Cover by Cliff Robinson

Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Robert Cornell
2nd opinion by Sue Doyle

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Cadet - Part 1

Dredd gets put in his place.

Synopsis: Dredd visits Cadet Beeny at the Academy of Law. She is the child of America and Bennett Beeny who was drafted into the Academy (as seen in the last two America series). She takes him through the Total War attack on the Statue of Liberty (from the first America series) and puts it to him that the killing of the terrorists was unnecessary and did nothing to stop the rise of Total War. Beeny moves forward to the events during which her father, now in the body of America, was unwittingly involved in another terrorist attack. Victor Portnoy was identified as the instigator but died under interrogation. Beeny believes his was a patsy, wants to find the real attacker and has asked for Dredd as a co-investigator (the investigation is part of her course in the Academy).

Beeny's tutor believes she will be a good judge, despite her rebellious streak so approved the case, despite reservations. The first part involves paperwork and investigation - not one of Dredd's strong points. During this he finds out that Beeny feels the attitude of the Justice Department is what led to her mother's death and want to effect change from within. Despite this, she proves herself on the street, showing no mercy on drug pushers.

Later, Dredd finds something in the files - Portnoy regularly visited a brasserie (now closed down) that was an unlikely place for someone who was a known gourmand. Dredd and Beeny visit the current workplace of the former manager of the brasserie, named Delong. He tells them that Portnoy regularly talked to the waiter Pooch. He asks his brother, Jobey, to remind him of Pooch's name, but finally remembers it himself - Fido Kelfer Pooch. A lie detector shows that Delong had nothing to do with Portnoy, but after the judges leave, Delong finds his brother holding an old picture of America...

RC: There’s no one better than John Wagner at writing a first episode. Tricky creatures these. You can either hit the ground running and try to explain what’s going on later, or sacrifice a few pages with outright exposition. Or, if you are very, very good, you try to do both

We’re knocked off balance immediately on page one with Cadet Beeny’s clipped, “I’ll ask the questions if you don’t mind.” Who’s this punk pushing Dredd around? Wagner then reminds us what happened in the previous two America stories, informs us what’s going on in this one and gets the story going. All in ten pages.

McNeil’s clipped, efficient and dynamic artwork contributes a lot to this smooth and rapid storytelling.

That said, I don’t find the set-up entirely convincing. Do all cadets really get to do this? Most of a judge’s work seems to involve violent ad hoc justice at street level. I wouldn’t have thought there’d be enough “investigations” to go round. Or perhaps Cadet Beeny is up to something. A little mystery in the mix.

America is one of the great 2000 AD stories, many would say the greatest of all, and I’m still not convinced we need a second sequel (after all, the first one was a let down) but so far, so good.

SD: This story has surprised me as there was no big publicity build up to this and yet it strikes me that it’s going to be a corker. The first episode is usually to set the scene, grab your attention and keep you hooked enough to check in on the next instalment. This delivers that and more. It is a meaty introduction to an investigation where Judge Dredd doesn’t call the shots but is in the uncomfortable position of having to do (within reason) what he’s told. Stirling stuff, but what else could I expect from the wonderful Mr Wagner - I for one do not take him for granted, Mr Bishop.

Colin McNeil is no shrinking violet either with some of his best art yet. I particularly like the detail in the characters but his Judge Dredd is superb I particularly like the grimace and the chin in the 6th page’s sixth frame. Whenever I think of Judge Dredd this is how I imagine him. Looking forward to the next episode.

Stalingrad - Part 6

Vampire culling...

Synopsis: The vampire hunters attack Constanta's group, going straight for the vampires and ignoring the humans. Constanta can't risk himself in an attack, so orders Richter to open fire, even though his own men are caught in the fray. Constanta uses his powers to force Richter to attack, and he mows down everyone with a machine gun, including their own men.

They discover that the leader of the attack squad is still alive, who eventually revealed his identity as Josef Charnasov.

Back in the present and outside of the interrogation, Charnasov challenges her superior - saying that she was assigned to the case because she'd stop at nothing to break Richter, given the family involvement. But she is ordered back in to find out more before the Germans arrive for the transfer.

Back in the interrogation, Richter tells her that Josef finally broke and told of a military operation that was taking place. The Russians were making a Golem to fight Constanta - the only thing that Constanta actually feared...

RC: Here’s a boring fact for you: Fiends has an average of 5.8 panels per page compared with 7.2 for Cadet and Black Siddha. That means six Fiends pages are worth five normal ones and six episodes are worth five. This is a story drowning in too much space.

I should like it. An adult reworking of a strip I loved when I was twelve. Vampires, bullets and nostalgia. A winning combination if ever I heard one. At times, I do like it. And when I do, I like it a lot. The first three pages of this episode are terrific stuff. Mixing supernatural horror with down the earthly variety. Then it shudders to a halt. The framing story acts like speed humps in the narrative (presumably it’s there to facilitate a twist, as in the original) just as things are accelerating towards a climax. Next month’s Dracula vs. The Golem dust up could be a classic. I can’t help thinking that the whole thing should have been wrapped up by now.

For me, MacNeil’s artwork just doesn’t say “horror” or “war.” It’s too soft and clean for either. Too many faces. Not enough panels.

