Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
Ist opinion by Martin Charlton
2nd opinion by James Mackay
Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Blackout - Part 1

Dredd gets there before everyone else, as usual...

Synopsis: In sector 31 a gang is getting ready to blow some power conduits. In sector 32, a mugging gang is taking on Dredd (with fatal consequences for them) as the whole sector blacks out. The judges investigate and identify a second device - slowing down the repair job. Emergency generators cut in at the sector house 32, while bombs explode throughout the sector killing hosts of citizens. Dredd thinks it might be a diversion, as another explosion derails a hoverzoom. Indeed, it is a diversion as the Jack Schitt's gang, the Scum Dogs, start a raid on Sector house 32 to break him free. Despite the sector house's communications being cut off, Dredd suspects a raid and tells two judges to follow him - as well as instructing an H wagon to round up more. Meanwhile, the Scum Dogs have successfully rescued Jack Schitt and are preparing to get out...

MC: So the fall out from that cover begins here. Assuming that Dredd is being faced off by all those ‘bastards’ on the cover, I assumed that it would be revealed in the Dredd story. Instead, what we get is a nice little Dredd story, the type Wagner & Kennedy always seem to produce when working together, and although nothing of real note happens here, it’s of a nature where a new reader could pick this up and get straight into it. Not the most satirical or hard hitting of Dredds, but a nice starting point.

JM: Wagner. Kennedy. Sector-House siege. Grim.

‘Nuff said? Well, pretty much. Wagner’s done this shtick a fair few times before, and therefore it’s all in the little details rather than the overall plot, which remains entirely predictable. (Although, knowing the Dredd creator’s ability to surprise, I’ll probably be eating my words next issue). And in this case, there’s one inspired line (“All you jaybirds are gonna get from me is my name – Jack Schitt!), and some pretty well-done fight scenes. This is the sort of tired, hokey Dredd story that I know some people love, but which I hate with a passion. Here’s hoping it picks up next time round. Cam Kennedy’s art remains a taste, like pumpkin risotto, that I simply can’t acquire.

The harder they come - part 1

Giant prepares for a beating...

Synopsis: Shimura is practicing nude against a battle drone, while Amber watches. She tells him that she's still going ahead with her operation in the Radlands of Ji.

Meanwhile, in Mega City 1, Judge Giant is visiting the prison where 12,500 perps are kept in high security deep sleep - taking up much less space. one of them is Stan Lee, aka Deathfist. As Giant and the warden pass, Deathfist wakes and bursts out of his tank. The warden is killed as Lee uses him as a shield against Giant's Lawgiver. Lee breaks Giant's arm and delivers what could be a killing blow - at which point more judges arrive. The kills them easily and lee fights his way through the rest of the prison. He gets to the med facility where a half woman/half snake is waiting. She helped him to escape by forcing a doctor to give him stimulants. They embrace...

MC: Nice to see MacNeil back on this strip. Having recently reread the Shimura trade, I prefer Macneil’s Shimura to most interpretations, and his black and white stuff has been sorely underused of late. Very much a scene-setting part of the story, with some nice juxtaposition of the male/female relationships of Lee & Shimura, drawing a neat parallel between them.

This is hopefully going to be more viscerally satisfying than the previous Shimura tales, not least as a result of Macneil’s wonderful exit wounds and the Rebellion office script-droid wager to see who can show Giant getting the biggest kicking of the year!

JM: It looks like we’ve got an explanation of Shimura’s scars at last. Now all we need is someone to show how come he survived a double sword-cut straight through his brain pan. Anatomical quibbles aside, this episode shows a renewed vigour in the Shimura franchise, with the introduction of Stan Lee auguring well for a physical confrontation with a proper supervillain, rather than the incredibly boring laser-shuriken duels that have been such a feature of the strip in recent times. Lee’s never been more than a minor figure in Dredd’s world, but alongside a more marginal character like Shimura he might well do the biz.

MacNeil’s black and white linework continues to be extraordinary. For me, this is where he comes alive these days, rather than in what seems to be the slightly uninspired colour art on Devlin Waugh.

I’m not mentioning Giant’s near-death. If he turns up later in this story, then there was every reason to use this central Dreddverse character. If he doesn’t, then why not just employ the world-famous Judge Blankbadge?

Lucid - Part 1

The sistersssss are back...

Synopsis: Mega City 1: Someone breaks into the Courtney Brown Psi research facility - and accesses the Psi Amplifier. Elsewhere, Anderson is asleep and dreaming. Like many Psis, she can control her dream and plays back memories of her lost love, Sov Justice Dept Mikhael. As she kisses him in the dream, he rots before her eyes - and suddenly she's in a run down part of town, confronted by Phobia and Nausea - the sisters of Death. As she begins to regain control of her dream, they tell her that Pustula is "jussst buurssting to meet youu!" She wakes, and reports her dream to Shenker, worried that they might be using her as a psionic bridge while she's asleep. Shenker wants to take her off the streets, but Anderson says she's better on them rather than asleep and vulnerable...

