Cover by Mick McMahon

RC: This should be all wrong. I mean, the figures are all wrong, with their distended limbs and tiny heads, bizarre hairdos and continuity busting missing arms. But this is Mike McMahon, so it is all right. McMahon is a master and it’s fantastic to see his work in the Meg again. Give him another strip! 

Note from Floyd: It’s an odd review this one, for I am in the prog-less zone.  Months ago, trying desperately to not procrastinate, I decided to let my 2000AD progs queue up behind all the other magazine subscriptions I no longer have time to read.  Consequently, it’s about three months since I’ve read anything 2000ADish, while my various progs and Megazines are in file boxes, hidden amongst back issues of all sorts of other stuff to which I subscribe:  The London Review of Books, The Oldie, Victorian Association for Teaching of English, Melbourne University Alumni magazine, The Melbourne Anglican and The Phantom.  Of course, all this will come in handy if I come down with one of those diseases that requires the reader to spend six months in bed, but otherwise I’m missing my progs something chronic and savouring them when they emerge behind The Melbourne Anglican’s thrill drenched covers.  Read along with me as the Megazine battles for time with my subscription collection 

FK: Well, we’re off to a good start.  I’m a huge fan of McMahon and his slightly geometrical, chubby characters and muted colours.  Remember that Doomsday episode he did with Dredd invading from the Cursed Earth? How about the ABC Warriors where he made BlackBlood look pregnant?  Anyway, it’s a great cover because we get to see the Angel gang again, which is always good, and because it’s by McMahon.  Is it just me, or does all recent McMahon look like Picasso does comics? 

Streetfighting Man Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Henry Flint Colours: Chris Blythe Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd doesn't know when to shut up...

Synopsis: Lee Walker was an ex gang member who visited schools around the Meg to try and lure them away from joining gangs as part of a judicial initiative. However, after his latest visit, he is laid off by the judges. When he gets home, he sees that the leader of his old gang, the Cobras, has kidnapped his wife and child. They'll only be returned if Walker avenges the death of a Cobra gang member.

Meanwhile, another gang member is seeing his brother (the one to be avenged) being recycled at Resyk. He was killed by the Blades, a rival gang, and Dredd warns him about reprisals. However, by this point the killing has already started as two Blades gangers are already dead by Walker's hand. Walker calls in to see how his wife and child are. He talks briefly to them but is told he can only speak again if he "keeps up the body count".

Later, Dredd is interrogating another Blade Gang member when Walker drives a vehicle in though a building, blocking Dredd under the resulting debris. Walker kills his target and Dredd recognises him. Walker tells Dredd that they've kidnapped his family. Dredd warns him to stop and let the judges help - but Walker says it's already too late and knocks Dredd out...

RC: Yeah, this is a good story. Yeah, it might feature all the elements- dare I say clichés- we’ve come to expect from a Morrison Dredd, y’know, crying child and all that. But I don’t really care. Morrison has given us an instantly sympathetic main character in Walker, and by the end of the episode I was rooting for him, even feeling some glee as he punched Dredd out. But this brings me to one of the problems I have. Namely, where did Walker train to get this bloody good at killing folk? Maybe this will be explained later, maybe not, but one thing I’m sure of (well, would be if it wasn’t this writer)- this is not going to have a happy ending…

Art? Henry Flint, innit? While this strip isn’t anywhere close to his best work, it’s still great. His effortless skill with layout and storytelling are a delight. 

FK: McMahon is a once-in-a-blue-moon treat but  Henry Flint is brilliant all the time.  I’ve liked him since before I knew he was Henry Flint, ie back in the days when he was doing the Venus Bluegenes and Rogue Trooper stories and I was just picking up progs casually.  So, with two great artists in a row, this is looking a lot better than the nerdily grinning Melbourne Anglican photos.  Flint is in fine form here, turning in, as required, a very craggy Dredd, cool criminal types with goofy, punky hairstyles, good moving action.

