The second half of 2015: powerful thrills from masters of the craft. In order of publication:
Judge Dredd: El Maldito(megs 361-364)
Script: Gordon Rennie, Art: Carlos Ezquerra, Letters: Annie ParkhouseIn
an Amazon-run a company-run facility in the Cursed Earth, a private security operation is violently subjugating the (latinx) work force, which is poorly paid and over-worked. A shadowy figure, El Maldito, stalks the alleyways of the settlement, gunning down those who would hurt the innocent.
As Dredd arrives to investigate the killings, there's a question as to who he has to fear the most: the ghostly freedom fighter, seemingly a spirit of vengeance, or the corporate guns guarding their investment.
Played out like a western in the atmospheric mould of High Plains Drifter, but also telling a very modern tale of a forced economic underclass, this manages to send a message as powerful as that of Third World War, but with a grander subtlety.
Storm Warning: The Relic(megs 361-366)
Script: Leah Moore, John Reppion, Art: Tom Foster, Colours: Kirsty Swan, Letters: Simon BowlandBrit-Cit Psi-Judge Storm is given an immediate origin story in the first episode and then sent on a mission to find a mysterious object [see title] that she is instructed not to take too great an interest in. Strange & Darke (from 2012's Megazine) feature as background characters in a clever way (they're either talked about or blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos) that provides this tale with a sense of place and depth without getting in the way.
There's a great sense of foreboding about the titular relic, and a sense of dread and the kind of unease that Tales of the Unexpected was great at engendering. Storm herself is an uncomfortable character: she hates to be touched (the psychic horrors she has witnessed tend to spill over into the other person's consciousness), and stalks from place to place - determined and taciturn.
Despite all the gloom, there's also a lightness and a humour in places. The scene where a citizen nervously fires at approaching Judges only to apologize embarassedly does the job of lightening the mood just prior to a rug-pulling moment of tension. Also, setting some of it at the seaside provides a quaint Britishness usually missing from Brit-Cit set stories.
There's something about the computer-assisted art that leaves some scenes too neat and empty - as with the trenches and the lone tree at the beach, but nothing that the 20th anniversary Director's Cut can't fix. Altogether, a great thrill that the Meg can be proud of, and hopefully one that will spawn sequels.
Lawless: Between Badrock & A Hard Place(megs 361-366)
Script: Dan Abnett, Art: Phil Winslade, Letters: Ellie De VilleActually two adventures sewn into one sub-title, the ongoing tales of Colonial Marshall Metta Lawson's western-styled tenure in the new frontier of Badrock have become vital reading in the Megazine (to the extent that - like Dredd - it's getting so's I can't imagine the Megazine without her as a cornerstone character). Of course, Dan and Phil need a break from time to time, so unless a raft of other artists are drafted in I doubt I'll get my wish.
The first half follows the targeting of a Munce Inc. accountant by hired killers, which leaves the inexperienced Pettifer in the line of fire. The second part expands on the idea that Metta might have a mysterious past by introducing a new Judge figure who calls her out as an imposter. Ultimately, this thread leads Lawson out into the badlands, and a disturbing cliffhanger.
One of the joys of this story are the strong characterizations, from the hard-drinking Lawson to the fractured (ex-Marshall and psi) Hetch (who we never know when to trust), through to every denizen of the town. You can't help but crack a smile as Pettifer snorts at bounty hunter Rondo's flirting while he's teaching her how to shoot. It feels like a real place: they feel like real people.
Judge Dredd: Terror Rising(megs 365-367)
Script: John Wagner, Art: Colin MacNeil, Colours: Chris Blythe, Letters: Annie ParkhouseMarking twenty-five years of the Megazine, we get a tale featuring Judge Beeny: still haunted by the death of America Jara at the foot of the Statue of Judgement, and the Judges in their turn still stalked by terrorist group Total War. The tale is a procedural investigation, trying to track the hub of various terror cells that are murdering Judges across the city: including a high-ranking member of the Council of Five.
Wagner, MacNeil: the America saga. It doesn't really get much better than this: the action and the plotting are always just super-taught, and the ongoing story of Judge Beeny seems like a natural part of an amazing arc. I'm not sure who else in comics gets to do this - a twenty-five year arc that itself is part of a much longer one, overlapping with the less personal story of Hershey's rise to Chief Judge.
There have been periods when the Megazine has seemed less vital, but here's another example of where the weekly readers who don't buy both publications are really missing out on important work.
---
--------------------------------------- | 
--------------------------------------- | 
--------------------------------------- |
