Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our monthly look at the “Judge Dredd Megazine!” Let’s get right to it.
Judge Dredd: Praise Zort!” Part Four
Credits:Rory McConville (Script), Staz Johnson (Art), Chris Blythe (Colors), Annie Parkhouse (Letters)
Christopher Egan: The finale of the latest Megazine “Judge Dredd” strip is an all-out battle as every thread leading up to this story twists together and comes to an explosive head. Judges, religious fanatics, and colonists fight to the death. Laser blasts and explosives tear apart the settlement and bodies. Deaths and near losses rock both sides of the fight. The battle itself seems so important, big, and brutal at this point that it feels like it should last through this entire chapter and well into the next if not beyond that. However, this is the end of ‘Praise Zort’ so we get an abrupt end that plays into the political, satirical, and emotional vibes of this story.
The cut from the near death of Judge Staples to the battle being over and an armistice being put in place gets into the flippancy of war, politics, and the fragility of life in a really nice way. This strip hasn’t always worked, or worked strongly, but this final chapter pushes some of the weighty script to the side and gives us the important details amidst the violence playing out in almost every page. None of the important plot is lost in favor of action, but it is a nice cut back on the wordiness.
Johnson and Blythe’s combined efforts are always appreciated. They have that classic “Judge Dredd” style and color scheme that will always feel right in this franchise. It’s pop art and cyberpunk all blended together. It’s a great look from top to bottom.
A solid finale for ‘Praise Zort.’
Death Cap, Part 5
Credits: T.C. Eglington (script), Boo Cook (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: It is nice to reminded of the characters name even if she’s only called Goya on the cover. T.C. Eglington sets the plot up well; the Death Cap gang are raiding an old US Military weapons stockpile and wreaking their usual havoc. For her part, Goya abuses her captive, scares the locals and gets a final clue as to where she can find them. It’s well told and engaging, but it’s pretty late in the game to have some story hooks that draw you in. We are reminded of her motivation and hit with some shocking developments as the chapter ends and Goya finds and attacks the Death Cap Gang.
There are some great visual moments in this chapter. Boo Cook’s depictions of the modified Lawmaster bike make it seem dynamic and impressive as Goya attacks the Death Cap Gang. Goya’s gun refusing to recognize her is the moment that will remain in my memory. It’s one of the few images that resonated and made me feel for her. She nearly had her moment of vengeance denied. We are left wondering how the story will actually end. She will succeed, right? It is clever storytelling even, if it has come late in the game.
Diamond Dogs: Book III, Part 5
Credits: James Peaty (script), Warren Pleece (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: By the end of this strip Jennifer needs a drink, and so do I after the creative team do their best reenacting the finale to The Departed. It’s a strip of setup and double crosses and reveals that mostly work and have me curious how the story of the “Dogs” will move going forward.
Central to this strip is the increasing sense of how trapped not by fate, but society, Nia Jones is as men in power prattle on about how there’s “always a choice”. Yes, there’s always a choice, she could choose death but what choice is that? She’s a survivor and has lied and manipulated to keep on surviving. So it comes as little surprise that she would set Armitage up.
Some of Warren Pleece’s best visual storytelling so far is in this strip, as Armitage and Jennifer meet. They really emphasize how distant and isolated Jennifer is sitting at a computer bank, staring at but not materially interacting with the world. Meanwhile the subtle infiltration by the triads in the background plays out until it is time for the shoe to drop. Despite the relatively contained setting Pleece and Peaty rarely show Jennifer and Armitage in the same frame, when it is from a distance that emphasizes how far apart they are from one another. When they do talk they’re separated by panels.
Continued belowThis storytelling does confuse some of the geography a bit as Jennifer effects a double cross and takes out her gangster comrades. It is both a shocking moment and a slightly confused one because of the spatial dynamics, but that sense of confusion intended or otherwise is effective for the moment. Jennifer is a false name worn by Sino-Cit Undercover Judge Jennifer Chen who’s been working with Armitage to tie this all up. It’s an effective moment that promises more mayhem and double crosses going forward.
Lawless Ballots over Badrock: 05
Credits: Dan Abnett(script), Phil Winslade (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Matthew Blair: The Badrock mayoral election is over and it…did not go as planned for a lot of people. Now we get to see the various factions readjust, regroup, and either plan ahead for a bright future or fight to hold onto what they have left, in some cases quite literally.
It’s getting a bit exhausting trying to find new ways to point out how good of a writer Dan Abnett is, and “Lawless Ballots over Badrock 05” is yet another great installment in this intriguing series. Abnett moves from faction to faction with deft ease and understandable reactions, showing certain factions such as the business and law enforcement factions enjoying their dishonest victory while showing the criminal faction rocked back on their heels and Lawson herself reduced to a drunken mess. The thing is, it seems that everyone knows the election was rigged and that something bad is happening, but for now Abnett keeps the scope limited to reaction and preparing to plan for the future.
Artist Phil Winslade gets to show off his fantastic emotional and character work in “Ballots over Badrock: 05” and the story wouldn’t be complete without it. Winslade does a very good job of running the gamut of emotions from smug approval to white hot rage while maintaining his usual standard of excellence. There is one major action scene that utilizes an interesting collage technique that allows the art to show a lot in a single page, but for the most part, the story is dominated by well dressed people in a wide variety of settings just talking to each other and it’s still a treat to look at.
“Lawless Ballots over Badrock: 05” shows the aftermath of what the whole thing has been leading up to and now that Badrock has a new mayor and a new system of power brokerage behind it, it’s time for the winners to gloat and move forwards with their plans and the losers to grit their teeth and try to regain their momentum.
Surfer: 5
Credits: John Wagner (script), Colin MacNeil (art), Chris Blythe (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: With the ruse fully exposed and Zane aware that his involvement in this film was both illegal and entirely disinterested in his safety, “Surfer: 5” is simply about survival. Because Zane is such an effective surfer, he is able to both evade and trick the Judges in pursuit, but he recognizes that this game has a logical endpoint, and it isn’t good. The silver lining to this situation, which Zane cannot know, is that the Judges have a sense that this was not just a random street race, and so there is a chance that there will be some leniency shown to him.
Then again, these are Judges. I wouldn’t expect much if I were him.
Colin MacNeil continues to impress with his seamless integration of the surfing into the Mega-City One landscape. Zane never looks out of place among the architecture or hustle and bustle, even though his presence is clearly not intended. The fluidity of the surfing is impressive and acts as a string, pulling us along the story at a pace that sometimes feels a little too rushed, but gives the reader a sense of the thrill and danger of surfing. John Wagner lets his script be spare and lean, giving MacNeil the space he needs to fully engulf the reader in the visuals.
