Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Martin Charlton
2nd opinion by Paul Ingram

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Regime Change - Part 3

Nothing changes...

Synopsis: The judges launch missile strikes on known cartels, accepting civilian casualties as necessary. Lasalle questions Mega City's real reasons for involvement and Dredd reasserts that it's on peacekeeping grounds. Dredd fights off continued attacks between the cartels while Hershey is in talks with the other Mega Cities who are trying to stall their operations - particularly the Sovs who have their own interests in the area.

Meanwhile Med Judge Mortina has identified 12 of 14 the bodies they were looking for in the Bone Orchard - Dredd says they need to have the cause of deaths defined before the talks with the Mega Cities start. Dredd uncovers Sov made weapons and suspected Sov military advisors and decides to make Cholo a counter offer, but is turned down. Just before the talks start, Mortina gets the last Autopsy in - a Mega City citizen who was tortured and murdered. Dredd says that's all they need and commences attack in a huge tank "As of now, we're out of the peacekeeping business - LET'S ROLL!"

MC: I know you all hate me after my recent Dredd article, but I stand by what I said. With the exception of this story, which has been exceptional from start to.. so far. Although I love Dredd in detective fiction, you can’t really beat a good topical war story for thrill power, can you? This is hardly high brow stuff of course, with despicable bad guys denoted by evil hair cuts (and by being Russian) and with Dredd’s seniority and superiority visualised by his hulk-like stature but, my god, this is good stuff, leaving me to believe that if Rennie is to be the man to take the reigns in years to come, we’re in good hands. All I can hope for is that this lasts a while longer.

PI: The story itself is a good one - Judges taking over Ciudad Baranquilla to uncover the bodies of missing aid workers is a brilliant idea, and that aspect of the story at least has worked and been solid. What Hershey is actually up too has been revealed, makes a great deal of sense, and I'm looking forward to the big tanks rolling and hopefully more missiles flying next month. However, it's the silly little things from previous months that have soured this for me, especially the invading Sino-Cit army. Their backing off just because Dredd talked heavy didn't ring true, and has overshadowed the rest of the story slightly.

Inaki and Eva do some wonderful things as far as vehicles and backgrounds are concerned and there's also a lot to be said about their explosions, which are
stunning. The only thing letting this story down in the art department is the people themselves. I'm just not keen on the way Miranda draws people. While Dredd has been toned down from his first appearance, I still don't find the often minimalistic approach he renders his people with to be very appealing, the Euro Aid worker Judge and Cholo especially standing out in terms of blandness. It's a tough call to say if the
art is suitable for this story, but I guess while the tanks keep rolling and the guns keep firing I'll be happy enough.

Stalingrad - Part 4

Costanza leads the charge...

Synopsis: The Germans, led by Constanta prepared to attack the Mamayev Kurgan, a supposed ancient burial ground. A closer investigation shows the Russians to be conducting a kind of ceremony - at which Constanta orders an immediate attack. The attack is successful - but only 6 of the Germans are left standing at the end. Suddenly Constanta is felled by a bullet but his spirit form rises to find the shooter, a Russian sniper who used a silver bullet. The other soldiers fight to hold their position as the Russians start a counter-attack.

As the battle eases, Constanta tells them that their fight is not over yet. The enemy is aware of his presence and is preparing to fight him. "We need fresh blood for what lays ahead!"

MC: I’ve just finished reading the Fiends novel trilogy and I’ve come to a conclusion: David Bishop writes an absolutely cracking novel, and a decidedly average comic strip. This is ok, but nothing seems to happen, and his characterisation of Constanta seems less incisive than in his novels. Maybe he just needs the space to let his words breath. Whatever it is, this really needs to hurry up and do something noteworthy.

Art meanwhile is lovely, but my main gripe is the transformation of the Mamayev Kurgan into the Mamyev Kurgan on page four. This really shouldn’t happen, should it?

PI: Having only recently read the original Fiends, my first thought on reading this
new series is that it lacks a lot of the charm of the original. The best thing about it's predecessor, and something Gerry Finley-Day did remarkably well, was undoubtedly seeing the vampires in action. Yes, it might have been a little silly sometimes, with Russian troops just dropping out of nowhere to be savaged by them, but it was still good fun and something this incarnation had been lacking - Until now.

While Fiends got off to a relatively slow start, the build up really pays off in this issue. Seeing Constanta in action again is a delight, the scene with the sniper and the headshot both reminding me that this really is the vampire I know and love from the original. It's also good to see the soldiers actually have some motivation and a purpose now, as opposed to previous instalments where they just seemed to have
been wandering around Stalingrad aimlessly. The plot finally kicking in and the foreboding ending promise great things for Fiends in the coming months, and even
if they don't deliver what is promised here, I really could stare at Colin McNeil's beautifully rendered art all day. It's certainly some of the best in the prog or Meg at the moment, I'd even go as far to say it's flawless. Just look at the panel with Constanta becoming a giant bat and tell me your jaw isn't on the floor.

Return of the Jester - Part 4

Siddha gets one in...

Synopsis: The fight with Kanak continues with Kanak trying to work out why the Siddha fights with such anger. However, Siddha is forced to save two girls caught in the crossfire and leave the battle as Kanak escapes.

Later, Mirabai reveals that she's won a competition to get a part in Monsoon Holiday. Rohan tries to warn her against the Somosas, but annoys Mirabai in the process.

