Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Adam Crabtree

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Regime Change - Part 1

Dredd sets his boundaries...

Synopsis: In Cuidad Barranquilla, the judges are preparing to fire on unarmed demonstrators when Mega City judges swoop in to stop them. An army of Judges led by Dredd has entered the area and is taking control.

3 days earlier, Hershey informs the Council of Five that they will be leading an multi-national peacekeeping force into Barranquilla to halt the civil unrest there. it is to be purely a humanitarian operation to prevent the regime falling further into lawlessness if Sangrenegra's government is toppled. The operation is to be led by a Street Judge, Dredd to avoid any talk of military intervention.

Back in the present day, the forces are spreading out around Barranquilla, with Giant as Dredd's backup for the Brit convoys fighting against a Sangrenegra loyalist force. An H wagon lands near Dredd's position with Sangrenegra's insignia. A Euro-cit judge, Laselle, tells Dredd that it's Cholo, Sangrenegra's Chief Lieutenant and personal assassin - and supposedly one of his illegitimate sons. Dredd tells Cholo that they are setting up safe zones to keep the citizens safe and refuses to release the Judges that they have captures. Cholo leaves and Dredd asks Laselle to stick around. In response, Laselle hopes they really are there for humanitarian reasons.

But three days earlier, in a meeting with Dredd, hershey tells him that they had to take Barranquilla to prevent the Sino's from stepping in and that the Sovs are staging the current coup. Dredd has the authority to enable a regime change..

AH: I've been awaiting this story with interest after Rennie touted it in our "what's coming in 2006" article earlier this year. There's the obvious influence of real-world events permeating the strip with Mega City One's real reasons for invading Barranquilla being little more than a power struggle between the three superpowers. Dredd tales can often be at their best when used to comment on present day topics and it's something that both Wagner and Grant have done in the past. Often, however, they tackle far less controversial topics that this, and it will be interesting to see if Rennie can get his point across without coming down too heavily on either side. In this respect, he has started out well, with both MC1's stated and hidden intentions both being reasonable (in a certain light) but one of them taking the Meg down a dangerous path. Rennie has been at pains to set up the Sovs as a credible "threat" again, and if he can do the same for the Sinos, he'll be in good stead to set up some worldwide tension once again in Dredd's world. an intriguing start.

As for the art - I'm in two minds about it. Miranda is capable of some excellent and dynamic scenes throughout this issues and is ably backed up by De La Cruz - the two of them making a great team. I would have had no trouble giving their work here the highest recommendation if it wasn't for one thing - Dredd. He's way too big - almost a bit of a porker - in this story and it's somewhat distracting from the rest of the art. That said, their ability to excel in both action and talking head scenes makes the pair an asset to the megazine, and I'll overlook Dredd's corpulence for the moment...

AC: I opened my meg to see the astonishingly cinematic style of this week’s incendiary new Dredd tale. Inaki Miranda and Eva de la Cruz, formerly of the Winter Special’ Road Warrior (are we ever going to see that one again?) bring their highly sophisticated stylings to the Chin Man. If you remember some of their recent work on Metro Dredd (which is conspicuous by its absence this month), you’ll have a good idea of what to except.

Dredd himself sticks out, with a huuuge girth of torso, and a face like a roaring barracuda topped off with the shell of a snail (sounds like a new character for a Simon Spurrier strip). There is a distinct Manga bent to the proceedings, but these are no wistful wannabes, trying to make a living off rudimentary pilfering (all too common nowadays, especially on the web), this is top notch stuff, with the comely LaSalle being essentially generic yet utterly striking.

Meantime, Gordon Rennie is on the up with a juicily controversial story. The title, Regime Change, tells you much about the nature of this beast, though in truth it’s not quite as cynical as you might expect, not from a satire, not from Dredd and not from Rennie. Hershey and company seems to genuinely care about the humanitarian aspect of their mission… at least until the final page, and even then MC-1’s concerns seem fairly practical.

Stalingrad - Part 2

Richter questioned his dentist's methods...