As for the story, there’s not a lot to say.  I wouldn’t have noticed if credits had printed John Wagner’s name instead of Robbie Morrison’s. This is not to imply that the story is genius; many Wagner stories aren’t. It’s workaday, but good. The tension keeps up, Dredd is reasonably horrible to a lively young protagonist who doesn’t really have a chance in Megacity One, some innocents are threatened and the evil looks like getting away with it, so (eek!). When the next Megazine comes out, I’ll eschew the English teacher’s ‘How to Validate Year 12 results’ special issue and see what happens next. 

A part of me always wonders how so much crime manages to thrive given the unlimited powers that the Judges have, not to mention the Psi Division, but that way lies lunacy and long boring message-board threads.  

Big Robots - Part 2 Script: Alan Grant Art: Dave Taylor Letters: Ellie De Ville

Anderson revs up...

Synopsis: Anderson chases after the students while Petro forces them to drive to Karel Capek block. Anderson blows the vehicle's tyres and it crashes, but Petro has already fled. She locks up the other and heads after Petro - but at that moment, Karel Capel block stands up and decides to move "to a better area". The huge robotic block starts its first step, which appears to be right where Anderson is standing...

RC: Beautiful! Taylor’s art is just superb. The colouring is subtle and moody. Best of all though, is the glorious splash page ‘I’m moving to a better area’! With some strips, the decision to chop into shorter episodes has been detrimental, but with this story, I honestly think it has been for the best. The pace is great, and Grant has turned in a strong script, but then, he rarely does anything else.

I can’t wait to find out just the drokk’s  going on here! 

FK: Disclaimer: Alan Grant has been nice to me via email and I still feel star struck about that and compelled to be nice to him in print.  There you are, you’ve been warned. 

Mind you, it’s particularly hard to be nasty to Grant when his story is competing with the Victorian English Teacher conference special edition, complete with poorly DTP’d reviews and a cover that could have been knocked up in the 70s.  With relief I turn to yet more Grant doing stuff about Judge Anderson.

Not a bad little tale this; Anderson actually doing stuff and out and about rather than wandering in her own mind.  I spotted the coming twist quite early due to the block name, even without David Bishop around to point out who Karel Capek is.  Anderson is uncharacteristically tough here, shooting up some perps before being confronted with – well I won’t spoil it for you.  Gasp, aieee, etc.  Dave Taylor’s art is not my bag. It looks too shiny, although he does some good, slinky sort of faces for Anderson.  Honest, I wouldn’t even quibble about it if I weren’t writing a review (there’s that Alan Grant influence working on me).  We shall see with this one. It may turn out to be a flop, it may wind up being a bit of good fun. I’d be surprised if it turned out to be genius, but we must hope. 

Blood of Satanus 3 - The Tenth Circle 2: Darker Matters Script: Pat Mills Art: Hicklenton Letters: Simon Bowland

Dino mayhem...

Synopsis: Dredd heads into the rift looking for Arkane, but instead lands at the feed of Satanus, now controlled by Alexandra. Dredd is swallowed, but is spat out by Satanus through the portal. Back in Mega City 1, he decides to bring Dr Sancrete - aka Dr. Terror - to help.

Sandcrete is a man who seems to store up electrical signals and then holographically displays them - originally caught by the judges when he did the same to their private messages. He has since studied quantum physics, and believes that the only way to destroy the portal would be to visit the heart of Kaluza, the 5th dimension, and cut off the dark matter at the source.

Meanwhile, demons have left the portal, invading Mega City 1. One of them tempts Dredd to visit their world....

RC: This is difficult. I really really want to like this. The script should be vintage Mills mentalisim. And last month, I think it was, but with this episode, I’ve pretty much lost any hope I had. Dredd driving unhesitatingly into Hell itself in the cliffhanger to the previous episode was awesome, but the resolution here was… not. He somehow gets eaten by Satanus and then pops back into his own dimension? Eh? Then there’s this Sandcreae guy. What? Why? How? I don’t understand why he’s working for Justice Department. Yes, if they somehow had a use for his ‘power’, but he seems to be nothing but a exposition tool. Then you turn the page again and there’s Cenobites, or something that looks a lot like one, killing some judges… oh I don’t know what’s happening!

