So yeah, these are the best three non-Dredd, Megazine-originating stories in the Megazine. They’re also inarguably the best three of any stories in the Megazine, too!
3. DreadNoughts by Michael Carroll and John Higgins
(3 series so far, Megs 424-429; 455-461; 468-471)
What was this? A punning attempt to do Dredd: Year
Zero? But seriously, it’s the actual origin story of how Judge Dredd’s
world came to be, after the aborted attempt in Armageddon, and sidestepping
the nuclear war part of the story as told in the Cursed Earth/Origins
and other Judge Dredd stories.
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| It rains a lot in DreadNoughts land. Something to do with the sense of impending doom. Art by John Higgins |
What’s happening here is an attempt to imagine what it might be like if the ‘Judicial’ branch of a country’s power structure started to take over, setting up a super-elite kind of police force that could pretty much write its own rules. It’s properly scary! And, like the best Judge Dredd stories, it works to make you want to be on the side of the Judges, who come across as honourable/noble people, but also not ever want to be on their side, because they are ruthless and horrible.
It's all set in America not too far into the future. Crime
is shown as running rampant, basically as if the headlines many news outlets
peddle are accurate (in fact, crime rates have more or less steadily been going
down). Organised crime in particular is shown as being incredibly well
organised, well-armed, and well-connected to lawyers, governors and what have
you.
So far, Carroll has pointedly decided to focus on life in
the smaller towns of the US, he’s not delved into any big cities as yet. It’s
an ideal setting to really hammer home the contrast between the ‘let me be free
to live how I want’ attitude of old in the USA, versus ‘law and order is VITAL’
as the new way of things.
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| But what if, in this future hellscape, it DOES have to be this way? Words by Carroll; Art by Higgins |
Honestly, where Judge Dredd is so far in the future, and so full of fun future-crime / fashion / weirdness, it’s often easy to ignore the root of the system as fully authoritarian. In Dreadnoughts, there’s nowhere for the reader to hide. The Judges here get some pretty explicit pushback from the citizens and police officers they meet, who like to point out how horrible their tactics and attitudes are.
And yet. The Judges themselves are our point-of-view
characters in these stories. And, like Dredd, they are clearly noble people who
will put duty and the cause before any personal benefit. Exciting dramatic
conflict alert! But also confusion when you root for them, only to sometimes
get a different perspective and wonder if you should be rooting for them. But
then the bad guys are SO wicked that you want to see them defeated. But are the
tactics used OK?
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| Whose side are you on? Words by Carroll; Art by Higgins |
And yeah, John Higgins on art, with SJ Hurst on colours. This team plays in a lot of different tones, from way-out sci-fi to broad comedy to, in this case, dour ultra-violence. Higgins' long history with depicting the horror (but also sometimes fun) of violence is well-known. His preference for mood-appropriate rather than 'realistic' colours is also well-known, and frankly I MUCH prefer the Higgins approach. Comics can do so much more than depict the real world, so go crazy, I say!
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| Groovy |
Love this series.
Dreddworld relevance? Well, it’s a distant origin story so
of course there’s potential for this to be ‘hey, I’m just telling a story here,
it doesn’t have to be canon’. But, so far, it all feels pretty canon. Worth
noting there have been a couple of Carroll-scripted Judge Dredd stories in
2000AD that hark back to this Dreadnoughts era.
Writing: 9.5/10
Art: 10/10
Impact: 8/10
Overall score: 27.5 / 30
Has it been reprinted? It has! Two collections so far, and I’d imagine new collections as each series gets published. It’s
popular!
2. America by John Wagner and Colin MacNeil
(Megs 1-7; Book II aka Fading of the Light Vol 3 20-25; Book III aka Cadet
Megs 250-252; Book IV aka Terror Rising Megs 365-367; Book V aka The
Victims of Bennet Beeny Megs 424-426. What do you mean, these don’t form a
coherent series and are all Judge Dredd stories really??)
What was this? Ah, America. Perhaps the single most
famous Judge Dredd story, that on some technicalities is not, in fact, a
Judge Dredd story. I mean, Dredd is in it, it’s very much about what he
represents, and as the sequels unfold it does indeed delve into his character.
But, you know, it’s really the story of America Jara and Bennet Beeny and then
America Beeny.
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| America is so much about the mood... Art by Colin MacNeil |
It’s a truly great piece of comics! There’s also a reason why it’s often suggested to readers as THE Judge Dredd story to give casual comics fans to read. And a reason why it regularly tops lists relating to anything and everything Judge Dredd. That first story is just a prefect realisation of ‘Judge Dredd comics, but for grown ups’ that seemed like it was an easy route for comics to take in the early 90s, but turned out, in fact, to be very difficult to pull off.
Indeed, Wagner and MacNeil have both not-quite pulled it off
again themselves over the years. For my tastes, the plot developments of
America II and III (and beyond) have all been spectacular and dramatic and just
feel so right for the ongoing narrative of Judge Dredd. No faults there. I love
spending time with Bennet Beeny and America Beeny. I love the ongoing tension
of certain groups in Mega City One really hoping to bring Democracy back, with
or without violence. (Usually with).
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| Yep, Mega City One is NOT part of the country America... Words by Wagner; Art by MacNeil |
But none of the sequels have quite captures the magic of that first book, and of course MacNeil’s style has gone through various evolutions. America is among the best of his first painted era; Fading of the Light suffers loads from him being mismatched with an early digital colourist. Subsequent stories have seen the transition to the more classic ink work and more reliable if unspectacular colouring.
