Synopsis by David Knight
Review by Gavin Hanly
2nd Opinion by Martin Charlton

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Judging Ralphy

Bryce dispenses his own brand of justice...

Synopsis: Ralphy Bryce, a compulsive judge impersonator, walks into the No Star bar and metes out his own harsh brand of justice to the patrons. He carries out executions for parking violations, swearing, and leaving without his permission. One perp returns fire, wounding Bryce in the arm. Bryce continues firing until everyone in the bar is dead, and alerts the judges himself, asking to speak directly to Dredd.

25 years before, Judge Dredd put Bryce in an orphanage following his expulsion from the Academy of Law. Ralphy Bryce first came to Dredd’s attention when, as a child, he began ‘jimping’ – impersonating a judge – to confront criminals. Judge Dredd thought Bryce had the makings of a judge and enrolled him in the Academy. Despite good progress, Bryce’s streak of indiscipline led him to break regulations by sneaking out to investigate a crime. Dredd realised hi faith in Bryce had been misplaced. Returned to civilian life, Bryce was unable the temptation to masquerade as a judge.

Bryce took the opportunity of the Necropolis disaster to fake himself a new identity as Sam Klisko, and returned to jimping again. Traces of Bryce’s blood found at the bar lead the judges to his apartment via his assumed identity. From Bryce’s apartment, Judge Sanchez warns Dredd that Bryce wants him dead. Dredd follows Bryce’s trail to a patch of waste ground where Bryce is executing hoodlums. Dredd confronts Bryce and argues that Bryce’s misfortunes are his own responsibility. Bryce attempts to shoot Dredd, forcing him to shoot first. Dredd shoots Bryce’s head off, doubting that Bryce could have gone through with his plan to kill him, and remarks to Sanchez that suicide was Bryce’s real motive.

GH: Dave Taylor returns to Judge Dredd once more after his stellar turn in Megazine 223. While he doesn't, perhaps, get the chance to show off quite as much as he did in that episode, this is another excellent showing. From the highly detailed depiction of Mega City One in the background of many scenes, to the various paraphernalia that the tek judges use, there's something particularly satisfyingly "sci fi" about his art that can is occasionally missing from Dredd tales. But perhaps the real test this issue is the large amount of flashbacks on show. Taylor manages to combine the old-school style of Ron Smith seamlessly into his artwork, blending in the flashbacks as the art style slowly catches up to the present day. Taylor's clearly an extremely talented and individual artist who should make a return to the Megazine or weekly as soon as possible.

As for the story, it's another harkening back to the past by Wagner. This may irritate some, but given that American comics are mercilessly bogged down in continuity, it's understandable that Dredd should use some of the background that's been established over the years. In many ways, this is the first of "Whatever happened to"s in the issue this month, and it's a perfect example of how to do those tales. The flashbacks effectively bring us up to date, while Wagner interweaves a new and tragic story at the same time. It's much better than the later "Whatever Happened To" coming up later and an excellent Dredd tale in its own right.

MC: If there was ever a story that read like a magazine Dredd, it was this one. All said though, it’s another consistently good story from John Wagner, with a nice portrayal of the underside of the big meg, with parallels drawn clearly between environment and morals/ethics. It’s also nice to see Judge Sanchez return after 2003’s Incubus, but this is really all about Dredd & Bryce. Maybe it’s just me, but the Dredd stories in recent megs have been increasingly concerned with Dredd tales from days gone by (Not a bad thing though, and I’m sure everyone reading this is looking forward to the return of PJ Maybe next month).

The art leaves me asking questions though. I know this is a dark tale, but does it have to be represented through such a muddy palette? At least Slaine had fire in some panels. There’s some excellent work from Dave Taylor flitting between eras of Dredd, but so much of it is buried in mud, it’s spoilt to a great extent.

Deus X - Part 3

Shimura nudges ahead...