And just as the scripting will serve to split the fans down the middle, the art will do the same. For me, Hicklenton is one of the most astounding and original artist I have ever seen. His Nemesis work is jaw dropping. This however, is not. Don’t get me wrong- it’s good, and in places great. But there is no consistency. Some panels looks rushed and unfinished, while others just ooze class and invention. I suspect this is just a matter of confidence in the artist. Hicklenton has been out of the game for a long time, and he’s still finding his chops again. So, rather than cancel subs and complain about this being in the Meg, I reckon folk should be asking Mr. Smith the give Mr. Hicklenton more work.  I for one am happy to see his return, albeit with a less than splendid strip. 

FK: My magazine pile is really pulling out the stops now. I can read The Phantom’s annual special with 278 pages and a story called The Astronaut and the Pirates or I can tear myself away and check out "Blood of Satanus III"

My limbic system remembers Blood of Satanus II and almost refuses to let me turn the pages.  Eurrgh! Well, I blame Hicklenton for the strength to keep going.  I’ve found what little of his art I’ve seen (in Third World War and one Dredd story) kind of genius. Besides Pat Mills can exasperate and amuse at the same time.  Cornell said very politely that Mills comes close to polemic at times, which is putting it very mildly.  Here it’s verging on gibberish, but with lovely dark interesting art.  I must let you know I haven’t read the first episode of this. If I read episode one and discover that two suddenly makes sense and is cool, I’ll write and apologise. Don’t hold your breath though.

Dinosaurs, nonsense, mouthy demons, nonsense, dark matter…..that’s about it really. There’s one page of Mills humour in an encounter between a nerd and a hesitant robot doctor and then we’re back with dark matter and psychedelia again, finishing with what looks like a swipe of Hellraiser.    Hicklenton is still cool. 

Before They Wuz Dead - Part 1 Script: Simon Spurrier Art: Steve Roberts Letters: Ellie De Ville

Junior just wants to help...

Synopsis: A convoy from Texas City heads out into the Badlands and is attacked by the Angel Gang, who kill everybody in the convoy. However, one of them begs for his life by telling them he can make them rich - and that he knows things about Grimczi. Pa says that Dil Grimczi was the leader of the gangs before Pa fed him to the Gila Munjas and took over. The man they have caught tells them he is a writer found out in his research where Grimczi's last loot was hidden - and that he could write about them in stead of Grimczi. Pa agrees, but not before amputating both of the writer's legs as a lesson - "just in gen'ral".

RC: There are a lot of things I could write about this strip. About how funny it is, about how it is a brilliantly written introduction to the characters for those who are unfamiliar with them. About how Spurrier, a writer I find very hit and miss, has most definitely hit with this one. Or I could mention the art. A story as dark as this should not really suit Roberts’s style, but it does. How he somehow makes the Angels look like McMahon’s original designs and simultaneously makes them his own.

Yup, I could go on like that. But there’s really only one thing you need to know about this strip.

Mean Machine head butts a Triceratops. 

FK: Wouldn’t you know it, the next thing in my to read boxes is the Extreme Edition of ‘Time Flies’ by Garth Ennis and Phillip Bond.  Aieee!  It’s just there out of completism.  There is no way that’s stopping me from reading…  Angel Gang: Before They Wuz Dead.

Is it just the fatigue?  I feel a wave of praise a-coming, where I usually want to take that smart-pants Spurrier down a peg or two.  Here though, he isn’t being at all cute, just writing good old funny/western stuff which is all the Angels need.  It all moves along and Steve Roberts art looks terrific in black and white. I think Roberts art has improved since his (shudder) Bec n Kawl days, but maybe I’m being mislead by the monochrome.  To me, it looks more detailed, less relentlessly comic and, well, better.  All this and Filmore Faro to come, it’s a good way to go out.

Reprint: Mean Machine
Interrogation - Henry Flint
Interrogation - Paul Cornell
Small Press - Boar War
Dredd Files
New Movies

RC: The usual mixed bag of stuff. Badham’s interview with Henry Flint was interesting, and it was refreshing to see it didn’t start and finish with his travel details as these interviews tend to do.

