Synopsis and 1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Richmond Clements

Synopses and reviews contain spoilers for this issue

GH: A striking cover from Colin MacNeil who does seem to relish in producing "gritted teeth" Dredds which indicate that Dredd keeps his dentist appointments. This cover, on a whole, does a particularly good job of attracting the eye with a solidly designed, if not necessarily groundbreaking, main image and particularly good use of the straplines to highlight the 4 new stories and more strip pages. A good opener to an excellent issue.

RC: Your bog standard collage cover. Saved from mediocrity by the fact that it’s been drawn by Colin MacNeil. Tell you what though, Dredd’s got great teeth.

Bite Fight - Part 1

Man vs beast...

Synopsis: Holst Reinhardt is preparing his latest bite fight, with entrants from all over the world. Downstairs, a smaller scale bite fight is underway, where Cain "The Fang" Ferrara kills a Gila Munja in the ring. After the fight, his trainer tells him to prepare for the big Bitedown, while another fight starts in the ring.

But the Judges, led by Dredd, burst in and begin to arrest everyone, using Stumm gas to sedate them. In the back, the training bite fighters are alerted, and prepare to flee, while Reinhardt makes his escape through a chute slide into the sewers. Ferrara tries to take down Dredd but fails, while the rest of the judges find Reinhardt's office empty, except for a half-eaten sandwich. Back at the forensic lab, they identify the owner of the sandwich as Reinhardt, who has apparently kept his nose clean so far. Dredd meets up with Ferrara, who is actually undercover Wally Squad. He's now off the case and is ordered to keep his head down until they get Reinhardt.

Later, they burst into Reinhardt's appartment, but he's long gone. Dredd suspects that they know about Ferrara and tries to warn him. But before he can, Ferrara is abducted. He wakes later as they remove a transmitter locater from his teeth and is thrown into the same cell as their latest prize bitefighter, a blood-crazed Devlin Waugh...

GH: A difficult one to call. In its favour is some stunning art from John Burns, who is on fine form when depicting the bite fights themselves and in creating distinct looks for the main characters. Bringing Devlin Waugh back so soon after his last outing is also a surprise and part of me feels that this will become more of a Waugh tale than a Dredd one. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I have to admit. However, working against the strip there are some obvious areas where the characterisation of Dredd himself falls down. Most notably is his telling Ferrara to go and get laid. Now Dredd would realise that being a Wally Squad judge meant blending, but it's clearly against his character to sanction this so readily. In addition, Dredd's busting into Reinhardt's appartment followed by a realisation that Ferrara may be in trouble simply doesn't follow. After all, they found Reinhardt because of the discarded sandwich - so how would Ferrara have been compromised?

But despite these niggles, Smith still manages to write a compelling Dredd tale that promises much more from its second installment.

RC: Well, this is all a build up, a method to get to that last page splash, innit?

And as such, it works, throwing up some interesting ideas along the way. The Judge in deep cover as a bite fighter is a great idea, demonstrating again, as with Low Life, that the Wally Squad is something we’ve barely scratched the surface of with regards to its potential in storylines. Then there’s Dredd’s friendly hand on Ferrara’s shoulder, and his approval of the other judges sexual liaison. Now, I can believe that Dredd would, grudgingly, allow that this sort of thing would have to go on in the undercover world, but I find it hard to accept that he would display this blasé attitude.

And so to that previously mentioned last page. This is the sort of idea, a vampire at a bite fight, that could only come from the mind of John Smith. This is a great surprise, up there with the return of PJ Maybe. It’s nice to know that even with the age of internet chatrooms and what have you, we can still be thrown a curveball like this.
Elsewhere in this issue, John Burns reveals that he doesn’t enjoy drawing Dredd, and I’ve got to say that it shows. I’ve always said that his painted work on Dredd is not as good as his work on Dante, and this does nothing to change my opinion. It’s still bloody good though, just not as good. Having said that, I thought that his Devlin on the final page wasn’t quite up to scratch, in fact, it took me a moment to figure out that it was supposed to be him.

Innocence - A Broad - Part 1: Rivals

DeMarco forgets to dress...