Synopsis: Shimura and Judge Inspector Inaba are at a Hondo City temple under attack from the Deus X cult led by Kira Katagiri. Inaba directs her hoverbike to kill one Deus X cyborg, but another with a super speed capability snatches her gun from her hands. Shimura breaks free of Katagiri’s grip by burning him with a shuriken energy weapon in the palm of his hand. As the cyborg drags Inaba along at super speed, Shimura holds out his sword, upon which the cyborg decapitates himself. Shimura steals Inabas bike and goes after Katagiri, who has escaped.

At the penthouse apartment of Amber Taoka in the Ginza district, Katagiri breaks into Amber’s apartment while she is taking a shower, and breaks through the wall of her shower cubicle. Amber is unfazed, and refuses to allow Katagiri to unsettle her. At the moment Katagiri prepares to strike Amber with deadly force, Shimura crashes in through the window on Inaba’s bike, driving it through Katagiri. With the villain dead, amber and Shimura embrace at what could be the start of a romantic entanglement.

GH: Shimura comes to an end, and I'm left feeling rather nonplussed by the whole affair. I can't really work out the motivations of any of the characters and this makes for rather unsatisfying reading. Perhaps Amber Taoka may develop into something a little more three-dimensional but, at the moment, Shimura seems to be little more than an excuse for extreme violence and random nudity.

Andy Clarke's art is coming on in leaps and bounds, showing more than a few nods of the head to Frank Quitely and Geoff Darrow here and there and, by god, does he revel in the uber-violence of it all. So while Clarke's art makes the whole thing worth taking in - I can't help but feel that Morrison should be doing more to engage the reader.

MC: This reminds me of the opening of Pulp Fiction, with the dictionary definitions of the word pulp. The same could be used as a prefix to each episode of this series. While not containing anything ‘meaningful’ to leave you thinking about for the rest of the day, it’s certainly 8 enjoyable pages of action, let down only by the oft remarked fact that the main character himself perhaps isn’t the most likeable of 2000AD’s heroes. This tale has been a large step up in terms of cohesiveness in relation to the previous Shimura, and I’m sure it reads great in one go, but does read very quickly bit by bit.

Art wise, it’s always a pleasure to watch the master Andy Clarke at work. Some lovely panels, which manage to be immensely detailed without appearing cluttered and distracting (see Dredd for such a problem). Great stuff, with everything I love about it being everything I found problematic about the art in Synammon, despite the similar art styles.

Head Job - Part 2

Dredd shows his seldom seen flair for slapstick...

Synopsis: Carlito Agarra, the ‘Bato Loco’, has been sent by Don Morte’s right-hand man Vito to handle a deal with a gang of Cuban organ-leggers. However, when he arrives for the deal, all the Cubans are selling are a lot of useless heads on ice. The Cubans threaten to kill Carlito if he pulls out of the deal, but he knows Vito will kill him if he sees it through.

Fortunately the judges are onto the gang, and make the bust just in the nick of time for Carlito, who uses the distraction to make a run for it. Judge Dredd recognises Carlito as he flees the scene, and runs after him. Carlito’s slips on ice cubes from the head shipment, halting his bid for freedom, but the crate of heads falls on Dredd and hands the advantage to Carlito. Dredd is at the Bato Loco’s mercy, but five judges have their guns trained on him. The stalemate is broken when one of the wounded Cubans gets up to shoot Carlito but is himself shot down again by the judges. Carlito Agarra makes a dash for it, but straight into Judge Dredd’s boot. Finally he gets away after throwing one of the severed heads at Dredd.}}

GH: After a decent set up in last months opener, the conclusion lets things down somewhat - especially when the main twist was given away at the start of the last episode. After all, do we really expect Bato Loco to get away after throwing a frozen head at Dredd? The Lawman's faced a lot more than that and the slightly low-key escape is something of an anti-climax. And Dredd's seen Bato Loco twice now and now he's held a judge hostage. Can we really expect Dredd not to be able to track him down? If it's a thing of luck, I certainly would have liked for his escape to have been completely ludicrous, as opposed to clumsy, and his identity to have been a little less obvious to Dredd.