Dredd Files. What can I say? It’s three pages long, and covers Dredd tales 106- 108. Nah- that’s too cruel. I do like dipping into these, mainly for the Classic Dialogue, which usually manages to raise a smile.

The Cornell interview is all to brief, and could have benefited from a few more pages. But that’s because I’d like to hear more about his Who books…

The Small Press section is a good quality strip this month. Dyer’s art is excellent- reminiscent of Steve Roberts, and Dinnie’s script is good if unremarkable.

The Mean Machine reprint was not a strip I’m familiar with, but it was entertaining enough, if not exactly original. Though there’s not much that can be done with Mean as a character…

The movie reviews are okay, I suppose. Not something I generally read, I would tend to dip into them if I see the title of a movie I’ve seen or am interested in highlighted in bold. 

FK: Interview: Henry Flint, the absolute beginner by Matthew Badham

Why do I keep my old school’s magazine, when I loathe the place and all its works?  Out you go ‘Mentone Grammar Community’, and thank you Matthew Badham and interviewee Henry Flint for giving me the courage to turf you out of the reading pile.  Odd this, because I’m not normally an interview person.  I’d just as soon the talent got on with the job rather than talking about it.   However, we have here pages of  bloody glorious Flint pictures, including some odd Beardsley-ish stuff and unpublished Rogue Trooper pictures.  We are also treated to an interview which lets the subject speak without too much intrusion or any smarminess.  What’s more, Flint comes across as a nice unassuming guy, his head unturned by being always good and getting better.  I don’t want to spoil the interview, but there’s a moving personal revelation there. 

The next item is competing with the January 2007 edition of ‘The Oldie’ magazine.  Honest, I’m not actually old, it’s a funny and interesting magazine for anyone who doesn’t get creeped out by ads for stair lifts and thermal oven gloves.  Let the clash begin! 

The Dredd Files by Scott Montgomery

The 2000AD website credits David Bishop and Scott Montgomery with this long running series, although ‘credit’ may not be the right verb there.  At first I thought the two were writing this month’s Dredd Files together, but a closer look reveals that  Bishop has handed on the reins of boredom and pedantry to a (presumably) younger perp.     Well, I should say that Dredd Files is great for people who like that sort of thing, ie a story-by-story account of every Dredd ever.  But that would be letting it off easy, so I won’t.  Montgomery does his mentor proud by telling us that Pat Boone was an actor and Ida Lupino was an actress.  Boone was in a movie with James Mason, although Montgomery doesn’t tell us who James Mason was.  Obviously there are limits to how far you can go with wasting space in the Megazine.

At this point The Oldie’s ‘What was?/What is?’ column is looking pretty good, but duty calls and I soldier on to learn that Gabby Hayes was an American actor who specialized in grizzled sidekick parts, not that I actually needed to know.  Ah, it takes me back to when Bishop was letting me know that Dostoyevsky was a writer and getting the plot of ‘Crime and Punishment’ wrong.  Looking on the bright side, we get some Dredd story summaries for free, a few pictures from those stories and Montgomery, Pat Boone-related factoids aside, doesn’t get up my nose as much as Bishop did doing the same job. 

After that, I could read ‘Quarterly Essay’ a rather long-winded Australian magazine about ideas, history and politics and find out about the Death of Social Democracy. But I can see a Siku illustration and the new companion from Dr Who, so I press on with… 

Geek Heaven; Paul Cornell interviewed by Matthew Badham. 

A bit gushy here, as Paul Cornell is summed up, interviewed and generally praised to the skies.  Well, it happens in two pages and he’s fairly interesting.  Pedantically I note that the story Cornell did for the Megazine, ‘Deathwatch’, is described as a Judge story set in the Jacobean era. It is that, and funny besides, but it’s a screaming Blackadder rip off too.  Why not say so, or at least do what polite interviewers do in this situation and describe it as being ‘influenced’ by Blackadder? Still Cornell’s an interesting guy and I’m glad I read the piece.  More like this please.