Synopsis: Point is caught breaking into the house of Brutus Grimm, a futsie mob psycho and henchman of The Boss. After being beaten up, Grimm orders that his goons burn out Point's eyes with a blowtorch. But before they can, a huge explosion rocks the house, killing Grimm and allowing Point to escape.

He heads to the High Dive, a lab dancing club that specialises in alien dancers and where he is likely to find someone who had something against The Boss, as Grimm ins the sixth henchman to end up dead in a week. As he watches the show, he sees that a human dancer has joined the aliens on stage, to the annoyance of the punters. Point realises the crowd is about to turn nasty, so he breaks the stage with acid spray and pulls the girl out of the club.

Outside. he wants to know who she is, but she already knows that he's Jack Point, and pulls a gun on him. She identifies herself as a fellow PI - DeMarco and claims to have been hired by the Alientown girls who have complained about being drugged. She tells him to leave, introducing him to her sidekick, the gorilla Mr Perkins. But Point has his own sidekick, a grown up Raptaur..."let's talk business".

GH: Ok - maybe it's just me, but the opening caption just makes absolutely no sense (the "he's dead now, so's Cheyne" bit). I've read it several times and I still don't get what Spurrier's trying to say. So if anyone can help...

As for the rest: two surprise guests in one issue? Blimey, they're getting good at keeping these things on wraps. I only came back to the Megazine with issue 200, so I have to say that I know very little about DeMarco's post Pit escapades. However, it seems that little background is needed, especially since it's very difficult to pay attention to anything past that "incredible thong".

The Simping Detective is fast becoming one of the best things about the Megazine today. Irving's artwork has rarely looked so good and he's developed a style for this series that fits it down to the ground. This is coupled with some great throwaway lines from Spurrier (I don't know where she kept the gun either") who also seems to have found his best character since Lobster Random. Perhaps my only niggle is that the plot can occasionally take peculiar turns. Point's soujourn to the High Dive seems a little contrived, and perhaps a better reason for his visit would have made the tale hang together better. If Spurrier can get the overall plot to hang together, making this more than the sum of its very excellent parts, this would be a show-stopper.

RC: Here’s another surprise. Yet another old friend makes an unexpected appearance, with an unexpected appearance.

The story is great, the dialogue right on the button. It’s fun and funny. Indeed, there has been enough praise laid at the feet of this strip, for both the cracking scripts and Frazer’s wonderful art. There’s nothing I can add. Great stuff all round.

Shimura makes his presence known...

They move somewhere more quiet, where Dredd identifies the proposed victim as Inspector Yoji Sesoku, the Shogun's executioner, who is apparently acting as an assassin for the Tsunashima Yakuza Society and who killed a family about to testify against them. Sesoku claims to have an alibi and the Mega City judges couldn't prove their case. They will guarantee Shimura the funds to improve his district if he helps them. He shows Shimura the pictures of the crime scene in question - and Shimura agrees to help...

GH: First of all - the art. I've been quite vocal about my concerns with Clarke's art in the past, namely that it has the potential to be stunning if he was more restrained with his embellishing. On this tale he's cut down on the unnecessary linework completely and the art is far better for it, with the inking enhancing the art as opposed to smothering it. This week's episode looks stunning as a result. There's also little of the stiffness which has been an issue with some of his past work, and the whole episode highlights an artist who seems to be moving to the big time.

As for the storyline, there's enough of a backstory to ensure that we don't need to have read all the past Shimura tales. Williams handles this backstory with aplomb and the art helps, especially with little touches like showing the masked assassin in the same pose as Sesoku, the boots beside the table, and Dredd's subtle refusal of a drink. I wasn't terribly excited about the return of Shimura, but reading this episode has made me revise my opinion with an excellent set-up.

RC: Nice opener here, and works perfectly as a reintroduction to the character. As for the story, it sounds a bit straightforward at the moment, but I’m sure that things will become suitably complex as they go along. Morrison shows a good understanding of Dredd here too, I just love that way these two guys do not like each other. So yeah, a welcome return.