Still, it's a brisk and easy read and not intended to be a particularly demanding episode. And it's backed up by some wonderful artwork from Simon Coleby who is quickly becoming one of the best Dredd artist working in the comic at the moment. Give him a Dredd multi-parter now!

MC: Let’s run through the (selected) Rennie resume shall we? Glimmer Rats, Rain Dogs, Necronauts, Some excellent Dredds, Storming Heaven, Caballistics inc… and Bato Loco. Now, maybe if this character had been created by a more ‘mortal’ scribe it would seem a revelation, but coming from the pen of the man who created Caballistics inc., it seems a little ‘bog standard’. Nothing wrong with it, but just a little uninteresting. I can tell whenever I read an interview with Rennie that he has a real affection for this character, and I can see why, but maybe the character needs a longer run, and a more involved story to really catch my attention. That and more than the six pages that leave it feeling shunned from the weekly, and left here to fend for itself.

I love Simon Coleby. There, I said it. Alright, I’ll amend that slightly. I love his colour work, when he works with Chris Blythe. And this is no exception. Art that sometimes looks ‘weird’ in black & white (see the latest low life tale) really comes alive in colour, with a representation of Dredd that stands (for me) alongside that of Flint or Jock in the ‘modern classic Dredd artist stakes’.

Block Mania had not treated Melda Dreepe well...

Synopsis: Melda Dreepe, a resident of Dan Tanna block, was the first citizen of Mega-City One to succumb to Block Mania. Having a freezy-whip dropped on her by an Enid Blyton blocker was what started a block war that engulfed the entire city. Nowadays she undergoing treatment for chronic residual Block Mania, consigned to a cage by her son Benanjerry, owner of Dreepe Iceez, the world’s favourite ice-cream.

On the day a new flavour is being unveiled, judges conduct a routine crime swoop on the Dreepe Iceez corporate headquarters. Benanjerry has permits for the sugar and coffee for personal use they find on the premises, but mention of ice-cream sends Melda Dreepe into a Block Mania frenzy, and she crashes her wheelchair through a window. The Dreepe corporate emblem – a giant neon ice-cream cone – breaks her fall but comes crashing down on her when she hits the ground.

GH: So, as mentioned earlier, this is actually the second "whatever happened to" tale in this issue. And still these strips aren't living up to their potential. This update on Melda Dreep's life is simply a little "ho hum", seeming a little pointless. Perhaps there's something to be said in making a multi-part "Whatever Happened To" so that we get a much meatier story as seen earlier in "Judging Ralphy". A throwaway tale that simply did very littile indeed for me.

MC: Ok, so like most people I’m all for these little one off stories, if done correctly. There’s always a sense of disappointment with the chosen subject matter for these tales. Be it the Gribligs, or this month’s star, Melda Dreepe.

I’ll be honest, I had to read the story before it immediately became clear who Dreepe was. The name doesn’t leap out at you from 2000AD lore and say ‘remember me?’, so maybe at least one level of this project had already failed. That said, this isn’t a bad story. It’s reassuringly daft, of course, but there’s been worse, and as an ice cream freak myself, I can at least empathise with the heart of the story. Here’s an idea: Why not branch the WEHT?s out beyond the Dredd universe, to include people from other tales, like ‘what ever happened to Bix Barton, or the cast of Leviathan’?

Just a thought.

Art wise, Steve Roberts continues to turn in the goods, with his Dredd improving every time I see it. I do prefer his colour work, but I understand the need for these tales to be B&W. More please.

Return to Casablanca - Part 4

A pleasant introduction...

Synopsis: Escaped mental patient Francis Forbes Clunie, AKA the Bogie Man, has kidnapped the musician and reformed alcoholic Sir Rab McNab, supposing him to be resistance leader Viktor Laszlo. Clunie is accompanied by an Albanian illegal immigrant he has mistaken for Laszlo’s wife and his former lover, Ilsa Lund. Clunie hails a cab and heads back to the Rix bar. In the meantime, the police have been at the bar interviewing the bartender, Steve, about the bar manager’s run-in with the McCurdies. During the interview, an officer runs in with the news that Sir Rab has been kidnapped.

