JDM #326 is currently available in print or digital from the 2000 AD Shop! Read on or click “continued” for Roshawn’s thoughts.
Back at it for another review of the popular UK magazine Judge Dredd Megazine, issue 326. The cover art for this issue is provided by Neil Roberts (Which is BEAUTIFUL!).
Judge Dredd
Chris Weston
Samizdat Squad
Chris Burnham
Snapshot
Dredd Movie (w/Comic-Con panel)
“The Pack”
Hondo-City Justice
The first comic in this beautifully done up issue is “Judge Dredd: Great Executions Part 02.” Written by Robbie Morrison, drawn by Dave Taylor and lettering by Annie Parkhouse. We meet up with a grown–up Charlie Wackett. He has just assassinated a business man. It’s been six-months since he accepted the offer in ‘Great Executions Part 01’ and many things have changed. He’s been molded into a man of the town. Although you come to find out that he didn’t know anything about why he was being trained. It’s actually pretty sad when he finds out that he has been trained to be an assassin. He takes to it with an ease that kind of makes it feel like he sold his soul so that he could live a better life…only to have to pay the price with someone else’s blood.
Charlie doesn’t really care at this point though because all he has thought about since the night he met her is Stella Greer. But even that is short lived as, when Charlie spots her in a crowd, she shoots him down and introduces him to her fiancée. All the while Charlie had started on a string of contract killings that eventually leads up to Judge Dredd getting on the case. And then you see how Dredd was part of it. The crook from part 01, Cain Magyar, was responsible for a string of similar killings back when Charlie was still young.
The outcome was that Dredd was shot in the shoulder by Cain and then took him down with three to the chest. He was on his way to the Cubes when he caused the crash that put him in contact with 12 year-old Charlie. Shortly after that, Cain makes himself known to Charlie. He’s behind it all. He’s behind Charlie’s rise in society, his training and his job. Cain is Charlie’s benefactor and he has another job for him. Stella Greer must die. Overall, I loved this segment!
2000 AD: see full pages from Prog 1793 & Judge Dredd Megazine 326 and our Prog 1792 review!
Next up is another favorite piece of mine about this magazine. Interrogation time! This issue’s follow–up to last ish’s part one of Chris Weston is more about the series he drew for Marvel Comics called ‘The Twelve’. Bottom line, this is one of the best interrogations I have read to date. It gave me a new appreciate for the art of Chris Weston and showed how much heart he put into projects like The Twelve, The Filth and Ministry of Space.
“Samizdat Squad: Grey Zone, Part 4″This next story was written by Arthur Wyatt, with art by P.J. Holden and lettering by Simon Bowland, this exciting installment of “Samizdat Squad: Grey Zone Part Four” is a compelling read. I love the grey tones in this series because they give a more realistic feeling to the whole story. Like I said last time, I REALLY wish I had this whole series. It is such a good read and the art is amazing!
Click image to the left for large size.
This next installment was a big surprise to me. ‘Filling the bat Boots’ is another interrogation; this time with Chris Burnham. Joel Meadows has done an amazing job with asking the questions and this article is a great read. I hadn’t really heard of Chris Burnham before, but I am definitely going to pick up some of his books because of this article. Specifically, I want to read up some more about his graphic novel Nixon’s Pals.
Immediately after this awesome article, you are thrown into the fifth installment of “Snapshot.” Written by Andy Diggle, art by Jock and lettering by Clem Robins, you are thrown back into the world of Jake and Callie and how they are trying to figure out exactly why their lives are being turned upside down. Now we are getting some answers and you won’t believe your eyes! This comic had me going “WHAT?!” from the first page and I haven’t stopped flipping out through each after it. The worst thing about this comic is that I have to wait until the next issue to read more!
Oh, I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but there’s a new Judge Dredd movie coming out son entitled Dredd! This reboot of the series has Judge Dredd and a Rookie Judge Anderson (I still don’t know if she has her psi powers in this reboot) facing off against a newly introduced villain in the Mega-City Universe, Ma-Ma. There’s a splash page of some pictures from the movie and I think they pulled together a killer cast for it.
And how can you top off a killer spread of Dredd? By following it up with a short story by Alan Grant, of course. This one is called ‘The Pack’ and follows a couple of hungry citizens that joined a “pack” of sorts. The things described in this fiction shows how much Mr. Grant pays attention to details and how vast his imagination is. I don’t know HOW he came up with it, but it is different from other Mega-City stories I’ve read and that is always something to enjoy all by itself. I can’t wait to get a collection of his stories.
Last, and CERTAINLY not least, is “Hondo-City Justice: Project Behemoth Part Three.” Written by Robbie Morrison with art by Mike Collins, inks by Cliff Robinson, colors by James Offredi and lettering by Ellie De Ville, this next chapter starring Inspector Inaba tells the origin of the Behemoth and, essentially leads to the villains down-fall. From start to finish, it has all the things you want in a story; a great opening, story, likable characters, back-story and a great ending. I can’t wait see more from Hondo-City’s finest.
Want to know another great thing about this issue? How about that the last page shows Psi-Judge Anderson returns in Judge Dredd Megazine 327! Just in time for people to get to know her before the movie comes out the next month. That’s my review on this months’ Judge Dredd Megazine!
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