SD: Colin MacNeil is very busy in this edition of the Meg and continues to produce. The dark grit of the art work and use of the fog to lighten the scenes gives it a distinctly dark and depressing feel. This storyline is my introduction to this series and the idea of vampyres or vampires in a World War II setting is novel. Throwing in the gore and keeping the mood black is sufficient to keep me interested. However I found this is more appealing on a second reading as there are nuances of the story which aren’t immediately apparent. I think this is a strip which will benefit from being read from start to finish and will do so when the series ends.

Return of the Jester - Part 6

Just how stupid can she be..?

Synopsis: The two families meet and, although the rival Somosas are unimpressed by Kanak working for the Bodhis, Kalidas Bodhi reveals that there is someone indebted to Kanak who the Americans are looking for - and this stops Somosa in his tracks. However, Black Siddha crashes the meeting and tells Bodhi that he's taking him back to Mumbai where he will be arrested. The two families team up to attack him, but to no avail. Siddha flies Bodhi to the airport, and after scaring him, finds out that Kanak will be at the Notting Hill Carnival the next day.

The next day, Siddha finds the Monsoon Holiday float, but Mirabai has already left with Kanak, who decides to show her his knife throwing skills. But one of the knifes looks like it's flying straight for Mirabai...

RC: This may sound like a strange thing for a comic reader to admit but I don’t really like super heroes. The genre is about as subverted as it ever will be. Black Sidha is Spiderman with a Bollywood twist. I didn’t get the joke for a while but now that I have the strip is at least comprehensible.

Not everyone is going to like this next bit: Davis’ art is hideous. All those weird heads with eyes looking the wrong way. It makes it’s very tough to follow a story when you don’t want to look at the page. Perhaps I should have tried harder.

Now we’ve reached the bit where Spidey rescues Mary Jane from the Green Goblin. Or whatever. I’ll be glad when it’s finished.

SD: I can’t seem to make up my mind with this strip. I find myself following the story line and enjoying the progression of the tale one month and then feeling like I’m missing something completely the next. Sometimes I’m just not sure where the story is going. Luckily this month was one of the former and I enjoyed the idea of him trying to kick the baddies out of the country and save the girl from herself. The concept of Siddha is definitely interesting and the superb art work of Simon Davis does elevate it above the mundane.

Tastes Like Chicken

Serving up food to the dead...

Synopsis: The museum curator remembers the events of Judgement Day, when zombies arose over the world. During the disaster, Martha and Hal's son Biff was bitten by a zombie and gradually started to turn into one. They were forced to tie him down so that he wouldn't attack them and had to hide him from the neighbours. They tried feeding him, but nothing seemed to work.

Eventually the disaster was averted and the zombies collapsed the world over, but for some reason Biff was still going. Hal went back to his job at Resyk and managed to rescue the odd limb that would let them feed Biff. However, Biff kept getting hungrier and eventually, they migrated to murder, killing a Jovus Witness that arrived on their doorstep and feeding her to Biff. The judges investigate the death, but don't suspect the meek looking couple.

Eventually, Hal dies of a brain hemorrhage and Martha feeds him to Biff too. Much later the judges arrive at the appartment to investigate a smell and find that Martha has started cutting off her limbs to feed to Biff... a mother's love knowing no bounds...

RC: Here’s another strip relying on continuity from a long time ago. This time Judgment Day, which was a crass and tedious George Romero rip-off from the 1990s. Fortunately, Smith’s story isn’t crass or tedious at all. In fact, it’s one of the better Tales, integrating Mega City One institutions like Resyk into the story and (for a change) not feeling padded-out at six pages. Better than most filler material but that’s all it is: a gruesome, well written Future Shock.

Locke’s creepy artwork is horrible, in the dictionary sense that it conveys horror. Perfectly suited to showing Mrs Challis’ mental state (not good) and the grisly goings-on.

Incidentally, this episode’s exhibit seems to be a knife in a plastic bag. They must queue around the block to see that one.

SD: I am enjoying these tales immensely and this is no exception – dinner anyone? A bit of fun to finish off what has been quite an excellent Meg.

Miscellaneous Material inc.

• John Wagner article
• Small Press - Monsters
• Top 20
• Movie round-up
  

RC: The usual mixed bunch. A reprint from 2000 AD’s more gimmicky periods; possibly more fun to write than read. I like the biographies. Wagner’s CV is familiar territory but he could hardly be left out. Lists are one of the ten great evils of modern society. An eye-catching small press story. And some film reviews: terrible, terrible, terrible.

SD: Judge Dredd - Attack of the Sex Crazed Love Dolls.: Having not seen this the first time round I found myself laughing out loud at the future versions of blow up dolls giving Dredd a good seeing too. Both the girls and the boy dolls leading the way to equal rights, the twist to the tale with the customer picking up his bombed and shot up Barbie being the icing on the Cake. Many thanks for this reprint!

Monsters – Small Press: Hooray a small press section in Meg! It is a way of introducing new talent both in art and script which is definitely limited elsewhere. This month’s instalment was quite fun and I liked the clean look of the colour and art. The idea of humanity being another creature’s nightmare is quite amusing.

John Wagner – the Quiet American: I do like articles on my favourite authors and this one is entertaining and informative and shows just how much Mr Wagner has shaped comics. Anti-heroes rule.

Top Twenty - Sprout: It’s definitely an interesting mix of publications which I may just look up….

New Films: I thought the article was informative but although it covered Sci-Fi and Fantasy films not sure if it fits well with the rest of the Meg.