We're into the upper echelons of the Meg here, and in fact some of the very best British comics, including at least two genuine UK comics icons.
6. Devlin Waugh by John Smith, Ales Kot and various
artists
(First appeared in Volume 2 issue 1-9, with sporadic appearances in the rest of
Volumes 2 and 3, before becoming a mainstay from Megs 201-256, and again from
Megs 388 to the present day; not counting his epic adventure in 2000AD in the
late 90s)
What was this? Ah yes, besides the Taxidermist, this is the OTHER contender for ‘best story in all of volume 2’.* Specifically, in this case, the first Devlin Waugh tale, Swimming in Blood. You know, the one about the Vatican envoy who is sent on ‘special’ (read: weird/occult) missions to tackle unchristian and typically demonic problems.
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| That is a (love) gun in his hand and he is also pleased to see you. art by Sean Phillips |
Or, despite that basic idea never quite going away, this is really known as the series about the super-gay, super-erudite, super-buff demon-buster with the Schwarzenegger physique, the neatly coiffed hair, Noel Coward nose, Poirot moustache, and Terry-Thomas tooth-gap.
Honestly, despite 23 years and close to (more than?) 20
adventures, it’s very much Devlin the character who looms large in the mind,
more than any of the specific shenanigans he has got up to. And you know, he
has got up to some really very weird and cool and fun stuff. I’m probably
speaking out of turn here, but back in 1992 it seemed to me, age 14, that gay
characters turning up in comics more and more often was part of the wave of comics
being more grown-up. And, in hindsight, perhaps the likes of Mark Millar, Peter
Milligan and Grant Morrison were doing it because it was cool. But for
sure John Smith was doing it because he damn well wanted to get some representation.
And I recognise now that he did it best by some margin, even thought at the
time I found Devlin to be too camp – which very much shows off the homophobic
world and context I was living in (despite my belief that I was in fact a
supper chill non-homophobe. You live and learn and feel bad).
ANYWAY, Devlin Waugh. He fought some vampires in an
underwater prison, which may have had a life changing effect on him 😊
He fought MORE vampires in the open ocean.
He teamed up with Dredd in Africa.
He went to Hell, several times, and fought demons that were really into sex.
He got mixed up with the legacy of his wayward brother, not to mention some
bargains made by his wayward younger self.
He trapped a demon in a dildo and explored adventures in the world of more open
sexuality, as allowed by 21st century attitudes under a VERY sex
positive new writer, Aleš Kot.
Not all of these adventures are ‘best comics of all time’
stuff. But many of them really are excellent. Likewise not all the artists to
tackle Devlin are all-time legend. But a few of them kind of are…
Sean Phillips set the tone with his fully-painted work. That
first adventure is a classic example of ‘first long-from work by a young artist’,
in that it has several mind-blowingly good pages and panels, and then more than
few rather rushed ones. But you can’t argue with his character design, and
indeed the fashions.
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| The Megazine in a single image. Extreme violence, tasteful nudity Words by Smith; Art by Phillips |
Colin MacNeil was in full-colour-painted mode for his stint on Waugh, and it’s both lovely and obscene. He really went to town on the demon fornication scenes! In more recent years, Michael Dowling stands out to me as just a perfect fit, but he’s had stiff competition from the likes of PJ Holden and Steve ‘don’t call me stone-cold’ Austin. Somewhere in there we had some Peter Doherty and, more bizarrely, Michael ‘Alias’ Gaydos.
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| Devlin - not a fan of Judges. Words by Smith; Art by MacNeil |
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| Such perfect poses! Words by Kot; Art by Dowling |
There’s a small elephant in Devlin’s room, and that’s the matter of the dreaded text story. Perhaps because John Smith liked writing prose, or more likely because it was cheaper and easier, there have been quite a few of them dotting specials and Yearbooks and such from the early 90s. The consensus is, these are perhaps the BEST text stories – but they’re still walls of prose in a comic anthology and this is morally wrong. Nice Sean Phillips art on some of them, mind.
Dreddworld relevance? Interesting one, this. Not only
is it set in Dredd’s world, the two do actually meet in a notoriously nude
one-off story, and then again in a mini-epic, and one more time with Devlin as
a bit of surprise player.
That said, basically every solo adventure Devlin has, both
in tone and setting, seems to have no bearing whatever on Judge Dredd
continuity, and may as well exist in a totally different context if you ask me.
Going all the way back to the curiously Judge-free underwater prison of
Aquatraz. It might actually be fun if had a few more run-ins with Judges – from
Mega City One or any other city, to be honest. Hell, when was the last time Devlin
visited the Vatican?