At the party, Mirabai introduces herself to Kanak when Rohan, disguised as a waiter, tries to get Mirabai to leave again. However, Kanak immediately recognises him as Bhandara's son. Mirabai spill her drink and blames it on Rohan. he;s escorted to the kitchens while Kanak escorts Mirabai away from him...

MC: I see what Pat’s trying to do here, I really do, but it’s just not my thing at all, this. Take a look at the bottom of page one for instance, and it just seems too random, too scattershot and slightly indicative of ADHD to be truly great. Pat’s throwing everything at the wall here, and although some of it sticks too much of it is sliding right off and messing up my shoes. Great art though.

PI: I love this. I can't help it. It's completely off it's rocker and it knows it, which
makes it the most endearing thing in the Meg for me. Pat Mills must be having so much fun with this, and it shows. The amount of ground this covers in such a
small space of time is mind-boggling, and I can see how it would be easy for some people to get lost considering the speed at which the story travels. Luckily Simon Davis is on hand to make sure that everything is crystal clear and well laid out... Well,
almost.

Very few artists can beat Simon Davis in terms of action, his fight scenes just feel so alive and you can really picture the characters moving across the page. The fight at the beginning with The Jester and then Black Siddha zooming across the sky like a rocket just go to show how well Davis can capture motion. It's when people are standing still that the problems start. Take the third page, inside the shop, they
might as well be showroom dummies for the amount of life that sequence brings to the characters. There's also some pretty dodgy facial expressions to be had.

Message inside reads

Killing with verse...

Synopsis: The caretaker tells us that this week's case is about Greeting cards, and is starts with the investigation of a murder by the judges.

The murder was committed with a nail gun and the perp left the victim with a greeting card that referred to the crime in rhyme. More murders follow, each with a greeting card rhyme to back them up but the judges are getting nowhere. They finally decide to talk to greeting card manufacturers and come up with one suspect - Julian Pinze. However, they have to let him go as they have nothing on him until finally the murderer finally sends a card to the judges. They are able to track the card back to the collection box it was sent from - and get footage of Pinze.

Pinze was arrested and sent to the cubes, but his idea of niche cards was taken up by the card manufacturers and became a multi million cred industry.

MC: The scope of this series is almost boundless, it really is, and it would be a mistake to have every week be concerned with the Dark Judges or the fallout from Judgement Day or some such. So when people criticise this strip as being a missed opportunity, I have to disagree. It’s the perfect opportunity to tell small scale off beat stories, just like Dredd. Yeah, some of the stories have been slightly gentle, but they’ve been all the more humorous and (dare I say) human because of it. I just hope the creators keep rotating as while I’ve nothing against Dan Abnett I’d hate to see this become monopolised by someone just because they’re extremely prolific when they want to be.

PI: So far, most of the Black Museum stories have been satisfying, which is impressive considering this is a format which could easily have fell flat. However, it has to be said that Dan Abnett's first outing about a mysterious headshot killer was probably the weakest of the bunch so far, luckily he's come back with another to make up for it!

This is probably one of the best stories we've had so far, even if some of the art is slightly dubious, such as the rather awkward pose of the Judge holding a greetings card across two panels. The main reason I like this story so much, even if the conclusion can be seen a mile away from the moment Pinze is brought in, is that it has a theme. The idea of humour runs throughout this tale, coming across as an aside piece of banter for the most part between the two judges, and then coming to a close on a brilliant punchline. I also think that Abnett realises the character of the
Henry Dubble perfectly, with him providing perfect bookends for this tale.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• Kevin O Neill Article
• Classic Dredd
• Easy Prey
• Liam Sharp interview
• Superman Returns review

MC: One great interview (O’Neill), and one waste of space (Sharp) make up this month’s interviews and I get the slight feeling that the small press section is for the next few months at least going to suffer from ‘well its ok, but its not Mr Amperduke’ syndrome as this month’s offering is ok, but no Mr. Amperduke.

There’s a nice, warm hearted Dredd reprint which is possible the second best this in the issue, with an iffy review of Superman completing the issue. Not a bad collection of extras, and variety is certainly the spice of life with them.

PI: I've really been enjoying the classic Wagner reprints that have been running in the Meg recently, especially because this is the first time I've read most of them. As you'd expect, Who's Wally is a brilliant one off tale that really highlights the insanity of Mega-City life, complimented by some amazing art work from Cam Kennedy. However, while these Dredd's are good, I wouldn't mind seeing Charley's War return or at least another multi-part reprint taking their place, if only for a little while.

The small press piece is interesting enough, though I can't help wondering if it's a one off or just the start of something bigger given the sudden ending of it. As it doesn't really feel complete, I'm having a hard time forming an opinion on it, and can't say I'm
compelled to hunt down Jason Paulos' other work to find out. Also, with the inclusion of Tales from the Black Museum in the Meg also, I question the need for having both in the Meg. I tip my hat to Matt Smith, giving these stories some publicity, but it still
feels like we're getting two future shocks per a Meg, and I can't help feeling that some more variety would be nice.

The text articles are good editions for the most part, with the article on Kevin O'Neill being of particularly well written, relevant piece. This is the kind of thing I'd like to see in the future as far as the Meg concerned, as opposed to humorous Top Ten lists or Heatseekers. That being said, I didn't mind the review of Superman Returns, I'm just wondering if they'll stick to comic book related movies or branch out like
Si's heatseeker column. Hopefully along side creator articles we can see a few more David Bishop style interviews in the future.