's partly this art which helps keep the series grounded and from getting too far up its own arse. Number two, Mills is at least trying to take the piss a bit here, something he'd forgotten to do in Slaine which often suffered as a result. And finally there are some nice ideas about Earth as a prison (albeit handled better in Interceptor). So it's worth a read every month - but oddly, I can't make up my mind whether or not I like it...

LS: OK, first things first: has Pat Mills never heard of mobile phones? I only ask because the "I knew I'd find you at the centre" phonecall is such an unnecessary defiance of all logic that I am amazed (but perhaps not surprised) that this wasn't sorted out with a swift rewrite. So the centre has one phone extension which Mirabai rings on the off chance that Rohan will be there? And just why would she expect him to be there? It's the kind of obvious clanger that justifies everything the anti-Mills camp say about his current output, and so easily avoided - argh!

Beyond that annoyance, both art and story are continuing to impress, and I can only hope that we won't get any more mental leaps in logic before the end of the story.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• Dredd Files
• Chris Weston Interview
• Helltrekkers
• Charley's War
• Metro Dredd
• Gordon Rennie
  

GH: The solid back-up stories continue, and I'm getting to like Helltrekkers the longer it continues (and bloody hell - this is much longer than I remembered). Charley's War is also living up to it's hype, and even the Dredd Files caught my attention with the box regarding the inspiration for the Day the Law Died. More of these to break up the rest of the text would be welcome.

LS: Nothing much to report on the extra material beyond what I've already said in the last few reviews - they do the job of filling the gap with some rare (Charley's War) and underrated (Helltrekkers) strips that more than deserve a second outing.