Writing: 8.5 / 10 This is something of an average,
with John Smith’s work the best, but Kot really has worked some minor miracles
of sexy weirdness.
Art: 8.5 / 10 Again, an average of some folks who are basically 10/10, and
others maybe closer to 7, but it’s a very high average!
Impact: 10 / 10 I think Devlin Waugh might just be the ONLY character to
come from the Megazine who could legitimately claim to have some kind of
cultural footprint beyond the confines of 2000AD/Judge Dredd fandom. Or if he
doesn’t quite have that, he certainly could?
Overall score: 27/30
Has it been reprinted? It has! And one assumes, will continue to be collected as new series are printed. 2027 will be Devlin’s 25th Anniversary, one hopes Rebellion are already making plans to mark the occasion. Anyway, for now one can certainly enjoy his adventures in not one, not two, not three but four collections, and I imagine more to come as new adventures are published. Not to mention the Judge Dredd Mega Collection Vols 14 and 15, for the John Smith years, and the Ultimate Collection Vol 125 fro the start of the Aleš Kot run.
*Anderson: Childhood’s End and Judge Dredd: Bury my Knee at
Wounded Heart can fight over the bronze medal
5. Insurrection by Dan Abnett and Colin MacNeil
(3 series, spanning Megs 279-284, 305-310, 334-342)
What was this? Dredd meets Warhammer 50K! Except I’ve
never read/played any Warhammer 50K so I have no idea if that’s true! So
instead, let’s say it’s the one about Deep Space Judges who decide that The
Mega City Way is too evil for words, and team up with Deep Space colonists,
robots and ape-derived Uplifts to… insurrect? What’s the verb here? Never mind,
you get it. Nice Space Judges with no hope versus evil Space Judges with all the
firepower and resources.
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| Grimmer and Grittier even than Maelstrom :) Art by Colin MacNeil |
I think this might’ve been the turning point when Dan Abnett went from ‘reliable comics journeyman’ to ‘reliable purveyor of extremely awesome comics’. He’s barely put a foot wrong since, launching series after series that combines a winning idea with delightful characters, captivating plots, and just the right kind of dialogue to match.
Insurrection I think kind of gets forgotten, perhaps because
it ‘only’ ran for three series and told a satisfying tale that was wrapped up,
rather than running on and on. But my gosh, for the issues that it ran it was
THE best thing in the Meg, propulsive and compulsive, and you really wanted the
good guys to win, despite not having a clue how they would manage to pull their
fat out of the fire. And, you know, a couple of times they DO find clever ways
out… and sometimes they don’t.
As with too few Dreddworld tales, this one goes to town on
quite how horrible the Judges actually are. They have an implacable way of viewing
the world and reacting to things they don’t like – such as insurrection – with extreme
hardness. Judge Dredd himself often comes up against this and every now and
then he takes on the role of ‘good guy’ by allowing himself to be flexible in
the face of the unbending system.
Dredd’s not in space, though, so we get Karel Luther
instead, who starts the series off as the one who has learned to bend, and
takes others along with him through the force of personality, and I like to
think, the weight of being morally correct. Love that stuff!
I also love the time and space given over to the age-old
Sci-Fi questions of ‘what counts as human’, which in this case means talking
apes and religious robots. Slaves / ex-slaves who draw our sympathy and become
part of the band of plucky insurrectionists.
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| Action action ACTION! Words by Abnett; Art by MacNeil |
If you haven’t read this story before, I strongly urge you to do so! There’s really only one knock against it, and its that Colin MacNeil’s art for the first 2 books and a bit of the third is literally the best he’s ever produced. Black and white and textured to heck, character designs to die for, giant space bricks moving slowly into position, menace and fear and raw emotions. The knock is that his health / time wouldn’t allow for the final book to carry on in this style, which he completed in his ‘merely’ excellent ink-work.
I suppose there is ONE other mild, knock on the series, and
it’s that Mega City One itself never really enters the picture. Of curse this
is all set in deep space – and, possibly, in the past as far as Judge Dredd
continuity goes (details wisely not discussed). But you have to wonder, what
would Dredd himself, or Hershey, or various other pretty senior figures, have made
of it all? Luther is not some bleeding heart, he has some sensible points of
view about WHY he chooses to insurrect. And although Justice, in this case, is
both blind and fanatical, it isn’t, typically stupid? Ah well, it’s a great
story, don’t let it get in the way.
Dreddworld relevance? Well, it’s all technically within
the world of Dredd, but there’s a sense that it’s meant to be set in the past
compared to Dredd continuity, when Mega City One had all the money in the world
to invest in a gigantic space colony programme.