Synopsis: Richter was one of the first troops who entered Stalingrad, expecting it to fall easily - but like all the others was unaware of the killing ground it had become. After fighting had to hand with one of the Russians, Richter realise that they would never surrender.

The interview is halted as Charnosova's lieutenant asks to speak to her outside. He asks her to get Richter to tell them everything he knows about Hauptmann Costanza. Richter says he knows the truth about him and that's why he wants him. His brother Karl had fought alongside Costanza and his fiends, and Richter warns Charnosova that the Vampyr are spreading. Charnosova refuses to believe and Richter says he was the same until he took command last October...

GH: I'm not to sure how to take this fiends revival just yet. One the one hand, I'm expecting great things thanks to Richmond's extremely positive reviews of Bishop's prose efforts on books one and two from the same series. On the other had, very little seems to have happened so far, with the vampire only being introduced at the end of part two. Whereas this would be perfectly acceptable in a weekly comic, thing are starting to drag on a bit with the month's long wait between each part. I suspect that the fast pace of the tale isn't helping matters, when I feel that denser writing works better in the Megazine.

Those qualms aside, Bishop is on good form here, so far producing writing that is several legions ahead of his last effort for the weekly. He seems comfortable in the setting of the Second World War, so much so that you wonder if he might have been put to better use on a straight war tale? But given the success of Charlie's War and the main staple of the Megazine being horror or sci fi - this seems the most appropriate replacement for Charlie. While certainly showing promise, I just think it needs a couple more episodes before I can come down from the fence...

As for the art - that's easier to judge from the first two episodes. MacNeil rarely lets down and his resurgence in the Megazine over the last few years continues as he produces some of his best artwork yet, working wonders with the black and white palette offered to him. There are shades of White Death to be seen in his art, even down to the terrible choice to use almost the same style of lettering from the Morrison/Adlard book. It's really my only major criticism of the whole book and really emphasises the hard work that Annie Parkhouse and Ellie De Ville put into their work. Here, it regrettably looks amateurish and takes some of the sheen off of MacNeil's otherwise sterling effort.

AC: Atmosphere is the key word here. Colin Macneil seems to be making something of a departure from the style displayed in latter day Shimura and his work on Dredd, all solidity of facial features (ugly ones) and a general duskiness to the visuals. The duskiness remains, but only because it contributes to the wartime movie atmosphere (there’s that word again).

Bishop and Macneil’s two man vampire fest is taking its sweet time, slowly piling on the grisly imagery and the mythic quality, with this installment featuring some captivating exposition on Hauptman and company; the reveal of the Fiends storming the enemy lines is a keeper. All this is accomplished with a veneer of rich, smoky imagery, though one wonders if it should be moving at this speed.

Though we’re at the second part of this revival, we’re only just now getting to the central conceit, with little in the way of straight up supernatural action thus far. Nonetheless, I’m happy to ride this one out for now; this could turn out to be an excellent slow burner (although, when each installment takes a month to come out…).

Return of the Jester - Part 1

The Jester strikes...

Synopsis: "Uncle David" receives an array of weaponry disguised as presents for his nephew. They both then visit Matt Webster who has refused to pay protection money to them After an argument about vulcans/vegans, Karnak cuts things short by killing Webster.

Elsewhere, Rohan wants justice for what Karnak did to his father, but Lakshmi warns him not to kill or he will go back on the wheel of karma.

meanwhile, Vivek wants to be released from his contract of playing Rajan in "Get Rajan", but Bodhi shows him the corpse of the screenwriter being eaten by crows and he reconsiders.

Black Siddha arrives and starts taking out the guards, but in his impatience, kills one of them and his powers leave him. Defenseless, he is knocked down...

GH: And on the fence is where I find myself again with Black Siddha, a tale that I enjoy, but could easily live without. This storyline in particular has proved breathtakingly hard to follow and producing the synopses for the first tow episodes has proved to be a huge source of frustration - particularly with regards to working out who the characters are. I have nothing but praise for writers who introduce the names of their characters as early as possible and remind us of them at regular intervals.

