Judge Dredd Megazine 261 - 21 August 07

Cover by Dave Taylor

AF: The Zoidzilla-like Kev O'Neill block is chasing after a determined looking Judge Anderson. It's a classic 2000 AD concept, filled with loving detail, and well served by a great font for the tagline. Splendid. 

The Gingerbread Man - Part 1 Script: John Wagner Art: Henry Flint Colours: Len O Grady Letters:Annie Parkhouse

Dangerous treats...

Synopsis: A vicious new serial killer calling himself the Gingerbread Man is on the loose in Mega City One.

Elsewhere, PJ Maybe is back in Mega City One, posing as Byron Ambrose - heir to the huge fortune of his estranged grandfather. In his new guise, Maybe sets up rescue missions while going after his new grandfather's money and is selling gingerbread men to raise money - making it difficult to trace the biscuit laced with paralysing agent that killed the Gingerbread man's victim. Maybe starts sleeping with Canadia Forest to gain a footing in the Illiberal party, much to the chagrin of his love droid, Inga. He also disguises himself as a nun and kills a man who threatens his quest for power.

Later, Judge Park meets with Ambrose/Maybe to see if he has any ideas on the Gingerbread Man killer. Park notes that Ambrose's secretary is a Love Droid - something very few people would be able to do. Maybe realises that Dredd could work out who he was if he found out about the Love Droid. Park would have to die...

AF: PJ Maybe is back, killing for personal gain once again, and looking likely to get away with it. Intricate plotting from Wagner, delightful visuals from Flint, this is the sort of Dredd tale that is a sheer delight to read. Maybe's constantly changing identities can make him a hard character to really get behind, but for the last few outings he's had a new constant - love droid Inga. Looks like she is going to be the prime mover in this latest installment. 

Big Robots - Part 5 Script: Alan Grant Art: Dave Taylor Letters: Ellie De Ville

Doors will be rather flimsy in the future...

Synopsis: Someone called Karamel Mirandah broadcasts all over the city, telling the citizens about the buildings that are coming to life. The judges, led by Anderson, trace the signal to find a hologram of Mirandah, who realises that Gask led them to her. Mirandah believes that Mega City One has evolved to become a self protecting organism, and if attacked - it will retaliate...

AF: Big Robots is all about city blocks coming to life and rampaging across town. For that to work, you need an artist who can really deliver on city-scapes. And Dave Taylor is one of those artists. The crowd scene carnage is hilarious, the colours perfect, so we can forgive the odd bit of dodgy figurework, and the rather dull megalomaniacal villain behind it all. The only problem is that at this point in the story, it's not clear why this is a Psi Judge Anderson story, rather than any old Judge. 

Blood of Satanus 3 - The Tenth Circle 5: Injustice Day Script: Pat Mills Art: Hicklenton Letters: Simon Bowland

And the law apparently likes dog tongue...

Synopsis: Dredd and the judges meet their next demon - Judge Minos who deals with miscarriages of justice. Dredd realises that Arkane has been taken by Minos and goes back to retrieve him. Arkane tells Dredd that he has memorised the map of hell and Dredd responds by telling him that Meg will explode if she goes more than one click from him. Elsewhere - Satanus senses Dredd...

AF: This story really hasn't made a whole lot of sense from episode to episode. It seems to have settled down of late to pitting Dredd against a demon incarnation of some kind of sin. Cue more insanity from the dark brush of John Hicklenton. I'm finding this series a bit of a chore to read as a whole, but at the same time I get a kick out of the bizarre art, and the random slogans that Mills hurls about willy nilly "This miscarriage is mine!" "It has the right to remain silent... forever!" "You too will meet your unmaker!" And I continue to applaud Mills for daring to write a Dredd story (and to some extent a Dredd persona) that is in no way trying to be like John Wagner's Dredd. Sure, it's easy to dislike this strip, but it isn't bad. Reminds me a lot of the late 80s phase when 2000 AD was trying to be in with the arthouse scene. 

Before They Wuz Dead - Part 4 Script: Simon Spurrier Art: Steve Roberts Letters: Ellie De Ville

Still creating family tensions...

Synopsis: The Angel Gang consider killing "Digiback" but he manages to convince them to let him negotiate with Faro for a higher price - and he's sent off with Link. Digiback takes the opportunity to try and turn him against Pa - but before he gets a chance, they meet with Faro's emissary - who has brought them a war droid to help retrieve the magazine. Meanwhile, the Angel gang have used the other gangs as a diversion while they dig under the gila munja nest...

AF: Fink Angel is another of those Dreddworld creations that's so awesome one can't quite believe Wagner and Grant killed him so quickly. It's a pleasure to see Fink, Ratty and his evil-looking pizzen sticks again. Spurrier, as always, has a lot going on in this story. This month I must confess I'm a little bit lost about what's going on, what those rival gangs are supposed to be doing and what have you. Roberts' art is sublimely funny and grimy, matching the setting and dialogue perfectly. I rather think Spurrier is milking the whole 'Junior is Pa's favourite' thing a bit too much. We get it. Link and Fink are rejected older siblings. Still, at least that's a plot thread I can follow. Minor quibbles - this is a fun series, and makes one wonder why no one thought of it before, really. 

Reprint: Reapermen
Feature - revenge of the 70's
Comic Auteurs - Pat Mills
Screenstory
Small Press - Holt Bros
Dredd Files
New Movies

AF: Small Press: The Holt Brothers was ok. The sort of storytelling and art that is very likely to get better with each outing, but at the moment is competent and entertaining rather than spectacular.

Reprint: Reapermen was similarly the work of a writer and artist who had yet to really shine, but have since done so. I don't remember this story from first time around, and to be honest I'll probably forget it again, for all that it is funny and clever and nicely painted.

Revenge of the 1970s: seems to be mostly a review and plug for Albion and Hookjaw, which is all very well but I wish there had been more analysis of what makes a great British anti-hero, and why Brits can do this better than Americans (if indeed we can). Limited by space, I guess.

The Mills Interview is as entertaining as you'd expect from Mills, who likes to tell it as it is/was - at lest, his version of the same.

Torture Porn article very interesting

Film reviews and Dredd Files continue as normal, both very welcome to stay. 

AF: All four new strips in this month's Meg are absolutely brimming with incident. Sure, the Meg only comes out once a month, and has only four new strips versus 2000 AD's five, but each panel of each strip is so full that one is definitely getting value for money (unless you hate the content, of course...). Equally fun are the regular articles about old comics, genre films, and interviews with creators. Not a foot put wrong, I say. 

Best story: Tough one, but I'm going to go with the Angel Gang, for being mental and fun but not alienatingly so like Satanus...