As soon as the coast is clear, the Bogie Man enters the bar with Ilsa and Sir Rab McNab, and hides Sir Rab in a cellar full of booze. When he comes to in the darkened room, Sir Rab strikes a match to see and knocks over some bottles. He suspects disgruntled former band members Geordie and Alistair of looking him up in a room full of alcohol for a sick revenge stunt. On the other side of the door, Steve urges Sir Rab to be quiet, and is locked in with Sir Rab for his trouble.

Meanwhile, the police sergeant investigating Sir Rab’s abduction interviews Chief Inspector Dougie, who has dealt with Clunie before, when Dougie’s wife Moira is violently sick.

GH: The Bogie Man continues to be a pleasant diversion in the Megazine and each month I'm warming more and more to Robin Smith's artwork, which seems perfectly suited to this highly ridiculous tale. Standout moments in this episode are the barman's slow realisation that Clunie isn't the new manager after all and is instead ever so slightly insane, and Sir Rab McNab's temptation in the drinks cupboard - which he's clearly going to give into. Everything appears to be building up to a climax next month, and you just can't help but worry just how deranged Clunie's going to get before the end of all of this...

MC: When this started, I remember thinking ‘this can’t possibly be as good as everyone says’. And for the first few months I was proven right. But I guess (and I’m humble enough to admit it) I was just reading it wrong. Like the first time I went through DR & Quinch and thought ‘this isn’t funny’, The Bogie Man was leaving me cold. Then I realised not to take it as some postmodern pastiche story, but rather as a slice of Wagner/Grant insanity, and the pieces just fell into place. The moral of this story seems to be ‘don’t take this too seriously’. Some have criticised the Meg’s recent reliance on Wagner & Grant, but with work as varied as this and this issue’s respective Dredd & Anderson tales, I don’t see what the fuss is about.

The biggest compliment I think one can give to art on a comic story is that I can’t imagine anyone else illustrating this tale. I can’t imagine anyone but Robin Smith drawing this tale properly.

There you go.

Lock-In - Part 4

The grenade was the least of their worries...

Synopsis: Some strange force has taken control of Psi-Division, locking down all of the exits and reanimating the bodies of dead prisoners.

Judges Anderson and Shakta, and the unstable pyrokinetic, Juliet November, attempt to deal with the problem. When they are fired upon by two heavily armed zombie perps, only November’s pyrokinetic ability can save them, but her control over her powers is erratic. Reinforcements arrive but they are no match for the perps’ armour and firepower. Shakta and Anderson use their own powers to help November focus her pyrokinesis against her target, and they manage to burn the perps to ashes.

Shenker is satisfied that the possession outbreak is over, but Anderson gets a psi-flash that warns her Judge Yughes is also possessed. She reacts quickly, killing him with a knife before he can assassinate Shenker, and sprays Yughes with Boing to contain whatever took him over.

Tek analysis identifies the cause of the phenomena to be a swarm of modified Justice Department nanobots, reprogrammed to kill. An investigation is launched to discover who is responsible. Juliet November is locked up again in her fireproof cell, and Anderson is given the results of her assessment. Having passed, she goes back out on street patrol.

GH: As the latest Anderson tale wraps up, it's been a great diversion from the rather doom-laden previous outings and the return of Anderson's wisecracking self has been a delight to behold. It's also helped to bring back Juliet November back into the fold in a much more useful capacity, making the earlier mini-series featuring that character much more worthwhile. The three girls, Anderson, Shakta and November work well together as a team, even thought their results are not exactly top notch. But more than ever, it seems there was more to this tale than meets the eye - and it's almost certainly connected to the overall Half-Life sub-plot that's still simmering below the surface.

Ranson's art is still utterly wonderful and, like Clarke earlier on, he seems to be revelling in the uber violence in this week's issue, with chaos aplenty. He also draws a mean Lawmaster, and his depiction of Anderson returning to the streets is a worthy image to close the issue with.