Elsewhere, a robo Med Doctor is investigating a series of blisters and boils on Mrs Farrelly's dead husband. The boils burst and immediately new ones start breaking out on Mrs Farrelly. But they also begin to appear on the robot...

MC: Another Meg, another Anderson. More nice art from Ranson (except page 2, panel 4 where Anderson looks like she’s had a stroke!) and another strange plague affecting the citizens of the Meg.

I know many of you will disagree with me on this, but it seems ever more apparent that Anderson is just treading water. Grant professes to love this character more than any other, but my advice would be ‘if you love someone, set them free’. Nothing of note happens any more, the excitement held over from ‘My Name is Death’ has long since dwindled, and this is rapidly becoming not the worst 8 pages of the month but certainly the most predictable. It's not that I could do better, but I’d at least know when to call it a day.

JM: The final episode of City of Dead was so disappointing (sonic disruption? For crying out loud!) that even I could find no words to defend it, much as I enjoyed the year or more of storyline that lead up to it. This has had the result that I’m now approaching each new Anderson arc with extreme caution. Once bitten, and all that.

With that caveat in mind, I’ll happily say that Lucid begins brilliantly. While the science behind lucid dreaming is both well-known and extremely well-refuted, it does allow for us to enter Cass’s mind without the normal device of a coma, and I guess that if you’re dealing with a series about a psychic detective it doesn’t do to introduce any kind of scepticism. The image of Mikhail’s face coming away mid-kiss is an excellent introduction to the grim, decaying Sisters of Death, and I particularly love the shot of Phobia reclining on her own robes as if in a comfy armchair. Ranson’s art seems to have a new energy in it that was lacking towards the end of City of Death.

That said… A robot virus? Presentiments of death? Shenker taking Anderson off duty? Aren’t these themes all a little familiar now? Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy this series, but surely some of it’s losing a little of the gloss if it keeps repeating the same plots over and over? Well, I guess it never hurt the first run of Invasion…

Petty Crimes - Part 1

Point makes his case...

Synopsis: Jack Point is feeding his Pet Raptaur which is growing and starting to sprout tentacles. Point is beginning to get worries, but can't bring himself to kill his pet.

Later, he is contacted by Corvid Pete, another Wally squad judge who tells him that Daveez sent an SJS after him and he's been sentenced to 10 on Titan. He's now in hiding instead and warns Point that they are coming after him. At that point, an 85 year old woman, Mrs Stickle arrives and tells Point she needs him to recover her stolen pigeonfish. Point realises she's SJS and after managing to ditch her for a moment on the search for the fish, gets this confirmed by Miss Anne Thrope - who identifies her as SJS judge Nyssol - personal friend of Daveez. Point asks her for help, and says he'll owe her a favour. She point him in the direction of the docks and he and Nyssol head down there. They find the pigeonfish, but as he lets them out, they fly off - taking his gun with them. in The noise, the crooks are alerted and prepare to kill Nyssoll and Point. Nyssol tells Point that she's SJS and if he can get them out using any methods whatsoever, she'll get Daveez off him for good. Point whistles and his pet Raptaur tears through the perps. But then he turns on Nyssol and Point...

MC: This, on the other hand, goes from strength to strength. Slowly building up a wonderful cast of supporting characters, background plot threads and conventions all its own, the Simping Detective really is everything Anderson isn’t. Judge Nyssol steals this episode hands down, and will hopefully become a recurring character. Although Spurrier’s overuse of the comic metaphor/comparison becomes tiresome at points, it itself seems to be a parody of the noir genre’s use of such a narrative device. The question of exactly what/who Miss Anne Thrope is remains unanswered, but the strip seems better that way, rather than having to rush every piece of information into the reader’s eyes lest we lose interest.

Top stuff. As always.

JM: I love the Simping Detective, just in case you were worried about getting a balanced review. I loved the first episode, and every episode beyond. I even loved the fanboyish anniversary issue that garnered such mixed reviews. I love the icy black humour, the ever more incredible art, the lead character, all the subsidiary characters, the twisty-turny plots, the throwaway lines, the babes.

Waiting for a “but…”? You’ll not find one here. This episode cleverly deals with a ticking timebomb of a problem that’s been sitting at the heart of the Point universe, waiting to go off in a shower of ennui. With a Raptaur at his back, Judges at his beck and call, a mysterious (hot) plot-device-cum-hint-dropper to solve his cases for him, a disguise just chock-full of explosives and cunning little tools, and DeMarco and her gorilla somewhere in the background, Jack’s been looking just a little bit too much like Inspector Gadget. Which is to say, utterly invulnerable, and with no need to actually do anything himself to achieve results. If only everyone’s life could be so easy.

So, returning to Raptaur-as-menace is an excellent idea, more so as it’s coupled with an SJS investigation that could see Point stripped of all his privileges. As always, there’s great pleasure to be had from the incidentals, but this is a plot that long-term should keep the strip up with the all-time greats, where it belongs.