Small Press: The Good, the Better and the Bad, Matthew Badham 

 Is there a chance that The Oldie’s February 2007 issue can drag me away? I look at the cartoons and note that it has an ‘I once met Graham Greene’ article.  But Badham is always good value even if the Small Press stories he chooses often look like ‘Future Shocks’ that didn’t quite get it right.  Here he enthuses briefly about the Bristol Comic expo, and provides us with a bunch of links to small press stuff recommended by two people from a ‘top comic website’.  This doesn’t sound very interesting, but it’s short and to the point and keeps it simple, so I always look upon this page fondly, no mean feat given that I’m not a small press type.  I’ve got nothing against this admirable hobby, it’s just that my time and money are limited, and, as you now know, I’ve got all this other reading matter to get through first.  So take another fond smile, Matthew as you introduce: 

 ‘Boar War’ by Colin Dinnie and Nick Dyer

Here we have a creepy little Future Shocky story that could have made the grade! Good art, to my non-artist eyes, somewhere between manga and Cam Kennedy, but good, and a story with a twist.  The twist made me read it twice to make sure I’d got it right and because it was quite chilling.  Anytime you see a kid looking scared in this kind of story, it’s a reasonable guess that they won’t be whistling dixie by the end , unless it’s in a post-twist, scary sort of whistle.   This is the standard I’d like to see in this section; coherent, attention getting and memorable. 

Pausing only to throw out another Melbourne Anglican, I turn to...

Mean Machine: Psycho Analysis: Script Gordon Rennie, art: Robert McCallum 

This chirpy, sardonic little story adheres to both of my reprint rules. I haven’t read it before and it’s well worth reading. Perhaps there are people out there for whom there is such a thing as too much Mean Machine. For me, he’s like the ABC Warriors, I never mind how often he comes back. In the case of Mean, I don’t mind who writes him although Rennie has done some terrific Mean stories over the years.  Here MM has  a session with a shrink and I think you can guess how it ends if you’ve ever read any stories involving my favourite clock-headed nutcase.  The art is cool too – like Hicklenton, not something I’d like to see every week, but, unlike Hicklenton, funny.  Gordon Rennie writes this pretty much the way I’d expect Wagner to.  For Mean, even the old Rorschach blot joke is good.   

Hey, I’m really making progress with the old reading stack here.  Thank you Megazine for giving me the courage to throw so much out.  Next up is a copy of the smarmy Tory periodical ‘The Spectator’, something I’ve stopped subscribing to partly out of political guilt and partly in an attempt to stop myself from drowning in subscriptions. I won’t throw it out, because I like the book reviews, but feel a pang of guilt at indirectly helping David Cameron become the British Prime Minister.  Putting it aside, I turn to: 

Something Nasty: aka Alec Worley reviews a shit-load of films 

In which a bunch of films are reviewed competently. Quite an interesting three pages here, especially the first review of the Takashi Miike movies.  These are flicks I hadn’t known about and now want to see, which is all to the good.  Otherwise, there’s a review of an apparently bad Sandra Bullock movie and an eloquent rubbishing of The Hills Have Eyes 2, which are the sort of films the Megazine’s readers might well want to check out.  As are The Reaping and TMNT, which a magazine that goes to such lengths to tell us who Pat Boone is shouldn’t hesitate to call ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’.  I like Worley’s reviews, although I don’t agree with the school of thought that says he’s so brilliant it doesn’t matter what he writes about, so I note with approval that Spiderman only gets a line telling us which characters are in it.  We don’t need more Spiderman III reviews. 

RC: Not the best Meg I’ve ever read, but still a strong issue, with Anderson and the Angel Gang both providing the strongest entries. 

Best story: Anderson

FK: All up, it’s good stuff with only Satanus as a shocking disappointment.  We start with a cracking cover, we move through a very good Dredd, an alright sort of Anderson, trundle through various reviews and interviews which range from the ‘Damn I’m glad I read that’ to the inoffensive ‘Dreddfiles’ and wind up with a wonderful western hoot and holler bit of fun which has the additional benefit of being the excuse for the cracking cover.  Yeeha, say I.  

Best story: Judge Dredd