Andy Clarke. One of those artists who, I feel, must be doing something right, because he divides opinion so clearly into two camps/ Those who love his clear clean style, and those who hate the cold precision of his panels. I love it myself, and reckon his style is perfect to depict this vision of future Japan. Check out the cityscape on the first page, it is easily equal to Weston’s version of MC-1 a few issues ago.

WMD - Part 4 - The Telekine

Death rides in...

Synopsis: Satan continues to attack Behr until her head explodes from the strain and he then walks off whistling. Some of the manifestations offer to help, but Wain refuses and all the scenery disappears - leaving nothing behind.

Back in Mega City One, the temptation grows to withdraw as they remove Behr's body but Fauster tells them that Gistane must read the entrails. He almost refuses, but knows that it's the only hope, telling himself that it's not real. The prognosis is not good, saying that "the fifth spiral of the intestine is bloated and diseased." Wain gets angry, but a hole then appears in the nothingness and the horseman Death appears through it. Behind him is a procession of the dead, carrying Anderson's tomb. Shakta thinks they should give up, while Wain distrusts Gistane. But Gistane says they have to go on - so the others grudgingly follow him...

GH: A truly horrific scene opens this week's episode. Dear lord Arthur, did we really need that much detail? Otherwise it's business as usual. Excellent writing which consistently throws out misdirection after misdirection, and a real sense of not knowing who to trust. Ranson's art also gets better with every episode. Given a script which throws the rule book out the window, he's allowed to create some stunning scenes, from the inventive way of showing the unreality split to yet another astounding double paged spread. He really does seems to be at the top of his game at the moment.

Killoden - Part 1

Middenface prepares for war...

Synopsis: Middenface and his fellow mutants watch a Kreeler anti-Mutant propaganda piece by Jack McWeasle in their hidden camp. But they've been tracked down by Shawn Gadgie's gang, hired by the Kreelers to kill them and who hold a grudge against Middenface. but Supermac has laid invisible alarms, which are tripped and Middenface is warned. A number of traps kill several of the attackers, and the others are driven off by a rockfall, but not before killing one of Middenface's gang, Bawhead. Elsewhere, at Holyrood, Jack McWeasle is being sworn in as First Minster and prepares to recruit Sir William Cumberland, and Ex SAS Aristocrat mutie-hater.

Middenface and his gang are called to Alan Moor to a council of war. They debate on whether they should prepare for war or not - but after discussion, put it to the vote, and they vote for War...

GH: This is In a similar vein to Strontium Dog over in the weekly, showing that while lighter stories are entertaining diversions, this is what we really want. The last time Ridgeway and Grant joined up, they provided an excellent take on Middenface and the growing rebellion - and this looks like getting back to the gritty nature of that tale. Ridgeway produces black and white artwork which is considerably better than his attempt at computer assisted work earlier this year. While I wouldn't want to dissuade him from experimenting with computer's further, it's clear that his strength lies with his linework, and he should only use computer colour to enhance that alone to start with.

And as Holyrood was opened by the Queen this week, it's use in the tale is also wonderfully timely, and the "Alan Moor" joke was corny but amusing. Another strong opener.

RC: While Grant seems to be treading water in Anderson, on this strip he seems to be putting in a bit of effort. It certainly helps that Middenface himself is such a strong character, but Grant does seem to actually want to write this; there is no sense of going through the motions.Some nice humour, and more than a little ‘Portrait of a Mutant’.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the art here is enough to make me forgive John Ridgeway for the disastrous Photoshop monster that was his last Dredd tale.

Meat Patrol

Mega City extreme sports...

Synopsis: Arkins, a worker in a Meatwagon, is waiting for his partner for the night - who turns out to be Judge Dredd. Dredd says he tries to stay familiar with all areas of the justice system, even if it means driving a meatwagon. They do the rounds, picking up a number of bodies that died in varying circumstances. As they clean up the site of a Mob Blitz incident, Arkins asks Dredd if he recognises him. He does, as a Judge that he failed on the hotdog run, and recommended he did another year at the academy. Arkins blames that setback for his ending up on meat wagon duty, but Dredd says he just had the wrong attitude to judicial work. After identifying and arresting a live one, Harold Lazarus, a loon with a death fetish who like being taken away in a body bag, they resume their shift.