Given the length of time between this and the last episode (a year and a half fact fans, and here's a reminder) I'd completely forgotten that Kanak killed Rohan's father, and I've also completely forgotten what the Wheel of Karma was all about. Luckily, I can look back on this site and double check (something Tharg could do with remembering next time someone writes in complaining about the same thing...) but still there's an air of confusions about the piece. It also doesn't help that Mills has a slight air of smugness in his writing here, as if he's proving his knowledge of the subject, rather than bringing the reader along for the ride.

Despite this - it's still not bad in a throwaway fashion. The excellent art of Simon Davis does help to lift the strip up several levels, but I'm left with an overall feeling of "meh" about the whole thing.

AC: A fairly simple follow up to last month’s dense and intricately structured setup. Newbies have to deal with the introduction of the Wheel of Karma fixtures, and our hero’s nature; his issues with parental murder a la Bruce Wayne and his charming spiritual guide type person. I don’t believe it ever threatens to be too much for the initiate; I am one after all, and I can only marvel at Pat Mills storytelling power, bringing in disparate, highly different yet all thoroughly twisted threads into one consistent fantasy package.

One exception to this may just be the Black siddha himself, with his high and mightiness, mixture of traditional superhero concerns (“The power of the Siddhis is leaving me! Must be some of that kryptonite being passed around!”) and spiritualism intruding on the quirkiness, violence and verve of the rest of it. Pat Mills seems to be having something of a resurgence lately, Slaine exempted, with one of this week’s Dreddlines letters concurring that more ABC Warriors et al is what he needs to stay in the game.

It’s also beautifully realised by Simon Davis.

Ruddler's Cuddlers

3 simple rules...

Synopsis: The curator introduces us to the latest exhibit, Ruddler's Cuddlers. Malcame Ruddler was a failed Applied Cybernetics major who was addicted to Cognidine-nine. While down on his luck, he had the idea to create some simple robotic teddy bears that were so simple, they became instant hits. however, Ruddler had also introduced some simple programming that made the bears bring back their owner's possessions to him to help pay for his habit. alas, the bears recognised the children as their owners and took worthless items. Ruddler rewrites their rules to only steal the adults' most prized possessions and to bring back nothing alive. Alas, the bears also take this too literally and bring him back dozens of dead kids. The judges are at the door and tell Ruddler to come out if he values his life. Ruddler realises he does - but the bears do too, and take it from him...

GH: The megazine has dabbled with series of one-offs before. The idea of Mega City Noir was swiftly shelved after it quickly became clear that a star was born in the Simping Detective. The extremely promising idea of "Whatever Happened to" turned out to be just that, a promising idea and little else. Unless you count the terrible stories that came under that banner. But finally - something has clicked. In some ways, these tales are simply Future Shocks set in Mega City One - but it's the beauty of the set-up that really helps things here. By setting the stories in the contained, and more importantly fully-realised, setting of Mega City 1, it's allowing the writers to get on with the job of telling the main story with as little set up as possible (even allowing Spurrier to get away with a page of banter here before starting the tale itself).

All the tales so far have been excellent, and this is no exception. Spurrier has created the antidote for the future shock in that you know just what's coming, but just don't want to turn that page to find out (and he even manages to add on another wordplay twist at the end). This is a well paced story that is almost a blueprint on how to make the best out of 6 pages and is backed up by graham Manley's best artwork yet. I've been unconvinced by Manley in the past, but he's really risen to the task of creating a dark and dirty thriller in Mega City. This in itself might be enough for Tharg to let the man try his hand on Low Life in the future, as the artwork would certainly suit.

In all - a great way to end the issue...

AC: Henry Dubble grew a pair, it seems, or at least he had a pair flown in and grafted on to his dead frame; probably made of bronze, I should think. Simon Spurrier takes over on this wildly inventive ensemble piece and what is instantly noticeable is the personality he has given to the typically sterile zombie tour guide. The relish with which the narration covers his graphically portrayed tobacco habit (“You should see the crud falls out of my lungs. Beautiful.”), smoke rising through the chest cavity and all.