Burned Out - Part 2

Giant beats someone else up for a change...

Synopsis: (Continued from 2000AD 1461). Giant throws Stumm gas into the room of drug dealers and checks out them for anyone Guthrie might recognise via the visor cam feed. guthrie notices a dealer, Spence, reported to have a robotic hand crawling away. Giant shoots the hand off and Guthrie interrogates him through Giant's helmet speaker. He warns Spence that Giant is a psycho and he's better tell him all that he knows. Following up the tip, Giant raids a drug den and takes out the dealers. One of them is crawling away and Giant grabs him - and tries to make him shoot up Burn in front of him as punishment. Guthrie threatens to call the SJS on him - and tells him they have a duty to uphold the law. Giant lets the dealer go - pleased that Guthrie finally remembered what a judge was supposed to be. Later, Guthrie decides he isn't ready to give it all up just yet...

MC: Ah, sly piece of work this. Not so much from the perspective of ‘I buy the meg and have to spend an extra £1.75 to get the first part of this tale’, but the flip side involves spending £4.50 on something you wouldn’t necessarily purchase, which is a lot of money. It's okay if you buy both as standard, but reminds me of a trick the Marvel UK Transformers comic once pulled to get you to buy that year’s annual. But that’s another story.

Strip wise, this is top notch, really quality, hard hitting stuff. Yeah, Guthrie was meant to be dead, and yeah, he even seems in better condition than alluded to a few weeks ago in the prog, but when revisionism is of this calibre, it’s hard to grumble. Gordon Rennie shows us (again) why he’s rapidly pushing for the top spot of Dredd, and Carl Critchlow turns in yet more wonderful shades of orange, grey and brown to remind us why we love him.

A dirty trick, but one of excessively high quality.

JM: Cross-over strips. Irritating if you don’t buy the Megazine already, I guess. But if you don’t, what the heck’s the matter with you??? [Ahem] Seriously, though, I don’t understand why anyone who enjoys comics, 2000AD, or Judge Dredd wouldn’t be picking this publication up: it’s got some of the best British writers and artists working in comics today, and more, all for the price of a couple of pints. Therefore, my opinion on the crossover is… I just don’t care. If it gets some more readers for the Megazine, great. If some readers of 2000AD get momentarily upset that they don’t see the end of the story, that feeling will be gone so soon that it’s not worth worrying about.

As for the strip itself, any strip drawn by Carl Critchlow is automatically better than it should be. Check last year’s Cincinnati for an example: as a script, it’s actually pretty rubbish, but when the carved-in-stone Critchlow style is applied, it ends up seeming awesome. For me, his new style has already become one of the definitive Dredd looks. Coupled with an interesting script that showcases Gordon Rennie’s take on Dredd as a police soap opera (which thankfully owes more to CSI and Cops than The Bill), this ended up as an instant classic – and without a glimpse of Stoney-face.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• British Icons: The Prisoner
• 15 Years, Creep!
• Heatseekers
• Metro Dredd
  

MC: 15 years, creep sits in the shadow of TPO, being neither as interesting or dense. Charlie’s War is rapidly becoming a concept piece, moving as slowly as war itself. The article on The Prisoner was informative but hardly thrill powered, but an above average set of Heat-Seekers made this month’s extras worth every penny. The section on spoilers was particularly insightful in a ‘Finally, somebody is saying what I feel!’ kind of way. Bring back Rennie though!

JM: God, but the British Icons series is good, isn’t it? Well, clearly not for everyone, but I’ve really enjoyed every article so far. Alistair McGown is a great writer, with a knack of shoehorning in more facts per square inch than anyone else without at any time boring. Having never watched The Prisoner, I found the article useful, interesting and informative: you couldn’t really ask for more, could you?

Of the other review articles, Scott Gray continues on his mission to persuade me to buy everything he writes about, making The Frank Book seem like a must-have; Jonathan Clements makes a decent enough fist of writing about one of the most over-analysed movies of all time (monster! radiation! post-war Japan! the end!); Si Spurrier still doesn’t quite succeed in convincing as a grown-up writer of articles about cult movies, seemingly stuck in a studenty mindset that just makes me think that whatever he’s talking about clearly needs to be enjoyed with a spliff near a Jimi Hendrix poster.

David Bishop’s 15 Years series continues without showcasing properly the thing that some of us loved about the Megazine in the period he covers (which I refer to as its Golden Age, even if no-one else does). I mean, of course, the stunning variety in art that could see Ranson, Siku, Quitely, Cullen, Salmon, Langridge, Lol and Critchlow within a page-turn of each other. I like my anthology comics artistically varied, and for me this was the highest point of art that either the weekly or the monthly ever achieved.

Charley’s War just keeps getting better and better. I’ve been guilty of Mills-bashing in the past, but this helps me understand just why some people stuck loyally by him during his ten-year fallow period (happliy broken by the genius of Savage). I’m actually tempted to make this my Best Strip.