Dreddworld relevance? Errr – if you want to explore
the core concept of what Judge Dredd is about, both as a strip and as a
character, it doesn’t get any more relevant. Which is ironic, as you can easily
read Book I as a sort of mediation on the concept of Dredd that was maybe never
meant to impact on the character/continuity quite as much as it has done.
Writing: 9/10
Art: 9/10
Impact: 10/10
We all know, I think, that if we were JUST looking at the original America,
this would be 11/10 across the board. But that level of writing and art was not
sustainable.
Overall score: 28/ 30
Has it been reprinted? Oh boy, has it ever...Why not treat yourself to the most recent Essential collection, which gives some of the build-up of the Dredd vs Democrats storylines - but only includes the first America. Or maybe you'd prefer the Lost and Found collection, which includes a running commentary on his own script from John Wagner, again just on the first (and best) story). The regular Judge Dredd: America collection has stories 1, 2 and 3. Mega Collection Vol 1: America goes all the way up to America 4, and has some other related Terror/Democracy/Beeny stories. America 5 shows up in Guatemala, as part of the more recent wave of Judge Dredd collections covering all things John Wagner.
*notoriously, you won't find America (the first story) reprinted in Judge Dredd complete Case Files 15, where it sits chronologically. I don't know if Tharg or anyone has given an official reason why not, but one suspects it mostly hinges on two things: a) the story is called, and is about America - not Judge Dredd; b) anyone who is buying a comic called 'Judge Dredd the Complete Case Files 15' probably already has this story in at least two versions and would rather not sacrifice 62 pages to yet an other reprint. America II also doesn't show up in CF26. Cadet DOES show up in CF43, and one assumes all future 'America' sequels will do...
So, to absolutely nobody’s surprise, this leaves the number
one all-time best Megazine series, it’s so damn good you guys, it’s…
(11 series so far, starting in Meg 350, and then in as many issues as not ever
since, basically.)
What was this? It’s “What if a Judge was Marshall of
a small Wild West town not in the Cursed Earth, but on a colony world?” And
it’s bloody marvellous!
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| Clothes matter in this world! Art by Phil Winslade |
Honestly, the thing that struck me right out of the gate was Phil Winslade’s ridiculously gorgeous art. I have no idea how he manages to bang out page after page on an insane schedule, always pencilling/inking in every single wrinkle in every fold of leather and other fabrics. And then there’s the sheer number of new characters he creates in every new series, including hundreds of background extras across all manner of crowd scenes. And then there’s the setting, which veers from Western-style small-town streets and saloons to run-down but high-tech Judge offices to corporate buildings to mountainous wilderness to alien spaceships.
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| The textures! The storytelling! The titillation! Words by Abnett; Art by Winslade |
This might be THE most realised, lived-in future world place in all of UK comics, barring perhaps Mega City One itself.
Of course, this wouldn’t be so compelling if we didn’t love
(and in some cases, love to hate) the characters. For me, it’s hard to get past
Metta Lawson (aka the one who got away at the end of Insurrection) and Nerys
Pettifer, the best comics double-act since Johnny and Wulf, but it’s not as if
Abnett and Winslade were slouching when they dashed off Hetch, Kill-a-man-Jaroo,
Rondo Hatton and the rest. More than I can remember to name, but am always
pleased to see on the page.
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| Lawson and Pettifer forever! Words by Abnett; Art by Winslade |
So yeah, setting and character are what make Lawless a
constant joy. But in truth, the plots are pretty effing great as well. There
are times when I like the set-up so much I wish the characters would get a bit
of a breather to just enjoy whatever status quo there is. But of course, the
best creator know to give us readers what we NEED, not what we WANT, and that
means constant drama, constant change, and, within the scope of ‘Western space
colony with aliens in the background’, Abnett sure likes to ring in the
changes.
Back in Book 4 (or maybe 5?) it felt like the series had
reached a natural end, and we got this very moving year-in-the-future epilogue.
And then, somehow entirely naturally, Abnett found a reset button to hit and he’s
never looked back. It’s a damn sight less clumsy that the first Sinister/Dexter
alternate dimension/mindwipe reset button (although the more recent ‘it’s now
an AI/virtual world’ reset button was actually damned clever).
Anyway, for my money something like 8 out of the 10 Lawless
books have been 10/10 perfect affairs, with maybe a couple slipping down into
the 9 range. That’s an insane average. That’s beyond-Strontium Dog levels of consistent
greatness.
And I haven’t even mentioned that somehow, in every book, we
get little glimpses into the age-old Judge Dredd battle of what matters more:
law and order or personal freedom? Being incorruptible, or trying to do the
most good for the best people? Fitting in to a society, or trying to impose your
own ways upon it?
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| Don't mess with Metta Lawson Words by Abnett; Art by Winslade |
Dreddworld relevance? Its set on a very distant
colony world, in a time that is deliberately unclear (could be Dredd’s past,
present or even future, I guess), but it definitely involves Mega City Judges /
SJS people.
Writing: 9.5/10
Art: 10/10
Impact: 9/10 Sure, it’s still a relatively new series, but second only to
Dredd himself this is THE marquee series for the Megazine, and one dearly hopes
it is not going away any time soon (or, if it must, perhaps at least some
characters will get to spin-off into some new venture..?)
Overall score: 28.5/ 30
Has it been reprinted? It has! The trades can’t come fast
enough, collecting two or three books at a time! Vol 1; Vol 2; Vol 3; Vol 4; Vol 5. For hardback fans who don’t mind
mismatching spines, the first 4 stories are in the Mega Collection Vol 90; the
next 3 are in Ultimate Collection 170. (to continue, you'll need Vol 4 and beyond from the regular trades)
Right, that’s it then!
Well, barring a few bits of tidying up…
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