It’s a treatment that is very much Spurrier’s style, with the Lobster Random scribe developing quite a niche for the fraggin’ nasty but very nice. He is complemented in this respect by Graham Manley’s awesome work with the scratchy, detailed artwork that treats us to grim close-ups of eye popping corpses and distinctive people. Why have I not seen this artist before? The story itself is a simple enough tale; indeed it’s the simplicity of things that forms the central conceit. We go into it knowing that it’s a one-shot, knowing that it’s a 2000AD one-shot, knowing that there will be no heartwarming reconciliations or cleansing revelations. We all know there’s a twist coming; the task for the team producing it is to catch us off guard nonetheless, perhaps even using our complacency against us.

I’ll say only that they succeed admirably. A tale of too-cute-for-words Ruddler’s Cuddlers takes an almighty turn towards the shocking and downright creepy on the final page. What I initially thought was going to be another source of unconnected, shock-free five pagers, taking up archive space has proven itself to be an exciting new commodity.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• Alan Moore article
• Classic Dredd
• I married a Ghost Girl
• Sprout's Top 20

GH: While the strips in the Megazine are certainly getting better, I'm not sure the same can be said about the supplementary material. With eh wealth of Dredd material available in trade collections at the moment, surely there's some more inventive material to dust down from the archives? What about Future Shocks from the likes of Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis? What about some archive material from Crisis or Revolver? Just something a little more inventive than a reprinted Dredd tale...

The Alan Moore article is, alas, alto not of instant interest (despite the great quote at the beginning) given that the recent self publicity of the man, together with the wealth of material dredged up by V for Vendetta has left me a little wary of Moore-related articles at the moment. So I;m afraid I skipped over that one. Sprout's article, meanwhile, is good, but misses perhaps on a few too many points. But it gets forgiven for the excellent Rogue Dr Manhattan and Notes to the Milkman, which both made me laugh out loud, so kudos for that. of course, I'm sure there are many readers wondering where Sprout came from initially, yet the Megazine sees fit not to mention that (sorry - I'm on a bit of a self publicity rant this time around...).

The Small Press excerpt was excellent this month and has certainly made me curious about the creators - so much so that I;d rather MAtthew Badham concentrated on more info about them in his small article that would make a nice companion piece to the strip. In all, the Small press section is a wonderful idea, and anything which raises the profile of the scene is to be commended.

AC: The Alan Moore article is an interesting read, for someone who’s perhaps not as familiar with the life and times of our greatest graphical scribe as some. The insights into the breakdown of his partnership with 2000AD (and the subsequent quashing of Halo Jones; though apparently Ian Gibson is still up for book four!) and all his dealings thereafter paint a concise picture of a troubled but talented artistic career. Sprout continues to make an impression with his witty scribblings (how can you tell it’s a Moore? “It’s not finished.”); so what if they’re not exactly informative? They supply some diverting fun.

Onto Retro Dredd; to put it simply, the colouring seems a bit icky when you first flick through it. We must forgive it though, and maybe even warm to its old style charm in this 24 year old tale of urban alienation. Indeed, Carlos Ezquerra and T.B. Grover (ah, good old Grover, whatever happened to that cat?) played this one shot out with surprising sensitivity. The unhinged, futsified individual that forms the focal point of this tale reaches out to his only lifeline; his favourite TV station (one of the only ones to have survived the Apocalypse War).

In eight pages, multiple themes and storylines are expertly juggled, with the surprisingly gentle spirited young man’s interactions with the world, the carnage he wreaks, the crass monstrosities of the network he calls into, and Dredd’s typically draconian search for a dangerous lunatic. This is how it should be done.

The small press offering is probably the most sophisticated yet, quite easily 2000AD quality in terms of art and script. I Married Ghost Girl continues the theme of the little guys turning to Manga aesthetics and once again, pleasantly, they manage to find their own style and their own sense of flourish. The story purports to be set in the Maskers franchise, a revisionist superhero dilly-o y the looks of it. If they’re all as accomplished as this mildly psychological and rather affecting piece, maybe I oughtta get in on that action…