Anderson's continued presence in the Megazine, 9 issues and counting now, has been one of the key reasons for its continuing high quality. Let's hope the team of Grant and Ranson is willing to keep her tales going for another 9 and more.

MC: Funny one, this. Seemingly taking time away from the main Anderson thread, this has served as a sort of Prologue/Interlude to act 3 of the Half Life tale. And a welcome diversion it was. It’s also been nice to have an Anderson story with a lot of Anderson herself in it, rather than just a load of no name faces (WMD). I was somewhat cautious of the introduction of Juliet November, but I think now November has been ‘given the rub’, she’ll be a far more bankable prospect once she returns for her own story in the future. I know Anderson has been pretty much a constant in the meg for almost a year now, and it was good to have the series back, but it’s better to have the girl herself back, isn’t it?

Also, Arthur Ranson seems to be having a great time of it portraying Anderson’s world, doesn’t he? I say Anderson’s world, as it seems very different to the world Dredd inhabits. PSI Division looks like it’s had its funding cut, with a far more grimy, back to basics look, with stone walls and old looking technology contrasting with the high tech equipment we’ve seen in recent Dredd stories like Total War. Perhaps this is unconscious, but it really adds continuity to what we’ve been hearing about PSI Div lately.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• Cam Kennedy Interview part 2
• Dreddlines
• Judge Dredd - Cardboard City
• Metro Dredd
• Dredd Files
• Heatseekers
• Free cards
  

GH: A very fine Wagner/Kennedy Dredd tale makes a great companion piece for the second part of the Kennedy interview. The artist comes across as extremely personable, with a nice line in dry humour. As one of the best ever artists working for 2000AD over the last 20 or so years, it's great to see him getting such an in-depth interview.

It's an extreme shame that Rennie has written his last column as his contribution towered over the other columnists. Perhaps we could get David Bishop to replace him (who wrote a great column, despite Steev Thulin-Hopper's whining in the letter column)?

That said, Scott Gray's review of She Hulk has put that trade collection on my list of things to read.

MC: Another great Dredd reprint, which I hadn’t read before. Almost a precursor to ‘Whatever happened to Maria?’, this tale is one of those classic ‘Dredd shows his humanity through bastardy’ tales that Wagner writes so well. A nice moral and a tight plot make this 18 reprint pages I personally was thankful for. I thought I’d be missing Charley’s war, but the reprints have actually been of such quality I haven’t noticed its absence. Some great Cam Kennedy art work, with some especially nice colouring work rounds off a lovely package. Great Stuff.

These longer Interrogation interviews really are great, aren’t they? I never imagined Cam Kennedy to be so interesting. But of course, credit must go as much to the interviewer as the interviewee. One request though, can we get some of these longer interviews with script droids as well as art droids?

Having just read the Judge Child for the first time, the Dredd files have actually had some relevance recently, but I still find them somewhat unsatisfying. Maybe it’s the structure as much as the concept? Less information and more opinion would perhaps improve the format, but I don’t think it’s the waste of space some people have it marked down for.

Funny batch of Heatseekers this month, with the final Rennie Column leaving the biggest impression, with the question ‘who’ll replace him?’ being the question on my lips. Bishop’s column the other month was good fun, but I don’t know if he’s the man to do it every month, but likewise, anything is better than a ‘have I got news for you' style revolving host format. Anyway, I’d like to thank Rennie for his column every month, a never ending supply of controversy it may have been, but it was also good fun. Simon Spurrier, on the other hand, continues to turn in something uninspiring month after month. I’d gladly swap this for some more Simping Detective, rather than Si’s obvious rantings on the state of film. We know it’s an imperfect medium, we know much of it is trash, and we don’t need you to remind us. Also, using the word ‘fuck’ every month does not an edgy column make. People slate Bec & Kawl for being juvenile. This is much more deserving. Simon, I Adore everything you’ve done strip wise for 2000AD, but this is pish.

Not much else to say, other than ‘I’m off to buy the She-Hulk TPB’.