They hear a report of an armed robbery and head in pursuit of the perps. At Dredd's insistence, they throw the bodies out the back to gain acceleration and run the perps off the road. Two try to flee, and Arkins heads off after them only to be shot by a still living perp from the wreck. He dies soon after, and Dredd puts him in the back of the wagon ready to take to Resyk.

GH: A much more successful Dredd tale than the issue's opener, with Rennie once again proving that he has the character down pat. Dredd's barely disguised contempt for Arkins makes the tale highly entertaining, as does his closing admission that there was no way he was going to recommend him for reassignment. Arkins' eventual end as just another body in a bag and other touches throughout the episode make for great reading, including the "Extremely Stupid Sports Club".

All this is rendered magnificently by Simon Coleby, who's matched perfectly by Blythe. Coleby puts in some excellent design work too, with Dredd's Meat Wagon uniform, and the big rig look for the wagon itself. A highly entertaining way to round up the issue.

RC: Like all great ideas, this one is so obvious you wonder why no one thought of doing it before. Brilliant touches abound throughout the script. ‘We’ll have to use the las-cutters’, the surfer in the lorry, death-fetishists, and oh, loads more stuff! Right up to the end, where Dredd tells the dying Judge what he wants to hear. All this goes to show just why Rennie is the future of Joe Dredd.

Simon Colbey turns in some super work here too, with an iconic Dredd image on the first page, and some nice details, like the bodies on the catapult panel. Colbey was selling these pages at Dreddcon, and they looked even better in real life than they do here.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• John Burns Interview
• Dreddlines
• Fiction - Judge Fear's Big Day Out
• Metro Dredd
• Charley's War
• Dredd Files
• Heatseekers
  

GH: As well as upping the strip content, this month's Megazine also becomes more inventive with the features. The redesigned "Interrogation" works much better, as the existing format was becoming stale. This new look gives it much more of a TPO feel, which can only be a good thing.

As for the Heatseekers? Some work well, Such as Rennie's plea for more old school character names and Morris's Star Trek rant. I'm not so sure about the others, especially Spurrier's which seems to entirely miss the point of the Spider-man film and HOllywood blockbusters in general. He seems instead to be more angry that there aren't more films tackling serious issues. Why he's looking for this in Spider-man is anyone's guess. As such, the article is all over the place without a defined argument and he's got a lot of ground to make up with his next one.

That said, the inclusion of 5 such articles does increase the chance of the reader finding something compelling about one of them.

RC:Judge Fear’s Big Day Out: I’m trying desperately to think of something to say about this, but can’t really think of anything. It’s all right I suppose. It was not particularly hard work to read, but not particularly enjoyable either, adding as is does, nothing to the reader’s understanding of Dredd’s world. I have no objection to text stories in the comic, indeed I quite enjoy them as a rule. This one is just unremarkable.

The Dredd Files rumbles along, pointless to some, but I love this sort of thing. Charley’s War maintains it’s high quality, demonstrating a writer at the peek of his powers. It’s just a pity that peek was twenty or more years ago. David Bishop’s other contribution being a very informative interview with John Burns. Just as long as he doesn’t steal all the good interviews...

There is also a nice Metro Dredd, but the biggest change this month is the inclusion of a load more text material. The column on Anime is well written, but of no interest to me, and the Comics one pretty much falls into the same category. Cult TV, again, entertaining, but why here?

Rennie shows the rest of them how it’s done, with an amusing and readable piece, which ends up being about nothing at all really. Of course the one that has been getting the most attention is Si Spurrier’s Movies column. And with good reason. It is a shoddy piece of work. Wilful ignorance sits side by side with blatant attempts at controversy. ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ that would have been Stan Lee, Mr. Spurrier, but then, I think you already knew that, still, why let that get in the way of you getting your dig in?

The revelation that superheroes don’t work in the real world is hardly profound. But last time I checked, Spider-Man was a movie, and not the real world. And a writer how still thinks Thatcher is ripe for comedy mileage is in no position to criticise the funnies of another writer.

This is bad writing. It doesn’t make me angry, because that is what it is obviously supposed to do, it’s just disappointing. Indeed, Spurrier is even honest enough to admit the motivation behind the column in his final line...