Writing: 10/10 Just when you think it can’t get any
better, it does.
Art: 9/10 Sadly, the same was not true of the art, with poor Colin MacNeil
not able to sustain the insane high-level of detail to finish up Book III.
Impact: 8/10 This remains far and away the best (only good?) ‘space judges’
story, and earned it’s three series, but it’s biggest impact was a spin-off
series that has yet to be discussed. Kind of a shame that none of the key
players survived to work their charms on
any future stories 😊
Overall score: 27.5/ 30
Has it been reprinted? It has! In two separate collections, or in one handy Ultimate Collection Volume, 54.
4. Young Death by John Wagner and Peter Doherty
(Megs 1-12 - and it's just this one story, I'm considering it as separate to both 'Wilderness days' and dominion + its follow-ups*)
What was this? The one where Judge Death, in hiding
after Necropolis, tells his origin story to a journalist. Turns out his
origin is both nastier and funnier than you might’ve guessed from e.g. Judge
Death Lives, which was the first time we visited his home planet of Deadworld.
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| This scene does not actually take place in the story. Art by Duncan Fegredo |
The bits in Mega City one are dark and creepy and, with the combo of blindish/deafish landlady Mrs Gunderson and venal journalist Brian Skuter, pretty funny. The more substantial bits set on Deadworld are equally creepy and funny, but perhaps weirdly much brighter – mostly in daylight, with the feel of a 1970s British TV series. Which I think is by design – what heralds the idea of world about to die than the Uk just before the Winter of Discontent?
Anyway, young Death is a dentist’s son called Sidney, who
has a snub-nose, a sadist father, and a combination of personality traits that
add up to create the sort of person who would, methodically and by virtue of
really believing in his own righteousness, bring about the complete
annihilation of a planet. And, maybe, make a handful of friends along the way.
Yes, some of the jokes are on the nose and direct, and this
can dimmish the power of Judge Death as a figure of fear. But, you know, the
funniest bits really are the ones that straddle the lines of bad taste, from evil
dentists to murdered pets to bullies getting more than they bargained for.
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| Marvel at how the picture of the human is creepier than the rotting monster! Words by Wagner; Art by Doherty |
Did Death NEED an origin story? Not in the slightest. Is it, in the end, superbly weird and deliciously funny? Heck yes it is.
Dreddworld relevance? Well, it’s the continued
adventures of a major Dredd adversary, as well as his origins, and in fact the ‘present-day’
events of this story DO tie-in directly with Judge Dredd continuity – Death will
next be seen in Judgement on Gotham, continuity fans.
Writing: 9.5/10 People can and have argued that John
Wagner should never have leaned into the comedy with Judge Death. But they’re
wrong. This story especially is both funny and nasty and spooky and weird, and
that’s a wonderful stew if you ask me.
Art: 9/10 Peter Doherty leaps out of the gate and onto the page with
astonishing skill. Sure, you can see him getting better over the 12 episodes,
but for me that’s part of the charm. Frankly, his ability to just draw
nasty-looking people emoting nastiness is too brilliant to downplay. And his
realisation of a just-on-the-verge of rotting Deadworld, as a 1970s northern
town, is hilariously apt.
Impact: 9/10 Now let’s be honest, Judge Death was already a BIG deal before
this story ran. And yes, if this story has one big impact it’s that of pushing
Death more and more into the realm of comedy rather than horror, which many
will never quite forgive. BUT it’s also a very rare example of a spin-off
series about a villain that a) is good and b) has spawned further series that
are also, often very good.
You can’t ignore how this set the template first for the
Anderson ‘Half Life’ cycle, AND for the Fall of Deadworld cycle.
Oh, and let’s not forget this was Peter Doherty’s first
major comic, who has gone on to have quite the legacy as a major Judge Dredd
artist. If not in quantity, the quality of the stories he’s drawn is
ridiculously high. Go on, check out this list!
Oh, and I barely mentioned Mrs Gunderson, the sensational
character find of 1990 – she’s gone on to have quite the career as a Judge
Dredd supporting character, which nobody saw coming.
Overall score: 27.5 / 30
Has it been reprinted? It has! It's also in the Mega Collection Vol 7, alongside the two Frazer Irving-drawn Judge Death solo stories (the first of which is just about as good as Young Death; the second of which is very silly and only about half as good)
*Yeah, sure, Wilderness Days is very much an in-continuity Judge Death tale, but it's also a direct sequel to a 2000AD-originating Judge Death solo story. These are my rules to bend!
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